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Friday, October 31, 2008

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Public Speaking : Sensitive Audience Members

If you are planning to do a lively presentation that involves the audience members, you must be careful of what you say at the beginning of your speech.

Some audience members would rather have you sit down so they could be the star on stage, but others dread the thought of even being noticed while they are sitting in the audience.

Here is a critical phrase you can adapt and say during the beginning of your presentation to help the sensitive members of the audience relax and pay attention to your content.

"We're going to have lots of fun and interaction today, but don'tworry. You won't be put on the spot to do anything you don't want to do."

That simple phrase will help all of your audience members enjoy your presentation without anxiety.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

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Public Speaking : Funny props

I almost always use some kind of funny prop when doing a presentation that is supposed to have a high percentage of humor.

Some props are just funny looking themselves, . . . like putting an Elvis wig on yourself or an audience member.

Other props need an explanation to be funny. I use a little odd looking piece of plastic that holds socks together so they don't get lost in the washing machine. It's not obvious what the prop is until I tell the audience what it does and why I so desperately need a sock organizer.

I like props because they offer a different way of keeping the audience member's interest. The concept of "keeping interest" is the cornerstone of my entire "Wake 'em Up!" speaking system.

Funny props also take some of the pressure off of you to be glib with your humor. You may want to add some humor to your presentations and you may realize the value of doing so, but you may not feel confident enough to pull it off. Props can save the day because funny looking ones can carry the load for you because they inherently get laughs even if your timing is not perfect.

This doesn't mean that props don't take skill and practice. You have to know when they should be seen and when they should behidden. And if they are hidden, you need to know just when the right time is to reveal them. If you are on camera, you need to know how to hold them so they are seen by the camera.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Public Speaking : Beware when you prepare dry erase boards

I am a real sticker on preparing in advance. There are some rare instances when preparing too far in advance could cause you trouble. This is one of them.

Let's say you have access to your presentation room the night before, so you visit the room and decide to put your opening dry erase board comments on the board.

The next day you start your presentation, talk for 15 minutes, refer to your dry erase board comments for several minutes and then you go to erase them. --- oops. They might not come off without some serious scrubbing of the board.

This happened to me once and I had to hold the back of the board with one hand and scrub each little inch of writing really hard to get it erased enough to continue.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Public Speaking : Contract Marketing

I learned this concept years ago from Dottie Walters (check out her Magnificent Marketing Symposium which is coming up in just a few weeks)http://www.speakandgrowrich.com/s_2003_mm_tom.aspx

Smart speakers attempt to maximize the amount of money they make at each speaking engagement. Contract marketing is one way to do it.

The idea is to put a mention of other products or services in your contract / agreement after you have landed the speaking engagement.

It could go something like this, "Additional learning materials available to match this presentation.

"You would put this in a prominent place in your agreement.

Many organizations have budgets to buy educational materials for their members or employees. Why shouldn't they buy them from you?

You might say, "Tom, why don't you just discuss additional product sales up front with the meeting planner and put the deal right in your contract?"

The reason is that the meeting planner doesn't always know how much budget that is available for this until all the top priorities are under contract. When the final review of the contracts occurs your reminder in your contract could land a very big deal doubling or tripling the value of your engagement.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Public Speaking : A Breath of fresh air

I always want to give you the inside scoop and tiny nuances that help make an overall great presentation. Sometimes what I tell you has nothing to do with your speech. This is one of those times.

Make sure you have some breath mints with you on stage or in your pocket. I've gone up to congratulate people on a great speech and about fell over because of their bad breath.

You would think all that wind you are blowing on stage would disperse bad breath, but for some reason after speaking for an hour or so, every foul smelling odor from your stomach wants to leap forth to your audience. It may be because you just had lunch with the group and didn't have time to brush your teeth, or it could be just because of the constant rush of air from your belly.

This doesn't matter too much if you are far from them, but if you bring them up on stage with you, or if someone wants to talk to you afterward, it can really reflect poorly on you. I'm sorry to have to tell you this one, but one big shot speaker I saw had nose hairs sticking out so far you could braid them. He had the nerve to hit on the women in the audience as they came up to talk to him. I can only imagine what they were thinking about this big jerk.

So, watch the hygiene. You don't want to negate a great speech with poor personal habits.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Public Speaking : Make it Easy

If you want other people to spread your name around the planet, why not make it really easy for them.

You can give your advocates websites that look like they belong to them. You can give them articles and interviews that promote your cause. You can give them flyers and brochures to distribute.

The best way to really give them an incentive to promote you is if you embed an affiliate link for them in the promotional piece.It could be that a link on a web page tracks the referral from your advocate or you could give them custom printed materials or labels that has a website that only belongs to them.

Of course, you would only do this for your best advocates that have shown the ability to produce, but the little extra effort can pay off in lots of extra sales and speaking engagements.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Public Speaking : Role Reversal

This technique is always good for a laugh and sometimes brings down the house.

Invite two people on stage that have opposite roles. It works particularly well with husband/wife , boyfriend/girlfriend, employee/boss.

Have them play the role of the other person, i.e., the husband acts as if he is the wife and vice versa. You could have some funny props like a wig to put on the guy and give the wife a handyman's tool belt, etc. (In many cases you will find it hard to continue at this point because everyone will be laughing so hard just from the site on stage.)

Brainstorm questions to have the pair ask each other and have them answer as if they were the other person. Write these out for both of them.

Example:
Have the husband (who is playing the part of the wife), ask the wife who is playing the part of the husband, "where do you think you are going with those golf clubs?" Either write funny answers for them like, "I was going out to the garden to use them to hold up the tomato plants" or just let them ad lib.

You could have competition between pairs for the best answers and give out prizes.

This is a very fun technique, but you really need to brainstorm on some funny questions and answers in case the people on stage aren't fast enough to think up funny stuff on their own.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Public Speaking : Keystone Effect

When a projector is not exactly on a level plain with a projection screen the projected image is not symmetrical. Most of the time the projector is lower than the screen so the top of the image is wider than the bottom of the image and looks like a"keystone." Keystones are the top stone in an archway that holds the arch together sort of like a wedge.

Many tripod type screens have the ability to tilt forward at the top which adjusts for the keystone effect. Look for a notched out piece of metal that points toward the audience at the top of the screen where the screen hooks when it is unrolled from its holder.

Note: You are usually stuck when the screen is mounted on the wall or drops down from the ceiling.

Trick for ceiling mounted screens -- Tie a heavy weight to the bottom of the screen and pull it back, which has the same effect as tilting the top forward.

Many LCD projectors can adjust for keystone electronically. Make sure you read the onscreen menu, or heaven forbid, "the manual"to learn how to use this function.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Public Speaking : Tease People

This is supposed to be an ezine for people that want to get "Great" on the platform. Sometimes that entails a little calculated risk.

If someone comes into the session late I might stop what I was doing and say, "Why were you late?" 98 percent of the time, the person will tease me back, give me a smart alec answer back (not really maliciously), or in some other way go along with the fun. The voice inflection I use obviously says I'm just playing and not trying to embarrass them.

I would say 2 percent might act a little irritated because I pointed out the obvious. I can tell you in several thousand presentations, not once have I received a negative comment or bad evaluation because of saying that line. (That doesn't mean, of course, that someone didn't think poorly of me because of it --they just didn't say anything about it)

When someone gets up to leave the room during his presentation a comic speaking magician I know stops the performance and pulls out a hall pass from his briefcase and runs over to give it to the person. It brings down the house.

Besides their comic effect, these activities of stopping what you are saying have a practical use. Someone arriving late or getting up in the middle of your presentation is very distracting to the audience. If you keep talking over the distraction, the audience won't hear what you're saying anyway. You may as well sneak in some comedy since the audience's mind is elsewhere.

Warning:
Teasing the 2 percent can be hazardous to your evaluations so be careful and make sure you've established a likable playful demeaner before teasing people without permission.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Public Speaking : AFRAID OF FREEZING DURING A PRESENTATION? SOME THOUGHTS ON WHY WE

In a memorable scene from the movie "8 Mile" the character played by rapper Eminem enters a competition and gets on stage to prove his prowess in front of a rowdy crowd. Using rhyme and rap, he must show his skill at cleverly putting down the reigning champion. Winning the contest could mean fame, fortune and a way out of his grimy, dead-end life. We know he's up to it. In the preceding scenes he's brilliant in front of his friends and the bathroom mirror. But when he faces the jeering crowd on the big night he freezes and is unable to speak. As the crowd chants "Choke! Choke!" he leaves the stage in shame.

Freezing in front of an audience is every speaker's worst nightmare. Eminem was clearly facing a hostile crowd. But why do some speakers freeze even when they are in front of an audience that is friendly and receptive?

Our voice is especially sensitive to our state of mind. It mirrors our emotional state. Public speaking, of course, is inherently stressful. During stress, the body secretes the fight or flight hormones of adrenaline and noradrenalin and a sudden, over-abundance of these hormones in the bloodstream is responsible for the uncomfortable symptoms we associate with the fear of public speaking: sweaty palms, rapid heartbeat, shakiness, "brain freeze, " and a sudden but temporary loss ofvoice.

While these symptoms can be scary for people who aren't used to them, in most cases, they are temporary and feel worse than they look. However, losing a normally healthy voice during a speech is a warning sign that there are deeper psychological issues at work that should be examined so the problem can be resolved.

So why do we get so nervous? Recent psychological research conducted by psychoanalyst Dr. Norberto Keppe, shows that the hardest thing for us to accept in life is goodness. We create the most stress, and consequently the most illness, by unconsciously rejecting and fighting against success, opportunity, love, and all the other good things life has to offer. It's as if we are inverted, says Keppe, and on a deep unconscious level we push away the very things we should rationally want the most.

This was certainly the case with Eminem's character in 8 Mile. Street smart and savvy, well prepared and dedicated to his craft, he certainly had the right stuff to handle a tough crowd and rise to the occasion. Yet these were precisely the qualities he resisted, and because he was terrified of looking at this resistance in himself, he blocked and froze. Eventually, he succeeded, and you will too if before your next talk, you take a moment to gather up your courage and try to listen to the message behind the nerves. What precious awareness is waiting for you there? It is through this process that the masterful communicator within you will be born.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Public Speaking : Add Weight

No I'm not promoting obesity. I'm referring to outdoor presentations. If you are ever forced (I say "forced" because you should try to avoid outdoor presentations at all costs) to do an outdoor presentation, then make sure you have several different kinds of weights handy to help control your presentation.

You might need a sand bag or dumbell to hold down the easel of your flipchart. How about taping some heavy coins to the bottom of the sheets and clamping the edges to keep the breeze from lifting up the pages?

Paperweights, or in a pinch, plain old rocks are great for holding down papers you have on a table on stage.

What else do you commonly have with you on stage that could blow around in a breeze? Make sure it's secured.

Ties and scarves that look gorgeous in a no wind hotel room look terrible and distracting when flapping in the wind.

Keep your weight up and you'll make the best of a windy situation.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Public Speaking : Referral Fees

You can be a really great platform speaker and still not get people to refer you for other speaking engagements.

I don't know why that is. I suspect that people just get busy thinking about their own lives and problems and -- can youbelieve it? -- They just don't dedicate themselves to telling the world how great you are.

One way to encourage people to spread your name around is to offer them an incentive in the form of a referral fee. When moneyi s involved somehow people remember your name more.

I offer up to 20 percent of my speaking fee as acommission/referral fee if someone calls up and says, "Joe saw you speak and said we have to have you at our next convention. Are you available . . ." This means that Joe did my selling job for me and all I have to do to close the deal is check my calendar book and send the contract.

I offer 10 percent if someone calls because of Joe and makes me jump through all the normal hoops to send press kits, demo materials and keeps me on the phone for hours to see if I'm the right fit for their audience.

In the first case, Joe either had the clout or did such a great selling job for me that he deserves more money. In the second case Joe didn't have the clout and didn't do a good enough selling job, so he gets a little less. Either way Joe and I both win.

A colleague of mine and professional speaker Bill Cates wrote the book "Unlimited Referrals." I suggest you get a copy for tons of other ideas on getting people to refer you.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Public Speaking : Speaking to Large Crowds

I'll arbitrarily pick 100 audience members or more as a large crowd for the purposes of this article.

When you are speaking to a large number of people there are many different things you should know to have the most impact in the smoothest manner possible.

Speed of delivery

You will have to slow down your speed of delivery as crowd size gets larger. Even if you have a good sound system it takes longer for your voice and ideas to reach all members of a large audience. This is very pronounced as crowd size exceeds 1000 people. Also, audience members will be seated a great distance from you. Many depend on seeing and reading your lips to help make up for poor or declining hearing. If they can't see you as well, they won't get the idea as fast, so slow down.

Amount of material

Going along with your speed of delivery being slower you will need less material as audience size grows. This doesn't just mean you "need" less material. It means you "plan" less material so that you aren't rushed. You'll look really bad in front of lots of people if you don't cover what you promised them because you ran out of time.

Humor issues

A presentation to very large crowds in enormous rooms or venues such as stadiums means laughter comes in waves. The portion of the audience right in front of you will laugh first. Then most of the rest of the crowd will laugh. The third wave will come when those slower to get the joke finally do, and when those who laugh because everyone else is laughing kick in. You must allow time for this phenomenon to occur and be ready for it so it doesn't ruin your timing.

Also, in large crowds you must play to the back of the room. These people are hardest to reach.

In large crowds you can tell longer stories that you should never attempt in very small groups.

Stage movement

There are variables here. If you are not being I-Magged (projected on one or more big screens), your gestures and stage movement should be much more pronounced and broad. If you are being projected, then you don't want to be too broad because you will always be running out of the video frame and making it too difficult for the videographer to follow you.

Need for assistance

If you are selling products at the back of the room, it is imperative that you get some competent assistance. This really hit home recently for me when I sold about 60K at the back of the room. Even though I had offers for assistance from the sponsoring group, they would never have known the product and been able to concentrate on my stuff like my own assistant could. A good assistant will be an investment NOT an expense. I recommend Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero without hesitation if you need someone to help you handle a big event both in on site sales and in preparing promotional materials lorrie@wordsorcerer.com

Super trick of the trade:

If you're really good, people will flock to talk to you. A good assistant will pull you away from the crowd to handle something, when really he/she is getting you away to give you a break.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Public Speaking : Check Local References

On the international speaking tour I just returned from I could have made a serious flaw had I not checked out material with the locals after I got in the country.

Apparently one country hates a certain kind of animal to the point where some natives actually try to run over the animal when driving on the road. A nearby country loves the same animal.

Although in this case I chose to avoid any comments about this animal issue, I could have ruined a speech by saying the wrong thing about this animal in the wrong country.

This same concept can apply to different areas or the same country or even different parts of the same city. Always check comments you plan on making that are localized with several local people before using them. You might just save yourself a big embarrassing bomb.

Additional Quick Tip:
In the last issue http://www.antion.com/ezine/v5n3.txt I talked about using sound effects as a humor technique. Reader Doug Orwig responded with a great site for finding sounds. It's really oddball name: http://www.findsounds.com