Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts.
Thomas Carlisle ~
What an interesting idea.
I have just caught up with Denise's article on using the Kindle as a speaking tool - you can use it for readable notes, to store multiple speeches and ideas for even more, and to hear your speeches, amongst other things.
What a classic example of thinking outside the box ... or maybe using the box to think ... (ouch!) I'm not sure, but an idea worth thinking about and trying out in practice, of that I am sure.
Have you used a Kindle this way?
~ A speech is like a love affair. Any fool can start it, but to end it requires considerable skill.
Lord Mansfield
One of the easiest ways to be a better presenter is by organizing your content clearly and logically. It sounds so simple, yet many presenters don't organize their material; instead, they just throw everything at the audience, all jumbled together with no clear indication of how things relate to each other or to the overall message. Then the audience is stuck with the messy task of figuring it out.
As a presenter, your goal should be to make it easy for the audience to understand your content. Here are four ways for you to create a presentation that is clear and organized:
HAVE AN OVERALL MESSAGE
The message is the one thing that you want the audience to remember from your presentation. It's the point or the takeaway. Every statistic, story and slide that you use should relate to and support your message. If it doesn't, cut it out. Sure, you can have extra material in your notes or in handouts, but don't clutter your presentation with it; extraneous material distracts from your message. And if you're not clear what your message is, you're not ready to present
USE AN INTRODUCTION, BODY AND CONCLUSION
You may remember this outline form from writing essays in English class. It's an easy and effective way to ensure that your presentation has a beginning, middle and end. This outline is also known as "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them." In the introduction, capture the audience's attention, introduce your overall message and remind them how long you're going to speak. In the body or main part of your presentation, include your supporting points - examples, data, etc. In the conclusion, summarize your points, give one final reminder of your message and explain any expected follow-up actions from you or the audience.
HAVE AN OVERALL ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE
The overall organizing principle is the link which ties all your points together. For example, you might present a specific number of points: three goals the team has achieved, four major project risks or three reasons you outperform your competitors. Or, you could present a timeline of events, debunk myths about your topic or present a series of dos and don'ts. It helps you focus and sets the audience's expectations for what comes next. And sometimes, you can even include the organizing principle in the title of your presentation. For example, the title of my upcoming presentation at the National Speakers Association annual convention is "Improv Comedy Rules! Applying the Five Rules of Improv Comedy to Make Your Presentations More Powerful and Engaging."
BE THE GPS AND ROADSIGNS
When you're driving someplace unfamiliar, how do you know how far you've come or if you're going in the right direction? The road signs and your GPS (Global Positioning System) tell you how far you've traveled and how many more miles or kilometers you have to go before you reach the end of your journey.
When you're presenting, you have to be the GPS and the road signs for your audience, especially at the intersections and transitions between points where they can get lost. One sentence is all it takes to get the audience safely from one point or section of your presentation to the next. For example, you might say, "The fourth and final major project risk is..." or "Now that I've summarized the history of the company from our founding to the initial public offering in 2003, let's look at what has happened since 2003."
Following these four tips will help you create a presentation that is clear and organized. Your audience will be grateful for the clarity - and a grateful audience is more likely to understand and remember your message. If you do nothing differently other than organize your presentation, you will still be a better presenter!
To get more tips you can use immediately to improve your presentation skills, sign up for Gilda Bonanno's free twice-monthly e-newsletter by visitinghttp://gildabonanno.com/newsletter.aspx and entering your email address.
You'll also receive a FREE Special Report, "Six Mistakes to Avoid in Public Speaking, So Your Presentation Sparkles."
Gilda Bonanno is a speaker, trainer and coach who helps people from all walks of life improve their communication and presentation skills. Copyright (c) 2010
When you are making a speech or presentation, you need to be aware that your gestures can support or detract from your message.
Learn to become aware of what your hands are doing while you speak.
If necessary, make yourself hold them still.
Many people have habits that are terribly distracting and yet they aren’t aware of what they are doing. They click or twiddle a pen, play with their hair or their clothes, hold a microphone with fingers unconsciously making a rude gesture, take glasses on and off, put hands in pockets and take them out.
All of these things are not necessarily detrimental in themselves, if the audience is absolutely focused on the speaker and the message. But if there is any reason for the audience’s attention to stray (and we all have short attention spans) then they will become fascinated, at best, and possibly annoyed at whatever it is that the speaker is doing with their hands.
Think of your Speech Title as if it were the Title of a Book Display on a shelf at Barnes & Noble.
When someone is eyeing the selections on the shelf where they have an interest, yours should jump out at them!
The Title should jump out so much that the person actually takes the book from the shelf, reads the back cover, and opens it to read the front and back flaps.
After "investigating" the book (i.e., your speech) because the title grabbed their attention, they "buy" it; that is, they come to see you speak because they want to learn more!
Unless you've given this lots and lots of thought, pencil the title to your speech in. Remember, this must be something that will make people want to come and see you speak.
The Title of your Speech is your: newspaper headline, title on the spine of your book, and the verbiage in the 'Subject Line' of your most important email, all rolled up in one.
Just like the title of a new movie might get you to go online and look at the trailers, your speech title needs more consideration than many people think.
Editors know if the Headline of a newspaper article doesn't get your attention, you probably won't read the article. Likewise, the Subject Line of an email that doesn't immediately grab the recipient's attention, might be deleted without opening it.
Until someone quotes you on national television or radio program, a great title that draws people to your presentation wanting to know more, is your best chance at filling the auditorium.
Realistically, you may have been assigned, or asked to do this talk by your boss or other official. Still, give it the thought it deserves. It may be after completing the development of your speech that the 'Ah Hah!' title will come to you.
You want the title to whet the appetite of the person who sees it. Whet it enough for them to want to know more, to see if it's something they could benefit from.
You may even find it's easiest to write your speech first, and then come up with a title. Have several titles in mind and bounce them off friends and family before deciding on one
The same holds true for a subtitle. It explains more about the contents and goals of the speech, and is an integral and important part of the title.
The Title is an integral part of your Speech. Give it the same thorough thought and attention all the other parts and elements of your speech are getting. Then the Title will fill the seats in the audience!
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, coach and author. His book, to be released later this year, is: "NO Sweat Public Speaking!" How to Develop, Practice, and Deliver a 'Knock Your Socks Of!' Speech with NO Sweat!
And the first part of any speech or presentation is to gain that 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.
Ah ... a contentious statement, that! What do you think? A great way to visualise the structure of your presentation or speech?
Yes. True. It's simplistic, and yes it has been abused.
Audiences may have short attention spans, but they need some subtelty from you.
But then, used subtly, yes it does work.
And that is because we all do have such short attention spans - including our audiences! If we want to make a point that will stay with an audience after they leave the room, we have to repeat and reinforce it throughout the presentation.
We also need to attract the attention, early in the speech, of those who learn best by being told, right from the start, what to expect from any session. If this step is skipped, we lose those people. They fidget and are uncomfortable.
Yes there are a myriad ways to structure a speech. And they can be used within the (subtle) main "Introduction, Body, conclusion." Storytelling, plot twists, meandering, and so many more all have their uses at the right place and time.
And for those creating a speech for the first time, its is a fundamental way to remind them to stay focussed on purpose and message, and to work with an audience to get that purpose achieved and message embedded.
Olivia Mitchell has written a great post on "How to craft a memorable key message in 10 minutes". Her post is an excellent model of how this works. It gives us 9 ways that the key message can be created - all incredibly relevant and useful. Sometimes it's good to be reminded, like this, to stay focussed.
Nick Morgan looks at three US Presidents' speeches in times of great tragedy. He defines what is needed at these moments and analyses the speeches in terms of those needs. The latest instance, of course, is Obama's response to the Fort Hood events. There is much for us all to learn, though we may not be political leaders, in Nick's analysis.
