Tim Minchin, the former UWA arts student described as "sublimely talented, witty, smart and unabashedly offensive" in a musical career that has taken the world by storm, is awarded an honorary doctorate by The University of Western Australia.
You have ideas for your speech. You know what you want to achieve with your presentation, but you’re stuck, trying to find a powerful slant ... and material that will give your points life? Where will you find the stimulus to develop your ideas?
Look ...
Magazines. Again, you are reading these already. Look at them from the slant of your speech. And look with new eyes at the racks in the newsagents, the library and the train stations.
Look at Facebook. Go beyond the ordinary and let your mind and the ideas you have already interact with what you see.
Look at Pinterest. Why did the person upload these pictures and/or text? How would you have dealt with that material?
Slide your eyes around your world. Catch the corners and edges of life and look at what happens, why it happens and what might have happened instead, all with your particular speech topic in mind.
Somewhere, a idea will develop, a crystallisation of your thoughts and attitudes, something that will hook your audience with its simplicity, its originality and its relevance to their worlds.
Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln
James C. Humes
Turn Any Presentation into a Landmark Occasion
Ever wish you could captivate your boardroom with the opening line of your presentation, like Winston Churchill in his most memorable speeches? Or want to command attention by looming larger than life before your audience, much like Abraham Lincoln when, standing erect and wearing a top hat, he towered over seven feet? Now, you can master presentation skills, wow your audience, and shoot up the corporate ladder by unlocking the secrets of history's greatest speakers. => http://bit.ly/X5H56N
The Back of the Napkin
by Dan Roam
Management consultant and lecturer Roam begins with a watershed moment: asked, at the last minute, to give a talk to top government officials, he sketched a diagram on a napkin. The clarity and power of that image allowed him to communicate directly with his audience. From this starting point, Roam has developed a remarkably comprehensive system of ideas. => http://bit.ly/SDH4D0
101 Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers: Controlling Fear, Commanding Attention
Ron L. Krannich
Controlling fear. Commanding attention
...covers every aspect of public speaking, and should go a long way in reassuring novices they are adequately prepared. -- Today's Librarian
The very first thing to do in any speech or presentation is to take and hold the audience's attention – arouse it, focus it and keep it. Don’t waste your breath on the expected or the blah. If you must begin with something like “Good evening”, then make it different, or unusual. Here in Australia, we might say “G’day!” That would be unexpected. Otherwise use your voice and body language to make the greeting unusual, challenging, noticeable. Use pause here. Then use an opening that grabs the attention. You can use a question, a joke, a comment about the people or surroundings or event. You can make a statement, use a quotation, or simply use body language or gesture. But choose that opening to grab attention, to align with the audience and their needs, hopes and aspirations, and to lead into your message.
Great speakers seem to stay on track effortlessly. Their presentations are tight and focused. Do you find yourself, on the other hand, sometimes, with too much information, or getting off the point of your story or presentation?
One simple trick to tighten and focus your presentation is to define the message; the central message of your presentation - what one thing do you want the audience to take away?
This message can be called a thesis statement or a theme. It can be given a number of names, but you need to be able to state it in one sentence. One sentence. That way you will stay focused on the outcome when you are planning.
Keep the sentence in front of you as you are preparing your content. Whenever you find a useful piece of information, ask yourself if it contributes to your one-sentence message and how well. When you are choosing the parts of your story, or the supports for your points, ask if they contribute to your one-sentence message and how well. When you are interacting with your audience in Q&A or an ad lib session, ask yourself that same question. Am I contributing to that one-sentence message and how well is what I am saying supporting it?
One sentence - one of the secrets to tightening and focusing your presentations.
Generally there isn't a drum roll as we step up to the dais or platform.
OK. So you do get a drum roll whenever you get up? In that case I am not speaking to you, but to all the rest of us who usually don't get one.
We then have to create our own aura, sense of interest, excitement.
It is widely understood that the first few moments, perhaps 10 seconds that a speaker spends on the stage are amongst the most critical of their entire address. In fact, even their ascendance to the stage, the very act of rising from the floor, or their seat on the platform is just as critical.
We only get one chance at a first impression. One chance at that vital impact that makes us memorable to an audience.
Audiences seem to have this perceptive on/off switch embedded in their minds that is activated immediately the speaker is introduced. Within seconds it swings one way or the other: I like this speaker, or I don't!
And once triggered it takes much, much more energy to change the position of that switch (if it can be done at all) once the address is properly underway so the message is clear: get it right first up!
It is always advisable to demonstrate an impression of enthusiasm, liveliness immediately our cue is given.
Never, ever just lounge up to the stage, with our face fixed on the floor and meander casually to the dais. Even worse is to, once having shuffled to the dais, spend 10 seconds or so sorting notes, adjusting microphones, sipping water and generally doing all the things that should have been organized well before.
This just breeds a perception of a speaker that is disorganized, careless and in all probability, boring.
It is best to spring to our feet, move at a brisk pace to the platform or dais and then simply spread our prepared notes (if we are using notes) in one smooth motion while keeping eye contact on both our host and the audience.
Eye contact is just so important even at this early stage of an address so it is advisable to do everything possible to keep the audience attention on your eyes, not on the surroundings.
They are, even at this point, instinctively working out whether they will listen to us, or not.
For this reason it is usually best to transport our notes in a matt black folder that is basically invisible to the audience while we are moving: not a bundle of loose, flapping pages that give the appearance of a newspaper caught in a wind gust.
Once ensconced at the dais, depending on the event and the audience, great energy and expectation can be created by maintaining an interested, roving eye contact with the audience for a few seconds, coupled with appropriate body language, before uttering our first (very carefully chosen) opening line.
Whilst it may seem forever, a well executed pause at this critical moment of about 4-5 seconds will almost have our listeners lifting out of their seats in expectation. It is almost like inflating a balloon right up to bursting point: the audience are almost holding their breath waiting for the bang!
At this point, for a few critical seconds, the world is our oyster.
The selection of our opening words, the first 5-10, is key to creating the life and energy that will either turbo charge or stall our entire address.
I once was commissioned to introduce a keynote speaker, from WorkCover, a key Government agency responsible for employee safety at an industry conference.
My opening five words were "WorkCover is killing this industry".
Everyone went quiet.
Our CEO's face looked like the blood was draining from it. I could see him thinking "what is Neil doing, what have we done, how am I going to apologize to our speaker?"
But, the audience attention was palpable.
What the CEO (and the audience) didn't know was that I had done my homework in advance. As any speaker should. I had spoken with the keynote before the session, talked over his content to make sure that I didn't detract from his key address.
And, I had meticulously explained, and gained his consent to open with an inflammatory remark.
We got the attention of the audience. Our keynote was pleased. Our CEO recovered his composure and didn't have a heart attack. The session went well.
Our first few moments on the stage will often determine our success. Plan them well, execute them well and our audience response will be positive.
Neil Findlay has been involved in the business and Not For Profit sectors for nearly 40 years in Australia and abroad. During this time he has been an active public speaker. Take a moment and review his website at http://www.neilfindlay.com or his e-business card at http://play.goldmail.com/k44iejhkvq62
Using a pertinent activity as an opening gets the audience's attention because it makes them active. It gives them the opportunity to move physically which makes them more alert and comfortable. It lets them learn and participate with one another. Finally, it put you in charge. That's right, when you cede temporary authority to your audience you get larger in their minds. => http://bit.ly/w3bOZG
by Alan M Perlman
Any successful leader will tell you: Giving a strong presentation is the most immediate and powerful way to set goals, form strategies, and sell your vision-to both internal and external audiences. Perfect Phrases for Executive Presentations not only tells you how to plan and deliver your address, but also provides phrases for every part of the speech or presentation. => http://bit.ly/z76FV8
