Tag: Speaking

10 Myths of Public Speaking

1) I can wing my presentation. No you can’t – the audience will know if you are prepared or not.

2) Creating a few slides is a substitute for preparation. The slides are there to enhance a presentation, not substitute for it. Creating the slides are only part of the presentation. In fact, most presentations may even be better without any slides at all.

3) It’s all about what I know, not what I can give the audience. It is all about the audience – what is in it for them? If you create an audience focused, as opposed to a speaker focused presentation, it will be far more effective.

4) Who cares about timing? Well, a lot of people actually – especially the audience and meeting planner. If you are constantly over time, you will annoy a lot of people, reduce the effectiveness of your message, and reduce your chance of future bookings.

5) It doesn’t take long to prepare a speech. Some speakers may be able to prepare quickly, but you cannot prepare your entire presentation the evening before, or even worse – on the way to the presentation. And if you really have to, please don’t tell anybody – it does not look professional. I have heard speakers say "When I was preparing my speech on the way to the venue this evening…"

6) I can write out my entire speech, and just read it back. If you are reading your speech word for word, it will sound read, you will be unable to focus on your audience, and you will loose lose your audience.

7) I don’t need a microphone. For an audience larger than 50, you need a microphone – no matter how booming your voice.

8) Structure isn’t important. Lack of structure = lack of preparation.

9) I’d rather die than give a speech. Go ahead then. Can anybody find where this "statistic" comes from? Would you really rather die than give a speech?

10) I can make jokes at the expense of the audience. Only if you want to alienate your audience.

… and a bonus

11) You have to be born a good speaker. So, do you have to be born with a microphone in your mouth? Sure, many people are born great speakers, but many more become great speakers through persistence, preparation and practice. Ask any Toastmaster!

When you are the Emcee at a Wedding

I mentored a new client recently on being an emcee at a wedding – so the responsibilities of the emcee have been been on my mind. Enjoy!

The role of the emcee is simply to ensure that the event runs smoothly. This really is a two-fold role ? running the show on the day, and being prepared for any eventuality. The more prepared you are, the easier it will be to handle the curve-balls.

This checklist is really a guide of what may be required of you. At many weddings, there is a separate wedding arranger that will take care of a lot of these things, but you may be required to handle many unexpected situations.

Because your role is very prominent, you are the person that most people are going to approach with any questions or problems (even if it is officially not your problem), so it is best to be prepared. Remember to delegate and get assistance where possible or necessary.

Before the Event

  • Get a copy of the agenda and check the timings
    • Who is speaking?
    • How long are the speakers speaking for?
    • When are they speaking?
    • What time is dinner, dancing, etc
    • Get contact numbers for all involved (just in case)
      • Bride/groom
      • Venue
      • Photographer
      • DJ
      • Best man
      • Bridesmaid etc
  • Find out the dress code
  • What are the ?taboo? topics?
  • Is there a special eating order (eg: table 1 first etc)?/li>

At the Event

  • Arrive early
  • Check out the venue
    • Toilets
    • Smoking area
    • Where are you speaking from?
    • Table for the gifts etc
  • Ask the best man to phone you a few minutes before they arrive, so you can get people where you want them for when the bridal party arrives
  • Confirm timings for the meals with the venue
  • Find out where the controls are for the sound
    • Is there a DJ?
    • Where do you switch the background sound off?
    • How do the microphones work?
    • Is there a dedicated audio-visual person to assist (hotels etc may have)?

Stagetime

  • Welcome the guests
    • Briefly go through the programme ?we are going to have starters, then the groom will speak??
    • Mention logistics
      • where to smoke
      • where the toilets are
      • please switch your phones off during the speeches etc
  • Mention Eating order
  • Speeches
    • You just need to bridge the speeches, you are not the star of the show
    • Be brief
    • Watch timing of speakers ? adjust the programme if necessary
  • Let the venue know if food needs to be earlier/later
  • Humour ? keep it appropriate
  • You are not the star of the show, but you are critical to the success of the show
  • Remember that you are working ? watch alcohol
  • Have fun and enjoy yourself!

    Are you an expert communicator?

    Expert_2I have always believed that to get ahead in life, you need to be an effective communicator, regardless of what your field of work is. You need to be able to communicate to:

    • your peers
    • your boss
    • your clients
    • your prospective clients
    • your service-providers
    • your subordinates
    • your partner
    • your children
    • your parents
    • your …

    There is an interesting article by Dustin Wax on Lifehack, "How to be an expert", in which he speaks to this.

    Dustin says that

    "expertise without the ability to communicate is practically pointless",

    and you need to 

    "learn to use whatever technologies you need to present your expertise in the best possible way",

    and

    "an expert should be able to explain to you exactly what they?re doing and why".

    It all boils down to the ability to communicate. No matter how knowledgeable you are, your knowledge is worthless if you cannot communicate. Here are a few ways to improve your communication:

    • Practise
    • Get coaching
    • Watch and listen to great communicators
    • Join Toastmasters
    • Get to the point
    • Listen to others

    Good luck

    (image source)

    The 13 P’s of creating a speech – a speech outline from Ken Annandale

    When Ken spoke a few day ago, he gave us a very effective speech outline – the 12 P’s of creating a speech. I think that it is pretty self-explanatory – enjoy!

    1. Preparation
      1. Point description (ask yourself)
      2. Purpose Objective (Why am I doing this presentation?)
      3. People -Audience (Who is going to listen to me?)
    2. Introduction
      1. Promise Attention grabber (How do I get their attention?)
      2. Present Position (Historical situation What was the situation like before?)
      3. Perfect Position (Ideal situation What could it be like in future?)
      4. Proposal Recommendation (What is being offered as a solution?)
    3. Body
      1. Pertinent Points (features / facts – How does / will the solution work?)
      2. Persuasive Points (benefits / emotive – What?s in it for them / us / you / me?)
      3. Points to Ponder (Aspects that may concern them)
      4. Problems (Allow them to ask questions)
    4. Close
      1. Pr?cis (wrap up – repeat everything you said in brief)
      2. Plan for Action (Ask them to react to your suggestion)

    Here is the mindmap file.

    For more information on Ken, his website is http://www.show.co.za

    Kens_speech_outline

    Going pro – speaking tips from Ken Annandale

    Ken_annandaleLast night, I attended a presentation by Ken Annandale, one of my favourite speakers. Ken spoke about the business of being a professional speaker, and I am going to share some of my learnings over the next couple of posts.

    Today, I will mention some great tips from Ken on how to be a better speaker.

    • Read profusely ? books, magazines, newspapers.
    • Watch other speakers
      • Live
      • On DVD (recent and old speeches ? see how the styles have changed over the years)
      • Dissect the speeches
      • Listen to the message
      • Watch the delivery
      • Analyze the structure
    • Try to meet and learn from other speakers
    • Address different personalities in your speeches (eg extrovert/introvert, or choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic)
    • Address different learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)
    • Appearance ? whether you like it or not, you will be judged and stereotyped by your appearance. Make a conscious decision about what you are going to wear, and what your stage image is. Remember, you are not just giving a speech, you are putting on a show. Package yourself accordingly.
    • Have quality business cards. No home-made cards please. They are simply not professional enough.

    In my next post, I will discuss a great speech outline that Ken suggested using.

    References:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Temperaments
    http://www.businessballs.com/vaklearningstylestest.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles

    Who is the star of the show anyway? How to introduce a speaker

    The other day I head a speaker being introduced, and the MC made a complete mess of it. The worst part of the whole introduction is that the speaker was welcomed to the lectern, and then the MC continued with a clearly unprepared introduction. This left the poor speaker standing in the middle of the stage, completely unsure of whether to walk up to the mic, or to walk back off the stage and wait for the MC to finish!

    This has happened to me, and I don’t want it to happen to you. Here are a few tips for introducing a speaker

    1. Check if they have their own written introduction ? most experienced speakers will.
    2. If the do have a written introduction, use it and stick to it.
    3. Keep the introduction short and to the point ? no more than a minute or two.
    4. Be clear when you are calling the speaker to the stage, welcome them (a simple handshake will do), handover, and get off the stage.
    5. Don?t steal any thunder from the speaker. If you have heard them before, don?t mention too much about their topic, or the great joke they told – you don?t want to steal their thunder.
    6. If the speaker has a difficult to pronounce name, ask them how to pronounce their name, and be sure to get it right. Write it out phonetically if necessary.
    7. Remember, the audience is there to hear the speaker, not you.

    What else should the MC do?

    How quickly does an audience judge a speaker?

    I have just finished reading Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Simplistically speaking, the book is about how we make snap judgments and decisions in the blink of an eye. The book itself is very interesting, and well worth reading, however it raised an interesting question.

    How quickly does an audience judge a speaker?

    My suspicion is that the audience have decided whether to listen to you or to switch off within the first 30 seconds of your presentation. So, the challenge is how are you going to grab their attention in those first few seconds? Here are three ideas:

    1. Start with a powerful question (have you ever?.?)
    2. Start with a powerful statement (in 5 years time, 1/5 of this audience will have been laid off?).
    3. Let them know what is in it for them (today you will learn three ways to increase sales?)

    Here?s what not to say:

    1. I am so happy be here (clich?)
    2. I am going to tell you (rather use ?you will learn? ? speak to the audience)
    3. When I wrote my speech this morning (shows a lack of preparation)

    The trick is to keep your introductions sharp, and to grap the attention of your audience as soon as you can.

    Enjoy the book.

    Do you leave effective voicemail messages?

    This week I received two voicemails which I were unable to answer. One was because there was too much background noise for me to make out the message, and the other was because I had no idea who had left the message, it sounded like:

    “Hi Craig, this is Carwfhsa, and my number is 08dkasldkasd, bye”

    This got me to thinking about how voicemail can often be a barrier to effective communication, and not an aid. This is because of the poor quality of messages that we leave.

    There are two types of really annoying messages. The first is the long and convoluted message, and the second is the short and garbled message.

    So, here is the BCD to leave an effective voicemail, and to get away from those annoying messages.

    1. Be brief. A simple headline as to the purpose of the call is enough. When the call is returned, you can discuss the details. With a long message, I have probably forgotten most of the message by the time you get to the end anyway!
    2. Be clear. Speak slowly and clearly. Telephone quality is not that great, so make it easy. Please don?t leave a message when you are in a noisy place ? understanding the message is just that much more difficult.
    3. Leave your details. Unless you are leaving a message for a personal friend or family member that you are certain has your number, please leave your number. Repeat it if necessary.

    For example, this is fine (some people prefer to leave the date & time as well ? also not a bad idea):

    ?Hi this is Craig, I would like to discuss the proposal you sent me, please call me on 082 xxx xxxx?

    Finally, please don’t wait until the beep to start leaving a message until you hang up – blank messages are really annoying.

    So remember, be brief, clear & leave your details.

    3 Tips for venue setup

    When you are giving a presentation, whether it is a keynote speech or seminar, the venue and facilities can have a huge impact on the success or failure of your presentation, so here are three tips to make your presentation successful.

    Small is more

    A few years ago, my band was offered a headline gig in one of the live music venues in Cape Town. The problem is that while our band could draw a crown of about 50-100 people, the venue held over 700 people We reluctantly turned down the gig and instead asked to play in their smaller venue downstairs that only held 80 people. The downstairs gig was great – it was full, crowded and had a great vibe – we would have needed at least 500 people upstairs to get the energy we had downstairs.

    The same happens when we speak. Sometimes we think "let’s rather book a bigger room – just in case," but in general, the small yet full room has far more energy than the large and empty room. Resist the temptation to book the larger room. You can always bring in extra chairs at the last minute if necessary.

    Arrive Early

    What has been promised by the venue, and what they actually provide are not always the same thing. If you arrive early you have plenty of time to make last minute changes to the room setup. If possible, check it out a day or two before so that you have time to see the room and make adjustments adhead of time.

    Get to know the AV Guy

    The AV (audio-visual) guy (or girl) is the person that is responsible for all of the audio visual equipment. He is the person who know where the hidden button is that lowers the projector screen, or where to get an extra extension cable at the last minute etc. If you are speaking at a large conference, you might have a dedicated AV guy in your room, but if it is a smaller function, the venue might have one person responsible for the entire conference setup.

    This person can make or break your presentation. Befriend him and he will be willing to assist. Antagonize him, and he might not be able to find that extra adapter that you left at home!

    I hope the tips help – good luck with you next presentation!

    Debunking the 55/38/7 speaking rule

    There is a so-called rule in public speaking, which is that

    • 55% of what you say comes from your body language.
    • 38% comes from your tone of voice.
    • And only 7% are the actual words you use.

    I have seen this rule in many books, and spoken about by many speakers. Well, in fact the rule actually does not exist at all. The “rule” is the result of research done by Albert Mehrabian in the 1960’s, and it was never meant to be generalized.

    He was simply trying to draw a correlation between facial expressions, spoken word and interpretation, and he never intended his results to be applied to normal conversation.

    So folks, please stop using the rule – what you say is as important as how you say it!

    There is a very interesting article about the whole story here . http://www.hodu.com/rule.shtml (from the Jan 2006 Toastmasters mag).