Archive for the ‘public speaking’ Category

The 7 commandments of Public Speaking

September 2nd, 2007 |1 comment

In order to communicate effectively with anyone, there are a number of rules and conventions that should be followed. Although I generally don’t like to be prescriptive, the points below offer a quick checklist for speakers.

Know your reason for speaking: Know what message you want to convey during your talk. This will make preparation much easier;
Know who your audience is, and what they want: By understanding your audience, you will be able to tailor your message to meet their needs;
Give your audience a reason to listen: Find out what is important to your audience and use this as part of your presentation. By knowing this your audience will pay attention to you so you can get your message across.
Only speak to one person: Although this sounds counter intuitive, speaking to one person will bring the audience into what you have to say. Whilst you see many people that you are speaking too, your audience only sees 1 person speaking to them. Therefore, from their point of view, you are in a one-to-one speaking situation. Speak as though you are in a one-to-one situation and the audience will think that you are talking directly to them!
Tell a story and make a point: People do not want to hear just the facts; they want to now what the facts mean. So give them the stories behind the facts;
Always leave them wanting more. Don’t give everything away in your speech. Always leave them wanting more so they want to follow you up.

Nervousness in Job interviews

September 2nd, 2007 |no comments

I am often asked for the secret for overcoming nervousness. While there is no silver bullet that will cure nervousness, having a planned approach to any type of public speaking, or job interviews will help you control your nerves.

Firstly, you need to be prepared. There is no substitute for knowing your material. If it is public speaking, you need to know what you are talking about. If you don’t, then you will be distracted by the potential that the audience will know more than you.

If you are in an interview, you need to know where you are going with your answers to the questions that you are asked. If you don’t, the interviewers will pick it.

You also need to realise that the audience does not want you to fail. No interviewer wants the person in the chair to fail because they were too nervous. It is a waste of everyone’s time. In the same way, no audience listening to a speaker wants the speaker to fail. So realise the audience and interviewer are on your side and want you to succeed.

Finally, remember to breathe. This may sound incredibly simple, but most people overlook it. When breathing, use your whole lungs, and not just your chest; really get the diaphragm involved.

Keep your breaths long and slow. This will have the effect of slowing your whole body down, which will inturn slow your thoughts down. When your thoughts slow down, you will remember what you want to say, and will be able to deliver it in the way that you need too.

Understanding your audience pays off

September 2nd, 2007 |4 comments

At a recent course I held in Adelaide, I asked a number of business owners if they wanted to get some free publicity for their business. The answer came back, ‘who wouldn’t!’ so I thought that I would share the trick with you. I’ve used these tricks to get $50,000 in publicity for Executive Speaking, and you can use it too. It is easier than you think, and will also work for any worthwhile cause – not just businesses.

The trick is to understand your audience and what they want!

What did I do, and how did I do it?

When I started Executive Speaking I wanted to generate some publicity. I decided that the easiest way to do this was to get some advertising in national magazines that my audience reads. However, I did not want to spend the big bucks to place ads in the magazines, and I was skeptical that they would work anyway. I decided that the best (and cheapest) way to get into these magazines was to write something for them that they needed. The logic behind the thinking was this:

Most people ‘out there’ need to improve their public speaking and communication skills. Public speaking is not something that most people like, but they know they have to get better at it. Therefore an article on public speaking would probably be appreciated as there are very few ‘How to’ articles in the media about it.

Editors are always looking for something new that they can give to their readers. They need this to keep their publications fresh and their readers interested. As there are virtually no public speaking articles about, I thought I could write some.
So I called the editors and said, “Hi. My name is Darren and I have something that your readers need.” I then explained what I could offer their’ readers’ and how it would benefit them.
I then submitted the article.

I have used this technique a number of times with many different publications. This has resulted in me getting articles in BRW, MyBusiness, The Advertiser, Marketing magazine and others. I have been able to include contact details and information about what I can offer my clients and how I can meet their needs. The article works better than an advertisement as it offers real value to the reader that they can take away and use. This helps build a relationship with the readers as well. So how can you use this? Ask yourself: “Who are the people I want to reach, and what do they need?” Then work out what they read and approach the editors of the magazine, newspaper, or radio. Remember, the first audience you have to get to listen is the editor. So work out what they want and how you can provide it. What do they want? Is it something fresh and new, or an article that looks at a topic from a different angle? Once you have this worked out, write and submit your article. If it is well written it will be run. A few points to remember with this:

Don’t just write an ad disguised as an article; the editors won’t run it.
Offer value in the article; &
Finally, swallow your pride and get someone good to read and edit it. Get them to be ruthless. This will help it get published

The whole process from initial contact to a published article can take a few months, so get started now! It really is that simple!

Using stories in public speaking

September 2nd, 2007 |no comments

As a speaker, it is your duty to connect with your audience. It does not matter what the topic is, or who is in your audience, if you are not connecting with your audience your message is not getting through.

One of the easiest ways to connect with your audience is with the use of simple stories. Simple stories are anecdotes that illustrate the point that you want to make.

We use stories in our daily conversations. Have you ever told a work colleague what happened on the way to work; your partner what you did at work, or the kids about what you did when you were young? These are all simple stories that people share.

People are drawn to these stories because of the emotion that is contained in them. Your story of the trip to work may generate the emotion of laughter; you may share the emotion of frustration or success when describing to your partner what happened at work. And your kids love the emotion of excitement from when you were younger.

But where are the stories for your presentation? Simply look at the facts and figures and ask yourself, “What do they mean?”, “What is the storey behind them?” It is story behind the facts and figures that people want. If you “facts and figures” tell you that your clients can save 10% by switching their services to you, tell them a story of someone who has achieved that. That’s a story!

Very few people will feel warm and fuzzy about facts; however, they will remember your stories long after the facts have been forgotten.

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