Category Archives: Speaking

Your Speech needs a Strong Opening

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I booked 2 speeches today! Whew! Now, I have to write the speech. Everyone has a different ‘method’ they use to write a speech. Whether you think it through while staring out the window, put fingers to keyboard and write train of thought or draft a detailed outline you have to include a strong opening.

With a strong opening you will

  • Grab the audience’s
  • Set the stage for where you are going
  • Create greater interest (the audience is there so I presume they are already a bit interested!)

There are a few things you can do to help ensure a strong opening.

  • Don’t start with an introduction of who you are- while it is important to your credibility it can be a snore. Unless, you can start with a story that relates to your credibility, for instance, for this speech I think I will talk about the experience that led me to become a professional speaker. The entire experience was a horror show.  I will use vivid words and common experience to make it relatable and the story usually has everyone squirming at just how awful the situation was.  And it leads directly to the beginning of my training which ties directly to credibility.
  • Start with a story
  • Ask questions to get them thinking. Help the audience identify areas where they have a knowledge gap. Stir curiosity- How would you…. What if …..
  • Start with a controversial or startling statement.

Now sure if your opening is strong? Try it out on a few people, if their eyes glaze over in boredom you should start over.

Speakers have Flipper arms- Flipper would be proud of us!

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I see it all of the time, I even find myself doing it! Flipper arms when I am speaking.  Public speakers know some things are just super irritating. Jingling change in a pocket, a bracelet that rattles, a heavy breather on a microphone are all annoying.

The one we forget about is ‘flipper’ arms. You have seen it- the speaker has their arms at a 90-degree angle and there hands are constantly moving for no apparent reason. Back and forth, from side to side, over and over and over again. Every once in a while they will wring their hands or make an expansive gesture that looks like it is meant to encompass the whole room.

I’m not suggesting speakers stand perfectly still but a little stillness would be nice. Think about it like this, if you want to use gestures to illustrate a point make them BIG. If your arms and hands have been relatively still for the majority of a speech those gestures have even more impact. If you have had ‘flipper’ arms the entire time the BIG gestures simply seem like an addition to your already squirming body.

Not sure if you do the ‘flipper’ thing? Videotape a speech. Then actually watch it- looking for ‘flipper’ arms. When it happens you will notice.  You will probably see some other things you would like to change about your speaking too.

If you don’t have access to a video camera stand in front of a mirror and give your speech. Keep giving it until you relax enough to act normally.

Now that you have seen your version of ‘flipper’ arms you need to stop it. The simplest thing to do is let your arms hang naturally at your side. It might not feel comfortable but from an observers perspective it looks natural and confident. When you feel your hands start to creep up put them back at your side. Now, when you gesture BIG it looks BIG! And makes a point.

This will take some practice but the more you do it the better you will get at it. Happy speaking!

I don’t want to walk out on your speech!

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I did it today. I walked out on a speech. I left before the end because I just could not stand it anymore.

Two women were presenting. I think their slides were nicely done. I say I think because at times I am not certain what the actual point of their rambling was supposed to be. The advertised topic was fairly broad and rather than choosing a specific area to drill in to they touched briefly on multiple areas. A fine tactic if you execute well.

They had not practiced exactly what they were going to say. They stumbled over their words, threw in lots of ah’s and um’s, and used stories that illustrated a point only if you were creative.

This is a learning opportunity for all of us.

No, they were not professional speakers and I would bet they do not regularly do presentations. At a minimum, someone should be able to easily follow your speech and draw a parallel between the story you are telling and the point you are addressing.

Non-words can be forgiven; we have all been there. My point is even if you are not a professional speaker you need to approach any speech/presentation as a professional opportunity.  Use the opportunity. If nothing else you may just find a customer among all of the prospects sitting in the room.  If you are uncomfortable or unsure about how to write or deliver a speech or how to create slides ask someone for help and then practice. Attend a class like Delivery Skills that Sell.

A professional speaker will tell you the moment you relax, the moment you stop asking for help or think you don’t need to practice is the moment you deliver a mediocre speech. I know you don’t want to do that.

Public Speakers- Practice, Practice, Practice

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To this day I bristle when I hear the words practice- or think about practicing. When I was in high school I played 3 instruments. Every day I practiced 3 instruments. By the time I got to university I never wanted to ‘practice’ again.

Now, I find myself practicing! Not only do I practice but also I preach it to my clients. Ask someone doing public speaking if they have practiced- most of them will waffle a bit and admit they have not. Ask them what they think would make them more comfortable and, after waffling a bit, they will say practice.

There truly is something to this idea of practice. Any elite athlete will tell you practice is crucial- Lance Armstrong, Abby Wambach, Michael Phelps ratchets up his practice as the Olympics approach. You may have natural talent and practice will move you to the next level.

Practice is the piece that allows you to sail through a speech when everything that can go wrong does. You may have forgotten your outline, the PowerPoint is down, only two lights in the room work and 75 people are crammed into a room built for 50 and if you have practiced that speech you will pull off the greatest speech ever! If you haven’t practiced, you may limp along with something that is, let’s say, less than stellar.

Practice will give you confidence, will allow you to ad lib when it is needed, and will keep you going when you feel like everything else is falling apart.

What happens to my clients that practice? All of a sudden they have a sense of confidence they have never had before, I see it and the audience sees it. Everyone practices- don’t kid yourself into thinking the greatest speakers out there don’t have their own way of practicing. They do.

You could be a brilliant speaker too. It is all up to you.

Sure Fire way for a Speaker to Turn Off an Audience

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Sometimes you hear a story and you just cannot help but pass it along.  My network knows I am a public speaking coach so I get to hear about great and awful speakers they have heard.

Just yesterday I heard a story about a speaker who was billed as ‘inspirational, motivational’ doing an event with two other speakers. The inspirational, motivational speaker spoke first. Apparently the speech went something like this…

“You think you have problems…. Let me tell you about my divorce. Let me tell you about my kids. Let me tell you about…. “

She spent the entire 30 minutes telling stories about her awful her without any value add information. No ideas on handling situations, no motivational or inspirational thoughts or advice, just story after story about her hideous life.

The person who told me about this actually left the seminar. With two other speakers to go and 20 minutes left for the first speaker she could not handle it anymore. She paid for the event and left anyway.

What went wrong? The speaker was focused solely on herself. Stories are great- if they are told to illustrate or lead the audience to a point, to elicit an emotion that moves the topic forward, or to jump-start a speech.

You must provide value. Be motivational if that is the topic of the speech; explain how to build a jet engine if that is the topic. Know how to use your story to add value; don’t just toss stories into the mix because ‘you should have stories in your speech’.

Talking about yourself without a real point in sight is a sure way to turn off your audience.

Speak with Confidence

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The first workshop was such a success I am offering another one!

This is your opportunity to discover the delivery skills professional speakers use- all in one day!

I hope you will join us February 19, 2011 from 9A until 5P in Chapel Hill NC.

Early bird registration ends February 9! Register Now!

Complete information available here.

Announcing ‘Speak with Confidence’

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More people have a fear of public speaking than death. Pretty amazing when you think about it. Yet, many of us do some form of public speaking almost daily.

It could be a s simple as saying your 30 second introduction in a networking meeting or you may be giving 2 hour sales presentations. Either way, when you are in business you need to be able to confidently speak in front of a group.

We have developed a workshop to help you do just that. This one-day interactive workshop will help you learn the delivery skills you need to feel confident in front of any size audience.

You will learn tips and tricks that speakers use every day. Speak with Confidence is an interactive class- you get personal attention and time to practice.

To learn more about this wonderful class go to Events.

Beyond the Speech Itself: After Your Presentation

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by Laura Poole, ACC

Archer Coaching

Whew! You’ve done it! You planned, practiced, and performed. You’re finished with the presentation! Well, not so fast. A key to better presentations comes after you have done the hard parts. Some careful attention at this stage can help you hone your skills!

  • Graciously accept compliments and questions. People will want to talk to you afterward. Many will compliment you. A polite “Thank you so much!” is an appropriate response. No need to apologize if anything went wrong–it just draws attention to it. Be gracious in accepting compliments. Answer any questions thoughtfully and honestly. If your speech was brief, many people will want to know more! If it was very good (and of course it was!), they may want you to give it again and invite you to speak elsewhere. If you make presentations to promote your business, be prepared with follow-up material.
  • Ask for feedback, and learn from it. This is critically important. Be willing to learn from comments given by your audience. Sometimes they will be nice suggestions, sometimes people are rude. In any case, be gracious accepting suggestions. Write them down if you need to. Remember them as you move forward and hone your skills. If possibly, commission someone to evaluate you and give you tips for improvement. An evaluator can tell you if you were hard to hear, talked too fast, made appropriate eye contact, dealt with unexpected issues well, and connected with the audience.
  • Get testimonials. It pays to carry around a handheld video recorder (like a Flip camera). If someone comes up to you and raves about your presentation, ask if he or she would mind giving a quick video testimonial. This is material you can have on your website to promote yourself. If you don’t have a camera handy, ask for the person’s business card and be sure to connect with him or her on LinkedIn and/or Facebook. Then ask if the person would be willing to write a LinkedIn recommendation or a review for your Facebook fan page. These written testimonials can also be reprinted on your website.
  • Follow up. Be sure to formally thank the event organizers for having you as a speaker. Feel free to ask them for recomnendations or reviews. If you have promised the audience anything, be sure to follow through! If you collected business cards and contact information, follow up appropriately (i.e., add to your newsletter mailing list, or connect with them on social networking)
  • Mine your content for blog entries, articles, podcasts, and more. If you have developed a presentation, why stop there?  Build your professional presence by turning that speech into a series of blog entries, articles for publication, podcasts, and so on. You might choose to expand your presentation and offer it as a paid workshop, tele-class, or a conference presentation. If you get a lot of related material, turn your content into a book, e-book, learning CD or MP3, and so on.

To learn more about Laura Poole go to Archer Coaching.

My notes are at home and I’m about to give a speech….

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This morning was one of those mornings. I was asked to give a speech for a local group, the topic was one I had spoken about previously. I only had a few days to prepare but how hard could it be? I had delivered the same topic 6 months ago. I got the handouts ready, printed out my notes, tossed it all in the car and made it out the door in plenty of time.

I’m set up and ready to go, the group is looking forward to hearing about the topic, the last thing I need to do is pull out my notes…if I could only find those notes…. I left the notes at home on the printer.

I like to be prepared. I thought I had it all under control. Oh well.

The speech went off without a hitch. Thanks to the fact that I had made time to practice my speech before the event. That practice ensured that I knew my material- the notes were a ‘just in case’.

The lesson- PREPARE. I work with many speakers who don’t prepare until a day or two before a speech. I wonder how well things would have gone had they forgotten their notes. Hopefully everything would have been perfect but why take the chance? You only get 1 (one) opportunity to make a first impression. Blow it and it is an uphill climb from there.

There are potential clients, referral partners, business partners, and friends in every audience. You want to make the best of every opportunity. Lucky this morning speech was free- a favor for a friend- had I been getting paid the requirement to be great would have been even bigger.

Next time I’ll pack up those notes first….

One Speech, Five Ways- Part 2

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Repurposing Content to Build Professional Presence

by Laura Poole, ACC

Archer Coaching Services

(Part 1 of this blog posted Oct. 28)

Tip #4: Programs and Seminars

Is your speech valuable to others? Can it be expanded to create a longer program, seminar, or workshop? Develop the material in more detail (which is easily done if you’re reworking the content in any of the foregoing ways) and make it available for other speaking events. Here are some ideas of where you can begin presenting your material professionally, getting speaking experience, and even earning money!

•            Lunch and learns at your company and other companies

•            Meetup group presentations

•            Community groups, such as church groups, Rotary, Lion’s Club, and so on.

•            Networking groups and professional development groups you are involved with, such as Toastmasters, local chambers of commerce, industry-specific groups, and so on.

•            Industry and general-interest conferences (national, regional, and local).

•            Community colleges (one-time lectures or regular classes).

You can also offer these programs yourself, by hosting a tele-class, webinar, or live event. String together several related presentations and you easily have a half- or whole-day seminar or workshop. You can start charging for your materials this way, earning money from your content.

Power tips: Always promote your speaking events by posting them on Facebook (personal and business fan page), LinkedIn, your blog, Twitter, and various other status updates. Invite friends and colleagues to these events. Ask your LinkedIn colleagues to write a recommendation for your speaking; ask Facebook fans to write a review. Video-record yourself to have a clip available to show yourself in action for potential bookers.

Tip #5: Books and E-books

At this point, it should almost be a no-brainer to consider further developing your content into books/e-books. If you have done any of the above tips, your content is ripe for the publishing! Pull together related articles and blog posts, or take your podcast or live event scripts/transcripts, and there you go! Add in your slides or other visual illustrations, beef up the content to make it special (add new examples, illustrative quotes, forewords and prefaces by colleagues, and so on), and you have 95% of the work done.

Power tips: Before publishing, find a few colleagues to review your material and get a good editor to catch any mistakes that slipped by you. A good print-on-demand source like Lulu.com can host your material and handle payments and shipping for you. Having books/e-books available at your speaking engagements is a way to make more money and for your audience to get terrific value.

Conclusion

As you can see from these five tips, you can take any speech and build your professional presence and reputation, possibly even boosting your bank account in the process. Think beyond the speech and start establishing yourself as an expert!

To learn more about Laura Poole check out her website Archer Coaching Services.