Archive for the ‘public speaking tips’ Category
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
10 Tips to Improve Your Image as a Speaker
1. Dress for success! While this might seem an obvious one, I regularly encounter speakers who majorly under dress or (some) overdress. The thumb of rule is, of course, better be overdressed than underdressed. Your audience wants to look up to you and good “packaging” will enhance your image tremendously. When unsure, contact the organizer and find out what is the expected attire for speakers.
2. Develop a great intro and closing and practice it till you can say them forward and backward even in your dreams! There are only few things screaming “I’m not a professional” than someone starting their presentation with excuses or some weak mumbo-jumbo. Start your presentation with a quote, an intriguing question, humor, or a short story, or even magic; then link your intro to the topic of the day. Close your presentation by bringing up elements of your intro and build to a strong finish to elicit your well-deserved applause. One of my favorite techniques is the short suspense story that captivates the audience, then without finishing it, link it to the topic of the day. Then as a closing of the presentation, bring up again the suspense story, make a comparison to the topic again, and this time finish it. REPHRASE!!!! Have a second conclusion prepared. After a speech or a presentation usually comes a question and answer period. Once the questions stop coming, it is best to end on a strong note. This is a great time to get your “last word” in.
3. Notice your tendency to use “Ah’s,” Mmm’s” and other fillers in your presentation! It can become really annoying when a speaker is uncomfortable with pauses in between sentences or while thinking, and fills those gaps with “Ahhh..,” “Mmm…,” or other sounds. Another, almost equally, annoying fillers are the constantly repeated “You know what I mean,” “You see what I’m saying,” and other constantly repeated fillers. There are two good ways to raise your awareness about these fillers: a) record one (or more) of your presentation(s) and listen with an ear for filers; b) Join your local Toastmasters International club – they are really good about helping you break your filler habits. (I had around 60 “Ahh’s” and “Mmmm’s” in my first speech I delivered at Toastmasters. By the time I gave my 7th or 8th speech I had zero fillers.) Once you are aware of your tendencies of using certain fillers, you can consciously take steps to eliminating them.
4. Keep eye contact! One of the biggest difficulties of novice public speakers is keeping eye contact with the audience. However, this is a very crucial element to come across as a great speaker. When a speaker keeps looking above the audiences head, the ceiling, the floor, etc., after a while the audience starts wandering “Who the heck is this guy talking to?” The easiest method to keeping good eye contact with your audience is by finding one smiling or friendly face and keep eye contact most of the time with that person… Then as the presentation moves on, start making eye contact (for a second or two) with some other audience members, but always returning to your smiling/friendly face. Then once you find another encouraging audience member, start keeping eye contact for some time period with this second person, while also wandering away to make eye contact with other audience members for a second or two. By following this method, usually one finds themselves more and more encouraged and the confidence gained that way will result in an easier flow of the message and more and more audience members will become engaged and be transformed into “friendly and smiling” faces.
5. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too much information! Do you want your audiences to leave with a sense of “This was great! Today I learned something?” Then narrow down the information you want to present in a way that will not overwhelm your audience. Ask yourself “What is it that the audience really needs to know about this topic?” Then break down that info into chunks that will fit the length of your presentation. At the end of your presentation give your audience information on how they can learn more about the topic – hopefully, by buying your book(s), tapes, CD, extended course, etc.
6. Avoid PowerPoint blunders! There are three most common PowerPoint blunders that will scream “I’M A TOTAL BEGINNER!” a) Filling up each slide with complete paragraphs and reading them off the projection screen b) Using too many different kinds of animation schemes. Stick with one, or max two, and keep them simple. It gets annoying after a while to wait for sentences to crawl in or to land on the screen like a helicopter. c) Use of too complex or blank templates. Either keep it simple and professional, or use pictures that are relevant to your topic. Pictures that have a little humorous slant are most effective (in my experience), but be cautious not to fall in extremes where the pictures create too much distraction from your presentation. (You can get free pictures for your presentations (and brochures) at http://www.sxc.hu – make sure to read the Terms of Use)
7. Build your presentation in an easy to follow format! Whether you are using PowerPoint, flip chart, or other methods to stay on track and to keep your audiences on track, make sure that you tell them in the introduction what points you will cover, then stick to the “plan” as close as possible. An easy way to accomplish this is by giving out handouts where participants can follow your train of thought. One of the most effective ways would be to have the main points spelled out on the handout, then have some fill-in-the-blanks fragments relating to each particular point.
8. Time yourself! When you practice, time each segment of your presentation and prepare a little cheat sheet (a 2 X 4 card, for example) that you will keep in your sight while you speak, right near a timer or watch. With this little “tool” you’ll always know whether you are on track. If you are running out of time, speed up or skip parts of your presentation and conclude with your rehearsed closing.
9. “Ask” for the applause! As I sit in at beginner speakers’ presentations, I often notice a common mistake: ending on a low note and not eliciting applause. As speakers we want to know that we did great, and the way we do that is by allowing the audience to express their satisfaction by a stormy applause. And an easy way to do that is by ending the presentation with a well-rehearsed closing (see point 2 above), bringing it all together, and perhaps giving a last great quote or some wisdom related to the topic. Then pause and give the audience a chance to react to your closing. In order to not break your audience’s enthusiasm and response to your presentation, talk about special offers and Q&A after the applause. You can include little plug-ins of your offers in the body of your presentation.
10. HAVE SPECIAL OFFERS! Such as refer your audience to an E-course that they can sign up for on your website, or even better, pass out a sign-up sheet and let them sign up right there on the spot (this would be appropriate with a smaller audience). Mention related articles available on your website (which each should include special offers as well). Talk up your book, if you have one. No matter what your special offer is, the most important thing is to have one that results at minimum in capturing names and contact info.
Public speaking – be that leading a seminar, presenting a workshop, or delivering a keynote – can be one of the most rewarding experiences, as well as a very profitable venture if it’s done right. The key is to consistently present ourselves as professionals who are worth the (high) fees we charge, leaving our clients no choice but to invite us to present over and over again. ————————————————————————————— © Copyright E.G. Sebastian, 2007. All rights reserved.
E.G. Sebastian is an international speaker (speaks 6 languages), Certified DiSC Behavioral System trainer, and is an Authorized Inscape Distributor. Besides DiSC training, E.G. provides organizations with team-building, stress-management, and communication skills training; as well as offers DiSC Behavioral System train-the-trainer packages. To find out more about E.G. and his offers, visit his website at www.egsebastian.com.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
The following tips can help you move quickly from the beginner stage of public speaking.
Always start preparing a speech by asking: Who is the audience and what does it need?
Prepare your material carefully and tailor it to meet the audience’s needs. Research the topic thoroughly, particularly if you expect to have a question session at the close of your speech. Being well prepared is a valuable confidence builder.
If you use humor, the one-liners or jokes should accentuate major points the audience needs to remember.
Illustrations should meet the same criteria. Every word spoken should address the audience’s need. If possible, record your speech and listen for the strongest points and weakest points.
Be yourself. Never imitate someone else. Don’t try to sound professional. Sound like yourself. Being yourself makes it easier to relate to the audience, and more importantly, easier for the audience to relate to you.
Enjoy yourself. An audience will feel any discomfort you are feeling.
Dress appropriate to the occasion.
If the topic is serious, be serious. But also be enthusiastic, lively, relaxed and confident. Confidence is crucial. Seriousness without enthusiasm and confidence almost guarantees boredom.
And, yes, humor will work with serious topics. Humor without confidence is a killer.
Look at individuals in the audience. Make eye contact. Speak to them like they are old friends.
Try to start a speech with a grabber, an ice-breaker. This can be as simple as presenting the topic (visually, if possible), and asking the audience what they would want to hear about it?
An appropriate joke or story or one-liner that illustrates the topic is great — if you think it’s great. If you have any doubt about any type of humor, you likely will lack the confidence to deliver it naturally and effectively.
Pause for effect. Let the listeners reflect and absorb. But only briefly, then hit them with your next point.
Audio-visuals are great to enhance a speech, not to help you remember it. We’ve all been bored by speakers who simply read their PowerPoint outlines.
If you use audio-visuals, always have a Plan B, in case something goes wrong.
Time is important. Keep track of it and never go beyond the allowed limit.
The old teaching advice still works well for public speakers: Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell them … tell them … then tell them what you told ‘em.
Closing on your main point is always best.
Enjoy the whole experience. When you enjoy your speech, odds are the audience will enjoy it, too. And you will have met their need, so they will remember you.
Joe Hickman, a veteran broadcast journalist, also writes for top public speakers and edits http://HaLife.com. Check out his Humor for Speakers pages.
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
When I ask my audiences their number one challenge with public speaking, they overwhelmingly say, “to overcome the fear of public speaking.” It’s okay to have “butterflies.” The key is how to get them organized, focused and flying in formation. Here are 10 tips for delivering a more powerful, persuasive presentation, and to improve public speaking skills.
1. 95% of your success is determined before the presentation. Your audience will know if you didn’t rehearse. Rehearsing, or “rehearing” yourself minimizes 75% of your nervousness. Rehearse standing up, or better yet, ask someone to videotape you. The camera will be your most objective ally. The more comfortable you become with your material via rehearsing, the more comfortable you will be with your body language.
2. Either memorize or “know cold” your opener and close. Two minutes each is enough for both. The most important thing your audience will remember is your close. Second most important thing they’ll remember is your opener. Start with something attention grabbing, like a quote or statistic, which relates to your topic. Never start with, “Good Morning.” It is obvious and boring.
3. Public Speaking: 24 hours before your presentation:
A. Have a quiet dinner with a quiet friend. (This may or may not be your spouse!) You won’t be as concerned about your public speaking skills if you can put your nervous system on glide.
B. The evening before, put your presentation on audiocassette as background noise one hour before retiring to bed. Or, listen to your opener and close before bedtime as a review.
C. No massive changes 24 hours before speaking. Nothing increases the fear of public speaking more than redoing your material at the last minute. Impromptu speeches notwithstanding.
D. Visualize your presentation going smoothly and successfully. All Olympic athletes use this technique, and it works with public speaking as well.
E. Review your notes and visual aids the evening before. Your notes should only be “fast food for the eyes” in bullet form, and are NEVER read to the audience.
F. Eat a good high protein breakfast the morning of your presentation. Even if you’re not speaking until that evening, feed your mind and body the proper fuel.
4. Before your presentation, check yourself in a full-length mirror. A dear friend of mine forgot to do this. During her keynote speech in front of hundreds, someone quietly pointed out that her skirt was tucked into her pantyhose.
5. Public speaking and purpose: When organizing your speech, define your purpose. Why are you there? Why are they there? Is this a sales presentation? A community watch group? If you present technical information, is this an “information/knowledge transfer” or a decision briefing? When presenting technical information make certain not to overload your audience with too much detail, or too much on each slide. Tailor your message. Define your objective.
6. Know your audience before designing your opener and close. It is imperative that you “speak the language” of your audience. What are their ages? Percentage of males/females? Are they highly technical or non-technical? Do they want to be there or is this mandatory? What are their expectations? If you are a scientist or engineer, speak to the lowest common denominator. Technical presenters have a propensity to use a lot of technical jargon. Does the person in charge of funding understand the language?
7. Avoid using too many slides. Visual aids are wonderful tools as long as they’re used to enhance the information. A common mistake is using the visual aids as the presentation. Look at the audience frequently to establish rapport and a connection. In almost every presentation, you are there to “sell” them not simply “tell” them. Do not look at your visual aids other than a quick glance, and never read them. Never turn your back on the audience to read slides. They will not look at your slides. Their minds will start to wander. Remember, YOU are your own best visual aid.
8. Good public speaking skills = being prepared. As the saying goes, prior planning prevents predictably poor performance. Planning and preparation will reduce nervousness 75%. Again, your audience will know if you didn’t rehearse. Consider hiring a public speaking coach. The dollars invested may well be worth their weight in gold.
9. The Q & A period and how to handle a hostile audience. The second most frequent comment I hear in my public speaking seminars is “What if they ask a question and I don’t know the answer?” Or, “What if someone in the audience is a know-it-all and doesn’t like me?” Avoid being argumentative. If you don’t know the answer, ask if someone in the audience has the answer. Or, let them know when you will get back to them. And make certain you do. When you lie you die. It destroys your credibility.
10. Variety and venue as it relates to public speaking. Variety serves as a “wake up call” to your audience. Examples of adding variety would be: humor, relevant stories, quotes, voice inflection, paired and group activities, pauses, audience participation in the question and answer period, slides or other multimedia. In terms of your venue, are your visual aids appropriate to your size of audience? Will everyone be able to see them?
Lastly, make sure to confirm the time, date, and place with the appropriate contact person. If possible, arrange to see the room ahead of time so you can practice visualizing in the exact location of your presentation. At the minimum, arrive at least one hour ahead of time. In improving public speaking skills, nothing minimizes nervousness like being prepared.
Colleen Kettenhofen is a motivational speaker, workplace expert, & co-author of “The Masters of Success,” as featured on the Today Show, along with Ken Blanchard & Jack Canfield. http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com To order the book, or for free articles/newsletter visit http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com You are free to reprint or repost provided Colleen’s name & website are listed.
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Top 7 Steps to Better Public Speaking
Whether you want to be a part time, full time or BIG time speaker you must speak, speak, and speak. At first, deliver 25-30 minute free talks to service clubs and community organizations. Consider it to be your off-Broadway tryout. A great opportunity to fine-tune your program…and maybe get some future paid business!
Do the following to put yourself at ease when delivering a speech:
1. Your speech needs a beginning, middle, and end. You must grab your audience’s attention in the first minute…so begin with a starting comment, question, story, or humor. End your speech on a strong note by asking a question, providing a quote, tell a story or leave them laughing.
2. Every 5-7 minutes, back up your facts with signature (about you or others) stories. Stories are out there – everywhere. Find them in the stores, at restaurants, on the airplane, at home. People retain information better when hearing a story.
3. Practice your speech out load. Record it on to a tape recorder and/or video camera. Also do this when giving a program to a live audience. Do it every time!
4. Practice pausing before and after important points. Don’t be afraid to leave open space. The use of silence is a key requirement to becoming an effective speaker.
5. Use direct eye contact. You can focus on one person when making a point…and everyone else in the audience will think you are speaking to them also.
6. Don’t just stand behind the lectern: move around, gesture. Be animated. (Fifty-five percent of how people perceive you is by body language; 38 percent by your voice; 7 percent by your words)
7. Smile a lot. Be enthusiastic about what you are saying. And have fun.
New! Do you want to learn how to give a compelling speech? Would you like to know what sets leaders apart? Are you ready to prepare a speech that hits your audience’s hot buttons? Now you can. Buy the audio CD (available as an MP3 download). “POWER PRESENTATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS” at http://www.schrift.com/Power_Presentations_for_Professionals/
Sandra Schrift 13 year speaker bureau owner and now career coach to emerging and veteran public speakers who want to “grow” a profitable speaking business. I also work with business professionals and organizations who want to master their presentations.
To find out How to Become a Highly Paid Professional Speaker, go to http://www.schrift.com/ProfessionalSpeaker/
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Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Most people have a fear of speaking to a large group. This is a totally normal apprehension. People may visualise the audience laughing at them, or shouting out. This is an extremely rare occurrence, unless you are a politician.
Most people listening to you are aware of the pressures you are under and would never change places with you.
These guidelines will help you to overcome your fears.
1. Know your subject. Read through your presentation beforehand. Read around the subject, so that you are confident that you know more than your audience, even after you have spoken. If you know your subject then you will come across in an interesting way and keep the attention of your audience.
2. Expect to do well. Your expectations are obvious in your body language. If your audience sees that you expect to do badly, you will do badly. Expectation is vital.
3. Look at your audience. Eye contact is vital if you are to judge their understanding so that you can change the pace of your delivery if necessary.
4. Use notes. You should never, never read your speech from a sheet.
5. Slow your speech down. This makes you appear more confident and enables your audience to take it in more easily. If you are talking slower, it is easier for your audience to maintain their attention, and momentary lapses in their concentration mean that they miss less.
6. Vary the tone and level of your voice. This maintains interest. You should speak clearly and project your voice, rather than shouting. Talking quietly in key segments means that your listeners will need to actively listen to those parts of your presentation.
7. Avoid excessive body movements and gestures. Hand gestures can be used for emphasis only.
8. Keep your hands and thumbs visible. Holding your hands out, with the thumbs uppermost is a very powerful dominance gesture. Watch politicians speaking, they all use this gesture.
9. Rejoice in the endorphin high that you will feel when it goes well.
Pearl Deloria has an SME management and company startup background. Read more of her articles here. For more info visit Public Speaking and Team Building.
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