The fear of public speaking is one of the top fears that individuals have. Statistics show that over 41% of people have some level of fear or anxiety with regards to speaking in front of a consultation. This fear often manifests as excessive sweating, sweaty palms, increased pulse rates, blanking out (memory loss), nausea and often times trouble breathing. There are many speakers who Read More→
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Sunday,
April
18th,
2010
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Categories : Before You Speak, Misc Speaking Topics
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Friday,
April
16th,
2010
“What do I do with my hands when I speak?” This is a question nervous speakers and presenters regularly ask. The answer is, you don’t do anything with them, at least not consciously. If you prepare and practice your talk, your gestures will be smooth and complement your words.
Have you ever watched a speaker whose presentation appeared natural and effortless? Were you aware of their hand movements? Probably not. On the other hand, have you ever been distracted by a nervous speaker who irritated you by wringing their hands, twisting their ring, waving or flapping their arms? You can probably remember that speaker but not their words.
Get to grips with your hand gestures and transform them into meaningful movements if you want people to remember your words and not your distracting gestures.
Prepare your speech or presentation well before the date of delivery. Write it out and read it silently to yourself several times. Don’t try to memorize the words but focus on internalizing the message you want to get across to your audience. Then practice saying it aloud without using your notes. You may not remember every word, unless you are blessed with a photographic memory, but you will remember the structure and the ideas and many of the words. If you don’t, go back and repeat it silently to yourself again until you do.
If you prepare and practice in this way, when you deliver your speech, your focus will be on your audience where it should be, and not on yourself and your delivery. Internalizing your talk frees you to connect with your listeners, and your gestures will be natural and in tune with your words rather than out of tune.
The best way to notice your gestures is to ask for feedback from someone you trust to be objective or, even better, to record yourself. Watch the recording and note any repeated arm and hand movements that distract you from your words. Then watch it again with the sound off and see how many more you can spot. It’s not pleasant viewing but it’s very effective at ridding speakers of bad habits. It’s amazing what we do when we don’t know we’re doing it.
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Moira Beaton is a Communication and Public Speaking Coach and Trainer guaranteed to help you be yourself and become memorable. Contact her at http://www.MoiraMBeaton.com and http://www.confident-speaker.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Moira_Beaton
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Wednesday,
April
14th,
2010
Have you ever spoken in public and found that between the anxieties of public speaking, the nature of the topic and the importance of getting a message to an audience you got a little emotional? A little choked up? Were you worried about your voice cracking, your words disjointed or even breaking down in tears? Anybody who gives an emotional speech is often sharing deep feelings with the audience and is at risk of any of the above symptoms.
Years ago I had the honour of working with a brilliant speaker named Helene. Helene was the Chairperson of an important community fundraising venture working towards building the hospital services out her back door. This event raised more than $133,000 for the Foundation and is supported by many local businesses and radio stations in her community. When Helene and I met for the first time, she stood up in front of me and gave one of the most compelling and emotional speeches I’d ever heard. It was the speech used to campaign the event, rally support and build a community of understanding.
Helene’s speech was about her son Don who was diagnosed on May 26th, 1993 with Sarcoma in his leg and needed to prepare for amputation. Four days later, on May 30th the family received the news that a 10 cm (4 inch) tumour had been discovered on his heart and lung as well. They said “take him home there is nothing we can do”. Due to the miracles of research and an attentive doctor who insisted on taking his case, Don not only won the battle against this disease but he was married 6 days after his diagnosis and now has 5 beautiful children. He is living proof of the importance of medical research and the need for strong alliances in the community.
Helene’s beautiful speech is filled with sorrow, laughter and most importantly hope and belief. I felt privileged to listen and enlightened to know that she was about to share this message with the world. Helene’s only challenge for this speech was to be able to share her story without losing control of her emotions on the stage. The most simple strategy for this is… squeeze your toes. It may sound silly but it works! For whatever reason, if you are trying to speak during an angered, emotional, or giddy moment, the one way to keep your voice on track and hold back the tears is to squeeze your toes really hard.
The reason I recommended this tip is because first and foremost, when one is in full tears and starting to all out cry, it is extremely difficult to actually get the words out to your audience and to share your message. Second, the speaker should not be using the stage as their own personal space to resolve their own issues or find closure. The speaker’s responsibility is to enlighten or inspire or entertain. If the speaker is crying, then the audience’s concern becomes focused on the speaker as opposed to how the speaker’s message impacts them.
Does this mean that you should never share emotion when on stage? No. But there are effective ways to share that emotion and ways that can leave your audience with the wrong message.
Remember the campaign between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? Do you remember January 2008 in New Hampshire? As you may or may not be aware, Hillary Clinton gave a speech and she got choked up. No, tears were not streaming down her face, snot was not running out of her nose and by definition she was in no way “sobbing.” There is a big difference between sobbing and choked up. But since this event, Hillary Clinton has been criticized in many regards. Some say this “outburst of emotion” could have potentially lost her the election. Some say it was very calculated and that it was an attempt to tug at the heartstrings of America. Some say that it actually HELPED her in the campaign. Quite honestly, WHO KNOWS?!
All that aside, does it hurt to get “choked up?” Hillary was able to continue with her speech and share a message and yet we still see the clip of her watery eyes running on a constant loop. Personally, I was able to hear her words and understand her position. In my eyes and ears, she did her job. Were the tears a sign of a downhill electoral race? Were they a sign of a well calculated campaign? I don’t know. But I do know she did something that most people fear doing. She spoke.
Whether you agree with the politics of Clinton, Obama or even Bush, what one can’t deny is that it takes inner strength and passion to speak well in public. If you speak often enough, yes, times of watery eyes, blunders or even saying the wrong thing WILL happen. I can guarantee it! But as long as you do your very best to respect your audience and be true to yourself, plus a little toe-squeezing, I can promise you that the emotional speaking experience will be a great learning opportunity for you and your audience.
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To find out more about how the coaching process can help YOU, please email me at heather@artfulspeaking.com.
Heather Racano
Artful Speaking
heather@artfulspeaking.com
http://www.artfulspeaking.com
As a dynamic and inspirational leader in the field of public speaking and networking, Heather Racano can help make your next speaking opportunity COUNT! Heather is an award winning speaker and public speaking coach presenting programs North America wide on Artful Speaking and Artful Networking. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Racano
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Thursday,
April
8th,
2010
Just last night, a man phoned me to ask if I could help him with his voice. My heart went out to this fellow as soon I heard him speak because he was so hoarse. In truth, he croaked like a frog when he spoke. He reassured me, however, that his throat did not hurt him and, for that, I was thankful and more than pleased for him.
Have you ever likened the sound of your voice to that of an animal? Do you squawk, squeak, bark, or bray when you speak? Maybe you bellow or chirp. Or possibly you squeal in delight or moo like a cow.
In truth, none of these descriptions are a blessing to your listeners’ ears. We are bombarded by loud noises and music, boom boxes, traffic, and the like on a daily basis. And, most unfortunately, there are a lot of voices that only add to the din of cacophony to which we are subjected.
If your husband doesn’t listen to you any more, are you sure that it isn’t the sound of your voice that is making him deaf to your words? On the other hand, what is the possibility that your wife doesn’t hear you because of your mumbling and the lack of articulation on your part?
If you expect people to listen to you, you might question if your voice is reminiscent of a barnyard animal? If so, then your listeners may not want to hear what you have to say.
If you care about the image you project, maybe you need to care about the image your speaking voice is projecting because that sound on your voicemail, which you may find embarrassing, humiliating, or altogether unbelievable, is exactly what others hear when you speak to them.
Your voice could be your greatest asset instead of a liability if you choose to do something about it. What I am talking about is what I refer to as your real voice, a sound that is powered and amplified by your chest cavity. Most people are not aware of and not using their chest as their primary sounding board, instead relying predominantly on their throat and voice box to power the voice. That is why so many people squawk, squeak, or croak when they talk.
Learn to use your chest when you speak and you will discover that you sound more like a cello or bass and less like a chicken or frog.
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The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. Visit Voice Dynamic or watch Nancy in a brief video as she describes The Power of Your Voice.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Daniels
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Categories : Misc Speaking Topics, Speech Coaching
Tags : vocal variety, voice
Should a speech be written before it is practiced and presented? I have heard a variety of answers to that question, and I have even made different choices in my own speaking experience. In this post, you will learn some specific tips on when you should answer yes, and when you may want to answer no.
Sometimes, the answer is clouded by the fallacy that if you put it in writing, you are planning to either memorize it or read it. This, of course, is Hooey. Taking the time to write your speech out before you give it can accomplish at least these few things:
1. You will be able to see your outline, your opening, and your conclusion to see if it fits in your plan
2. You will be able to see how the timing of your speech works
3. You will have clearly done some preparation, rather than just “wing it”
Many experts would tell you that, in fact, it is important not to memorize your speech, but to internalize it. What’s the difference? To internalize it, you need to practice and really know your topic. You may not (and should not) present it exactly the same each time, but the overall content and message would be the same.
Example: You have a main point about setting goals, and a story about how you completed your college degree. For a high school audience, you may point out that it is never too early to start thinking about their future. In your story, you would mention than when you took you SAT test, you were already thinking about where you would go to school one day. For an audience of adult learners, your point would be that it is never too late to move forward in their educational goals, and in your story cite statistics about adult graduation success that drove you to go back to school to finish your Masters Degree.
When would you not want to write out your speech? Good question. Here are my thoughts: Anytime you are happy with doing less, than it’s your best.
Keep in mind, this does not mean it needs to be written out word for word. Some preparation may call for more detail, some may allow you to use some of your own shorthand, like “Tell the University of Maryland graduation story – focus on how I felt seeing the Masters Degree students walk across the stage”. (A true story of mine, by the way)
Should a speech be written before it is practiced and presented? That answer is going to be yes, anytime you want to increase the success of your presentations. Don’t try for a literary masterpiece, just get your thoughts down on paper so you can deliver the best presentation possible. The extra few minutes you spend crafting the written word will pay dividends in reduced practice time, and a better result in front of your audience. Try it, and you will be glad you did.
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Rob Christeson is an IT Project Manager, freelance writer and speaker based in Wichita, Kansas. His Talk to the Human™ blog is based on the premise that while on-line social networking, e-mail and text can be very useful for building contacts and staying in touch, nothing beats real live human communication when you need to get stuff done.
Visit his website using either of the links below:
http://www.robchristeson.com
http://www.talktothehuman.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_Christeson
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Tags : Rob Christeson, Writing a Speech
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Monday,
March
22nd,
2010
Here are two of the most essential and basic first steps when starting your speaking business:
1) Define Your Expertise and Establish Your Speaking Topics
Everything that has been said thus far about positioning yourself as an expert and tailoring your services to a specific market is now your top priority. What will you speak about, and equally (if not more) importantly, who will you speak to? The question is more easily answered than you might think. Ask yourself:
• What are you passionate about?
• What are you experienced in?
• What are you knowledgeable about?
• What have you gone through that is unique or unusual?
• Have you undergone a unique challenge and prevailed?
• What major life failings have you endured, and what did you learn?
• What career success did you achieve? What was special or unique about your career trajectory?
• What valuable insights can you relate to others about your personal life experiences?
• Have you ever overcome life-threatening illness, or triumphed over a life-threatening circumstance?
I could ask you questions like this all day long, but the point is that you have to discover your speaking topics on your own. It has to be something that you have a deep desire to express and relate to others. You need to become very clear about what you want to be presenting on as a professional speaker.
2) Seek Out and Discover Your Niche Market and ‘Desperate Buyer Only’ Audience
The other question of course is who will you speak to? Remember what I stated earlier about ‘desperate buyers only?’ That’s who you need to focus on developing your message for.
• What specific groups or associations need to hear your message?
• Who is the main audience for your information? Is it most pertinent to corporations, philanthropies, colleges and universities, or youth groups? What other types of groups?
• Where do those that need to hear your message congregate — offline and online?
• Do they have the available budget to pay you to speak to them? Specifically, are funds allocated for speakers in their meetings and events?
• Are there multiple similarly-minded groups around the country (or even in another country) that you could continually be hired to speak to?
• What opportunities exist to develop products and other informational materials to sell within your chosen market niche?
• Is your chosen market ‘evergreen’? That is, will the issue or information that you are addressing with them still be valid, relevant, and in demand for many years to come?
• Who could currently be seen as a speaker competitor in your niche market? Does the market seem saturated with other speakers who present on your topic?
• Is your chosen market finding other means of addressing or fulfilling their need for your information in ways other than hiring professional speakers?
• Is your niche market growing and expanding, or is it in decline? What are future prospects? If it is a business, is the industry it is apart of financially stable? If it is an association or philanthropy, are they growing or shrinking?
As you can see, many of these questions require some extensive research on your part. Get online, ask questions, make phone calls, and don’t be afraid to test the waters. You can ask personnel whether they have ever hired professional speakers, or if they have a budget for such things. Don’t hesitate to find out how they have been handling the issues that you wish to address, or even if they are aware of their importance in the first place. NOBODY CAN DO THIS LEGWORK FOR YOU! You have to do this research by yourself, and I suggest that you take this early task very seriously. This is a major aspect of the ‘foundation laying’ stage!
Many great speakers provide a speaking service that fills the holes in for markets that didn’t even realize they had holes that needed to be filled. Nothing is preventing you from becoming this same kind of trendsetting professional, and it’s often easier than you think.
We will be exploring making contact with outside prospects in articles to come, but for the time being you need to work on whittling your message down to a very tightly focused niche. Conducting solid, extensive research is invaluable, and if done thoroughly, it will pay your speaking business huge dividends for years to come!
Look for our future articles, all based on providing you with the internet’s leading training on building a thriving speaking business and becoming an elite, six figure professional speaker. In the meantime feel free to join us at Motivational Speaker Academy while membership spots are still available.
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Want to grow your speaking business into six-figures? It’s only possible when the right combination of internet marketing skills, presentation ability, networking savvy, and offline media mastery come together. Motivational Speaker Academy is the premier online training resource for new and experienced speakers. Visit http://motivationalspeakeracademy.com and learn the advanced marketing strategies that will take your speaking business to the next level.
Richard Andrews owns and operates http://motivationalspeakeracademy.com and helps speakers around the world launch their own successful professional speaking business. Visit the Motivational Speakers Academy today and learn advanced strategies for marketing yourself effectively both online and offline.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_D._Andrews
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Categories : Professional Speaking
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” ~ Coachfucious
The first and foremost thing you need to do is be ready and ably to sell your product or service in a snapshot. In order to get he clients you are looking for you absolutely need to be prepared to meet with your clients wherever they are and whatever they do. What will set you apart from all the rest of the people in your business is the MANTRA that you will sing to enchant your clients and get them close to you.
This mantra identifies who you are, what you do and why your client will choose you over all the others on the market and is most commonly known as elevator speech.
Before we create one, we will go though the brainstorming process.
There are a couple of tough questions that can be answered before we roll up our sleeves and start creating our client magnet.
1. Who am I? In what capacity I want to serve you?
2. What business I am in? What results do my business promise to you as a client?
3. Who is my client? How does he look like?
4. What makes me different from the competition? Why should the client do business with me?
5. What are the benefits of my customer when buying my product / services?
Those questions, when systemized, don’t look as if they will come out of the page and bite you but when you think about it 90% of the time to come up with ideas is very difficult. Usually this uneasiness to decide on the right answers for you and your business springs from the fact that most of us consciously or not are employees in their business and being an owner of a business is just that – being employed by yourself to perform the job task- owner.
The way to go out of this trap where you end up employing yourself and go into the thinking hat that is only concerned with how to elevate your business the answers will start flowing to you.
Whenever you are ready with our own answers to the clarification questions, you can start writing your elevator speech. This speech you will be able to say wherever you go whatever you do and you will be able to sell your product or service in 30 seconds. And I will show example with my own elevator speech.
1. For whom are you offering your product / service? Who is your client?
Your sentence will start with “for” as in: “For unstoppably determined people”
2. What is it that your customer wants / needs and you are offering?
Your sentence will start with “who” as in: “Who want to live with passion and be financially independent”
3. What product or service you are offering?
Your sentence will start with “the” as in: “The Life & Money Coaching of Tsvetanka (Sue) Petrova”
4. What category does your product or service satisfy?
Your sentence will start with “is a” as in: “Is a walk through into the world of achieving your goals”
5. What is the benefit that your client will receive when buying your product / service?
Your sentence will start with “that” as in: “That is low cost and at the same time high in value because”
6. Who are your competitors and why you are better than them?
Your sentence will start with “unlike” as in: “Unlike others I walk the walk, and talk the talk.”
7. What is the single most important thing that sets you apart form the competition?
Your sentence will start with “our” as in: “Our coaching re-frames circumstances and life situations into possibilities and I help my clients turn those possibilities into opportunities.”
The most important step is as soon as you have your MANTRA ready, chant it as much as possible to as many people as possible and then just happily receive all the goodness the powerful mantra that you just created can bring into your business life.
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Get your clients all over the world using THE 3 ESSENTIAL Ingredients to Success at http://www.aheartsdesires.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tsvetanka_Petrova
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Categories : Professional Speaking, Promote Your Business
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Thursday,
March
18th,
2010
Before writing a speech, you must first determine the topic on which you’ll be speaking. Often when given a speaking opportunity, you’ll find yourself in one of two positions: searching desperately for a topic or choosing from a myriad of topics. These simple questions can help you find a topic or define your choices.
Question #1:
Who is your audience? Will you be speaking in a corporate setting or a more relaxed atmosphere? Think of what will be most helpful and valuable to your audience. Think of what will connect with them.
Question #2:
What is your field of expertise or experience? Are you a scientist, doctor, lawyer, author, analyst, project manager, athlete, actor, world traveler? Draw on your vast knowledge and narrow your focus to one particular topic.
Question #3:
What are your areas of interest? Think of topics you’d like to know more about. Then research, do your homework and develop your speech. Share with others what you’re passionate about. Take them on your journey of discovery.
Question #4:
What interesting people or places are in the locale of where you’ll be delivering your speech? Think of ways you can choose a topic and work a local angle into your speech.
Question #5:
Will you be giving your speech near a holiday? Pair the holiday theme with something of interest to your audience. (Note: Best for non-corporate audiences).
As an example, I’ll show you how I picked a topic for one of my speaking opportunities. I considered the following: I would be speaking after dinner to a group of 30 couples near Valentine’s Day. As an author of a book of romantic poetry, I used that as a platform to brainstorm. The venue was a local restaurant and, while we would have a private dining room, space was limited.
As I would be part of a program, I knew that the mood would be light and fun. I chose my speech, ‘Living a Passionate Life,’ to incorporate the romantic holiday theme and created a display using heart-shaped knick knacks, stuffed animals and my poetry books. While the topic could be broad (life could equal family, health, career, spirituality, etc), I narrowed my focus to ‘family’ with a splash of ‘spirituality’ as this was a church group.
Remember that a good topic has a narrow focus. If you feel you’ve chosen a broad topic, find something specific within it. Then build a topic ‘tree’ with the remaining subtopics. You may find that you have not only an idea for this speech but one for your next one as well. A narrow focus on your topic will save time in research and developing your speech.
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Jean Bailey Robor is an award-winning author and speaker. She is available for business, church and civic organizations. Motivation and inspiration with a splash of humor is Jean’s specialty. Visit her website: http://www.jeanbaileyrobor.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jean_Robor
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Categories : Before You Speak, Writing a Speech
Tags : speech topics
It’s that time of year again! What time? you ask. It’s the time of year I celebrate my birthday by doing the same number of push ups that equal the year I’m celebrating. It seemed like a good idea when I turned 30, but I’m guessing I’m going to have to look for a new way to celebrate sometime soon. The challenge this year is to do 40 consecutive push-ups. The outlook is bleak.
Because I wasn’t sure if I would make 39 push ups last year, I wrote a list of 39 Things I’ve Learned About Public Speaking.
I don’t want to repeat last year’s list, so I’ve come up with a new list… 40 Fatal Public Speaking Mistakes. It’s not that the mistakes will kill you, but they will definitely hurt your presentation.
1.) Don’t practice. Just wing it and hope everything falls into place.
2.) Drink ice water and dairy products before your presentation. Who doesn’t want to produce more phlegm and clear their throat a lot during a speech?
3.) Apologize in advance for being boring/nervous.
4.) Create your slides before you’ve nailed down your content.
5.) Skip audience analysis.
6.) Tell a lot of irrelevant stories about your kids, spouse, nephews, etc…
7.) Keep walking from one side of the room to the other for the entire presentation.
8.) Try to sound motivational by speaking loudly the entire time.
9.) Insult politicians, businesses, and other easy targets so you can get a quick laugh. Just hope they don’t have supporters or employees in the audience.
10.) Dress inappropriately for the event.
11.) Speak quickly so you can get more information into your speech in half the time.
12.) Stand in one spot while rocking back and forth from heel to toe (like a rocking chair).
13.) Stand in one spot while swaying from side to side (like a pendulum).
14.) Start the speech by telling the audience you haven’t done this presentation in a long time and will probably get lost along the way.
15.) Use slides that say the exact same thing you’re telling the audience.
16.) Keep turning your back to the audience and speaking to the screen.
17.) Don’t arrive early to set up your room. Show up a few minutes before and expect everything to be set up perfectly.
18.) If you’re using a microphone, skip the sound check. Just ask people if they can hear you when you start your speech.
19.) Start your speech by reading the “Starfish” story from “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
20.) Use a lot of acronyms your audience won’t be able to remember.
21.) Use a lot of big words to show off your vocabulary. Who cares if no one knows what you’re saying?
22.) If your audience disagrees with you, try to convince them by being extra passionate about your position.
23.) Go over the time you’ve been given to deliver your speech. This works well just before lunch.
24.) Don’t research the statistics you use in your speech. Just assume they’re correct because you heard someone else use them.
25.) Steal stories from other speakers and make yourself the main character.
26.) When reading a speech, hold onto the lectern for dear life and don’t look up.
27.) Ask the audience to share their deepest feelings with people they’re meeting for the first time.
28.) Ignore the mood in the room and jump straight into your presentation. It will show the audience how tuned in you are.
29.) When using statistics, let the audience figure out how those statistics apply to them.
30.) Say “um” a lot so you’ll sound more “authentic.”
31.) Keep checking your wristwatch every few minutes. The audience will be curious about where you have to be after the speech?
32.) Assume the professor pose (one arm across your body and one hand holding your chin) so no one questions your knowledge.
33.) Give an infomercial on your product or service instead of speech that provides useful information.
34.) Forget vocal variety. Just use the same tone of voice and volume regardless of what you’re speaking about.
35.) Start your speech by complaining about the weather, your hotel, breakfast, aches, pains and anything else you can think of. Everyone loves a whiner.
36.) Mispronounce the names of the VIPs in your audience. Better yet, call them a different name altogether!
37.) Since body language is supposed to make up for 55% of your message, use a sparkling smile and huge gestures to cover up your lack of preparation.
38.) Insult people in the audience because they’re not as enthusiastic about your topic as you are.
39.) Use examples that are sexist and racist generalizations.
40.) Don’t practice. I know this was #1, but it’s important enough to repeat again. Failing to prepare for your speech is the most fatal public speaking mistake you can make.
If you want to avoid making the 40 Fatal Public Speaking Mistakes, I suggest you download a free copy of my “Successful Speeches Toolkit.” It will give you the inside scoop on how to give a better speech and get better results. Visit http://www.wellwrittenwellsaid.com/freetoolkit.html to get your workbook and search tool.
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John Watkis is a freelance speechwriter, speaking coach and keynote speaker who helps his clients use the right words at the right time in the right way so they can educate, influence and inspire their audiences. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Watkis
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Categories : Misc Speaking Topics, Public Speaking Mistakes
By Guest Blogger · Comments (0)
Sunday,
March
14th,
2010
1. Open Hot, Close Hotter.
To grab audience attention and be remembered, start the presentation with a bang, not a limp, “Thanks, it’s nice to be here.” The first (and last) 30 seconds have the most impact on the audience. Save any greetings and gratitude until they’ve already grabbed the audience with a powerful opening. And don’t end with a whimper. Remember that last words linger. Unfortunately, many speakers close with, “Are there any questions?” Wrong! Instead, say, “Before I close, are there any questions?” Answer them. Then close on a high note.
2. Get the Inside Scoop.
Attendees at one of my seminars, “How to Be a Coach to Your Client,” want to know how they can personalize and add excitement and color to the speeches they craft for others. How, they ask, can they get those invaluable inside stories? I suggested they do what I do–interview the speaker’s client’s colleagues and family members. These people are familiar with the “stories” the speaker often tells, stories that have already been honed to what I call the “Hollywood model” (characters, dialogue, dramatic lesson learned). What insights and amusing stories can they share? Advise your members to ask others for input that can provide color and energy to a presentation.
3. Try Inside-Out Speaking.
Don’t write speeches for people to read. Instead, sit down with them, in person or on the phone, and ask them questions. I do this, pulling out of them their ideas, stories, life experiences, philosophies, and examples through questions. Then my job is to help them organize, wordsmith, and deliver these comments with more drama.
Although the client and I often end up with a script that can then be edited and tightened, the words grow out of our conversations. I call this “inside-out” speaking. My work represents a cleaned-up conversation; one the speaker is going to have with the audience. Of course, a script is not a conversation, but if it sounds conversational, it is far more appealing and much easier to deliver directly to the audience without reading it word for word. Emotional contact is impossible without eye contact.
4. Provide Five Magic Moments.
How are great speeches like classic Hollywood movies? Movie promoters say that a successful film has to have five magic moments for each viewer, though not necessarily the same five. When it does, people will talk about it and add enough energy to a paid advertising campaign to make it a hit.
Be sure each presentation has five great moments–dramatic, humorous, profound, or poignant–that the audience can relive in their minds later and repeat to their friends.
5. Avoid Borrowed Stories.
I urge you to create vivid, personal stories for their presentations. Imagine how I once felt, sitting in an audience of 18,000 people, listening to Barbara Bush describe a great story she had read in Chicken Soup for the Soul–my own story which made the point, “What you do speaks louder than what you say.” (Yes, I know Ralph Waldo Emerson said it first.) Did Barbara Bush mention it was my story? No.
But even if she had mentioned my name, I think she missed a huge opportunity with her speech. Back then; I imagined her sitting in bed at the White House, going through stacks of books with a highlighter pen for things to talk about. Since then, I’ve realized that a speech writer did the research and wrote her words. My point? I’m not upset she didn’t credit me. Just disappointed that someone with Barbara Bush’s incredible life experiences did not share them. I am sure she had much more interesting recent topics and perceptions than reporting on something someone said to me many years ago. That’s how audiences will feel if your members repeat things they’ve read instead of experienced.
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Patricia Fripp CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based executive speech coach and award-winning professional speaker. She is the author of Get What You Want!, Make It, So You Don’t Have to Fake It!, and Past-President of the National Speakers Association. Visit Fripp’s website at http://www.fripp.com
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Public Speaking Tips from 997 Ways To Be A Great Speaker
Copyright © 2010 All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2010 All Rights Reserved