Public Speaking and Presentations Skills Mentor Blog http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com Most recent posts at Public Speaking and Presentations Skills Mentor Blog posterous.com Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:26:00 -0700 Smile http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/smile http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/smile

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Must I REALLY explain this one? Actually, it seems so! It sounds like such a simple concept, but I have seen presenters walk to the stage completely stone-faced, and then try to warm up the audience with a joke.

Your presentation doesn’t begin when you open your mouth, it begins the second you become visible to your audience. Before you even make it all the way to the stage much of your audience has already taken a good look at your face. They have already passed an initial judgment on you.

If your objective is to win your audience over, a smile will help make that happen. Be warm with your audience; show them that you’re sincerely happy to be there with them.

Being Sensational

So, what’s the lesson? Smile!

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Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:33:00 -0700 You Never Know Who’s In the Audience http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/you-never-know-whos-in-the-audience http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/you-never-know-whos-in-the-audience

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Always comport yourself as if the most important person in your life’s watching you, because they may just be doing so!

I’ve often been told that so and so had been in the audience, after I’ve delivered a talk or a presentation. I’ve learned to comport myself as if the most important person in the world’s watching From Stage Fright To Spotlight me at all times, and I learned this lesson in Thunder Bay, Ontario, back in the early 1980’s.

I was on the road with the band, and three of us headed to a Laundromat, to get our laundry done. We were always joking around, and making fun of ourselves, whether on the stage, or off the stage. The Laundromat was mostly empty, with the exception of the three of us, and one older man, who was sitting alone at the other end of the room, engrossed in his book.

We were all wearing our band jackets, with the name of the band, “Midnite Sun,” emblazoned on the back, and with our individual names on the shoulders. We were goofing around, and making fun of each other, as was usually the case. Then I decided to give our agent a call from the pay phone, because we’d had a cancellation for the following week, and he was working on finding a replacement gig.

I spoke with him on the phone for a few minutes, and then announced to my band mates that after we were done in Thunder Bay, we were off to a place called Assiniboia, in Saskatchewan.

Who’d ever heard of such a place? Certainly not us, and so we made jokes about the name, and how it must be a little hick town, along with all the other wisecracks that young men generate.

The next morning, the front page of the newspaper held a headline that read, “Midnite Sun En Route to Assiniboia.” The page was split in two columns. The first column talked about our silly antics in the Laundromat, and the second column gave a short history about the town of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan.

Being Sensational

The older gentleman in the Laundromat was a reporter, and he wasn’t reading his book, he was writing in it. He had quoted some of our silly wisecracks, and explained how he’d enjoyed watching us have our fun in the Laundromat.

That evening, we broke the all-time attendance record at the venue we were performing in. There was a lineup of patrons wanting to get in, and it stretched out the door and down the street.

Similar events have happened to me many times over the years, so I’ve learned that you never know who’s in the audience watching you, even when you’re not on a stage.

So, what’s the lesson? Always comport yourself as if the most important person in the world’s watching, because they just might be!

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Sun, 30 Sep 2012 17:07:00 -0700 Go Forth and Change the World! http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/go-forth-and-change-the-world http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/go-forth-and-change-the-world

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If you have something to say, say it! Don’t ever let someone else silence your voice. Tell your story, share your dreams and sing your song. The world needs what you carry inside you, and you have the opportunity to change lives with your words.

At every opportunity, take the stage, grab the Spotlight, and tell the world who you are, and what you believe in. Your wisdom could be the catalyst that ignites the fire within someone else, and this someone else could go on to change the world.

Remember, stories are meant to be told. The world is listening; all you have to do is speak!

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Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:36:00 -0700 Stick Around. People Will Want to be Close http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/stick-around-people-will-want-to-be-close http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/stick-around-people-will-want-to-be-close

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To You Because of all the years I’ve spent speaking and performing, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about what to do to stand out from the crowd. One of those lessons is to stick around, after the show or presentation is over.

Being Sensational

When we were on the road with the band, I noticed that many other bands would completely leave the place right after they finished performing, or even step out when they were on their breaks. Our band never did that. We always made ourselves available to the crowd. We didn’t do this as some sort of strategy, we simply enjoyed the attention. People would flock around us!

Most people love to speak with the someone that was on the stage, and that applies to speakers, as well as performers. In the fall of 2010, I attended a conference, hosted by a large mortgage company. This event featured two excellent speakers.

One of them left immediately after his presentation, while the other stayed, and he mingled with the audience for quite some time afterward. Which one do you think people remember the most? Certainly, they remember the speaker who mingled, because people felt like they were able to get to know him a little.

Of course, it’s not always possible to stay, especially if your schedule has you catching a flight, or you’re scheduled to speak somewhere else. I mentioned that I try not to travel on the day that I speak. That applies to traveling to the gig, as well as from the gig. Wherever possible, if I’m speaking out of town, my intention is to schedule my time so that I have nowhere to go immediately after the gig, even if that means staying the night at a hotel. The connections that are often made after a speaking gig can be too valuable to pass up.

So, what’s the lesson? Whenever feasible, schedule your time so that you can remain available to mingle after your presentation.

From Stage Fright To Spotlight

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Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:57:00 -0700 Lighten Up, Will Ya? http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/lighten-up-will-ya http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/lighten-up-will-ya

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Holly is an amazing lady I have the good fortune of knowing! She’s a former police officer, now turned entrepreneur, and she attended one of my public speaking classes the evening before I wrote this piece. Because of her training in interrogation techniques as a police officer, Holly tends to be a little rigid when she speaks. She has a fun and loveable personality, but when she stands before an audience, she turns into a bit of a drill sergeant.

Holly stood in front of the class, impeccably dressed with her suit jacket done up, just as it should be when she’s speaking to an audience. Then, Holly the drill sergeant began to speak.

From Stage Fright To Spotlight

I asked her to undo her jacket button, just so she could feel a little less formal. She protested slightly, but she finally complied, and began to loosen up a little. As she was speaking, I had to interrupt her a few times, and ask for Holly the lady to speak, instead of Holly the drill sergeant.

Finally, after several interruptions, Holly the lady broke free. All of the sudden, there she was, the woman we’d all been waiting for. Holly the lady began to speak. She told us about an accident that had befallen her, when she was trapped in an elevator as it fell six stories to the ground. She finally became animated and emotional, and it was so powerful that she had us all captivated.

She lightened up from her Holly the drill sergeant persona! Holly has a little more work to do, because she slipped back into drill sergeant mode after she finished the story, but that’s okay, because now she knows how to lighten up, and it’s going to profoundly improve her speaking skills.

So, what’s the lesson? Lighten up when you take the stage. Your audience will relate to you so much better if you’re just being you.

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Sun, 23 Sep 2012 18:27:00 -0700 Learn The Rules, Then Break Them. Carefully! http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/learn-the-rules-then-break-them-carefully http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/learn-the-rules-then-break-them-carefully

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Knowing all the “rules” that are laid out in this book, as well as in many other great books about public speaking, is critically important. It’s important to know these rules, in order for you to follow them, but also in order for you to break them!

Someone who has no training or knowledge about how to speak in public effectively will likely break every rule there is, and their presentation will be a mess. However, every now and then, we see amazing speakers who seem to break the rules so effectively that they make a huge impression.

At a conference in Atlanta, Georgia, I witnessed a speaker who looked so unpolished, and looked so rough around the edges, that my first impression was, “Who the heck is this character, and what’s he doing on the stage?” His mastery of the stage was quickly apparent when he began to speak, however. This guy was brilliant, but he broke the rules of stage etiquette regularly, and that’s what made him unique and memorable. He was foul-

Being Sensational mouthed, and he cracked offensive jokes, but he was able to do it in such a way the audience just loved him for it.

I don’t, for one second, recommend that you try to pull that off! This speaker was one of those rare individuals who could just do it. He had everyone in the place laughing hysterically, but when it came time to make his serious points, he was as professional and powerful as any speaker I’ve ever seen.

What worked for this speaker won’t likely work for you, but there may be other rules you can think of breaking. You must be selective, and you must use caution in doing so, but if you do so successfully, it will help make you a little different than other speakers. As you review this book, consider which of the principles don’t resonate well with your personality. Then go right ahead  and break those principles. Be brave, be creative, and be groundbreaking, but do so with the objective of being a better speaker, not a lazy speaker.

So, what’s the lesson? If you’re going to break the rules, do it selectively and with caution, as long as it improves your performance.

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Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:58:00 -0700 Write Your Own Introduction http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/write-your-own-introduction http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/write-your-own-introduction

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How you’re introduced to an audience is the first step to being sensational on the stage. The introduction is a critical point in your presentation, because it’s your audience’s first exposure to you. You want it to be perfect! Don’t waste this precious opportunity, an opportunity that lets you paint a picture in your audience’s mind about who you are. Leaving your introduction to the discretion of the Master of Ceremonies isn’t going to give you the powerful opening you need. Unfortunately, many speakers omit this important step.

To write an effective introduction, spare the audience from having to endure a long and painful list of your accomplishments. They don’t really care about what you’ve done that much. It’s always best to keep your introduction short, sweet, and powerful. Include only the information that’s really From Stage Fright To Spotlight important to your audience, and use your introduction as a mood-setter.

At one of my recent events, I had the privilege of introducing Peggy McColl, a New York Times Best-Selling Author. You’ve already read about her in this book.

Peggy has a list of accomplishments that could go on forever, and I could probably spend an entire twenty-minute presentation just rattling off her past work. At our session, however, the topic she was to present her advice about was how to write a book in a single weekend. Peggy didn’t send me an introduction, so I formulated my own. (I bet she won’t do that again, after she reads this book!)

Even though I could have gone on and on about how amazing she is, I restricted her introduction to three relevant points:

1. She’s a ‘New York Times’ best-selling author, and this establishes respect for her work.

2. She’s written eight books, and this establishes her vast wisdom and experience.

3. Her most recent book was written in a single weekend, and this proves she’s just done what she’s going to teach us to do.

Her introduction went something like this, “Our next speaker is a New York Times Best Selling Author. She recently completed her eighth book, which she wrote in a single weekend, and she’s here today to show you how she did it, so you can do it too.

Please help me welcome Peggy McColl.” Being Sensational This is a simple, but effective introduction. When you prepare your introduction, include only the credentials that are relevant to the situation. Make it short, make it sweet, and set yourself up so that your audience awaits your first word with baited breath.

So, what’s the lesson? Take control of how you’re looked upon, as you step onto the stage. Write your own introduction.

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Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:21:00 -0700 Humor? You Must Be Joking! http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/humor-you-must-be-joking http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/humor-you-must-be-joking

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About two weeks before writing this chapter, my step-son, Daniel, told me he was giving a presentation in one of his university courses. He told me he was planning on starting with a joke, because he was taught to begin presentations that way. Not by me, he wasn’t!

The joke he planned to open with was lame, not at all funny, and very old. Is there a worse way to begin a presentation? Probably, but I’ve never seen it.

Unless you’re a comedian, jokes have no place in presentations, or speaking gigs. Now, before you humorists get all up in arms, let me explain my reasoning. A joke and a humorous anecdote aren’t the same things.

If you can pull off humor in a presentation, you’re golden with your audience! But telling a canned joke is a very risky business. There are many reasons not to use canned jokes in your presentation, not the least of which is that your audience may have heard those jokes before. Your audience may not think your jokes are funny, or they may find your jokes offensive.

From Stage Fright To Spotlight

Humor, on the other hand, is a great way to keep your audience fully engaged. Humor should be spontaneous, or at least, appear to be so, and it should be directed at you. This is generally the safest way to interject humor, because you’re less likely to offend if you’re making fun of yourself.

Not everyone can effectively use humor in their speeches, and if you’re one of those people, don’t try to force it. Some people aren’t naturally funny, and trying to be something you’re not can kill your presentation.

So, what’s the lesson? If you can pull it off, use seemingly spontaneous, self-directed humor. If you’re not funny by nature, leave the humor to the humorists.

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Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:59:00 -0700 Speak Slower Than You Think Is Natural http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/speak-slower-than-you-think-is-natural http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/speak-slower-than-you-think-is-natural

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I’m a very fast talker. The average English-speaking person speaks at about 120 words per minute. I suspect that I speak at about 150, with gusts up to about 225, when I get on a roll. It’s a natural tendency to speak faster when you’re nervous, or excited. And a faster pace signals excitement or urgency, so it can be a good thing in some cases. More often, however, our pace can increase dramatically, and we’re not aware of doing so.

To help you take control of your speaking pace, and to help you keep your verbal velocity more deliberate, record your talks and presentations. Listen to them carefully afterward, paying attention to your pacing. In addition, consider planting someone in the audience who can signal you when you’re raging out of control.

For speakers whose pattern is to speak at a higher rate of speed, slowing ourselves down can feel painful and unnatural. If you’re a fast talker, one way to flag yourself down is to embed a yield sign into your mental notes. As you may remember, keeping mental notes was the topic of Chapter Ten, Item #82. This gives you a mental reminder to be conscious of your speed, and to slow your pace down to a speed that may feel less than natural to you. If it feels uncomfortably slow to you, it’s likely about right for the audience.

To this day, I run into this problem all the time. When I provide a webinar, or do a recording session, I post a sign that says, From Stage Fright To Spotlight “SLOW DOWN,” in big block letters, and I keep this sign on my wall or desk. I also record almost every presentation I give, so I can review them and further improve my delivery. In almost every presentation or talk I give, I find at least one occasion where I go off the rails with my pacing.

So, what’s the lesson? If you’re a fast talker, build in some flags to slow you down to a pace that might feel a little uncomfortable for you. That’s probably the right pace for the audience.

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Tue, 11 Sep 2012 22:30:00 -0700 Asking Questions, What’s the Point? http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/asking-questions-whats-the-point http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/asking-questions-whats-the-point

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I was watching a motivational speaker do a session about finances. This speaker was a little too hyper for my taste, but he did do a good job of keeping my attention. He was loud, he was fast, and he was big on the stage. Every time he made a point, he’d hold his right hand straight up in the air, and he’d ask, “True, or true?” He’d then move over to his next point immediately.

In this particular case, he was clearly asking the question rhetorically, and his audience recognized that. It was a presentation tactic, because he really gave his audience no way to disagree, so this was just a little quirk that he included in his presentation, to make himself a little different from the rest of the speakers, and I must say it worked. I remembered him, and I’m writing about him right now.

However, I’ve seen too many speakers pose questions to their audience, and really give no chance for the audience to respond to the question, or, if the audience does get a chance to respond, there’s nothing done with that response information.

Let’s explore a few tips to help you be more effective at engaging your audience when asking questions. First, only ask a question if you know the answer, or if an unexpected answer won’t disrupt your presentation. The next item, point #90, provides a great explanation for this.

Second, make sure your audience knows how to give you the answer. Give clear instructions, in order to avoid confusion. For example, asking, “Have you ever had to stand on your head?” doesn’t provide clear instructions on giving a response. Instead, if you give the audience this task, “Put your hand up if you’ve ever had to stand on your head,” it provides clear instructions on what’s expected as a response. Hands will either go up, or they won’t, and either way, you’ve been provided with a response.

Third, have a reason for asking for a response, and do something with the response. You could say, “Put your hand up if you’ve ever had to stand on your head.” And then, you could follow that up with, “I see that less than half the room has ever had to stand on their head. This shows that…” In this way, you’ve asked the audience for information, and your audience now knows why you wanted that information. They know the reason they either raised their hands or not.

So, what’s the lesson? Ask questions of your audience only if you have good reason to, and explain what that reason is, but also give clear instructions on how they’re to respond.

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Sun, 09 Sep 2012 18:19:00 -0700 Audience Engagement http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/audience-engagement http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/audience-engagement

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I recently attended a workshop, conducted by an experienced professional speaker. As part of the session, we were all given an opportunity to deliver a short presentation. My presentation included a bit of audience interaction. After I completed my presentation, our host strongly suggested that, as speakers, we should never engage our audience. His argument was that we relinquish control when we do this, and may find it difficult to get that control back.

I have to tell you, I have over thirty years of experience, having been in the entertainment business, and in the speaking business, and I would beg to differ. I engage my audience at every opportunity. Though it does require some skill to maintain control at times, the rewards are well worth whatever risk is present.

Your audience members don’t want to be static recipients of your message. They want to be a part of the show. That doesn’t mean you should be getting them on the stage, although that can, and should, happen occasionally. It does mean, however, that they want to be, at the very least, mentally and emotionally involved.

There are safe ways to engage your audience and still maintain control. For example, you can have them raise their hands, have them stand up, have them yell out answers to your questions, or even have them catch things you toss out to them, always in a safe fashion, obviously! These are very simple ways to engage your audience, and it takes nothing away from your performance, but it brings your audience into the game with you.

There is one stipulation that should be noted, however. Audience engagement must have a purpose, other than to get them engaged. There must be a reason for getting them to do something. Otherwise, it comes across as a tactic, and not an important part of the session. If you’re going to ask for them to raise their hands, do something with that resulting show of hands. Explain the purpose of the exercise. Have a point to it all.

I’ve seen many speakers ask their audience to interact, with no explanation or reason behind the interaction. This gets old very fast, and your audience will stop complying, or comply out of politeness, and begrudge you every minute of it.

So, what’s the lesson? Get your audience engaged, but with a purpose in mind, and you’ll keep their attention.

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Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:44:00 -0700 How to Completely Kill the Moment http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/how-to-completely-kill-the-moment http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/how-to-completely-kill-the-moment

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Imagine you’re making love. You’re in the middle of the  steamiest moment. You’re excited, engaged and completely involved, when all of a sudden, your partner stops, flips the page in the manual, reads the instructions, and then tries to pick up where he or she left off. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?

I get so frustrated when a speaker has my attention, and is on a roll with a captivating message. When the speaker has me enthralled, both mentally and emotionally, but then has to stop to check notes. What a way to completely kill the moment! Here’s how you can prevent such a showstopper. Instead of notes or a script, consider using a mental picture stack.

In my training programs, the first thing I do is give my students a very simple mental picture to follow for their first presentation, and here it is:

In your mind, picture a huge name plate with your name on it, and picture it balancing on edge on the top of your head. You struggle to keep it balanced as it sways to and fro, but you manage to keep it balanced on your head.

At the same time, there’s a rolled up map being stuffed up your nose, as if by some magical force. With your right hand you’re trying to pull the map out of your nose, but it keeps pushing itself back in there.

While all of that’s happening, there’s a giant Cheerio stuck to your bottom lip, and it’s pulling your bottom lip down. It’s very heavy, and it’s pulling your face down while you’re trying to keep that map out of your nose, and you still have to keep balancing that name plate on your head. As if that’s not enough, your left hand’s holding a goal net, like the ones used in ice hockey. This net is in front of your stomach, and it’s very heavy, plus very awkward. Your left arm’s tired from the weight of this goal net, your face is being pulled down by a giant Cheerio on your bottom lip, your right hand’s fighting with the map that’s pushing its way up your nose, and that name plate’s still trying to fall off your head.

What on Earth could all of that possibly mean? It’s a visual road map for the first presentation my students give in class. Their first assignment is to stand in front of the class, and tell us their name (name plate), where they’re from (rolled up map), what their occupation is (Cheerio is “O” for occupation), and what their goal is in the class (goal net). See how that works?

This same process can be used for a presentation of any length of time, and it can completely remove the need for written notes. When it’s time to move from one topic to the next, a moment of silent thought is all that’s required to think about the next picture in the stack, and then to move into that topic. Your audience has no clue that you’re using the notes, because they’re in your mind.

The key to success in using this strategy is to exaggerate the pictures, and include motion. The more ridiculous the scenes, the easier it’ll be to recall them. I’ve done entire workshops with this method. There’s no limit to the number of items that you can recall, with a little practice.

So, what’s the lesson? To keep the momentum going, get rid of the paper notes, and use picture stacks in your mind instead.

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Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:19:00 -0700 Have Fun http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/have-fun http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/have-fun

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This is the simplest, but pretty much the most important, of all the rules of speaking in public. When I was in the band, I used to say that our audience will never get more excited about our music than we will.

For years, our band traveled the country, playing every kind of venue you can think of. We sold out at pubs and taverns, we broke attendance records in some venues, and we even had a fan club. The funny thing about this is that we weren’t that good of a band! Our music was fine, but not nearly as good as many other bands. We weren’t as polished as many other bands, plus we didn’t have the best equipment on the planet. I believe we just weren’t as talented as many other bands, but they weren’t doing nearly as well as we were. So, what was our secret? We were fun!

We had more fun on that stage than any other band touring around, during that time period. We made jokes, we screwed up regularly on stage, we laughed at each other, we jumped around, and we had loads and loads of fun every single time we hit the stage, but every second of it was sincere and honest. We just loved to be in front of an audience, and it showed. The result was that we had people flocking in to come and see us play.

The exact same concept holds true for speakers. Some speakers don’t seem to appreciate the magnitude of the opportunity, or the responsibility they’ve been given by being on the stage. The Spotlight is glorious, and we, as speakers, should respect it, we should savor it and most of all, we should enjoy it. The worst thing a speaker can do to an audience is to bore them.

An audience will forgive just about any mishap, any mistake, or any fumble, as long as they’re having a good time. There’s no way an audience is going to have a good time, if the speaker isn’t also.

I’m not suggesting that you need to jump around like an idiot on the stage. We did that in the band at times, because it was fitting of the environment we were in. I’m simply suggesting that your audience will never elevate themselves beyond your emotional elevation. While you’re on stage, you’re the leader. Your audience looks to you to establish the emotional altitude.

So, what’s the lesson? Above all else, have fun. Your audience will love you for it!

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Mon, 03 Sep 2012 01:14:00 -0700 Whatever Happens, Make It Look Deliberate http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/whatever-happens-make-it-look-deliberate http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/whatever-happens-make-it-look-deliberate

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In early summer of 2010, my daughter graduated from high school. I was sitting in an auditorium that held maybe a thousand people or more, and I was enjoying the very elaborate graduation ceremony. The valedictorian was scheduled to give his speech in a few minutes, but, before he got to do so, the power went out in the auditorium. The entire stage went black, and the sound system shut off, so nothing worked anymore. The emergency lights came on, but they were positioned to illuminate the exits, not the stage.

Now, if you’re a seventeen-year-old, about to give your speech as the class valedictorian, is this not pretty much the highlight of your life up to this point? Does this not rank up there as one of the most important events in your life so far? I wonder what must have gone through his mind, as his time to make his speech approached, and he had no light from which to read his speech, and no sound system with which to project his voice. I can only imagine the anxiety that must have been surging through him.

The Master of Ceremonies had to keep the program going, so, with a loud, booming voice, the MC introduced the valedictorian, whom no one could see in the dark. This young man stepped to the front of the stage, where there was a single ray of very dim light from one of the emergency lights, and, from memory, he began to speak. The entire auditorium went completely silent, as we strained to hear the young man’s voice, but we only had to strain for a moment. As the crowd fell silent in the auditorium, his voice rang through the stands as clearly, and with as much professionalism, as I’ve ever heard from a speaker.

He had no light, had no script, and had no microphone. Yet, he captured the attention of every person in the auditorium, all thousand-plus of us. His speech was profound, was masterfully delivered, and was one of the best speeches I can remember being a witness to. It was like he’d planned it this way all along.

Two minutes after his speech ended, the power came back on, but he had already won us over in the dark. I have to tell you another story, because it fits in so well with this topic. A close friend of mine is a master magician, and his name is Elliott Smith. In late summer of 2010, while Elliott was performing in a magic show, there was suddenly an earthquake.

In Ottawa, Canada, earthquakes aren’t common. This one happened to hit in the middle of Elliott’s show. He briefly stopped his performance and waited for the tremor to stop, then looked at his audience and, without skipping a beat, asked, “Now, who wants to see me do that again?”

So, what’s the lesson? Expect the unexpected. When it happens, make it look like it was all part of the plan.

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Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:12:00 -0700 Share the Stage, But Be Careful http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/share-the-stage-but-be-careful http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/share-the-stage-but-be-careful

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On occasion, I like to share the stage. I’ll bring up a volunteer to participate in a demonstration, or even bring up a guest to share a quick story. This can be very effective, but also very dangerous, and you’ll need to decide for yourself how adventurous you want to get.

In item #83, I explained the importance of staying within your time limit. If you plan to share the stage, you’ll need to make sure your guest agrees to, and abides by, a time limit, or you may have to politely interject, and stop them from taking over your program.

Another risk is that your guest may not behave exactly according to plan. I invited a volunteer to the stage once, and, to prove a point, set up a scenario that was meant to garner a specific reaction from the volunteer. This scenario had him walking down the street, and had him see me coming toward him. He was to recognize me as his long-lost brother. He was to have been searching for me all of his life, and right out of the blue, there I was. I asked him how he would respond. I expected him to open his arms, and to welcome his long-lost brother back into his life, but instead, this volunteer put his hands on his hips, and yelled angrily, “Where the hell have you been?” Not exactly the response I was hoping for.

So, what’s the lesson? Sharing the stage can get a laugh, and it can enhance the experience for your audience, as well as help you prove a point. Be aware, however, that it can also be fraught with peril. Be prepared for the possibility that things might not develop the way you expected them to.

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Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:55:00 -0700 Use Flip Charts Backwards http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/use-flip-charts-backwards http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/use-flip-charts-backwards

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This is a cool little trick I learned years ago. You’ve probably seen presenters struggle with the flip chart paper, as they try to lift it over the top of the chart. The paper gets crumpled, and won’t fall properly. Most speakers have struggled with this, from time to time.

When I use a flip chart, I turn all of the pages up first, so that I begin using the last page of the pad, and I flip them from back to front. I do this for two reasons:

First, when the pages are flipped over the top of the chart, it’s much easier to grab them from behind the chart. The pages are already separated, and they’re at chest height, so I don’t have to bend down.

Second, once I grab the sheet, there’s already a forward pulling force on it, because the sheets are mounted on the front of the chart, and the fold is pulling the paper for me. I simply have to lift the sheet a little, and let gravity drop it smoothly into place.

Try it! Flip the papers of the flip chart backwards, from back to front. You’ll see how smoothly you can flow through those pages, with next to zero effort, and no awkward fumbles.

So, what’s the lesson? I think you get it!

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Sun, 26 Aug 2012 19:21:00 -0700 Don’t Speak to Your Audience, Converse With Them Instead http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/dont-speak-to-your-audience-converse-with-the http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/dont-speak-to-your-audience-converse-with-the

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Wikipedia defines a conversation as, “communication between two or more people.” A conversation flows two ways, and it should do so from the stage as well. Now, that doesn’t mean both parties must speak; it means there’s some communication between the two. This typically requires mutual attention and 150 Take The Stage respect, in order to establish transference of both information, and emotion.

In order for you to converse with your audience, you first need their attention. A very simple way to command your audience’s attention as soon as you take the stage is by giving them your attention first. You can do this through silence. That’s right, say nothing, do nothing. Just stand there, and look into your audience. This lets your audience know they have your attention, and that you’re expecting theirs. I’ve done this hundreds of times, and it works very well. It sometimes takes longer than is comfortable, but it does work, and you need to remain steadfast until you have everyone’s attention, not just some of them.

If you begin speaking before you have your audience’s attention, you’re not conversing with them, you’re merely speaking at them, and they’re not listening. Standing in silence and looking at your audience takes moxie, no doubt about it. But it can be a very powerful way to command their attention.

Once you have their attention, you’ll need to gain their respect. You can do that by first giving them yours. Respect your audience by being properly prepared, appropriately dressed, professionally poised and effectively projected in your voice.

The more prepared you are in every aspect of your presentation, the more respect you’ll have shown for your audience, and the more respect they’re likely to have for you.

With your audience’s attention and respect, you’re in a great position to just chat with them as you would a close friend, and they’re in a position to do more than receive your message. They become silent participants in the conversation.

So, what’s the lesson? Command your audience’s attention, and respect, by first giving them yours, then just converse with them like you would with an old friend.

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Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:21:00 -0700 If You Don’t Know the Answer, Don’t Ask the Question http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-ask-the-ques http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-ask-the-ques

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Around 1987, I was sitting in a large conference room that held between eighty and one-hundred other business people. Our host was at the podium, introducing our guest speaker. The guest speaker had just published a new book. He was the founder of an organization and on the board of directors for another corporation. He had a list of credentials a mile long.

As his name was announced, our guest speaker stepped up to the podium. As I watched him, I noticed how successful he looked. He was tall, confident, and self-assured. He was wearing an expensive looking suit that was most likely custom tailored, and I was thinking, “This is going to be really good!” As our speaker stepped up to the podium, he raised his right hand high into the air, and he asked this question, “By a show of hands, who here has read The One Minute Manager?” (This wasn’t the book this speaker had written.)

I hadn’t read that book, so I didn’t raise my hand. I look around the room, and not a single hand was raised. “No one has read, The One Minute Manager?” he asked, now looking a little concerned. I scanned the room again, and still found no hands in the raised position.

Our speaker began to stumble over his words at this point, as if he’d been completely thrown off by the fact that nobody in the room had read that book. He grabbed a piece of paper off the podium, and his hand began to shake so badly we could hear that paper rattle clear across the room. After a few seconds of stumbling and stammering, our speaker took both of his hands, brought them up to his face, and began to weep like a child.

My jaw dropped, and I was now staring at this man in complete disbelief. I figured this must be part of his show, or something of the kind. After a few moments, he removed his hands from his face; he then wiped his hands on his custom tailored suit, as he picked up his papers and he walked out the door.

Our speaker didn’t anticipate the answer to his question would be anything other than what he was prepared for. When he was caught off guard by the audience response, it threw him right off his game, and everything in his mind came crashing down around him. To this day, I don’t recall this poor man’s name, nor have I seen him anywhere else since.

So, what’s the lesson? Never pose a question to an audience, unless you either know what their answer will be in advance, or you’re thoroughly prepared to handle any other possible answer that could come up.

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Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:33:00 -0700 Stay Within Your Time Limit. Always! http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/stay-within-your-time-limit-always http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/stay-within-your-time-limit-always

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About thirty minutes before I began writing this section, I received a phone call from a friend who was scheduled to give a  presentation that very evening. She asked me for some input on a few things. She shared with me that she’d been allocated five minutes for her presentation, but planned to “hijack” more time.

I strongly advised against it, and I hope she heeded my advice. You’ll have to buy the next book to find out if she did or not.

In late 2007, my wife, Sharon, and I held a seminar. As part of our session, we invited two guest speakers, both of them doctors. Before the event, I spoke directly with each of them, and we discussed their allotment of time, and their main topics. We reached an agreement on topics, and on a fifteen-minute time limit. We planned our session, in significant part, around the agreed-upon topics and time limits.

During the session, the time came up for the first guest speaker to take the stage. His presentation was outstanding! As he presented, I sat off to one side of the platform, beside his laptop computer. He had to walk over to the computer many times, in order to advance his slides.

After his allotted fifteen minutes, there was no sign of his presentation coming near an end. After twenty minutes had passed, I flagged him down when he walked over to advance his slides. “Hey Doc, you have to wrap it up,” I told him. He didn’t, and I signaled for him to end about a dozen times.

After forty-five minutes, he finally ended his presentation, so I walked out onto the stage and politely thanked him. For the past half-hour, the second guest speaker had been standing there, ready to present, but his allotted time was already long gone as well.

I felt that we had to honor our invitation to the second guest speaker, so I introduced him, and welcomed him to the stage. He, too, had agreed on a fifteen minute maximum, but took a full thirty minutes to complete his presentation.

The net result was that we weren’t able to include all of the information we’d planned for the seminar. The complete second half of our seminar was destroyed, because we weren’t able to squeeze it all in.

I learned two important lessons that day. The first lesson was that I won’t allow a guest speaker to hijack my meetings again. The next time, I’ll walk right out onto the stage if I must, and wrap their presentation up for them. The second lesson I learned was that I’ll never do that to anyone else. Never will I run overtime in a presentation. It’s disrespectful to the organizers, to all of the other speakers who must follow, and to the audience.

So, what’s the lesson? Be respectful; always stay within your allocated time limit.

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Sun, 19 Aug 2012 22:30:00 -0700 Avoid the Apology http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/avoid-the-apology http://publicspeakingtrainingblog.posterous.com/avoid-the-apology

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I would say the most common thing I see from my students is the tendency to walk up to the front, and tell us all the reasons why their talk is going to suck!

I haven’t really prepared anything.

I’m not good at public speaking.

This isn’t something I’d normally do.

I was going to talk about this other thing, but I changed my

mind.

I didn’t know I was going to be speaking today.

These are the most common opening statements I hear in my classes, and they’re really just products of nervous energy. Most people are very uncomfortable with speaking in public, so when they walk up to the front to speak, they have to release that energy somehow. In their minds, what better way to do it than to explain to the audience members the reason they shouldn’t expect too much? That takes the pressure off the speaker, right?

In actuality, these nervous opening statements make speaking more difficult, because they put you into a negative pattern right from the start. This means that something good has to happen in order to move you from a negative mindset and into a positive one, instead of you already being on a high note.

What you do or say on the way to the stage is critical, because your audience is forming an impression about you right from the start, even as you walk up and take your place front and center.

What should you say on your way to the front? Nothing! When your name is called, you walk up to the front of the room, or onto the stage, sporting a huge smile, and step into the Spotlight like you own the place. Take your position in front of your audience, give them a moment to form their first impression of you, and then begin.

In the spring of 2010, I had the opportunity of being the motivational speaker at the 114th graduation ceremony of ‘Willis College of Business and Technology’ in Ottawa. There were between 500 and 600 people there, along with delegates, political figures and members of the press. I was sitting in the front row while I awaited my time to speak, but the front row was about fifty feet from the stage. Between the front row and the stage was quite an expanse of floor, lots and lots of floor.

The room was set up this way because some ceremonial activities had been conducted in that open floor space a little earlier in the day. This meant that when they introduced me, the walk to the stage felt like I was walking down the hall to the gas chamber.

I was only half-way to the stage by the time the applause generated by my introduction had ended. This left me with a walk of twenty-five feet or so to reach the short stairs, to climb up to the stage level, and to get across the stage, where the podium awaited me. I had to complete this trek in a rather uncomfortably silent room. Believe me, that’s a long walk in front of such a large crowd.

A simple walk to a platform, to the front of a room, or to the center of a stage can be an ominous walk. The distance can seem overwhelming, and if there’s a complete silence, it can be absolutely painful. But remember, as a speaker, anything you say during that walk is more likely to hurt you than help you, therefore, say nothing.

So, what’s the lesson? Walk to the stage, the podium or to the front of the room like you own the place, and say nothing until you’re ready to begin your talk.

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