Every so often we are called upon to make a difficult speech...you know the kind I mean. It might be a speech informing your employees that budgets are being cut by 25% and layoffs are required; it might be one where you communicate that the incentive trip everyone worked so hard for is canceled; it might be announcing to your faithful supporters than you are withdrawing from the campaign.
How do you deliver these kinds of messages with grace, poise and confidence?
Tag Archive for: public speaking
Most everybody would agree that working with Microsoft PowerPoint software probably ranks as one of the most frustrating things anybody encounters on a daily basis. There are, of course, masters of PowerPoint in just about every organization, but for most people, working in PowerPoint is after all these years still a painstaking experience.
The only thing more painful than a person working in PowerPoint is two people trying to work on the same PowerPoint presentation. And the only thing more painful than that is three people, and so on and so on.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/vizard/reducing-the-pain-of-powerpoint/?cs=37212#cf
There were two great orators from ancient Mediterranean: Demosthenes the Greek and Cicero the Roman.
It was said that when Cicero spoke, people exclaimed, "Great speech. Wonderful message. I couldn't agree with you more." And they showered him with accolades, adoration and standing ovations.
It was said that when Demosthenes spoke, people shouted, "Let Us March!"
Did you notice the difference?
Two great orators. People admired and loved the one. People were gripped and compelled to act by the other.
Cicero appealed more to logic. And reason. He carefully crafted his message to speak to the analytical and rational side of people.
Demosthenes appealed more to emotion. His message touched, tangled and transformed people's feelings. Feelings so strong they were willing to drop what they were doing to go into battle.
Let's travel in the time machine to the present...
Christy gave an excellent speech about her involvement with Women's Empowerment International. They help provide small loans to the world's poorest women, lifting them out of poverty, and creating a better future through their own hard work and ingenuity. You could say WE International is providing the dream of entrepreneurship to help poor women provide for their families, to better themselves and to live with a heightened sense of dignity.
She talked about the founder, Muhammad Yunus. She displayed a blown-up photograph of Rosario, a Mexican loan recipient who is making cheese and selling them door-to-door because her husband is no longer able to work. And she talked about what we, the audience, can do to help.
Christy had everyone's attention. You could almost hear a pin drop throughout her talk. When she concluded, we knew she had more to share. She did a phenomenal job. Everyone loved her message.
While there were a few people who wanted to join WE International, the majority sat on the sidelines. Why is that? Why wouldn't more people join up or donate their resources after Christy's fine presentation?
It goes back to Cicero and Demosthenes...
While Christy's message was technically sound, it didn't connect on an emotional level. Her message touched minds. It lacked the ability to touch hearts. And this is huge.
Here's the difference in a nutshell:
The audience thought WE International is a great idea. They felt good about its purpose and mission. A few donated $20 to become members.
But not one person said, "Let us march. I'm going to get involved. I'm going to pick up the WE International torch and run with it. I'm going to spread the word to everyone I know." Not even one.
Here's an important point...
Practice to become the best speaker you can. If your audience adores you, that's a good thing. You're taking up after Cicero.
But if you really want to move people to action - take up after Demosthenes. You'll touch people on a gut-wrenching, emotional level. You'll know by appealing to their hearts... their minds, desires and actions will follow.
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Want to include this article in your newsletter? You can if you include this blurb: If you're a speaker, trainer, coach, or a consultant, the major challenge you face is connecting with your audience. You talk, shout, or recite your message while they are dreaming about dinner. Their eyes are glossy, their minds' elsewhere, and their bodies ready to bolt. You don't have a lot of time, so you've got to grab their attention fast. Or else, you'll die wrestling against audience resistance. Find out how... |
Since you only die once, but you could live to give many speeches, why not learn to make public speaking easier? Here's what I did to help me take center stage—joyously!—at my book launch event:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/self-promotion-introverts/200910/public-speaking-private-people
Use humor in presentations to make yourself more likable. Humor is a great rapport builder which knocks down audience resistance to your message. Make sure you space it throughout your presentation. You will subconsciously or consciously be tagged as trite by the audience members and out of touch if you tell a joke at the beginning and then forget humor for the rest of the presentation.
(Ref: Wake 'em Up Business Presentations Page 4)http://www.antion.com/wakebook.htm
Sometimes it can be a huge challenge to be funny.
But being funny and using humour are incredibly powerful tools in public speaking. They can make an audience relate to your message. They can provide contrast to a serious subject and lighten the mood, making the audience more receptive. They can improve your image as a speaker and as a person.
Sometimes humour can be spontaneous and that is oftentimes the most effective it will be. But sometimes it takes practice and serious attention to writing the speech to create that spontaneity - faking it till making it is one of the rules of public speaking after all!!
We can research jokes. We can copy the successful styles of speakers who use humour.
And another way is to learn from the comedians. While comedy is different in many ways from public speaking, or maybe can be seen as a specialised form of public speaking, there is much that can be learned from the comedians and implemented in your speeches.
Larry Wilde did just that. He interviewed great comedians for a book and learned much in the process. He interviewed famous comedians like Woody Allen, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, George Burns, Johnny Carson, Phyllis Diller, Bob Hope, and Jerry Lewis.
And now you can hear an interview with Larry Wilde about his experiences and the education in comedy that he gained. The interview is conducted by none other than Patricia Fripp, herself an award-winning speaker.
Learn the inside secrets of America's greatest comedians. Hear the collective wisdom of the people who defined American comedy.
What the Great Comedians Teach Us About Comedy - Recorded live at the National Speakers Association of Northern California. Download here from Patricia Fripp's website.
from "10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking"
(Chapter 5 - pages 107 - 110)
Copyright, 2001 Philip Lief Group Inc & Lenny Laskowski
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Gestures are reflections of every speaker's individual personality. What's right for one speaker may not be right for another; however, if you apply the following seven rules, you can become a dynamic, confident speaker who uses gestures well.
1. Respond naturally to what you think, feel and see. - It's natural for you to gesture. If you inhibit your impulse to gesture, you'll probably become tense.
2. Create the condition for gesturing, not the gesture. - When you speak, you should be totally involved in communicating - not thinking about your hands. Your gestures should be naturally motivated by the content of your presentation.
3. Suit the action to the word and the occasion. - Your visual and verbal messages must function as partners in communicating the same thought or feeling. Every gesture you make should be purposeful and reflective of your words so the audience will note only the effect, not the gesture itself.
4. Don't overdo the gesturing. - You'll draw the listener away from your message. Young audiences are usually attracted to a speaker who uses vigorous gestures, but older, more conservative groups may feel your physical actions are overwhelming or irritating.
5. Make your gestures convincing. - Your gestures need to be lively and distinct if they are to convey the intended impressions. Effective gestures are vigorous enough to be convincing yet slow enough and broad enough to be clearly visible without being overpowering. For example, if you are conveying excitement about a point or topic in your speech, show it in your face such as with a big smile. If you are excited and don't show it, your body language sends a negative message. Your gestures need to match your words and the mood you are conveying.
6. Make your gestures smooth and well timed. - This rule is the most important but also the hardest. Why? Gestures have to be somewhat planned in advance so you can incorporate them during your speech rehearsal. In addition, practice sessions allow you to get a sense of how early you need to start your gesture so it coincides with the point you are making. Every gesture has three parts:
* The approach-Your body begins to move in anticipation.
* The stroke-The gesture itself.
* The return-This brings your body back to a balanced posture.
The flow of a gesture - the approach, the stroke, the return - must be smoothly executed so that only the stroke is evident to the audience. While it's advisable to practice gesturing, don't try to memorize your every move. This makes your
gesturing stilted and ineffective. For example, you're standing on the left-hand side of the stage (the audience's left) and you need to use the flip chart to illustrate a
point, but the flip chart is on the far right-hand side of the stage (the audience's right). You may say to your audience. "Let's take a look at it on the flip chart."
As you start this statement begin walking toward the flip chart (the approach). Your goal is to start your gesture early enough so you can walk naturally toward the flip
chart. At the word "flip" place your hand on the flip chart. This combined walking and placement of your hand on the flip chart is the gesture or the stroke. After a
brief moment, place your hand on the flip chart and then take your hand and move it to one of your resting positions. This is the return or completion of the gesture.
7. Make natural, spontaneous gesturing a habit. - The first step in becoming adept at gesturing is to determine what, it anything, you are doing now. For example, pay attention to the gestures you use in everyday conversations and try to use these gestures during your presentation. If you prefer, you can videotape your practice speech. The camcorder or video camera is truthful and unforgiving. If you want to
become a more effective speaker, you need to make the camcorder your best friend. Recording yourself is a surefire way to eliminate your distracting mannerisms. Videotape yourself and identify your bad habits. Then work at eliminating them.
All of my private executive coaching sessions and seminars, use a video camera to help the participants "see" what they are doing and what changes they need to make. To improve gestures, practice - but never during a speech. Practice gesturing when speaking informally to friends, family members, and co-workers.
Simply Speaking...Selling Yourself & Your Ideas E-Zine
Published by Lenny Laskowski
Copyright LJL Seminars(tm), 2003
All Rights Reserved
Writing an essay, taking a pop quiz, and giving a speech probably are three of the tasks students dread most. Speaking in public terrifies many people of all ages. Adolescents are not immune. It doesn't matter that they may be speaking only to their closest friends; most students feel very nervous because peer pressure is so intense. Usually there are a few students who delight at being given a chance to address their classmates. Over time with practice, the rest can learn to enjoy making oral presentations. They simply need to learn a few secrets.
The steps involved in writing a good essay are the same as those used to prepare a good speech. Both require the student first to organize his ideas and then to present them systematically. This helps readers and listeners to understand his line of reasoning.
Secret #1 is to write an "outline essay."
The first sentence answers the question, or makes a general statement. Each of the following sentences expresses a single reason or argument to support the first sentence. Think of these sentences as "bullet points;" students will elaborate on these points with facts and details in subsequent paragraphs. The last sentence offers a preliminary conclusion.
The "outline essay" becomes the first paragraph of the paper. It provides an overview of what the student is going to tell the reader. Then he actually tells him in the paragraphs that follow. Finally, he uses the final paragraph to remind the reader what he was told. The "outline essay" provides the student with a road map for presenting his ideas in an orderly manner.
The outline essay also can function as a "crib sheet" for presenting the essay's content orally to the student's classmates. So what? How does this make it any easier to stand up in front of the class and give a speech?
Here is secret #2: It is not necessary to memorize every sentence in the essay.
The other people in the class won't have a copy of the essay in front of them. They don't know what the student wrote. It won't matter if he leaves out a few minor details. All that matters is presenting the ideas in a logical sequence to make it easy for classmates to understand them. Think about it: What do folks fear most about giving a speech?
A) They are afraid of appearing foolish.
B) They are afraid of losing their train of thought.
No one enjoys listening to someone reading a speech word for word. It sounds awkward and stilted. More important, it prevents the speaker from making eye contact with individuals in the audience. A relaxed speaker can use vocal tones and voice inflections to add another dimension to the content of a paper, causing it to be even more persuasive.
Accomplished public speakers always know their material well, yet they present it as if they were merely having a conversation with the audience. After writing the essay itself, a student should be familiar with its content. It should be fairly easy to address his or her classmates about the essay's topic, referring to the outline essay occasionally to stay on track. Giving a speech provides students with a taste of what it's like to be in "Show Biz." The fear of ridicule is offset by the delicious sense of power that comes from delivering a speech, which is well received by the audience. Presenting an essay orally to classmates is excellent training for becoming a competent public speaker. This skill can be useful to students for the rest of their lives..
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Michael Strong created the ColorCode System to teach his daughters afflicted with A.D.D. how to write an essay. By demonstrating visually the format of a properly structured essay, the ColorCode System enabled his daughters to grasp this important concept in less than 30 minutes. The pattern of the colors helped them think logically and organize their ideas. They used those ideas to write an outline essay, which became the first paragraph. By following the format illustrated in the color-coded sample essay, they learned how to present their ideas systematically for every essay assignment, regardless of topic. They began writing good essays and getting better grades. Both daughters gained admission to their "first choice" college. You can learn more about the ColorCode System at http://essaywritesystem.com Michael Strong earned a Diplome from the University of Lyon, France; a B.A. in Political Science and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the '60s, he served as a Page Boy in the British Merchant Marine, a Private 1st Class in the US Marine Corps and a Midshipman at the US Naval Academy. During the '70s, he taught school; opened Town Hall - the legendary Chapel Hill nightclub; managed Brice Street Band and ran the UNC Campus Mail Service. From 1983 until he retired in April 2009, he worked as a stockbroker and as a Certified Financial Planner. He and his wife Nancy have been married 38 years and live on 12 wooded acres 5 miles south of Chapel Hill NC. |
Some speaking sins, like the occasional “ah” or “um”, will not doom your presentation. With good content, you can earn forgiveness from the audience for those sins.
Other speaking sins are so grave that when you commit them, your speech or presentation is certain to fail. This article reveals the seven deadly sins of public speaking.
http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/2009/09/21/7-deadly-sins-public-speaking/
by Peter Jeff
End your speech with an attitude, not a platitude.
Instead of firing off a perfunctory “thank you,” consider launching fireworks of final passionate thoughts from the podium.
