At this point let me make one thing clear. I’m not against statistics or facts as the basis of the point you are trying to make when delivering your speech. Actually I’m all for it - there’s nothing worse than a speaker who moves the mind of an audience with pure emotion and no substance. However, the tendency of most speakers is to stay safely in the land of statistics, leaving stories for someone else. Assuming that their audience will be as excited about their statistics as they are. Often the excitement for their stats spills into their PowerPoint slides where they share every detail in carefully constructed bullet points which leave no room for the readers imagination. And, the detail on the slides converts audiences from listeners to readers.

With my background and experience working with people from the IT industry I have seen countless presentations and speeches that match the description above. In reality it doesn’t take a lot of effort to take a statistical monologue and convert it into a speech that will emotionally connect with your audience. All it needs is stories… not the once upon a time kind, but the everyday recollection of events that occur around you every day. After all your statitics are based on real world data (hopefully) - and when you find the stories associated with the real world data you find the emotion that your audience will connect with and be moved by when you share the story.

When you start to pay attention you’ll see that there are literally hundreds of stories for you to choose from based upon the events that happen around you. Create a simple story file and note them down so when you need a story for your next speech or presentation you have the weapons at hand that will connect you emotionally to your audience so you can change their thinking.

Happy Speaking

Mark.

To help prepare properly I find it beneficial to have clarity on the follow questions before I write my speech, and definitely before I deliver it!

1. How long am I expected to speak for?
2. What is the reason I’m speaking?
3. What is the perspective of the audience?
4. What is the intended outcome of the speech?
5. What are the key points I need to cover in my speech or PowerPoint presentation?

The answers to the questions above don’t have to be exhaustive by any means. They are intended to get a level of focus and clarity about the reason you are going to stand in front of an audience and speak to them.

Answering the questions probably won’t eliminate all the reasons you have nerves, but I’m sure that the answers you provide will help settle a few nerves, and in the process help you prepare a better speech.

Is that clear…

Happy Speaking

Mark.

Along the same lines you should also inform the audience how long you’ll be taking questions for - and stick to it! There is nothing worse than a presenter who exceeds their allocated time because they have lost control of their Q&A session. Most people have busy schedules and they’ll appreciate when you firmly (but politely) decline anymore questions. Instead offer to make yourself available afterwards for anybody who wants to discuss any questions with you.

When an audience member asks a question make sure you know if everyone in the room heard it. If they have a microphone then that will obviously not be a problem. However, even in smaller rooms, some people can have trouble hearing a question. But, rather than simply repeating the question re-phrase it. This will let everybody know the question while also providing you some valuable think time to frame your answer.

Finally, a major concern with Q&A sessions is to actually elicit some questions. Generally, if your pitched your presentation at the right level for the audience I find that this is less of a problem. But if you’re still concerned why not seed the audience with a few questions ahead of time. Sometimes people have questions but are too nervous to ask them, but once one or two questions have been asked they tend to get the confidence to ask their question.

A well run Q&A session can provide you valuable opportunities to guage reaction to your presentation and make you stand out and look extremely professional.

Happy Speaking

Mark.

With his opening you can bet that everyone in the auditorium was looking at Steve, eager to hear the message he was about to deliver. His opening achieved its purpose magnificently. (Note: Just because he is a CEO doesn’t mean he has the attention of the audience when he stands on stage). Now, bounding across a stage screaming probably won’t suit you and your personality, but what can you do to ensure that when you stand up and speak that your audience is eager to hear your message? Your aim must be to get the attention of everyone in the room. Only once you have their attention can you get share your message with them. Think hard and be creative about some different ways you can open your speech and get your audiences eager to listen to your message.

Let me know what ideas you come up with…

For the last couple of years while Kevin was either leader of the opposition and until recently Prime Minster his speeches were functional. They remained on message, but devoid of a sense of passion. Kevin would often stand and deliver a speech full of compelling logic to his supporters, but he rarely evoked feeling or emotion from his audience. There was almost a sense of lecturing during his speeches. He had a speaking persona, which from some accounts was different to the personable and conversational Kevin Rudd in a one on one situation.

Contrast this with the raw and unbridled passion displayed on the night Julia Gillard sat in his office and challenged him for the Prime Ministership. He faced the media and gave a passionate speech to Australia outlining his achievements and successes. Many commentators later reflected it was his best speech. With that speech he connected and communicated with his audience better than he had at any time previously. Australia understood Kevin and his message! Unfortunately for Kevin it was too late – he’d already lost the support he needed.

Kevin Rudd is a very public example of what many speakers suffer with – differing speaking and real life personas. As speakers we need to be authentic, and reflect our personalities honestly and authentically when we speak to an audience. It takes a level of comfort with public speaking to have the confidence to be you on stage. When you do allow your personality to shine through on stage you’ll be rewarded with a greater understanding and appreciation from an audience that senses an authentic speaker on stage.

Mark.

But how does a social networking phenomenon help you as a speaker? When preparing speeches and presentations a number of my clients have had initial difficulty focusing on what the purpose of their speech is. As a result, the early versions of the speeches are inevitably lacking a defining message that that the audience can take away from the speech. However, after sitting down and really defining what the reason and purpose for giving the speeches are the speeches have changed markedly as the speaker carefully considers the words and phrases they will share with the audience to ensure they match the refined purpose of the speech.

It’s the 140 characters that make the difference. It forces you to take what would be a rambling and unfocussed speech purpose and apply a blow torch to it. You are forced question every word and idea in your purpose to determine if it really matches what you want to achieve when you deliver your speech.  So, the next time you sit down to prepare a speech, before you write your opening lines, write down the purpose of your speech, and keep refining it until its 140 characters or less.

Happy Speaking

Mark.

P.S. Why not follow my tweets?

Do you have someone to keep you accountable for reaching your goals in 2010? Having someone who we rely on to keep us honest during the year, after the euphoria of New Year and summer holidays has subsided is crucial. That someone (and it doesn’t have to be just one!) acts as a mirror for you, providing an honest reflection of your choices during the year. When other “priorities” come up and you’re about to let your dreams fall by the wayside, they’ll remind you what you committed to in January and what you’re about to “let go”. You still have to make the choices of whether you’ll stay the course with you goals or will you let them go, but it becomes so much harder to abandon your goals when you know there’s someone watching your progress…

So I’m going to ask you to be my mirror for 2010. One of my aspirations for this year is to update my blog and send out my email newsletter on a regular basis. I intend to update and distribute them both twice a month. I’d like you to be my mirror and accountability! Now I have publicly stated my goal I’m going to have to work hard to make sure I stick to it because I know you’re all watching! If you think I’m not sticking to my goal I’d love you to contact me and remind of what I’ve said here!

Whether your goal is to lose some weight, learn a musical instrument, or to improve an area of your life find someone who can hold you accountable to the promises you’ve made to yourself at the beginning of the year.

Happy New Year and Happy Speaking!

Mark.

P.S. For those who want to improve their public speaking check out the Speakers Edge eBook available for immediate download!

In those cases, if the speaker will give a better speech with notes than without I won’t stand in their way - but I will work with them to alter the pages they intend to read from!

First, I insist that they make the font LARGE! So many people make a speech and give themselves an eye test at the same time. When you put your notes on the lectern; the writing on the page can start to feel awfully small. I always remind speakers that the only person who’ll ever see your notes is you. Because of this you can make them as large as you want - no one will ever know! The ideal scenario is to be able to look down at your speech, read a sentence, and look up at the audience as you deliver the words you’ve just read. Then glance down at your notes and easily find the point in the text where you are up to, read your next sentence, and return to looking at your audience. You’ll make a stronger impression when you make the effort to look at the people you are speaking too.

Next, keep the writing on the paper to point form, and key statistics only. After spending time getting ready for the speech most of my clients know what they want to say and can recite their speech without looking at their notes. However they want a level of insurance in case their memory fails them when they are in the spotlight. In order to regather their thoughts most people only need to glance at a prompt and they can continue conversing with the audience, without the audience ever realising the speaker lost their way. With this strategy most speakers find their speeches and presentations become more conversational and less rigid - resulting in better reactions from those who are sitting there listening to what they have to say.

These two simple strategies can make the next speech you deliver far more effective because you’ll have the freedom to look at your audience without your eyes being locked to your notes and you’ll find yourself delivering speeches that are far more conversational.

Happy Speaking

Mark.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not completely averse to seeing a speaker use notes (although I bet many times the same speaker could give an adequate presentation by relying on their memory rather than a pre-written script). What I do have an issue with is seeing a speaker utilise PowerPoint as a visual aid and a speech writing tool at the same time. If a speaker is going to write his (or her) entire speech in PowerPoint and then display those same slides for the audience to see (and read!) -  What benefit is the speaker providing? Why not email the presentation to everyone and allow them the opportunity to get something more valuable done!

Your audiences don’t want to see (or need to see) your entire speech illuminated on a screen in a dimly lit room. All they want is the key points (not sentences, paragraphs, or essays) to reinforce and remind them of your message. By keeping to key points you’ll be rewarded with a keenly interested audience who will listen to you and your presentation. If you want to use notes or a full script then go ahead – just don’t display it for everyone to see and read! Remember keep PowerPoint for your Power Points only.

Happy Speaking

Mark.

A load of what if!

A load of thoughts all centred on the individual… What would happen if we turned those questions around and you started thinking about your audience? What if you took the time to meet and mingle with the audience as they enter the room? You’ll find any barriers between you and your audience breaking down before your eyes. For starters you will build an all important connection between you and individual audience members – allowing you to find allies in sea of strange faces when you step up to speak. And, while you probably won’t get the opportunity to speak to every individual before your presentation you will be seen by everyone as you chat and move throughout the room before it’s your turn to step into the spotlight. Your audience will appreciate this demonstration of care and because you are taking the time to communicate with them individually they’ll reward you in kind.

By taking the time to meet and greet the audience you will also build up a picture of the mood and mindset of the audience – providing you a barometer upon which you can set your expectations of audience reaction.  If you know before you step into the spotlight that the audience has just heard bad news then you can make last minute customisations to your speech and you’ll know that if a joke gets muted laughs it’s because of factors outside your control and not your delivery.

It’s a natural reaction to want to tuck yourself away in a corner and mentally “prepare” before you speak. However it’s counterproductive. Why not use the time to do everything you can to make your speech or presentation a success? Go and meet as many members of your audience as you can and build a connection with the audience before you start your presentation. What if you found allies in the room who will agree with what you have to say? What if you can gauge the reaction before you start your speech? What if your speech is a success?

What if?

Happy Speaking.

Mark.