Tag: Win Your Brand
Avoiding a Panic Attack and Public Speaking
Many people associate a panic attack and public speaking. They usually have had an anxiety-producing public speaking experience. They may test that past memory of public speaking again, but often the same anxiety reaction results. People who have to speak publicly on a frequent basis and suffer from panic attacks are always searching for a panic attack remedy.
Amber’s Story
Amber had many risk factors for panic attacks when she entered high school. Her mother had a history of anxiety as well as her older brother. Amber was successfully able to avoid a speech class until her final semester of school. In order to graduate, she was going to have to take speech.
Although she had never received a diagnosis of panic attacks or an anxiety disorder, Amber had always dreaded taking a public speaking class. Just the idea of standing up in front of a class of her peers caused Amber to feel dizzy and nauseous.
When Amber walked into her first day of class, the teacher could see how nervous she was. He came up to Amber after class and discussed her obvious discomfort with this public speaking class. Amber discussed her physical reaction to having to speak in front of her peers. She explained to her teacher how she was:
* Extremely Anxious
* Dizzy
* Nauseous
* Short of Breath
Amber’s teacher recommended that she visit with the school counselor before their next class meeting. Amber was embarrassed by her reaction and was even more anxious about having to meet with the school counselor, but she knew that she was not going to be able to graduate if she could not figure out some way to get through this class.
The school counselor was very familiar with the signs of a panic attack and especially with students feeling uncomfortable about speaking in front of their friends. To help Amber get through her next day of speech class the counselor recommended that Amber stand up in front of her family every time she wanted to talk that evening.
So Amber told her family what she was trying to do to help get over her fear of public speaking. At dinner, Amber stood up every time she asked to have an item passed to her. Before bed, Amber stood in front of her parents and brothers and did a pretend speech.
Although speaking in front of her family was a lot different than speaking in front of her peers, it did help her get through the next day of class without having a full blown panic attack. Amber was extremely uncomfortable during her speech class but was able to focus and get through the class.
As the semester continued on, Amber asked some of her friends to come to her house the night before she had a big speech due. She would then practice her speech on her close friends and family until she was able to get through it without an extreme amount of anxiety.
The technique Amber used to overcome her panic attacks is called systematic desensitization and is one of the most widely used remedies for people suffering from panic attacks.
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Advice On How To Deliver A Successful Public Speech
Public speaking is something most people try to avoid and even dread. At times in my life, I have found myself having to deliver a speech and therefore I needed to learn the best way of doing this. In this article, I write about what I learnt from reading many books about public speaking, advice which has helped me to successfully deliver these speeches.
Many people get very nervous before and during their presentation or speech. This can have a negative affect on our breathing and can leave us out of breath. When you feel nervous it is a good idea to remember to take regular breaths when talking. In my opinion you should be looking to breath every six to eight words. The nerves will make our muscles contract and can make your chest feel really tight. This is a natural reaction and it is a good idea to take a few deep breaths before starting your talk to help you to relax.
When you start your speech, I would ensure that you have a focal point in the room, which can act to give you inspiration. This could be a picture at the back of the room or a window. At times you may lose your focus and may forget what you want to say. This focal point can help to get you back on track.
I try not to look at the eyes of the people in the audience when I give a public speech, as this can put me off. I want them to think that I am though, as it can be a sign of nerves if they think that I am not able to. What I tend to do is to look at an area on their forehead which obviously is not their eyes but which has the effect that I am still looking at them etc.
Even though I do plan what I am going to say, I do not plan it word for word. Instead I write down keywords or key subjects on paper which I keep in my pocket in case I need to look at it. This then ensures I do not forget what I want to say and also allows me to ad lib. The speech will also hopefully now not sound so robotic and boring as it might have if I had memorised it word for word.
I always like to start off the public speech with a short joke, which can then act as an ice breaker. I remember a speech I gave a few years ago, it was my last day at the company where I worked. The people in the office had put to a collection and had bought me some leaving presents. I then had to say a few words of thanks to them. I knew many weeks in advance that I would have to give this speech and I have to say it did cause me quite a bit of stress.
The speech itself would only have to last for about ten minutes and would be in front of around fifty people. This was how I started the talk, I would like to thank everybody who has put to the collection, and anybody who did not put, I will see you outside later. This is quite a pathetic joke however a couple of people did laugh. This gave me a bit of extra confidence and helped to relax me.
I also advise people to talk a bit slower than they normally do when they have to deliver a public speech. This has helped me tremendously over the years.
I hope this article helps you to deliver a quality public speech.
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Improve Comedy for Speakers
Learn how to use fundamental ideas from Improvisational Comedy to be a better, more engaging, more confident, and more dymanic speaker.
Public speaking. For some, the mere thought of getting up in front of a group of people and presenting a speech is more terrifying than heights, snakes, or even death. Imagine how terrified those people would be if they were asked to get in front of an audience and speak with nothing prepared in advance ñ no script, no speech, no nothing.
Sound crazy? Well that is what Improvisational Comedians do every day. Improvisational (or ìImprovî) Comedy is a form of theater where a group of actors take the stage with nothing prepared in advance and use audience suggestions to create instant comedy. If you have ever seen the popular television show, ìWhose Line Is It Anyway?î then you have seen Improv Comedy.
The skills that allow an improviser to create instant comedy can immensely help any speaker to be more comfortable and powerful from the platform. Here are three reasons why, if you want to be a more effective speaker, you must learn how to be a great improviser:
1) Improv Comedy, at its core, is about self-expression. An Improviser has only himself on an empty stage. Every idea he puts forth comes from inside of him. The best improvisers realize this and trust their instincts and let their ideas flow out. Similarly, the best speakers realize that the audience is there to see them. Rather than hide behind other people’s ideas or style, they are 100% themselves as they speak. Many speakers make the mistake of taking acting classes to be more ìdramaticî as they speak. The result is a speaker that looks fake and wooden. Audiences don’t want ìdramatic;î they want natural. Practicing improv comedy techniques can help you be much more natural.
2) Improv Comedy is an interactive format. Improvisation may be the only art form where the audience is present at the time of creation. As a result, the audience’s needs, wants, and mood can be taken into account to direct the content. Great improvisers feed off of a crowd’s energy and build content the audience appreciates. The performer pays attention to the audience and makes subtle adjustments as she goes. Speakers would do well to adopt this approach. Most speakers prepare their speech in a vacuum and deliver it exactly as practiced. However, every audience is different. If a speaker pays attention to the audience as she is speaking, she can also make subtle adjustments to increase her effectiveness (adjusting pacing, energy, volume, etc) If you do this, not only will your speech be more powerful, but you will also develop that coveted ìrapport and connectionî with the audience.
3) Things will go wrong. A speaker who relies solely on what they’ve memorized will be easily thrown by the distractions that invariably happen. If time gets cut, or a cell phone rings, or a heckler demands attention, the speaker will have no response. To an improviser, distractions are just one more tool to use to make their point. A key improv attitude is to ìgo with the flow.î As a speaker, this attitude will allow you to be unflappable from the stage. You will be deemed a true professional, and audiences will admire your ability to handle interruptions.
These are just three simple ideas that are a powerful way in which improv comedy can make anyone a more powerful speaker. There are many more ways related to all aspects of speaking: content, delivery, storytelling, style, humor, etc, but these three are the perfect starting point.
If you have never done or used improv, then consider taking a class. Not only will you learn useful skills for speaking (and life), but it will be the most fun class you’ve ever taken!
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9 Tips To Keep Your Audience In Attention
In almost all gatherings (conventions, alumni homecomings, commencement exercises, fund raising or awarding ceremonies), guest speakers are usually invited to highlight the occasion.
To make the gathering memorable, guest speakers are selected for a certain reason, some according to their popularity and accomplishments.
As much as possible, the speakerís profession or line of achievement must be in some way related to the occasion.
Letís say the occasion is a convention of home developers. The likely guest speaker to grace it could be a famous housing czar well known and respected by the city and state.
To impart a lasting impression to the audience, a speaker must find ways to keep the attention glued to his speech.
If it so happens that you are the invited guest speaker of a gathering, the suggestions below may help to keep your audience listening instead of walking around or doing something else.
1. Speak in a clear, crisp, comprehensible voice with an enthusiastic tone. Avoid mumbling. Try not to eat the words as if thereís a gum in your mouth.
2. Your speech should be in consonance with the aim of the gathering, touching on issues relevant to its objective and applicable to current needs for the benefit of the majority.
3. More speakers prepare a list of the issues they want to touch on instead of a speech prepared and read (or memorized) word for word. A spontaneous speech aligned on the ideas prepared or written on the list is projected more naturally.
4. Inject humor into your speech to keep the audience attentive and waiting for more. Studies reveal that, when humor is involved, audiences find the speaker interesting to listen to. But be aware not to go beyond the line of humor because this may unintentionally embarrass others or be misunderstood by them. This might raise comments that criticize your speech. Try your best to avoid criticism.
5. When you raise an issue, one of the best ways to project it is by citing instances or examples. Correlate the example and the issue clearly.
6. Suppose the gathering was organized to save an industry or boost the morale of those that will be directly and indirectly affected by it. Try your best to deliver an inspiring speech. A speech filled with positive thoughts, like projecting a bright tomorrow, can turn a depressive mood into an enthusiastic one. If you are well versed on the industry with a solution to offer to suppress its downtrend, then say it.
7. Audience participation may seem to turn your speech into a discussion, but it is one way to confirm effectiveness of what you are saying or offering.
8. Image how the industry will look like 5 or 10 years from now on a positive flight. Be specific and realistic in your projection. If hard work is called for, say so.
9. Leave a lasting, meaningful message as you wrap up your speech.
A speech that leaves the audience thinking long after the speech has been made will also leave the audience remembering the speaker for a long time.
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4 Reasons to Create Your Own Podcast for Your Business or Hobby
Podcasting is a powerful, inexpensive and easy new medium for sharing your message with a focused and passionate audience. As a podcaster youíll become a recognized expert in your area of interest or expertise.
You can use podcasting to boost your credibility, build your list of customers and gain a fan base very quickly. This makes podcasting a great tool to promote a product or service.
Here are four reasons you need to start a podcast today whether for fun or for business.
1. Become a Recognized Expert or Celebrity in Your Chosen Niche
How would you like to be recognized as an authority in your area of interest or expertise? Podcasts are popping up all over the internet on every imaginable subject.
But things are just getting started. Chances are you can still be one of the first to start a podcast in your chosen niche.
You can quickly be recognized as an expert in your field. This is a powerful way to build a following or strong customer base.
Think about when you hear or see someone on the radio or TV. They have instant credibility. As a podcaster you will enjoy the same credibility. People will value your opinion.
You can leverage this position to influence your audience, promote yourself and even make money. If you have an audience that is interested in a specific niche, there will always be others who want to reach that audience, too. This is how you find advertisers or sponsors.
2. Quickly Gain a Very Focused Audience
With the right content, you will gain listeners fast. Not only that, but your audience is potentially worldwide. You can offer quality content to keep in touch with your customers and keep yourself, your product or your service in the front of their mind.
Podcasting is a great way to cut through the clutter and reach your audience. This is not like the radio where your listener is waiting for something that interests him. He has chosen to listen to your podcast because it interests him.
This makes podcasts very effective for promotion, marketing and growing a focused audience.
3. Podcasting is a Convenient, Automatic and Inexpensive Way to Reach Your Audience or Customers
One reason that podcasting has become so popular is that it’s automated. Listeners subscribe to your feed. This means they donít have to remember to return your site to check for new content. When you post new content, it’s automatically downloaded to your listener.
Because listeners subscribe to podcasts, they have chosen to receive your content. They have already shown interest in your message by subscribing. In addition, a podcast does not get lost in SPAM like with e-mail. You can be sure your message is reaching a focused audience.
This means your content automatically reaches your audience without any barriers increasing the efficiency and ease of delivering your message.
Because your podcast is delivered over the internet, it’s a very inexpensive means of communication.
4. With Equipment You Probably Already Own and For Very Little Cost, Your Podcast Could be Online in Just Hours
All you need to start your podcast is a computer, a microphone and a broadband internet connection. Later, you can buy nicer gear if you want. For now you can get started with very little cost. All you need is something to say and a desire to say it.
If you were to try and do the same thing on the radio, you would have to face all kinds of FCC regulations to learn and follow. Plus you would have the expense of broadcasting. Podcasting removes all of that cost and trouble.
With my how to podcast tutorial web site, your first podcast can be online in less than a day.
SUMMARY
Podcasting is a powerful and easy way to reach a focused audience. Whether for fun or to make money, podcasting allows you to easily reach a focused and loyal audience. You can brand yourself as an expert or celebrity in your niche.
You can get started with no more gear than your computer, a microphone and a broadband internet connection. People could be listening to your podcast in less than a day. Make your voice heard.
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What Makes a Good Speaker?
When people hear that I owned a national, professional speakers bureau for 13 years, they often ask me, who are the best speakers and why? What follows are some of the characteristics of a very successful speaker who is often a highly paid speaker.
ëTell’ em what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell’ em what you told them.î
1.They arrive early and check out the sound system and introduce themselves to audience members during the networking time.
2.They speak on a subject that their audience needs to hear. And they use words and body language that shows their passion and authenticity.
3.They connect with their audience in the first few minutes with a riveting story, a funny incident, a startling statement or perhaps a poem. They know how to make their opening remarks relate to the material that follows.
4. They have no fear. They don’t only say what the audience wants to hear, but what they NEED to hear. In other words, their remarks may raise some eyebrows. They give their audiences some fresh ideas.
5.They never make more than 3-4 points in their speech. They don’t feel the need to tell an audience everything they know. No one can retain it all. For each major point they tell an illustrative story. A good story evokes emotion and offers a lesson. The audience members are then only a step away from their own story.
6. They make great eye contact and make each person feel attended to. This makes them appear to be more heartfelt and really present for their audience.
7. Before closing, they summarize and reiterate their major points. They end with an inspiring story and a call to action. They hold the audience accountable ñ to take some action in the next few days, weeks.
8.They don’t talk too long. They know how much time they have been assigned and they don’t exceed it.
9.They rehearse their speech a few times but never sound canned. They NEVER read their speech verbatim.
10. All successful speakers market themselves. They all promote themselves. And they all Network. They are a model of excellence. And you can be too!
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You're Always Public Speaking So Be Prepared
The funny thing about presenting and public speaking is that the majority of people will tell you they don’t enjoy it and/or aren’t very good at it. And yet regardless of who they are and what they do, most of the speaking they do on a day-to-day basis IS public speaking.
You see, mostly when we talk to ourselves we keep it as an internal dialogue that nobody else can hear. But whenever we open our mouths and actually make a noise in front of another person we’re speaking in public hence “public speaking”. So why do so many people find it so scary?
I think it’s the eyes. All those sets of eyes fixed on you….. BORING into you. It’s unsettling. So would it be any easier if your audience was ignoring you and all looking the other way? What if they all dozed off so it WAS as if you were talking to yourself? (Have you ever been a Rotary after-dinner speaker?)
Whatever the reason, the fact is that before getting up to speak, even the most seasoned professional will have some butterflies, whether they choose to call the feeling nervousness or excitement doesn’t really matter. Rest assured, we all experience it to some degree.
If I had one tip to pass on, if I was asked to tell you the most important lesson I’ve learnt over the years I’ve been presenting, it would have to be to stress the absolute necessity of being totally prepared.
Now this may sound obvious and I’m sure you’ve heard this before, possibly many times, and like a lot of important messages it tends to become diluted the more we hear it “Oh yes, I knew that, now what else?”.
And yet, knowing this, some people will be outside in the car park seconds before they have to deliver their sales pitch scribbling it out on the back of a business card. I know, I’ve been there.
When I talk about being prepared, I mean you should know your talk off by heart. You should be able to give it verbatim, standing on your head, without even having to think about what comes next.
Now some of you may be thinking “Yes, but I don’t work like that. I like to keep the spontaneityî or ìYes, but I want to tailor my talk to the occasionî or ìYes, but that would be boring because I’d just be on auto pilot.î
But actually, that’s not what happens. In effect, the opposite is true. When you know your talk by rote, it gives you the freedom to change it around, to add, to subtract without losing your direction. It’s like driving from A to B. If your route is set from the outset and you know it well, you can safely veer off and browse in a few antique shops and have a pub lunch in a picturesque village off the beaten track and still get back to where you were to complete your journey. But, if you’d just set off in the general direction with no main route to which to return, you’d soon get lost if you were to be diverted and you’d have difficulty picking up that thread again.
You see, there are so many things out there that can throw the speaker, and lots of unexpected things can occur when you’re dealing with the public. No matter how good you are, you will become distracted, so knowing your material to the nth degree is absolutely crucial.
If something happens that needs your attention, you’ll have to stop and deal with it, but you can return to your talk with barely a glitch and appear calm, collected and hence the ultimate professional.
You see we all get nervous. We all stick our feet in our mouths sometimes. We don’t ever operate in a hermetically sealed environment, especially when exposed to other humans. But prepare, prepare and over-prepare and not only will you enjoy the confidence of knowing that nothing can phase you because you know your material, but if you’re forced off your chosen route for any reason you can return smoothly and appear to be the consummate professional speaker.
And after all, if you can’t or won’t speak about your business, who will?
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Why It's Worth Fighting Your Dragons And Start Public Speaking!
This article talks about why you should learn and improve your speaking in public skills and tells of a personal journey and how that journey has benefited the author and changed, not only his life, but also that of many people he has coached.
Everyone hears about being nervous when speaking, and when you overcome it, you
become confident and very successful.
What you don’t hear from successful speakers is about the journey itself.
For example, when I started in the field of speaking, I was a corporate employee.
As a project engineer, I had to develop concepts and designs to solve problems within the plant.
I was good at this and yet my career progress was slow because I simply couldn’t speak well,
and I needed to present my proposals to obtain funding.
I would become nervous, tongue tied and confused.
So when I started my public speaking career I was so scared and terrified, that even the
thought of being in front of a group of people, made me feel physically sick, and would
make my heart race so much, I thought I was having a heart attack.
Clearly, I didn’t want to go through my life like that so I did some training and got ready
for my Maiden speech.
With this speech I was competing for a prestigious Silver Cup and I was excited because
I thought I was going to win it.
I walked out onto the stage in front of 200 people and arrived at the podium.
Suddenly my legs started to shake so much I thought I was going to fall down.
So I grabbed the lectern, which also began to shake, and then, at that moment, the butterflies
in my stomach turned into dive-bombers and I started to feel sick.
While shaking the lectern so much, I watched with horror, as my notes slid onto the floor.
In total confusion now, I decide to start my speech without picking up the notes.
My voice quavered as I stated my name, and then my mind went completely blank.
After what seemed an eternity, I grabbed my notes from the floor and fled the stage.
All I achieved that day was to let people know who I was and that I was one pathetic speaker.
Needless to say , I didn’t get the prize or even a polite or sympathetic applause from the audience.
It was such a horrifying experience that I had to make a decision to quit or do something about it.
(I was unable to get into the witness protection program to lose my identity!)
Well I studied, practised and used everything that I write about in my book and then some
12 months later, I had to give a speech on behalf of my company.
Now this was a seriously major important speech for the company and me.
If I didn’t do a brilliant job, my career would finish, the company would suffer and I reckon
I would have been out of a job.
That would mean, a massive change in lifestyle for my family, changing schools, changing
houses and even putting my food supply at risk..
So as I walked to the Podium this time I could feel this huge pressure bearing down on me.
And do you know?
I was confident, created humour and had them laughing, created pathos so they could feel
sad, lifted them with excitement, spoke a very clear message, had them in the palm of my hand
and when I finished ,they stood up to applaud.
Pretty good eh?
Oh yes, I got promoted and realised that day, that being a great public speaker helps you make
more money, no matter what your job is.
So what made the difference?
What transformed me from bumbling idiot to charismatic speaker?
And could anybody do the same?
Clearly, the answer is yes, if they went through all the stuff they I had.
Why am I qualified to say this?
Because it is based upon my learnings, my studies, my experiments, good and bad, and
most importantly, on my real life, in the fire, under the hammer, experience.
And then I even wrote my own book on how to overcome the Fear of Public Speaking!
As Chairman of the Public Speaking Group at the Australian Institute of Management I have
coached and helped many people who at the beginning of the year , could not even say their
name, and by the end of the year, had become articulate and confident speakers.
So overcoming the fear and building the skills, step by step, not only transforms your
presentation skills, it builds your confidence in all parts of your life.
And isn’t that a good enough reason to start!
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How To Communicate In His Love Language
Are you wondering how to communicate with that new man in your life? Or maybe you are just wondering about the next man in your life? New or old, it’s never too late to learn how to communicate in the language of love.
Maybe you’ve seen the tomboyish girl that somehow has men flocking around her. If you stopped turning green with envy for a moment, you’d notice why she was a man magnet. She just sort of fit herself into him, like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that he didn’t even know was missing.
Instead of rolling your eyes at that dazed and happy-in-love look he has on his face, why not look into how she did it? Learn these tips on how to communicate in a whole new way by getting to know his love language and speaking it fluently!
We all know that love is built on the solid foundation of communication. When we are in love we are on the same page as our lover. It’s a special level of communication that people in love have.
Some call it chemistry, but really, in order to even get to the chemistry stage you need to know his love language. For a clue as to what that might be, we need to understand how he relates to the world around him.
Everyone perceives their world with three senses – sight, sound and feelings. Psychologists have discovered that even though we use all three senses, one of these senses is always more pronounced. It doesn’t mean that it replaces the others, but if you pay attention, the more dominant one will reveal itself to you.
Asking questions is the easiest and fastest way to learn his language and since asking questions is the most common way to get to know someone or start a conversation, he’ll never suspect.
He’s just returned from a business trip. You ask about his trip. Pay attention to his answer:
1. If he’s visual he might say: the weather was terrible. I didn’t get to see the sun once!
2. An auditory guy will talk about sounds: we got the account, which was good. But the hotel I stayed at was too noisy.
3. He is a feeler if he answers something like: I have to admit; I’m not much into traveling alone. I get lonely when I visit new places.
Knowing a man’s love language is the key in how to communicate with him in a way that will make him feel that you are the missing piece to his puzzle. You’ll just fit. Of course, one question isn’t going to tell you. You’ll have to watch for a pattern to emerge.
Once you do find the prominent sense, you’ll want to speak his language. Talking with your visual man will be all about what you saw on the way over, while the auditory fellow will want to know about the new CD you just bought.
It doesn’t matter what your love language is. As long as you know how to communicate to him in his Love Language you’ll soon be the envy of all the other girls. That is, unless you tell them your secret.
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Bring Your Presentations To Life and Get A Standing Ovation
Giving a successful presentation depends on more than just writing down your words and delivering them. In this article you’ll learn 7 important techniques that will raise your delivery well above the ordinary.
Presentation techniques are the tools that help us to bring a page of written text to spoken life. They are the means by which we animate words, inject interest and build audience rapport. Learn the following 7 techniques and you’ll have your audience clinging to every word you say.
<b>1. Speak To Their Ears. </b>Remember that your audience receives your words through their ears. They aren’t reading it. That’s why you should continually ask yourself, ‘how will this sound to my audience?î. In particular, you should check forÖ
– the use of jargon, technical and bureaucratic language, long phrases and gobbledeegook. Avoid them.
– specific meanings: “next Friday” is better than “soon”.
– concrete words rather than abstract words: “microphone” is better than “sound amplification facilities”.
– Anglo-Saxon rather than Latinised words: “talk” is better than “communicate”.
<b>2. Use Conversational English. </b>Speakers who lack the confidence to speak directly to their audience tend to lean heavily on their prepared texts. This creates the risk of speaking the written word which can sound artificial and stilted. Conversational English on the other hand is natural and flowing. By creating the feeling of a personal chat, the conversational style helps to build audience rapport.
Idiomatic, conversational English is distinctly different from written English. It allows for occasional ungrammatical and incorrect use of words and sentences, as long as the meaning is clear and sounds right. You would not, for example, say the grammatically-correct “For whom is it?” in place of the colloquial “Who’s it for?”
<b>3. Make Everything Make Sense. </b>One of the most important points to remember about a presentation is that written English does not always make the same sense to a listener as spoken English. When we read written English we go at our speed and can pause, go back or jump ahead. When we are listening, we rely on the speaker to make sense for us. Notice the difference between these two ways of expressing the same sentence.
Not: “The user will no doubt be familiar with the consequences of a machine failure at difficult moments.”
But: “I expect you know the sort of thing I mean. You’re right in the middle of something worth saving when, Phut!, the whole damn thing goes up in smoke. Before your very eyes…”
<b>4. Signpost Where You Are Going. </b>The technique of Signposting, or Labelling, can be used throughout a presentation. Signposting, like the signs on a street, is a way of letting the audience know in advance what is coming next in your talk. It is used to tell the audience what you want them to understand from it.
– we can signpost the whole talk when we start: “I’d like to do three things this morning. First, I’d like to look at our current position; then our plans and finally, the costs.”
– we can signpost a sub-point: “My second area is to look at plans. First, this year’s; then next year’s…”
– we can signpost any issue: “Let me give you an example of what I mean…”
– we can signpost the end: “Just one more point before I finish…”
Audiences appreciate signposting because it helps them know where they are.
<b>5. Use Jokes To Build Rapport. </b>Jokes are a way of amusing an audience while at the same time sharing something with them. The point of contact is the shared laughter. If a joke works it brings you together; conversely, if the joke doesn’t work, it pushes you apart. Jokes need to be appropriate, well-presented and, of course, funny. A blue joke from the Rugby club dinner speech probably won’t work well at the annual conference of the Women’s Institute. Equally a joke told badly where you miss your timing, tell it too quickly or forget the punchline is worse than no joke at all.
This joke told by Patrick Forsyth seems to catch the mood of a farewell speech:
“I remember the day after Nigel joined us and overhearing the impression he’d made on two young ladies from Accounts.
“Doesn’t that Mr Green dress well,” said one.
“Yes,” replied the other. “And so quickly.”
<b>6. Pause For Maximum Effect. </b>Some of the best moments in a speech are, surprisingly, those moments when you stop. Knowing when to stop is the art of the creative pause. It can work for you in a number of ways:
– to tease the audience, perhaps after a provocative question: “I bet you’d like to know how you could make a million…”
– to pause before the punchline of a joke
– to wait for an audience to settle after laughter or a general discussion
– to give the audience time to think (for example, when looking at a new overhead)
– to show you’re in total control by holding the pause just slightly longer than you need to.
<b>7. Show Don’t Just Tell. </b>Turning a simple presentation point into a narrative or story can entertain and involve the audience on a different level. It is a way of showing them not just telling them.
Not: “Our personal computer has three kinds of memory storage: the random access memory, the hard drive and the floppy drive.”
But: “Designing the storage memory for this particular computer was always going to be a tricky problem. The first team to look at it was Rob James and Ellen Smith. After several experiments they discovered that they could build in a huge RAM but their problem was what to do with the hard drive. This was new territory. Neither of them had worked on anything like that before. First, they tried a separate box. No good. Then a new casing. Still no good. They were about to give up when news came from Japan about an amazing new microchip…”
Master these simple techniques and you’ll raise your presentation expertise to heights you will only just dreamed of before!
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