Tag Archive for: public speaking

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[Quick public speaking tip] Switch audience attention to the words you choose

Your speech flows along.

It makes sense.

Your audience is listening, watching, presumably absorbed.

Keep them that way. A speech that flows along like that will get boring before long unless you introduce something that brings your audience's comfort up short.

switch_words

Today's quick tip is one little device that will interrupt the normal communication process and rather than following the flow of ideas, the listener focuses on the words instead. Using this effect, you can have your audience stop, and really listen – to all that you want them to understand, engage with and remember.

This effect is to do with the sounds within words.

One way to create this effect with sounds is to use alliteration. Alliteration is one of the most powerful ways. Here, each word begins with the same sound. So I might have a “particularly powerful proposition” or an idea may be “Revolutionary and radical.” Can you feel the device working, drawing your attention to the words and all that they mean?

Another technique using sound is rhyme. Like all devices, it can evoke emotion which is one of the best ways to resonate and engage with your audience. It can also be used very effectively to create humour… Ogden Nash wrote: “Candy is dandy. But liquor is quicker.” How much meaning there is in those few words … and he draws attention to them using rhyme.

These are also the words that will create what I call a "bright spot" in a speech - a place you can call back to. Use it to identify a point in your speech, or a moment in the presentation as a whole.

So start getting into the habit of incorporating alliteration and rhyme into your speeches – at times when you want to slow things down and make a major point. They will be a powerful ally for you.

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5 Easy ways to find “catchy content” that will have you remembered, repeated and getting results.

catchy_content

So you have a subject for your speech. One word, maybe. What now?

You know what you want to achieve with this presentation but you’re stuck, trying to find powerful ideas and material that will give your subject life. Yes?

Where will you find the stimulus to develop your ideas?

The answers could just be right under your nose, right there in your daily life.

Here are five ordinary places that will yield up gems to make you and your presentation remembered, repeated and getting results. That’s why I used the word “easy” in the title of this article - the material is all around you.

Things that you do and see and say and think every day will provide that material. It’s just a case of articulating what you want to achieve and then of deliberately looking in these places with that aim in mind.

The thing that makes this not so easy is knowing what to look for.

The first is the information. This involves ideas, stories, facts, case studies, statistics – all of the items you will use to present the main parts of your speech.

The second is themes within those facts and ideas – commonalities, recurring nuggets of information that fit into a theme. These themes may be the main pints of your presentation, or one of them may be the source of your single message.

The third is opinions. And it may be, with this in mind, that you find the things that will give your speech something extra special, that will make it “catchy” - remembered, repeated and getting results.

They may provide humor.

They may help you articulate your passionate view point on the topic.

They may give you something that will stir up opinions or discussion in your audience.

They may also uncover trends in your subject area – places where people are fighting the status quo.

Keep these three areas – information, themes and opinions - in the back of your mind as you open that mind to what is going on around you.

1. On the internet. Obviously! Enjoy your surfing, but let it wander along the lines of the main aim of your speech. You may, in fact, be taken into different directions, to discover even better ideas and themes. Follow links that look interesting or promising. Use search engines, and include databases and blogs in your searches and surfing. Search TED talks and YouTube. These will give you the themes and information you need. They will also give you opinions and ideas about trends, and the links will lead you to other opinions, and sources of support material.

2. In Books. You are reading already. Just look at the books in the light of your speech. Think about books you have read in the past, and how they might relate to your themes and points. Allow yourself to be drawn to the books on your subject. Search online suppliers like Amazon. Scour the local library – reference books, fiction and non-fiction. When you are browsing the bookshops and second-hand book suppliers, again, keep you speech ideas in the front of your mind and books will leap out of the piles to lead you to things you can use.

3. In Magazines. Again, you are reading these already. Look at them from the slant of your speech. And look with new eyes at the racks in the newsagents, the library and the train stations. If you are speaking regularly, you will develop the habit of collecting material on your subject areas – articles from magazines or the internet, quotes, sayings and anecdotes. Keep a paper file of notes and save useful websites in your favourites file, Evernote or a tagging system like del.icio.us.

4. From People. Talk with them about the subject of your speech in your ordinary conversation and you will get all sorts of opinions and information. You cannot interview a website or book for clarification or for a quirky perspective that just might give you the winning angle on a topic.

5. From Your own experiences. Using your own life and its stories is one of the most powerful tools of public speaking. Use humorous or poignant anecdotes. Find experiences that have affected you or your friends to support points in your presentation. Again, you can look back to the past for examples. But looking at your life and the lives of the people you know and see and interact with through the lens of your speech will bring out all sorts of relevant and thought-provoking material.

There are so many places that will yield up brilliant ideas for a speech. It’s just a case of looking – while you are surfing the net, while you are in the library or reading magazines, while you are chatting, and at life in general, and being open to ideas and themes and opinions on the subject. Create a strong picture of where you might go with the speech and let it lead you on. You natural creativity will use all of these sources to put together a great presentation.

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Presentation Secrets for Entrepreneurs Ready to Tell, Sell, and Compel

Speak up for your Business
Speak Up for Your Business: Presentation Secrets for Entrepreneurs Ready to Tell, Sell, and Compel

Dr. Michelle Mazur

ISBN 9781936984459
Format Paperback
Publisher Difference Press
Published 25th April 2014

Do you love your business but don't know how to talk about it with others?

Is the fear of public speaking keeping you from taking your business to the next level?

You know public speaking is a great way to establish your credibility, create buzz about your business, and attract your perfect client, but you have no idea what to talk about or why anyone should listen to you.

Or are there a million ideas swirling in your head but you don't know the presentation secrets of crafting a message that resonates? Do you fear that people won't like you or want to do business with you because of something you said-or didn't say?

Fear public speaking no more.

Professional public speaking expert Michelle Mazur is here to help.

With a Ph.D. in Communication and hundreds of speeches under her belt, Michelle knows exactly the presentations skills you need to engage your audience, persuade people to believe in your message, and ultimately, get the sale or business relationship you desire.

In Speak Up for Your Business, Michelle reveals how you can:

Develop your presentation skills so that you persuade and motivate your audience

Stop feeling sleazy about selling with this one presentation secret

Create a strategy to cope with your fear of public speaking

Embrace your Inner F-Bomb (it's not what you think)

Organize your presentation in a sexy way

Give your audience real value

Create an experience through story with four essential ingredients

Begin your presentation with a win & close with a bang

Adapt your presentation on the fly

Handle those wing-nut questions that threaten to derail your speech

Land more speaking gigs

michelle_mazurAbout the Author: As a Speech Designer and Idea Architect, Dr. Michelle Mazur guides introverted business professionals and entrepreneurs to ignite the smoldering fires within them so they can speak up, speak out, and make their impact-one compelling presentation at a time. Her passion is helping super smart people get their ideas communicated to the people who need to hear it most. Michelle earned a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Oklahoma, and as a professor, she inspired university students to find their voices and share their messages for more than ten years. She is the author of Speak Up for Your Business and contributing author to the Amazon Best Seller Ted: ology: Presentation Secrets of TED Talks and Master Presenter: Lessons from the World's Top Experts on Becoming a More Influential Speaker. Her writing has appeared on 12 Most, PR Daily, Ragan.com, SOLD Magazine, PR Europe, and Business2Community. Her blog, Relationally Speaking, was listed at #11 of the 101 best online resources for public speaking. She resides in Seattle, Washington with her loving fiance, two obsessive felines, and a huge collection of Duran Duran memorabilia."

Buy the book

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[Quotation about public speaking] Understanding and communicating the essence of things

"..... understanding and communicating the essence of things is difficult,

takes a lot of thought, and has a big impact.”

— Carly Fiorina

 

Carly Fiorina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Fiorina served as chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard 
 from 1999 to 2005 and previously was an executive at AT&T

Image: "CarlyFiorina49416" by Antônio Milena/AB - Agência Brasil [1].
 Licensed under CC-BY-3.0-br via Wikimedia Commons.

 

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Words – the powerful persuasive potion

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
― Rudyard Kipling

misused_words
Is it a drug you need to persuade people when you speak?

We spend a lot of our time speaking to persuade – persuade people to adopt our ideas, persuade them to buy our products or services, persuade them to employ our skills – sometimes just to pick up their towels from the bath room floor.

Is it a drug you need when you want to persuade?

We can drug ourselves into belief with the stories we tell ourselves.

Undoubtedly we can drug our audiences into belief just as well with the power of words.

We can create emotion with words. And emotion is one of the most powerful persuasion devices there is.

We can build a relationship with a audience to take them with us into the behaviour we want.

Let’s start with emotion.

You can attach emotion to an idea with words that will give it a positive energy or a negative energy or remove either of those.

Associate an idea with positive words and make it attractive. We would all rather a glass half full than a glass half empty. Generally we prefer something with the words “New and Improved” attached. Advertisers use adjectives that build the positives of their products – adjectives like more, increased, amazing, best, fastest, greatest. And I would far rather take up reading, if I were a child, if I knew it would give me a pleasant experience rather that because it would keep me out of mischief.

Reduce the negativities of an idea by using words that diminish that side. So we refer to “layoffs” rather than “downsizing”. We refer to “Intensive Interrogation techniques” rather than “torture” and refer to “used” Aston Martins as “pre-owned”.

On the other hand, associate certain words with a person or an idea and create a negativity around them. Adjectives again, like “infamous”, “malicious” and “stingy” all attach an emotional negativity.

These are powerful emotional drugs to use in persuasion.

Underlying this communication, though, are the word choices you can make that build your credibility for your audience and encourage their trust.

Perhaps the most important word you can use is “You”. Every audience member needs to feel that they are the centre of your attention and that meeting their needs is your prime objective. Focus on using the word “You” and you are forcibly reminded to turn your own thinking and your language that way.

Beyond this, though, the best words to use are “we”, “together” and “us” because they give the impression that you and your audience are of one mind, working towards the same outcome. Take them with you to that outcome. Speak to them, too, in their own language, avoiding words they might not understand and jargon that excludes them.

Validate them and their ideas whenever you can. Use words like “Thank you” and appreciate”.

We have talked already about the adjectives you can use for various reasons. Try to avoid adverbs. Use, instead, very evocative verbs.

Mark Twain again -
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.”

What can you use instead of “said”, for example? “Whispered” or “screamed” will communicate far more useful emotion. This is so much more effective than “said quietly” or “said loudly”. It also uses fewer words. We often associate verbosity with someone who is trying to cover something. So to build trust, keep it simple and use simple powerful words.

Now, how to reword my requests about those bath towels??!!

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[Quotations about public speaking] "Stage time" works

All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

All the great speakers were bad speakers at first. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Does this seem such a truism?

Are great speakers born or made?

Do people think they will be great speakers to begin with?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Why do you think Ralph Waldo Emerson actually wrote this set of words?

Incidentally they come from this passage from “The Conduct of Life” published in 1860.

Practice is nine tenths. A course of mobs is good practice for orators. All the great speakers were bad speakers at first. Stumping it through England for seven years, made Cobden a consummate debater. Stumping it through New England for twice seven, trained Wendell Phillips. The way to learn German, is, to read the same dozen pages over and over a hundred times, till you know every word and particle in them, and can pronounce and repeat them by heart.

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[Public Speaking Quotation] … for Sweet Benjamin

sweet_benjamin

"Imprison it"...? Hmm. My mother used to say to me "Put your words on the palm of your hand and look at them before you speak." I liked that. Sweet Benjamin needs to guard against speaking without thinking.

If he's going to be a speaker, he needs to consider his message and his audience before he speaks.

But "imprison" ...? What do you think?

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[Quick Public Speaking Tip] Oops, how embarrassing, you're boring your audience

oops_boring
It’s a moment that nervous speakers dread – to realise that most of your audience is bored.

They’re glassy eyed, maybe even falling asleep, chatting or texting.

Horrors!

Worse still and more embarrassing is the presenter who becomes frantic, attempting to regain attention.

It has happened to me twice.

The first was early in my speaking career when I became aware of a lady in the front row, slumped, with her head back and her mouth open, quietly snoring. The second was later, during a presentation, and I watched with increasing concern as one after another, the people in the audience got that glazed look. They were too polite to nod off or chat, but the evidence was there. I had been asked to present on the subject and had failed to research that audience and their needs, which, it turned out, were on a different level altogether.

I well remember the panicky feeling. Fortunately I managed to turn the situations around. As the snores gently increased, we moved quickly into small group discussion so that the people around the sleepy-head moved and woke her up to participate. And in the presentation, as it became increasingly obvious that the material I had prepared was just not appropriate, I was able to drop the script, and work with the audience to find out their needs and present something they needed and got quite excited about. But I will never forget that initial feeling of losing attention.

Avoid the whole situation if you can by researching your audience and make sure you address the What's In It For Me factor.

Avoid the whole situation if you can by embedding signposts so that your audience can follow the road of your presentation with you.

Avoid the whole situation if you can by ensuring you have variety wired into your presentation, and have something up your sleeve that you can move into if necessary.

Introduce a new visual.

Involve the audience.

Ask questions.

Change your stance, body language or walking pattern.

Stop.

Stand still.

Change from a complex approach to the subject and create pure simplicity. Change direction entirely.

Ask for directions to take.

Whatever you use, it will become a smooth, professional piece of your presentation instead of a situation that embarrasses you and your audience.

[Public Speaking Quotation] Making it tingle

grandiloquent

It's such a lovely old-fashioned quote, isn't it? "Whip with a switch" from the days of horses and horse carriages. And I would think that if you used a switch without leaves it would certainly tingle, though these days we shudder a little at the thought of beating the poor animal.

Nevertheless, writing as he was, in his time, Henry Ward has made a timeless point - waffling does not drive home searching truths.

And there's another wonderful term "searching truths". Ah! If all the points I make when I speak cause my audiences to search their beliefs and themselves, I would be very happy!

I wish you (and me) speaking experiences that drive us and our points home ... in fine style!