Most clients who contact us state “fear”, “anxiety” and “lack of confidence” as their biggest issue with public speaking. Fear is the number one reason why people avoid anything in life. We don’t like the feeling of fear, and so avoidance is one admittedly effective strategy for making sure you never have to face that fear. However, you can see the problem. Whatever goals you want to achieve will never come to be. Worse, if you are forced into public speaking scenarios (for example, it’s a requirement of your job) this can amplify negative feelings.

Having a system for success is very important, but everything starts with cultivating a positive mind-set. Our fears begin in the mind, and we accumulate these thoughts over time. They become limiting beliefs. The good news is that they can be replaced by thoughts and feelings that feel good.

If you feel good, are you more likely to deliver a better presentation?

The answer is obvious. Everything begins in your mind. There is no magic pill for confidence with public speaking, but there is a magic road. It begins with three simple steps…

1. Recognize your fears

Firstly, understand your feeling of fear. Acknowledge and understand how you react to it. Perhaps your fears of speaking began long ago. It could have been due to one negative experience, perhaps in the school classroom. The origins don’t matter any more than simply understand how they make you feel now. Don’t fight or seek to numb your fears. Simply recognize them.

2. Make Friends with your fears

Take a pen and paper and write down all your public speaking fears. Be as specific as possible. For example:

“I have a fear of public speaking” is not as specific as “I’m scared of presenting financial reports to my boss on Tuesday afternoons.”

Once you have listed your fears, write down how they feel in your body. This exercise helps you to get in touch with your body and the associated feelings you may have been seeking to avoid. Then, as a nice visualization exercise, ask yourself how you would feel if you didn’t have any of these negative feelings.

How would you feel if you knew you couldn’t fail?

Already you are teaching your unconscious mind about what you want to manifest for yourself. You are training your mind about how you wish to be (and feel). As such, your unconscious mind will give you ways to help you achieve and maintain feelings of confidence you never dared to feel before.

3. Take positive action

This is what cognitive psychologists call “exposure therapy”. When you visit a therapist because you have a phobia of spiders, they will tell you that the ultimate goal will be for you to feel comfortable around spiders. However, step 1 is not to hold a tarantula in your hand. That’s perhaps the final step. The first step is to talk about your fears, and to get comfortable thinking about situations that make you afraid. The next step might be to look at a picture of a spider. After that, you might view a live spider in a glass cage. The point here is that each step is taken with a coach in a safe environment.

So it is with public speaking. When you take steps in a warm encouraging environment you will expose yourself to your fears, make friends with them, and ultimately transcend them.
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The following is a diagram of the fear/exposure curve for taking action in a safe environment:

The curve is the same for everyone. At first when you expose yourself to your fears, the feeling will heighten slightly. This is perfectly normal as you seek to face it. However, very quickly your fear will begin to dissipate. Provided you are in the right environment with the right support, your fear will subside and your confidence levels will increase as you learn the secrets of success.

Knowledge is the ultimate antidote to fear, since fear is a representation of uncertainty. Do yourself a favour you deserve. Make 2020 your best year. Face your fears, step by step. Make friends with them. And let them disappear as you achieve lasting results.

​​The first time I ever competed in a public speaking contest, I received feedback from two talented mentors. The first told me I moved around too much on the stage. The second told me I should move around more.
 
That was my first introduction to the fact that public speaking is an art as much as a science. Sometimes there’s no wrong or right. In fact, both my mentors were correct in their own way. I moved around too much “without purpose”. However I didn’t move effectively when I should have.
 
This begs the questions: How? When? Where? Why? … and so on.
 
Don’t worry, stage movement is quite simple. Start with the first most important guideline: don’t do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing. That may seem obvious, but if you apply this to stage movement, it’s obvious that you shouldn’t move unless you feel comfortable doing it. If you telegraph discomfort, your audience will start to feel the same. Therefore, the good news is, stage movement is optional. That is to say, you could be on a massive stage with a single spotlight shining on you, and you don’t have to move to be a successful speaker.
 
If you watch different stand up comedians, some love to move, some stay put behind the mic. Both are correct because they are doing what is unique and comfortable for them. Take note.
 
There are advantages to stage movement. Firstly, you can use the stage to paint pictures, interact with imaginary characters, and to “work” different sections of the audience. If you decide not to do any of these, make sure your script and vocal tonality makes up for the shortfall in picture painting, characterization, and so on.
 
Secondly, it may not be appropriate or even possible to move around. For example, if you are delivering a funeral eulogy in a church, it’s best to stay put. Churches also tend to have podiums or pulpits. Our second tip is to check out whatever venue you are speaking at and see what the stage looks like.
 
What is the best posture for speaking behind a podium or pulpit?
 
It’s important to adopt the high-powered pose that we covered in the blog article on posture. When you are behind a podium, pulpit (or wedding table) the audience can only see the top half of your body. That means you can still use your hands, face and eyes… so use them as much as is appropriate. Don’t stand like a stiff board even if you are partially obscured from view.
 
If you have a stage with space it’s important to make all movement sideways. Avoid moving forward and back unless you need to work with props, such as laptops and screens. If you are working with a prop (or volunteer) keep facing towards the audience, like a weather presenter on television. Avoid turning your back on your audience (as much as possible).
 
How do you move from side to side then? And when?
 
In your mind pick three hot-spots on the stage – all at the same distance from the audience. The first hot spot is right smack in the centre of the stage. Half of the audience is to your left and half to your right. If there is an aisle down the centre of the audience, the centre spot is right in line with this.
 
The next hot spot will be half-way along the left half of the audience. Imagine splitting the left half of the audience into two equal parts with an aisle down the middle. This is the second spot. Call it the left.
 
The final one is half-way along the right-half (the mirror image of the left spot).
 
Now you have three hot spots: left, middle, right. Feel free to move between them, but only occasionally, and with purpose. Start in the middle, at the beginning of your speech. To move from one spot to another, simply take a few steps, sweeping one foot in front of the other (in dancing they call this the side-step). In between movements, stay anchored in one spot for at least two sentences, if not a whole paragraph. Go from centre to left. Then hold it. Then move from left back to middle. Then hold. Then move from middle to right… and so on.
 
Even on a massive stage with a concert size audience you only need to step two to 5 steps if you prefer.
 
By the way, if you don’t like to move and you would rather stay in one spot, pick the centre spot and anchor your feet there. To take in both sides of the audience twist your body slightly at the hips to angle the top half of your body towards each section of the audience. Swivel back and forth as often as you like to give each section some eye contact.
 
When you get the hang of movement you will develop your own swagger. This is important and it’s unique to everyone. A rose doesn’t have to be a chamomile.

When we engage in any activity in life, be it work, sport or rest; having an appropriate posture is important. It makes a big difference for the success of your activity, and it’s good for your body (both short-term and long-term). This begs the question, what is the ideal posture for the public speaker?

In this article we will discover how to find the ideal speaking stance for all kinds of situations; giving a wedding speech, delivering a technical presentation in the workplace, lecturing to students, being interviewed for a job… whatever.

Some speaking scenarios may require you to sit, stand, use props and visual aids, or even appear on video. You may be free to move around a large stage, or you could find yourself stuck behind a podium. In all circumstances, there is one over-riding guideline that guarantees the best (and healthiest) posture: adopt a stance that conveys emotional empowerment. In other words, show (with your body) that you feel empowered (e.g. confident, relaxed, energised and/or passionate). This inevitably puts your audience at ease. It helps them to feel that they are in good hands.

I make it sound easy, don’t I? All my life I have struggled with posture. I like to slouch; something I picked up from my teenage years, no doubt. Teenagers are known to go through frequent bouts of apathy (or boredom). This affects their posture in a negative way, because boredom is not an emotionally empowered state. Rather the opposite; apathy is a state of disengagement, or disconnection. Negative postures can become habits that are hard to break.

It took the world of public speaking to help me break through my inner-slouch, though it still likes to assert itself from time to time. Given the chance, I love to slide into a soft couch, until my head is halfway down the back with my legs sticking out. If I am sitting on a wooden chair, I’m tempted to lift the front and angle the chair back, as if to turn it into a deck chair. It’s a delicate process; swing the chair back too far, and I could end up on the floor.

Since I became a public speaker, I’ve become more mindful of how I carry myself. I also discovered a hard and fast rule: your posture telegraphs your emotional state. Moreover, your level of confidence (and self-esteem) will tend to affect your stance, whether you are standing, sitting or sleeping. As I’m sure you’re aware, portraying confidence is important in public speaking.

The first tip I learned, was to become “grounded”. You can do this by becoming aware of your breathing. In our blog article entitled “Calm Your Wobbly Voice” I discuss how to breathe in a way that ensures you are grounded. To recap, simply breathe from behind your belly. Imagine there is a balloon behind your belly button. Every time your inhale the balloon inflates. Every time your exhale, the balloon deflates. Next, make sure both feet are firmly and evenly planted on the floor. Give each foot equal weight from your body.

Next, ensure your spine is straight. Keep your shoulders up; and relax. Whether you are sitting or standing, these tips work wonders. You will automatically portray confidence. Don’t forget to relax into it, however. You are not in the army! If you are standing, also make sure your feet are in line with your shoulders. In other words, don’t keep your feet too close together. I repeat, you are not in the army!

I have not discussed movement yet, or how to act when you are stuck behind a podium (the next blog article will cover this). However, I do want to leave you with one important insight that will motivate you in your quest to perfect an empowered posture. And I will share one final tip if you are having trouble practicing.

In Amy Cuddy’s remarkable TED Speech “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are”, Amy shares an important discovery around the idea of adopting an empowered posture. It is well known that your emotional state affects your posture. Just look at how a depressed person carries him/herself; slumped shoulders, hunched back, etc. Similarly, an angry person may stiffen up (no relaxation here!). Amazingly, as Amy Cuddy shows us, the process works the other way around. Your body language affects your emotional state!

For example, if someone you know suffers from depression, one way you can help them out of it, is to get them to adopt an empowered stance; straight spine, shoulders up, palms out (perhaps like Jesus would). You can also ask them to smile. A fake smile will suffice. Of course, it will be difficult to persuade them to do all this, but if they can keep an empowered posture going for at least ten minutes, their depressive state should diminish and evaporate (at least temporarily).

As Amy Cuddy mentions, empowered postures can change the hormonal balance of your body. The level of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress, decreases in your blood stream. Testosterone, the hormone associated with confidence (in men and women), increases. By adopting an empowered posture, you can lift your emotional state within two minutes. Check out Amy’s speech for different examples of so-called “power poses”.

One final tip. Right now, just for fun, choose your favourite public speaker. It doesn’t matter who it is; a politician, stand-up comedian… whoever. Watch how they stand (and sit). Check out a YouTube video to help you. Now stand up and adopt the same posture. In other words, show the world how Barack Obama (or whoever your chose) carries him or herself. When you’ve nailed it, ask yourself: can adopt this stance for myself? In fact, I would challenge you – why don’t you carry yourself with confidence? After all, it’s your body, your choice.
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To recap: if you find yourself slouching, quivering or otherwise not quite where you want to be during a presentation, adopt the stance of your favourite speaker. It’s a short cut to achieving the straight spine / shoulders up / grounded techniques. It will make you feel good, and as I like to remind my students… if you feel good, you are much more likely to deliver an effective presentation!

Many years ago, I joined an acting class, mostly for fun but also to develop my dramatic skills. Studying drama can improve your public speaking; it can enhance your ability to express yourself in a more open way.

The class I attended was high energy, with plenty of interactive exercises. One thing I didn’t expect was that I picked up a powerful technique that allowed me to develop my vocal projection. It was a simple warm-up exercise that took no longer than two minutes, and it promised to increase my ability to project by 10% after just 2 weeks of once per day. And now I will share it with you…

There are 7 steps to the exercise, but at all times you must breathe from the belly. To breathe from the belly, simply imagine that there is a balloon behind your belly button. Every time you inhale, the balloon inflates. Every time you exhale, the balloon deflates. For further instruction on belly breathing, watch the experts… new born babies.
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1. Stand up. Take three deep breaths. When you are ready…
2. Place your hands over your chest, breathe into your belly, then breathe back out while humming “OH”. Do this with your mouth open, as loudly as you can. Imagine the OH sound (which is like the English letter O) emanating from your chest (your hands will help you visualise the sound coming from your chest)
3. Place your hands over your throat, breathe into your belly, then breathe back out while humming “AH”. Do this with your mouth open, as loudly as you can. Imagine the AH sound coming from your throat.
4. Place your hands in front of your mouth in a cup shape, as if to catch your words in a ball.  Breathe into your belly. Then, with your mouth open, hum “EH” as loudly as you can. Make the “EH” come from your mouth.
5. Place the forefingers of your hands on the top of the outside of the nasal passages of your nose (where you would rest a pair of glasses). Use of your hands to pinch this area, for emphasis on the point. Breathe in. Then hum (with an open mouth) the sound “NG”. It will sound like you are mimicking an insect flying. Try to make the humming come from your nose.
6. Place a hand over the top of the crown of your head, as if ready to pat the top of your head. Breathe in. Then, with an open mouth, hum “AH” as if the sound is coming from the top of your head. It will sound higher in pitch (more angelic-like) than the AH in step 3.
7. Finally, breathe in as much air as you can. Then, with an open mouth, try to blast out OH, AH, EH, NG, and high AH as much as you can from each of the five areas – chest, throat, mouth, nose and crown – alternate between each of them rapidly and randomly. Yes, it looks and sounds a bit mad, but the trick is to let loose and have fun.

After you finish the exercise you may notice your vocal chord muscles feel like they’ve had a soft and subtle workout. That’s a good thing. Most singers and dramatic performers perform warm-up exercises like this all the time. Vocal muscles are like any other muscle. They benefit from warm-up and strengthening exercises.

This technique is a lot easier on your voice than shouting or screaming, but don’t underestimate its power. It’s also a miniature meditation that grounds you, and so it will help dissipate fear.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” The question in this article is, what makes a good salesperson?

As I alluded to in the previous article, people tend to react negatively to unsolicited sellers. Whether you are accosted in a clothes shop, telephoned by a service provider, or pitched by a sales presentation at a promotional event, the result is usually the same… “sounds great - please leave me alone.” Not always of course, but often.

In addition, many sellers shy away, or feel ashamed of, the idea of selling. They carry an underlying guilt about the idea of persuading people into doing or buying whatever they want for their own professional and/or person gain. After all, you could say that people sell because they want to get something from you; money, power or some other advantage. I mean, what’s not to like?

Unfortunately, these people have set the goalposts for selling in a very old-school way. Images of the snake oil second-hand car salesman (or the door-to-door vacuum cleaner peddler) unfortunately dirty the reputation of sales and persuasion. Selling seems to be such a nakedly brazen endeavour. But it need not be this way…

What if, instead of making yourself the “persuader”; looking for your goal… imagine yourself as the “giver”; helping people, by offering something more valuable than what you are asking for. In this light, you are the “facilitator” of an outcome that benefits the buyer.

It doesn’t matter if you are selling a product, service or message. As long as it’s more valuable than what you are looking for (or at the very least, mutually beneficial), then surely it would be selfish not to try to sell, right?

Of course, I’m assuming whatever you are selling (or persuading) is genuinely beneficial. Even if you (or some third party) seem to be the only ones getting something tangible, there should at least be a philosophical benefit for the buyer; i.e. they get to help a cause, take part in a charitable event, etc. Your buyer (e.g. audience) should at least feel better about themselves. There’s value in that.

Go even further… imagine your product, service or message as a no-brainer for your audience. Now your job is to help them by offering it up in most helpful way possible. As an example, imagine you are browsing in a clothes shop. An assistant walks up to you and says:

“Can I help you?”

What is your first reaction?

“I’m just browsing” meaning “leave me alone.”

What if that browser said something like, “Hi. I noticed you are interested in tops. Let me show you something that would suit your figure.”

…or maybe…

“Hi. I have something much better quality at a better price. Let me show you.”

Tell the truth, you are much more likely to indulge the assistant. Why? Because they are now being helpful.
 
It’s the same idea for public speaking. I’ve already written about the differences between speaking to persuade and speaking to inform. However, in truth, these days persuasive speaking is becoming more informative. The reason is that people want information so that they can sell to themselves.

Studies have shown that people who purchase electronic goods in stores are more likely to research products online before purchasing. They may even research while in the store (watch for shoppers surfing www.amazon.com on their smartphones for reviews, the next time you are in PC World).

Bearing in mind that people want to make up their own minds, why not re-structure your next pitch to be as informative as possible about whatever you are selling. Imagine every uncertainty a prospect could possibly have, and address those concerns in an authentic way.

There is a superb book by Jay Baer called “Youtility”. He champions this new idea taking the marketing world by storm. It’s also evolving in the sales and speaking world. One of Jay’s top tips is:

“Don’t try to be the best. Try to be the most helpful.”

It may feel like you are being a more passive seller. To be frank, it takes confidence to hang back from being pushy, and instead let the help do the work. The advantage to your prospect is that they won’t feel like they are being coerced. The advantage for you is that, even if your audience mightn’t be interested in buying that day, they may know someone who could benefit. This is called “word of mouth” and it is the most powerful marketing tool of persuasion. However, word of mouth only works for those who are known to be helpful.

Furthermore, if you are an extremely helpful presenter/seller (someone who even offers free tips or ideas) it doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t buy from you straight away. At some point in the future they might decide they need something. And when they do, who are they going to think of? A pain in the ass, or someone who is helpful?

As Jay Baer mentions in his book: “If you sell something, you get a customer for a day; help someone, you get a customer for life.”
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This is true for marketing, business and public speaking.

Have you ever been browsing in a retail store only to be accosted by an assistant eager to engage you and your wallet? In this situation, how do you normally react?

“Thanks - I’m just browsing.”

“I’m okay, really.”

“Please leave me alone.”

The last line is too rude for most to say out loud, but that doesn’t mean you never thought it. Our first reaction to sellers is usually to push them away. Interestingly, this is not because we would never consider buying anything. After all, why browse in a shop if the idea of buying is abhorrent to you? Which begs the question: what’s really going on, and how can we as sales people avoid the inevitable shut-down?

In this first of a two-part series on sales and persuasion, I will share three tips with you that will help you in your endeavours to persuade your audience to think, feel and do what you want them to…

Six weeks ago, I received a call from a Broadband provider and the conversation went something like this:
 

Caller: “Hello. I’m calling from Acme Broadband Services. Because you are a valued mobile phone customer I can offer you a package deal with broadband.”

Me: “I already have broadband, thanks a million.”

Caller: “Okay, but with our package you can save 30% on your cost.”

Me: “I’m in the middle of a contract at the moment.”

Caller: “How much are you paying for your current service?”

Me: “Look, I’m really happy with the service I have now. I don’t want to change.”
 

I’ve shortened the conversation (it went around in circles for a few minutes before they finally set me free) but you get the idea. The problem with this kind of sales approach is that it’s very clear that the seller has no interest in understanding or listening to me. And they are obviously reading from a script! It’s also clear that I’m merely one number on a massive list. How does it feel to be a statistic? Not very inspiring, eh?

If you want to persuade, the first thing to do is listen. It is amazing how many speakers don’t have a clue how to listen, but it’s my top tip for today.

How can a public speaker listen? By asking questions… and listening to the answers! It’s not as easy as you think. When others are speaking, most people tend to fill their minds with their own beliefs, biases and points of view. They selectively listen. As Simon Sinek once said, “There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.”

The most successful presenters know how to ask the right questions to generate rapport with their audiences. Which leads me to the second important tip… understand!

It’s not enough to listen, but to truly understand who your audience is. The best persuaders can quickly surmise their audiences’ priorities, needs and goals. The 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren LaCroix once said to me, “You must follow the thought process of your audience. In other words, as I speak, it is important that I understand what I’m leading my audience to think, feel and do.

Let’s take the above phone “conversation” example. I will go through it again, and add in my own mental reactions to each statement as they occur…

 
Caller: “Hello. I’m calling from Acme Broadband Services.”

<Oh God, another sales call. It’s really inconvenient because I don’t have the time for this.>

Caller: “Because you are a valued mobile phone customer I can offer you a package deal with broadband.”

<Don’t they realise I’m already signed up to a service? Probably not. I better explain…>

Me: “I already have broadband, thanks a million.”

Caller: “Okay, but with our package you can save 30%.”

<Here we go!!! You’re not listening to me. Why would I want to sign up to something I’m already getting from someone else? Don’t they realise I’m in the middle of a contract? Probably not. I better explain…>

Me: “I’m in the middle of a contract at the moment.”

Caller: “How much are you paying for your current service?”

<What’s that got to do with anything? Now they want my personal information. This is arrogant. And how do they know if I even want to change? It’s not all about money you know. I better explain…>

Me: “Look, I’m really happy with the service I have now. I don’t want to change.”

<I want out of this call. Help!!!>

 
When I add in my own thought process, it’s easy to understand the mistake the seller is making. Unfortunately, the caller would only ever gain these mental insights if he actually listened and tried to understand my priorities, needs and goals.

This situation is all too common. Callers from so-called professional organisations push scripts at their would-be customers and end up breaking rapport instead of building it. What baffles me is that these companies would allow this behaviour to continue. Why not train your employee to listen and understand, by asking questions and at least attempting to get to know the person at the other end of the phone? The truth is, these companies are too lazy, and the callers are not brave enough to try a simple human connection. Instead they rely on sales through brute force. It’s not good enough!

Let’s imagine how the caller might approach the situation if he attempted to listen and understand…

 
Caller: “Hello. I’m calling from Acme Broadband Services.”

<Oh God. Another sales call. It’s really inconvenient because I don’t have the time for this.>

Caller: “I’m sure you are probably busy and you weren’t expecting this call, so I won’t take up more than a minute of your time if that’s okay, but I have something that may be of interest to you.”

Me: “Okay, I have a minute.”

<Note: I am now listening!>

Caller: “Would I be right in saying you already have Broadband?”

Me: “Yes, that’s right.”

Caller: “Are you happy with your service?”

Me: “Yeah, sure. It’s fine.”

Caller: “Great. Well, there’s no point in changing if you are happy, but the reason for my call is that, because you are a valued mobile phone customer I can offer you a package deal with our broadband service.”

Me: “But I’m in the middle of a contract right now.”

Caller: “Ah, I understand. Our broadband service has many benefits and features that you may not be aware of, but there’s no point wasting your time with them today. Would it be okay if I contacted you the next time your contract is up for renewal? At least you’ll have another service to compare with when the time comes. Then I can take you through our service in more detail, and you can make a decision in your own time after that.”

Me: “Sure, that would be great.”

<Wow, this caller is accommodating and helpful. This is a rare and novel experience. Now I can’t help but wonder what those features and benefits are. Damn you, you smooth talker!>
 
I cannot guarantee the conversation will always go like this (and of course people’s current service experience, contract renewal date and general mood will vary) but you get the idea.

Did you spot the hidden bonus from listening to me? Here it is… By listening to me, I’m more likely to listen to you! And now you can adapt your sales pitch to suit me instead of treating me like a statistic.

The late great motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said, “If people like you, they’ll listen to you.”

Showing your audience that you can listen to them is the fastest way to get them to like you. It’s not rocket science, and it can apply to any public speaking scenario where you aim to persuade your audience to think, feel or do something… unless for reasons beyond your control it’s impossible… which leads me to my final tip…

Don’t sell to the unsellable!

There are many reasons why people are unsellable:

• No money
• They already have a system/product/service that works perfectly
• What you are selling may hinder or harm them in some way
• …

The list goes on. There is no harm in finding out if you are speaking to an unsellable person. If you are presenting to an audience, you can even address the “unsellables” directly. It might seem like a waste of breath, but it demonstrates authenticity and helps to develop trust with your entire audience.

It also shows that you respect the “unsellables”. More than once I’ve been pitched by a seller who figured out I wasn’t a potential buyer, only to be shunned by them. It’s rude and disrespectful, and it shows an unattractive mercenary streak.

Connecting with “unsellables” can bring dividends because these people are more likely to sell your message to others who might in potential buyers. Word of mouth doesn’t only work through customers!

To recap:

1. Listen
2. Understand
3. Don’t sell to the unsellable

But there’s more. To listen and understand is to open the door to trust, but that’s only the first step.

I quoted the late great Zig Ziglar earlier, “If people like you, they’ll listen to you.”

However, I didn’t add his follow-up statement, “But if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”

In part two of this article, you will discover how to develop and foster trust with a new paradigm that’s taking the sales (and speaking) world by storm. Stay tuned.

A recent client of mine said this to me...

“If only I didn’t feel that horrible dread in my stomach I’d be able to speak a lot better!!!”

Every time she was about to deliver a presentation she suffered from a heavy knot-like fear in her solar plexus. We’re all familiar with those nervous reactions that occur inside us when we are faced with life’s challenges and uncertainties. In this blog article I will revisit some tools from earlier articles that you can use to ease your anxieties. In addition, I will share with you a powerful technique you won’t find anywhere else – a tip you can use to help reduce your fears instantly…

Where do unpleasant fears come from? Cognitive and behavioural psychology tells us that our emotions are driven by the thoughts we think. It is estimated that the average human being thinks between 15,000 and 50,000 thoughts every day. Most of them are mere noise, like “talk radio” playing in the background. It is only those thoughts that generate strong emotions that tend to influence us in any significant way.

Our emotions drive us towards (or away from) certain behaviours and/or actions. That’s why many people tend to avoid delivering presentations. They hate that horrible feeling of fear that builds inside them. If you have a fear of public speaking it’s invariably due to negative thinking (conscious or unconscious). However, it is not the negative thought itself that’s disruptive – it’s the feeling that inhibits us. Worse still, these negative thoughts and feelings join with, and bolster, the limiting beliefs we unwittingly cultivate about ourselves… beliefs like:

“My audience knows I’m frightened. They can see me dying up there.”
“My voice sucks.”
“I’m such a waffler.”
… etc, etc, etc.

By the way, a belief is just a thought you keep thinking, because you have assigned a certainty to it. You have chosen to make it real for yourself, and your unconscious mind is only too happy to store it for you. Call these beliefs emotional baggage. We are all prone to them, by the way. All it takes is one or two speaking performances that don’t meet our inner critic’s ultra-high standards for living. We also tend to be hard on ourselves for making mistakes. It’s almost a disease in society that people are expected to never make mistakes.

How do you get rid of negative public speaking beliefs? The same way you get rid of any negative thoughts. Cultivate more constructive positive ones! Sounds simple, right? I admit this can take time, but it invariably involves being kind to yourself, and at the same time pushing yourself just outside your comfort zone. That feeling of discomfort never lasts as long as you think, and the rewards are life lasting.

Find a warm, encouraging place to speak, and find a good system for skill building (e.g. body language skills, storytelling skills, vocal skills, etc.) If your funds are limited, Toastmasters is a worldwide non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering public speaking skills – go to www.toastmasters.org to find a club near you. They are not free of charge, but very close.

When you practice your speaking skills, only accept constructive, detailed feedback from people (and from your own inner critic). And for goodness sake, give yourself permission to make mistakes (because everyone does).

Now that I’ve advised you to face your fears step by step, it’s only fair that I should share three powerful tools to help cut through your fears and anxieties. These will help you at any stage of your public speaking career, regardless of whether you are receiving coaching or attending a course…

1. Breathing from the Core

We already discovered this technique in our blog article “Calm Your Wobbly Voice” . The “core” is an area behind your belly button, in your abdomen. This is the place we breathe from when we are completely relaxed. It’s also the most effective place to breathe from when you are performing any activity that requires focus and skill. If you want to learn a martial art (e.g. karate); if you attend yoga classes; if you want to develop your dancing skills – every teacher of a skill that involves a synchronised mind and body will encourage you to breathe from your core.

Try breathing from behind your belly button right now. If you have trouble focusing on where you are breathing, visualise a balloon behind your belly that inflates every time you breathe in, and deflates every time you breathe out. After a few breaths you should start to feel calmer, more assured and more focused. Technically, you are meditating (it doesn’t matter if you are active or still). This is because your mind slows down. Less thoughts, less chance of negative emotion. You are also taking in the maximum capacity of air into your lungs. Any nerves you feel will quickly dissipate because you are what yoga masters call “grounded”.

You should breathe from behind your belly as often as possible (not only when you are speaking in public). If you are still confused as to how to breathe like this, check out the experts… new born babies. They know how to breathe properly. It is only when we grow older that we begin to breathe from our chest in reaction to negative feelings. When you breathe from the chest, any nerves you feel will build up in that area and stick there. This will begin to affect your voice, giving it a nervous wobble.

It doesn’t take too long to re-learn how to breathe from the belly. From now on, whenever you feel fear (or other unpleasant emotions), check where you are breathing from, and practice belly breathing. Activate that balloon. It will give your voice more projection and gravitas, and it will always make you feel better.

   2.  Keyword Emphasis

In the blog article entitled “Help, I have a Monotonous Voice”  I discussed the concept of emphasizing words and phrases during your delivery to inject passion and energy into your speech. For example, take the sentence:

“This is so important.”

This could be delivered with a special emphasis on the word “so” to read like;

“This is sooo important.”

Sometimes there is no preferred word to emphasise. In our sample sentence, you could instead say;

“This is so important.”

It’s your choice.

If you have a script in front of you, go down through the text and underline any words and phrases that, if emphasized, will deepen the meaning and context of your sentences. Read your script out loud to help you find those so-called keywords.

An added advantage of using keyword emphasis is that your fear usually decreases, or in some cases disappears altogether. The reason is that, though it is easy to do, emphasizing words takes some focus, and so it distracts you from worrying about other things (such as how you are coming across). Meanwhile, you will actually come across as more engaging. Don’t underestimate keyword emphasis as a quick and easy tool sound and feel much better as a speaker.

   3. Role Modelling

And now for something completely different – the role model technique. To begin, choose your favourite public speaker – a person you admire the most. It could be anyone; a politician, comedian, television presenter, someone from your personal life… anyone. Next, set up a camera to record yourself speaking (get a friend to point a smart phone in your direction). Now, demonstrate to the camera how your favourite speaker would deliver your presentation. The material doesn’t matter; you can choose a speech you are currently preparing (or one you have recently delivered).

It is important not to attempt a full-on impersonation. For example, if you choose to do Donald Trump you don’t need to slap on a blonde wig and take on a nasal American twang, complete with jabbing fingers and a Tourette-style vocabulary. You are only looking to offer a general rendition of the speaker’s overall positive speaking traits; confident body language, vocal pace, passion levels, etc. To prepare, write down all their positive traits on paper:

• Confident
• Charismatic
• Relaxed
• Clear Diction
• Energetic, etc.

Now record yourself on video pretending to have these skills, just like your favourite speaker would. Watch the result back. How does it look? Pretty good, eh? If you look too inauthentic or over-zealous, it’s probably because you tried too hard, or went into an impersonation. Turn it down a notch and try again. Don’t lose yourself in the delivery – keep yourself in there. Remember you are not becoming the speaker, instead you are showing us what they are like using yourself as a reference point.

By the way, did you notice how your fear disappears when you do this exercise?

That’s because you are allowing yourself to feel as confident as your chosen speaker does. This is called role modelling. The reason why it works so well is because you are tapping into speaking traits that you in fact share with this person. You just never realised it, or I suspect believed you could be that good.

The famous psychologist Carl Jung once talked about the “shadow” of the human psyche. The shadow contains those aspects of our personality that we don’t like, and so we disown them, projecting them out onto others.

There is also the so-called “golden shadow”. This part of our psyche contains all the wonderful potentials we have not yet discovered or developed. One of the best ways to figure out what these hidden talents are is to look closely at the people we admire – our so-called role models. The reason why we admire these people is because we feel a psychological resonance with them. Even to watch or listen to them gives us energy. That’s because they are waking up those parts of ourselves we haven’t taken the time to nurture.

When you practice the role-modelling exercise, it is important to note that you are not trying to be someone else for the sake of acting. And no-one in your audience will suddenly laugh and say “Hey, that’s Donald Trump” or whoever. You are still being you – just a new enhanced “you”. You can use this trick any time you feel anxiety before a presentation. Just say to yourself; “Okay, this is how Barack Obama (or whoever) would do it” and go do it!

As the actor Denzel Washington once said, “I think a role model is a mentor – someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them.”

With the role-model exercise you are in fact learning about yourself. So, get out the video camera, pick your favourite speaker, have fun, and say goodbye to your fears.

In my previous two blog articles we discovered many reasons why storytelling is the most powerful component of public speaking. We examined the elements that make a compelling story, and we explored key concepts such as conflict and character building. In this article we will learn how to further polish our story writing skills by studying the three narrative modes.

There are as many different writing styles as there are writers. However, it is possible to break down every writer’s work into three basic stylistic modes. Since storytelling is an art there is no “perfect” style. However, it is possible to avoid the most common mistakes which result in trite, clunky, or otherwise ineffective stories. These issues usually stem from an over or under-use of one or more of the three modes. If you learn to recognize, develop and manipulate each mode, you’ll be on the royal road to storytelling success. Here they are:
 
   1. Reporting

Reporting is the simplest form of storytelling.  It can be heard whenever you listen to the news on the radio or television. When you report something, you relay events as if you are summarizing. The following passage is an example of a fictional passage written in the reporting style…

“That night, I called to John’s house.  He told me he wasn’t interested in being part of my plan to form a protest in response to the new government taxes.  I explained how unfair it was, and how disorganised the politicians were, but John was adamant he didn’t want to be involved.”

As you can see from this passage, the story clearly has a timeline, plot, scene and characters.  However, when any passage is written in this mode, the details of the elements of the story tend to be sparse. You don’t get to know much about any scenes or characters. Further, any conflicts that occur will not be clearly presented or even understood. And, while there may be a climax to the scene (as above), there is no obvious message or theme.

Young children tend to use the reporting style when they relay stories, for example, “Then we went to the circus. Then we saw the clowns. Then we had chips and a drink. Then we… Then we…”
Before we leave the reporting style it is important to note that it does have an important place in storytelling, and it does have advantages. For example, reporting does “get to the point” in what it is trying to describe. It is also extremely succinct. And of course, it allows you to pick up the pace between more important scenes and events.
 
   2. Transporting

Transporting is a powerful narrative style that thrusts the listener right into the story.  Transporting works by painting scenes, engaging the senses, and bringing characters to life through tangible and kinaesthetic descriptions and dialog.

If your writing allows a listener to picture a scene in their minds; if it engages several senses; if it allows listeners to visualises characters; if they can hear characters’ voices directly through quoted dialog AND allows the listener to form a relationship with everyone involved, including the storyteller… THEN you are successfully transporting.

Transporting allows the storyteller (and listeners) to go back in time and experience the story as if they observers, sitting at the side-lines, experiencing everything as it happened. Transporting is the most powerful mode of narration, however, there are disadvantages to overusing it.  Let’s re-write the above passage in the style of Transporting…

“The night I decided to call to John’s house I threw a thick heavy coat on.  It was freezing outside, and windy to boot. The estate where John lived was utterly quiet; devoid of sound but for the wind.  John’s house was a five minute walk; every step against the wind. I felt the chill cut through me as I made my way up the steps towards John’s front door. I grabbed the heavy brass knocker and rapped the door four or five times.

John could be best described as a hippy out of time, an aging “new ager” with an axe to grind about everything. He wore a permanent smirk on his face, giving people the not-entirely-untrue impression that he looked down on the rest of humanity with disdain.

I cupped my hands and breathed warm air into them. “Hurry the hell up, John”, I whispered looking around the overgrown weed-ridden garden.

Finally, the door swung open. Some 70’s rock music I didn’t quite recognise blasted from behind his ruddy red face, smirk very much intact.

“I know why you’re here”, he said, “I told you already I’m not interested.”

“We need you”, I said, “You know the tax is unfair, and you know we need someone who can make a speech to the crowd.”

“It won’t make any difference”, he said, making a move to shut the door.

I wedged my boot in front of the door.

“The politicians haven’t a clue what they’re doing”, I said, “If we…”

“Forget it”, John said.


The results of writing in a transporting style is that the story is more compelling and memorable. As you can also see, the story becomes a lot longer. What can we do to fix the length?

The trick is to give the listener just enough to experience the story first hand while concentrating only on what you have decided are the important aspects of the story. Of course, what you decide is important depends on what you are trying to say with the story. In the context of public speaking, ask yourself, “What is the main point, overall purpose or message of my story?”  This will determine what you can deliver in the transporting style. Anything less important can be reported.

Let’s re-draft the above passage with a balance of Reporting and Transporting…

“The night I decided to call to John’s house I threw a thick heavy coat on.  It was chilly outside, and I walked against the wind for the five minutes it took to reach John’s front door. I knocked five times.

Finally the door opened and I was greeted by John’s ruddy red face.  John was a hippy out of time, an aging “new ager” with an axe to grind about everything.  He wore a permanent smirk, giving people the not-entirely-untrue impression that he looked down on the rest of humanity with disdain.

“I know why you’re here”, he said, “I told you already I’m not interested.”

“We need you”, I said, “You know it’s unfair, and you know we need someone who can make a speech.”

“It won’t make a difference this time”, he said, shutting the door.

I wedged my boot in the door and pushed in.

“The politicians haven’t a clue what they’re doing”, I said, “If we…”

“Forget it”, John said.


The result is shorter and tighter while keeping the essence of the story intact. You will notice that some chopping and changing of the order of some sentences can improve the flow of the story. You will also notice that the dialog and character descriptions have been left largely intact. This is because it’s very important to connect with the main characters in a story. Ancillary characters do not need much detail or attention, especially if you are stuck for time.

In the passage above we have more of a sense of the conflict between the characters. This is achieved through dialog. Direct dialog (which is always transporting) is so important. Many speakers fail to quote key characters in their stories, much less describe them in any significant detail. I’ve lost count of the number of times I heard speakers say things like “my team did this”, “they agreed that”, “my sister said this”, “my family traveled with me” and yet we never got to know those characters. “Just who are they?” I often find myself asking. At least give your characters a name, for goodness sake. And please give them a voice!

   3. Philosophizing

Philosophizing is very important for the public speaker, because speakers will frequently use stories to support facts, opinions, ideas and/or messages. Even if your overall purpose is to entertain (with no clear message) you’ll likely have a theme or moral. You may also want to emphasize different ideas or add commentaries of your own that you deem interesting. This can be done by a character within the story, or by you, the speaker. Philosophizing also lays breadcrumbs for the listener to understand your eventual message, moral or theme.

Let’s use the latest draft of our sample passage and introduce a little philosophizing to point towards a message “Sometimes flattery gets you nowhere!” The philosophizing statements will be in bold…

“The night I decided to call to John’s house I threw a thick heavy coat on.  I suspected I was wasting my time but I decided I would try to talk to John.  John was a hippy out of time, an aging “new ager” with an axe to grind about everything.  He wore a permanent smirk, giving people the not-entirely-untrue impression that he looked down on the rest of humanity with disdain.  Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

It was chilly outside, and I walked against the wind for the five minutes it took to reach John’s front door. I knocked five times.

Finally the door opened and I was greeted by John’s ruddy red face.  “I know why you’re here”, he said, “I told you already I’m not interested.”

I felt I was already I was up against a brick wall.

“We need you”, I said, “You know it’s unfair, and you know we need someone who can make a speech.”

I was trying to appeal to his ego but he was having none of it.

“It won’t make a difference this time”, he said, shutting the door.
I wedged my boot in the door and pushed in.  This was my last chance.

“The politicians haven’t a clue what they’re doing”, I said, “If we…”
“Forget it”, John said.

As he slammed the door I realised… sometimes flattery gets you nowhere!
 

If you chose to share a different message, such as “You should never let a refusal discourage you!” you would change the philosophizing statements accordingly; perhaps resulting in this…

“The night I decided to call to John’s house I threw a thick heavy coat on.  I suspected I was wasting my time but I decided I would try to talk to John.  John was a hippy out of time, an aging “new ager” with an axe to grind about everything.  He wore a permanent smirk, giving people the not-entirely-untrue impression that he looked down on the rest of humanity with disdain.  Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

It was chilly outside, and I walked against the wind for the five minutes it took to reach John’s front door. I knocked five times.

Finally the door opened and I was greeted by John’s ruddy red face.  “I know why you’re here”, he said, “I told you already I’m not interested.”

I felt I was already I was up against a brick wall.  His refusal to help was proving difficult so I tried appealing to his ego...

“We need you”, I said, “You know it’s unfair, and you know we need someone who can make a speech.”

“It won’t make a difference this time”, he said, shutting the door.

I wedged my boot in the door and pushed in.  I knew this was my last chance.

“The politicians haven’t a clue what they’re doing”, I said, “If we…”

“Forget it”, John said.

He slammed the door, and at that moment I decided I wasn’t going to let John dissuade me.  I was going to speak to the crowd myself.  Sometimes a refusal is all you need to find your place and step up!
​

You can see from this exercise that, with minor tweaking, you can tailor a story to make many different points. The philosophizing statements will be the ones you will need to tweak accordingly.

As I mentioned earlier, different writers have different styles. This is a result of having different affinities and preferences for the different narrative modes. J.R.R. Tolkien loves to transport, hence the size of The Lord of the Rings. If you read Oscar Wilde you will quickly realize he is a philosopher.

Let me finish with some final tips:

If you find your stories are a little boring or dry, you are likely reporting too much. If you find your stories tend to be lengthy and protracted, you are overdoing the transporting or otherwise adding too much superfluous information. If your stories are a little confusing or hard to draw ideas from, you are missing out on philosophizing, which can add a stability and a steer.

With time you will discover that you can mix the modes together within a single statement. It takes practice, but practice makes polish makes prose. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Every artist was first an amateur.” Storytelling is an art. As such, if you want to become a great storyteller, the best thing you can do is write, write, write.

As a public speaker, please use stories to teach, entertain, persuade and/or inspire someone somewhere sometime soon. Everyone loves a good story.

Who are your favourite characters from literature? Who are your favourites from the real world? How about your personal life?

I want you to conjure these characters up in your mind, and really think about why they are your favourites. Focus on them and ponder for a moment…

The truth is, there could be many reasons why you love (or love to hate) your favourite characters, but one thing I can tell you for sure; you have a strong, lasting, emotional response to them. In other words, they resonate with you.

It should come as no surprise that the characters you plan to write (or speak) about should have an emotional impact on your audience. That’s the key insight I want to share today. Use characters in your stories that audiences can resonate with.

Let’s break down the essential elements of storytelling…

The purpose of a story for you, the public speaker, should be to make a point that supports the main purpose of your speech. Your purpose could be to inspire, sell, teach… or simply to entertain. In all cases, an effective story should have the following elements:

1. Characters
2. Plot (Events and Scenes)
3. Conflict
4. Climax (Resolution)
5. Carry-out Message, Theme, Moral or Punchline

In the previous article we explored the nature of conflict, and we discovered that conflict forms the backbone of every good story. If that’s true, then your characters are the heart and soul. Without them, nothing moves. Without them, your audience doesn’t have anything to connect with, and learn from.

​Before we explore how to make our characters work, it’s important to separate characters into two categories; ancillary and main. Ancillary characters are only there to complete a scene. They are characters you cannot exclude for plot purposes, however they are not integral to the plot. For example, a waiter that serves you in a restaurant, or a taxi driver that drives you to an airport.

Ancillary characters should not have a detailed description other than their basic function, unless they are of particular interest. Think of them as living props within your story and nothing more. If you focus on them too much, your audience will become distracted from the plot. Main characters are those that are integral to the plot. If any character isn’t an integral part of getting to the point or message you are trying to share, make them ancillary or if possible edit them out.

Tip 1: Only include and/or develop the characters that matter to your plot.

Next, help the audience to build a sensory “picture” of each character in their minds. Your audience should be able to hear, see and feel the characters for themselves. This is easier than it sounds, and you can achieve it with one or two well-crafted statements.

Let’s start with a few examples…

“Frank was a well-built no-nonsense chauffer.”
“Mary ran the shop like a drill sergeant.”
“Mark had hunched shoulders and a sheepish voice.”

Do we have a coherent picture of these characters in our minds? Possibly. You may already have pictures in your mind, or even what their voices sound like. Does it matter if these voices or visuals are inaccurate? Not if it doesn’t matter to the plot.

What happens if we change something in our descriptions?

“Frank was a well-built no-nonsense grandfather.”

Notice how your impression of Frank changes. Let’s try…

“8-year-old Mark had hunched shoulders and a sheepish voice.”

This begs the question, if I’m supposed to keep my character descriptions brief, what should I include?

The answer is to give the audience just enough to form a coherent picture in their minds. Don’t include anything that’s superfluous to the story. We don’t need a detailed rendition of what people were wearing, the colour of their hair, eyes, etc. unless it’s essential to the plot, or otherwise aesthetically interesting.

On the other hand, don’t leave any lingering gaps, ambiguities, or unanswered questions. In one of my classes, I invited the attendees to share an early experience of fear from their lives. A third level student named Karen told a story from her childhood. Karen’s tale involved her older sister Janice who took charge of 6-year old Karen, when one day they were separated from their parents at a carnival.

After Karen had finished speaking, the audience offered some verbal feedback. Many listeners were bothered that they didn’t know how old Janice was in the story. I had wondered it myself. It was important to know, because if Janice was 15 years old I might have had a different emotional reaction to the story than if she was 7.

What are the essential details you can include to bring your characters to life?

Age, gender, name, occupation, character traits, skills and quirks are all potentially powerful details to share. It’s up to you what you feel is enough to service the plot and allow your audience to form their mental picture. Ideally, you want your audience to say to themselves; “I know someone just like that” or “I’ve never met anyone like this before.”

Tip 2: Give your audience enough character description to form a mental picture, but no more.

If you have enough time, it’s also useful to “show” rather than “tell”. In other words, don’t say “Frank was an angry boss”, say instead, “Frank was always shouting at people in the office for making mistakes.” Define traits through action rather than adjectives… but only if time allows.

A common mistake many rookie storytellers make is that they do not give their characters a voice. Look at this statement:

“Last night my mother told me that she loved me.”

This is a common style of “reporting dialog”, but there’s a problem here. The narrator is relaying what their mother said, not quoting her directly. Try this:

“Last night my mother told me, ‘I love you to bits, my little man.’”

In the second example, the mother has been given a voice. With an indirect report of dialog, we only get a summary of what a character said. With direct dialog, we get (or should get) the exact quote. This allows us to experience their vocabulary and manner of speaking. With distinctive tweaks of the voice you can also give us a sense of that character’s vocal patterns (accent, tone of voice, etc.). You can also demonstrate their emotional state during the scene.

Tip 3: Give your characters a voice through direct dialog.

Finally, if you are one of the characters in your own story, never make yourself the hero. Instead, make sure you portray yourself as someone the audience can relate to on their level. That way, if you manage to resolve conflicts and gain successes within your story, your audience will feel they could do the same. Inspire the notion “If I can do it, so can you.” If you portray yourself as Superman, the audience will feel some distance between themselves and you. They won’t feel able to “do it”.

Bonus tip: Never make yourself “special”, always make yourself “similar”.

I’ll finish with a quote from Walt Disney…

“I try to build a full personality for each of our cartoon characters – to make them personalities.”

​If Walt can do it for cartoon animals, we can surely do the same for the people that matter to us, and our stories.

Coming up next, a crash course in story writing – “The three narrative styles that form powerful stories.”

Are you a natural storyteller?

Twelve years ago I had an experience that changed my entire perception about the nature of storytelling, and my own role as a storyteller…

I joined an organisation called Toastmasters (a worldwide enterprise dedicated to fostering public speaking and leadership skills). As I built my confidence I stumbled across an issue that many speakers grapple with when they begin their journey. In short, my speeches were a little on the boring side.

An early mentor of mine, Freddie Daniels, noted that the reason my speeches came across as bland was that they were overstuffed with facts, leaving little room for anything else.

“You need stories”, he said with a knowing smile that indicated he had been through this journey himself. He already knew what my answer was going to be…

“But I don’t have any stories!”

If you have the same worry, I sympathise. But I’m also here to tell you this is another limiting belief you are carrying around, with no basis in truth. The fact is, you are bursting with stories. In the past 24 hours, the chances are you’ve been involved in at least 10 intriguing, thought-provoking sagas.

You might reply with something like, “I suppose in some vague philosophical sense, my life is a series of stories. But unless you want to hear a vivid rendition of how I put my socks on this morning, I can assure you nothing interesting happened to me today. Certainly nothing worthy of a speech.”

Okay, you might not be saying that (I don’t like to put words in other people’s mouths). However, I did say this to Freddie all those years ago. And I really believed what I was saying. “Nothing exciting happens to little old me!!!”

Annoyed and fatigued with the conversation, I asked Freddie, “Why the hell are stories so important anyway?”

Good question!

The answer lies deep in the human psyche. Storytelling is in our DNA. From birth until death, stories form an essential part of the human experiential and learning process. Our memories work by association (forming links), and stories are the most powerful way to do that. Before we had modern technology like computers, books and blackboards, stories were our primary tool for sharing information.

In today’s society, books, movies, television, gaming and theatre are the most popular forms of artistic expression. Why? Because (most of the time) they are story-related. When you tuck your kids into bed at night, I bet they don’t want to listen to an educational workshop, or watch a PowerPoint presentation. What do they want to hear?

Taking all this into account it should come as no surprise to you that storytelling is the most powerful component of public speaking. To quote Craig Valentine (1999 World Champion of Public Speaking) – “When you master the art of storytelling, you have mastered 80% of the art of public speaking.” Some experts put that percentage point even higher.

Back to my argument with Freddie…
 
“Okay stories are powerful”, I said, “But that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t think of any worth telling.”

“Okay, forget stories then”, Freddie said, “Tell me, did you have a challenge, struggle, hassle, or otherwise negative experience in the past day, week or even month?”

“Loads”, I said, “I work in I.T.”

“Great”, he said, “And did you solve any of your problems?”

“Yeah, some!”

“There are your stories”, he said, triumphantly, “And what’s more. They are the ones that people will want to hear. Why? Because they can teach and inspire people to overcome their own difficulties.”

This leads me to the backbone of what makes a good story… conflict, and how to overcome it!

In fact, that should be the new definition of the word “story” in the dictionary:

“Conflict and how I overcame it.”

You will already be aware of the importance of having engaging characters in an engaging plot for your stories, however it is the conflict that drives the plot, and defines character growth. As a result, a theme, message or moral (sometimes many) should pop out towards the end of the story, forming your climax. In public speaking terms, the “conflict” leads to the “cure” which leads to a “carry-out” message. The “carry-out” message provides something your audience can learn from, and carry with them into their future lives.

By the way, don’t read too negatively into the idea of focusing on conflict. Let me be clear, conflict does not necessarily imply fighting with swords and fists. It simply defines a situation your characters are faced with that has no initial solution. Your story will explain how the solution came about.

In psychological terms conflicts break down into:

1. Conflict between a person and their world (or some aspect of it)
2. Conflict between a person and a group of people
3. Conflict between two groups of people
4. Conflict between two individuals
5. Conflict within one person (inner conflict)

If you can identify and clearly define the conflict that drives your story, you are off to a flying start.
Let me finish this first article on storytelling with a top tip related to conflict…

Get to the conflict as quickly as possible, or generate suspense until you get there.

In case you hadn’t noticed, most modern books and movies get straight into the conflict. For films, these days you can expect arguments and/or explosions within the first 10 minutes. For your public speaking stories, do follow suit. Get to the conflict as fast as you can.

The only exception is when you want to give yourself breathing room to build up complex characterisations and/or locations. If you do this, you should introduce suspense (a strong hint that conflict is on the way). This can be as simple as dropping in a statement like, “Of course, this wasn’t going to last…” or “Soon everything would fly head over heels…”

If you watch Brene Browne’s excellent TED speech entitled “The Power of Vulnerability”, she expertly drops in foreboding statements like, “You can tell this is not going to end well” towards the beginning. It’s a great way to buy time as you make your way towards the conflict.

To conclude, stories are the fertiliser for your messages. Conflict, the nutrients.

So, I ask you: What story do you have to tell today? Or are you one of the unlucky people who never encounter challenges in life? After all, no challenge, no growth.

​Coming in the next article: Storytelling Part 2 – Powerful Characterisation Made Simple.

Twelve years ago, when I was working as an IT engineer in a bank’s headquarters, my boss, Declan, “volunteered” me to deliver a presentation to the entire staff. Yikes! I had to speak to over 100 people! IT engineers are not renowned for their public speaking skills. Declan knew this, which is why he pushed me into the presentation. It’s a little bit like the proverbial parent who teaches their child to swim by chucking them in the deep end of the nearest pool. I can tell, you it certainly felt like I was drowning that day…

As I struggled and stammered my way through my speech I suffered from one particularly irritating and frightening phenomenon: the quivery voice. From the moment I opened my mouth, my voice had a noticeable wobble, and I couldn’t make it stop. As time went on, it grew more pronounced. My anxiety had snowballed. Why? Because (ironically) I could hear my voice quivering and I couldn’t make it stop.

On that fateful day, I decided I was going to conquer my fears of public speaking. On my journey toward professional coaching (and competing internationally) I discovered the source, and the cure, for my infamous wobbly voice.

The root lies in the breath. Believe it or not, the quivery voice should not exist, were it not for the fact that most people do not know how to breathe correctly. I learned this fact when I started taking yoga classes. One of the first lessons I learned was how to breathe from the so-called “core”. Interestingly, when I took up Latin dancing and kick boxing, this “core” came up again and again as being an essential area not only for proper breathing, but for overall presence and focus.

So, what and where is this core that leads to great success in such disparate skills as dancing, kick-boxing and public speaking?

In general, people tend to breathe by expanding and contracting three areas of the body; behind the belly, in the chest, and from the shoulders. Breathing from the shoulders is quite rare, and only occurs when a person is under extreme stress or trauma. As you might imagine, you don’t get a lot of air that way, and it’s definitely not sustainable.

The other extreme is to breathe from behind the belly (this is where the core is!). To do this properly, there should be no rising of the chest or shoulders. Imagine there is a balloon behind your belly button. Every time you breathe in, the balloon inflates. Every time you exhale, the balloon deflates. When you breathe in this way, you are breathing from your “core”. You are also taking in the most lungful of air.

Breathing from the core (or behind the belly) allows you to be “grounded”. What that means is that, any time you feel strong negative emotions (e.g. nervousness) these feelings will pass through you naturally. The energy dissipates, like electricity passing into the Earth. When you breathe from your core, technically speaking you are meditating. Strong emotions will always regulate themselves, smoothly evaporating into calmness. The feeling of nervousness (the physiological aspect of fear) is not designed to build up and stick around in the body.

By the way, if you are still not sure how to breathe properly (you can’t find your belly button?) check out the experts; new born babies. They know how to belly breathe. As we grow up, bad breathing habits creep in and take hold. Why? Most people (especially children) do not like the feeling of fear. At a young age we teach ourselves to resist negative emotions by breathing from higher up along the spine. Welcome to breathing from the chest!

Breathing from the chest is known to be an adapted form of breathing; a learned reaction to stress. The problem with breathing from the chest is that, not only are you taking in less of a lungful of air, you are also not grounded. Any nerves you feel will tend to stick around and build up in your chest, trapped by your breathing. When you speak, the trapped nerves will colour your voice. In other words, you get the quivery voice. And unless you switch to breathing from your belly, the problem will get worsen. A wobbly voice coupled with a shortness of breath is not a pleasant state of being when you are speaking in public.

If you tend to suffer from a wobbly voice and/or a shortness of breath when you present to audiences, from now on I want you to reboot your breath. In other words, take a short pause, then breathe only from your belly. To help you, visualise a balloon behind your belly inflating and deflating as you breathe.

You can also visualise your voice coming from your belly button, as you speak. It may feel strange to think of your voice coming from anywhere other than your mouth, but it’s only a visualisation exercise designed to focus your awareness back into your core. From now on, become aware of where you are breathing from, not only when you are presenting. Whenever you are breathing from higher up than your belly, smoothly and easily reboot your breath.

Practice the belly balloon technique as often as possible in your spare time, and of course, when you are speaking. When you breathe from the belly you will find that you naturally speak slower, with more emphasis, depth, and gravitas. Your vocal projection will increase, and you will never feel short of breath. And most exciting of all, you can say good riddance to the quivery voice forever. A wobbly voice can never take over when you breathe from your core.

As Byron Nelson once said, “One way to break up any kind tension is good deep breathing.”

And speak from your core. It’s make sense on every level.

Remember that priest in the famous sit com Father Ted who had an incredibly dull voice? We met him during a tense scene in the Christmas special, where the priests are trapped in the women’s lingerie department of a supermarket.

“I have an awful dreary monotonous voice, God help me.”

If you haven’t seen it, search for “Father Ted boring voice” on YouTube.

During Speechcamp’s courses, I always ask the audience, “Raise your hand if you think you have a boring voice, like that priest in Father Ted.” Invariably, the majority of people put their hand up. It always amazes me how many people feel they have a monotonous voice. In truth, wilfully boring voices, like that poor priest in Father Ted, are rare, and even then, they can easily be fixed.

Yes, that’s right! Every so-called “boring” voice has a simple, straightforward root cause and cure. It’s important to understand that so-called monotone voices are merely symptoms of something deeper, something that can be sorted first with awareness, and then with an elementary technique I will share with you later.

To give you some background, if you read the section in our website about Speechcamp’s CORE speaking system, you will know that CORE stands for Connect and Respond with Emotional Empowerment. At Speechcamp we teach you that public speaking is not about perfection. It’s about connection. Specifically, we talk about connecting with 3 things:

1. Your material
2. Your audience
3. Yourself

When I talk of connection, of course I mean an emotional connection. In short, people who exhibit a so-called monotone voice are quite simply emotionally disconnected from themselves (and subsequently their material and audience). There could be many reasons for this; they don’t care about what they are talking about, they hate public speaking, they are shy… and so on.

What’s the solution? Whatever your reason for feeling a little disconnected, you have to start feeling something positive; something that gives you energy. In other words, you have to get in touch with the feeling of passion.

Most people believe that the reason they have a monotone voice is that there is something physically wrong with them. They may have trouble varying the pitch in their voice… they may have been told (or tell themselves) that they are bad singers… that their voice doesn’t have a range. But you know what?

You do not have to be Paravotti to have passion!

Unless you are in a coma, or otherwise heavily sedated, you can always feel passionate. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? The truth is, most people don’t give themselves permission to feel passionate, or feel anything at all. Maybe because they are self-conscious, fearful or shy. I will admit, it can be tough to feel positive when you are in the grip of fear, especially the fear of public speaking.

There are many wonderful ways to overcome your fear of public speaking, and in this blog we will share all of them with you, but since we are talking about monotonous voices let’s focus on a technique that can introduce some passion directly into the voice without too much effort. And you don’t even need to feel strongly about your material. It can even help you to overcome your fears, because it gives you something to focus on while you are speaking.

The technique is called Keyword Emphasis.

Take a look at the following phrase:

“Mary had a little lamb”

One sentence, right? One meaning, right? Wrong! Let’s try speaking the sentence while emphasising different words (in bold):

“Mary had a little lamb”
“Mary had a little lamb”
“Mary had a little lamb”
“Mary had a little lamb”

I want you to speak this sentence 4 times, emphasising the words in bold. Have you noticed how you can change the meaning of the sentence by emphasising just one word? For example; Mary had a little lamb, implying that she doesn’t have one anymore.

By the way, to emphasise a word, imagine you are speaking it to a young child because you want to teach her how to pronounce it properly. Really sound out the word. Savour it like you are tasting it. You can also emphasise groups of words, or phrases. If you do, make sure to sound out each word individually.

TOP TIP: If you are a non-native speaker of English, make every word you have trouble pronouncing a keyword. By sounding the word out with emphasis the audience will always understand what you are saying.

Right now, as an exercise, I want you to print out this article. Go down through the script and underline each word or phrase that you might emphasise. Then record your voice as you recite the article, emphasising each keyword and phrase.

Some people like to emphasise different words and phrases within the same script, according to what they want to give more meaning to. There is an art to this, and often there is no "right" or "wrong" keyword. This is called the “musicality” of speaking.

There are many advantages to speaking with keyword emphasis:

1. It slows your pace down, introducing pauses, which you are forced into after each keyword
2. You will tend to speak your keywords and phrases with more volume and projection
3. It sounds more passionate

You do not need to have any pitch range in your voice to use keyword emphasis, and you will always sound more energised. If you find the technique is not helping you to break through enough, exaggerate your keyword emphasis until it sounds really lively. Record your voice as you practice, listen back, and adjust accordingly.

I will finish by repeating this point: a speaker with a so-called monotone voice is simply emotionally disconnected from themselves. The ultimate cure to the monotone voice lies in giving yourself permission to feel more passionate. Keyword emphasis is a step in the right direction, but you’ve got to start feeling more. Even that priest in Father Ted could captivate an audience if he felt strong positive emotions as he spoke. People don’t respond to pitch, they respond to passion.

As Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

It’s extremely difficult to make people feel anything if you don’t feel anything. Please give your permission to speak with passion. There is no greater gift to yourself and the world.

Are you the Best Man? The Mother of the Bride? The Groom? The Bride herself? Whoever you are, you may have decided (or been “volunteered”) to deliver a speech for an upcoming special occasion. Now comes the easy bit… writing and delivering!

Let me start by sharing a very important tip…

I never like to judge a speech to be a failure because I genuinely think there is something positive to take from every presentation. People sometimes ask me, “What is the worst speech you’ve ever seen?” I’m always reluctant to answer that to be honest – it’s not my way - but this article begs me to share my answer with you. Several years ago, I witnessed a speech that started well, but went downhill fast because of one simple mistake…

Two dear friends of mine (who shall remain nameless) got married and invited seventy guests for the occasion. From the bride’s walk up the aisle to the final fireworks display that night, the entire event was a roaring success… except for one off-the-wall moment - the best man speech!

What sin did he commit? Did he spew out excessively offensive material? Did he humiliate the groom? Nope. Nothing so interesting. To his credit, he did manage to hold the audience for over 5 minutes before it became clear he was too much in love with the sound of his own voice to quit while he was ahead. His initial success had fuelled his ego into thinking he could go on forever. His speech ended up lasting over 25 minutes; that is, until someone finally snatched the microphone away and told him to sit down.

I’m sure you’ve heard of stage fright. There is a much rarer, opposing phenomenon called stage addiction. It can be a lovely thing, but it can also strike quickly, and it can be deadly if it infects the ego.

When it comes to public speaking I don’t like rules because rules were made to be broken. I much prefer guidelines. Public speaking is an art as much as a science. Sometimes you have to trust your instincts and see what happens. In other words, sometimes you have to break the so-called rules. Having said all that, here comes a rule! Please don’t break it! Ready?

Never outstay your welcome!

Got it?

In the case of wedding speeches, they should last no longer than 10 minutes! When I say 10 minutes, I mean that as an absolute limit. Not a target. If you decide to speak for longer than 10 minutes, you better make sure you are Billy Connelly or Barack Obama… and even then…

The sweet spot for a wedding speech is 4-5 minutes. Less is more! People did not come together to listen to one person. They came to celebrate two people.

Wedding speeches belong to a specific category of speaking called the “Honouring” speech. Honouring speeches are all about celebration. The emotions offered by you, the speaker, should include any (or all) of the following: gratitude, appreciation, joy, passion, hope, playfulness and love.

In terms of the content, you should include the following:

1. Acknowledgements – Compliment the bride, groom, bridesmaids, parents, family, friends, etc. in that order.
2. Personal Stories – Share stories about the bride and groom that showcase either playfulness or love (or both).
3. Toast – Ask everyone to raise their glasses to the happy couple

It’s worth co-ordinating your content with the other speakers to make sure you are not repeating any material. If you want to compliment the bride after another speaker who is also planning to compliment the bride, make sure you do it in a way that’s unique. For example, if a previous speaker mentioned how gorgeous the bride looks, you can mention how radiant her energy is. When complimenting anyone, try to make your compliments as specific and unique as you can. That way it comes across more personal and real.

Here’s a structure that works well for any wedding speech:

1. Acknowledgements
2. Funny Stories
3. Poignant Celebratory Compliments
4. The Toast

For the funny stories, it is possible (and in the case of the best man speech expected) to poke fun. The groom is the easy (and most acceptable) target. However, make sure you don’t go too far. Don’t humiliate the guy beyond redemption. To avoid any issues of offense, check your material out with the groom first. Encourage him to laugh at your jokes on the day. If the audience sees him laughing, they will tend to forgive more that you might imagine. Just keep away from negative experiences such as ex-spouses, divorces, health issues, etc. And steer clear of universally controversial or overly personal material; e.g. alcoholism, abortion, etc. This may seem obvious to you, the reader, but you would be surprised what people try to get away with at weddings.

It’s also a good idea to check your material with the parents of the bride and groom, especially if you are considering pushing the envelope. If you share a contentious story with the audience and they are uncertain if you have pushed it too far, they will tend to look towards the top table to see how they are reacting. If the parents are laughing away, it will sway the majority in the right direction.

It’s up to you to use sound judgement with your content. Remember, this is not your opportunity to be a stand-up comedian. Remember who you are there for!

Like all public speaking scenarios, stories are the most important ingredient of all. The best stories have characters we can resonate with, conflicts we want to see overcome, and of course climaxes that entertain, and teach us more about the quirks and traits of the characters. Stories offer messages and punchlines. Make sure your stories give unique, specific, humorous or poignant insights into those you are speaking about.

Stories offer a chance to “show” rather than “tell”. Don’t tell us how loyal the bride is. Share a story that proves it. Stories that you are a part of will come across as the most genuine, but if you don’t have anything appropriate in your repertoire, the couple’s families should be able to help you out. They have more stories about the bride and groom than anyone else.

Keep your stories as unique as you can. If the other speakers are talking about the bride in her adult years, consider using a story from her childhood. Look for stories that prove positive or quirky traits; e.g. loyalty, intelligence, perfectionism, adventurousness, etc.

Finally, and most importantly, enjoy your speech!!!

​How many people forget to enjoy themselves when they are speaking? It’s a privilege to present, especially at a wedding. Make the most of it, and once again… remember who you are there for.

How well do you look?

As in… how well do you look at the people you communicate with?

Do you look at all?

If you step into an elevator with a stranger, your eye contact will be fleeting at best. If you are enjoying an intimate moment with the love of your life, your eye contact will be deep, protracted and intense. Real life tends to be somewhere in between these two extremes. For the public speaker, eye contact is definitely important (or rather, the “essence” of eye contact – I will explain this distinction later).

Why is eye contact so important anyway?

Recently, a large county hospital in the U.S. analysed their letters of complaint from patients and found that 90% of letters cited poor doctor-patient “eye contact”. On further examination, patient’s interpreted this as a “lack of caring” by the doctors. <source>

You may already be aware that eye contact conveys confidence, but it also shows that you care!

Let me ask you… do you care about your audience?

Ah, of course you do. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article.

Perhaps you find eye contact intimidating. Perhaps other people find your eye contact too intense. Maybe you are comfortable with eye contact in small groups and informal settings, but you’re not sure how to use your eyes in front of a larger audience. Or maybe you have a passing interest in the topic and would like to pick up a few tips…

First off, while it is important to make eye contact, you don’t actually have to make actual eye contact. What do I mean? Well, it’s all in the intention. If you find direct eye to eye connection too intense you can always look at your recipient’s nose. It also eases the intensity if you look directly at one eye (either the left or right). You can also look between the eyes, at the mid forehead. Your recipient will find any of these options just as engaging. In some cases these techniques can be more relaxed and friendly. Practice them at home, looking in the mirror, to see the effects.

If you’ve ever received feedback that your eye contact is too intense, it’s likely that person has issues with people who make good eye contact, so you have nothing to worry about. Take it as a compliment. If, on the other hand, many people remarked on your eye intensity that indicates an issue. You can use the nose and mid-forehead techniques above to remove your intensity.

It may also be that you are trying too hard to look at people. People who stare with excessive intensity tend to have too much awareness “in their heads” – they are overthinking; trying to make a connection rather than allowing it. If you have this tendency and want to overcome it, consciously try to reduce the time you spend locking eyes with people. Break up eye contact by spreading it around the audience and occasionally “looking within” (i.e. looking to the side, as if to reflect).

For those of you with especially intense eye contact, become more grounded in your body by breathing from behind your belly. The more connected you are with your body, the less intense your eye contact will be. All of this takes practice but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of.

What about connecting with large audiences?

While it is important to make eye contact with most if not all of you audience there are a couple of insights that make this task less challenging.

First off, you only need to make eye contact with an individual from your audience once or twice during your entire speech. Make the eye contact genuine and meaningful, with the simple intention of truly expressing what you are saying to that particular person. Speak from the heart.

Secondly, for anyone in your audience situated more than 5-10 metres away (and not isolated from others around them) you only need to make eye contact with one person in their area. Everyone around them will think you have looked at them. The size of the group you can cover with one glance increases as the distance increases. Think of it like splashing paint on your audience with your eyes. The further away your audience is, the bigger your footprint of paint. As long as you’ve covered everyone once by the end of your speech your job is done.

Break your audience up into different areas; perhaps four corners, and the edges and centre in between. Make sure not to focus on one area for too long. Spread your love around, so to speak.

The front two or three rows of your audience can enjoy more individual eye contact. That’s their reward for sitting so close to you. Again, you only need to glance at them once or twice. Just make it count. Sincerity, conviction and warmth never fail to succeed.

I will close by stressing that while eye contact is important, the “essence” of eye contact is even more important. That’s why looking at someone’s nose has the same effect as looking into their eyes. It’s all in the intention. If you don’t believe me watch the TED speech entitled “Looking Past Limits” by Caroline Casey. If you haven't seen it before there's a little surprise revealed a few minutes into her speech. Seriously, how good is her connection with her audience?

Link to Caroline's speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyBk55G7Keo

Eight years ago I delivered my second ever speech to the general public. As a newbie I expected to receive a lot of feedback. The reaction I received was unexpected but unanimous… and insightful. Everyone said, “We enjoy it, but your speech just… ended!”

I scratched my head as I poured over my script. Did I forget to cover anything? Did I forget to explain some detail? Did the audience simply want more? Nope. It turns out I was missing a proper conclusion!
As a student of public speaking I’m sure you are aware that every speech should have an opening, body and conclusion. The opening sets the stage for what is to come. The body refers to the information at the heart of the speech. But what is the conclusion all about?

Public speaking is an art as much as a science, and in that respect there are no hard, fast rules. However there are seven optional components (or tools) that will always guarantee you an impactful and memorable conclusion – the Seven Samurai. If you employ at least a two or three of these worthy Ninjas, you will have yourself a conclusion worth concluding with. Here is the list:

1. The Signal
2. The Recap
3. The Message or Purpose
4. The Food for Thought
5. The Sale
6. The Tool
7. The Closing Anchor

Wow, seven is a lot, eh? After all, shouldn’t a conclusion be concise as well as clear? I hear you. Don’t worry. These items can be covered lightning fast. You don’t need all seven, and you can combine them together.
For the purposes of this blog, I’m going to use a hypothetical speech as an example so that we can craft a pretend conclusion. I want you to imagine that you are required to draft and deliver a persuasive 5-7 minute speech entitled, “Variety in diet is a route to healthy living”. Let’s see if we can fashion a decent conclusion… and don’t sweat, we won’t need to see the opening or body of the script for the purposes of this exercise.

1. THE SIGNAL

The Signal is the first thing you should consider. It is a transitional statement that tells the audience that the conclusion is beginning. It only takes a couple of words: “In conclusion…” Or if you prefer, “In summary…” Here are a few more:

• “To finish up…”
• “I would like to finish by saying…”
• “My conclusion is this…”
• “The message I would like to leave you with is…”
• “So what have we learned today? ...”

It’s important to let your audience know the end is nigh, because it will re-focus their attention. Have you ever listened to a speaker and almost drifted off wondering when the speech was going to end, only to hear the words, “So to conclude…” and snapped back to attention? Of course, no speech should ever encourage anyone to “drift off” at any moment, but you get the idea.

2. THE RECAP

The Recap contains a brief summary of what came in the body. This helps your audience to revise and retain your content. For entertaining, honouring and inspirational speeches, it’s not essential. For persuasive, informative and technical speeches however it’s much needed and welcomed by your audience.

In our example 5-7 minute speech - “Variety in diet is a route to healthy living” you might decide to cover 3-5 supporting points in your body (very wise). In your conclusion you should recap them with something like, “First, we discovered the reasons we eat that have nothing to do with hunger. Second, we learned about medical studies that prove repetitive eating results in more calories consumed, and third we heard about Tony, survivor of three heart attacks who changed his diet and changed his life.”

3. THE MESSAGE OR PURPOSE

It is essential that you leave your audience with a clear understanding of your overall reason for speaking to them. Let’s face it, there has to be some kind of reason why you spoke (and “because it’s my job” or “my boss forced me to” is not going to cut it).
Informative, entertaining and honouring speeches tend to be very light on strong messages, but they should have a purpose. A persuasive or inspirational speech should always have a single clear message.
For our example above we will use the message, “My message is this - a varied diet is far healthier than a repetitive one.”

4. FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The “Food for Thought” forces your audience to think of your message or purpose within the context of their own lives. It’s not so relevant to entertaining or honouring speeches, but for inspiring, persuasive and informative speeches it can work wonders.

Ask yourself, have you ever been convinced of something but you failed to act on it? Why weren’t you motivated enough? Was it because the idea remained conceptual and not necessarily relevant to you personally? So often we come to believe an idea “in theory” but we fail to make that message a part of our own personal experiences – in other words, “in practice”.

In our example speech, a good reflection might be, “Ask yourself right now, are you happy with your health? Do you eat the same meal more than 3 times per week?”

The “Food for Thought” forces your audience to become a working part of your message. That’s a good thing!

5. THE SALE

This is your final opportunity to sell your message. Your opening and body should have done most of the work but now you have one last shot. Perhaps the “Food for thought” statement will be enough, but if it isn’t, don’t be afraid to push the sale a little.

The Sale shouldn’t be too specific, obscure or highly detailed. That’s the job of your opening and body. Instead, pick your strongest, easiest, most resonant persuasive point and state it more one more time in your conclusion.

To find the Sale, ask yourself; “What will my audience be able to think, feel or do better as a result of taking on my message?” and/or “What does my audience stand to lose by ignoring my message?”
In our example let’s put, “Eating repetitively means you will eat emotionally and you will eat more. How long will that last before you start having health issues?”

6. THE TOOL

This could be the most useful and generous statement of your entire speech. The Tool allows you to offer an idea, technique or method that your audience can employ to make your message a reality for them. After all, your audience may be convinced by everything you said. That doesn’t mean they understand what to do next. In persuasive and inspirational speeches this is sometimes referred to as the “how to” or “next step”.

If you are trying to persuade your audience of something, make sure you give them one or two ideas that they can use to enact your message (i.e. to buy whatever it is you are selling). After all, every sales trainer will tell you it’s not enough to have your customer “willing”. They need to be “buying”.
In our example let’s state, “The next time you are shopping for food, make it your goal to leave out the one meal you eat the most. Replace it with three things you have never tried before, and savour those new tastes.”

7. THE CLOSING ANCHOR

An anchor is any script component that is not a fact or opinion. In other words, an anchor can be a story, question, joke, metaphor, song, visual aid or quote. They are called anchors because they “anchor” themselves into the memory of your audience. Anchors have facts (or opinions) tied to them, but they are much more memorable than bare facts.

For whatever your message or purpose was, you can finish your speech by picking an anchor that helps your audience to remember your message or purpose more effectively.

A top tip for closing anchors: stories are effective but they can take time. A quick easy and engaging anchor to finish on is a quote. You can use a famous quote, or an anonymous one. You can also play with quotes, or modify them to make a new idea that fits with your message. It doesn’t matter. Make it accessible, catchy and/or relevant and that will be enough.

In the example above let’s write, “They say variety is the spice of life. Today I hope you have discovered - variety is the spice of health.”
 
Let’s combine our “Variety in diet as a route to healthy living” conclusion to see how it looks unedited:

“To conclude, today we discovered the reasons we eat that have nothing to do with hunger. We learned about medical studies that prove repetitive eating results in more calories consumed… and we heard about Tony, survivor of three heart attacks who changed his diet and changed his life.

My message is this - a varied diet is far healthier than a repetitive one. Ask yourself right now, are you happy with your health? Do you eat the same meal more than 3 times per week? Eating repetitively means you will eat emotionally and you will eat more. How long will that last before you start having health issues? The next time you are shopping for food, make it your goal to leave out the one meal you eat the most. Replace it with three things you have never tried before, and savour those new tastes.

They say variety is the spice of life. Today I hope you have discovered variety is the spice of health.”

Not too bad for a first draft!

If you want to save speaking time feel free to edit your Seven Samurai down to between two and six components. And you don’t need to use them in the order above. Feel free to play around. The goal is to make your conclusion impactful and memorable, otherwise your speech will evaporate into the air like so many others.

The Seven Samurai is designed to help you craft a conclusion within minutes, and it forms an essential part of our Speechcamp CORE Master Speaker System. Find more free power tools for your speaking kit at www.speechcamp.ie/blog.

As Ryan Holmes once said, "For everybody in their busy lives, you need to invest in sharpening your tools."

Mary approached Speechcamp 3 months ago.  Her company had given her a promotion.  She was the new Head of Marketing.  This meant having more responsibility and more income.  To her horror it also meant she would have to deliver weekly presentations to her department.  You see, Mary had a severe anxiety of speaking in front of audiences.

“My voice keeps shaking”, she said frantically over the phone, “I just want to run away.”

I paused for a moment before replying, “The first thing I want you to let go of, is judging how good or bad you are.”

Many people believe that they are scared of public speaking.  But the truth is they are scared of their own power.  I heard so many excuses why people chose to put their lives on hold. Avoidance is the sister of fear.  We need much more energy to maintain our comfort zone than to make a step into the unknown.

If you want to become a good speaker you need to experience VULNERABILITY.  This is a scary place because you need to give up many negative self-images and show your true self.  You may not like it at the beginning.  It is painful and can be disappointing.  But only for a little while.

If you don`t run away you will start to feel the divine power within.  When your false ego falls silent you have so much to give and so much to say.  Your voice is no longer just a combination of a variety of sounds.  Your voice becomes a powerful instrument that takes people beyond their limitations.  Your voice becomes a healing energy that flows from heart to heart. 

During my phone call with Mary I invited her to try our 8-week Master Speakers Course.  I asked her to use every meeting as a therapy.  Mary agreed.

Vulnerability is an important holistic aspect of public speaking.  As soon as you cross the ocean of your emotions you will realise that there is nothing to be scared of.  You will find a new you – the one who has been waiting to speak for a long time.   And public speaking will become an enjoyable process.  Because you are not looking to try to be good.  What you are looking for is to be truthful and helpful.

When Mary arrived at our course she agreed to go through her own vulnerability and she relaxed.  She started to talk freely and one day her beautiful personality came out of its cage.  Mary delivered a powerful speech about how to express your business brand.  She surprised us.  She surprised herself.

“How do you feel”, I asked Mary when she was shaking my hand.

“I feel like a heavy stone had been removed from my chest”, she said.

So…are you ready to move aside the stone of fear?  Are you ready to add your voice to the symphony of life?  Sharing this journey with many people I am so happy to hear again and again:

​“My life has just begun!”

Author: Iryna Kremianeuskaya

In the summer of 1996 I flunked my first ever job interview. I had completed my bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in University College Galway (as it was known then). I had a confident swagger about me, founded on good grades and 4 years confined to the cotton-stuffed comfort zone of third level life.

British Telecom had arrived on campus to see what bright minds they could assimilate into their workforce. I applied for an interview, suited myself up, and readied myself to impress. Half way through the process, my interviewer – let’s call him John – asked:

“So why do you want to work for British Telecom?”

I don’t remember my response word for word (mostly because I replied with a barely coherent onslaught of waffle). As I recall, what I did manage to convey quite successfully was that I hadn’t seriously thought about why I had applied.

Between you, me and this blog, I was primarily motivated by my classmates who were also applying, and I didn’t want to miss out on any big opportunity (whatever that might have been). I had no clear vision of my future, except that I kind of knew I wanted a job rather than a PHD. And I wasn’t even sure of that. John saw right through me, and I never heard back from B.T.

The lesson I learned that day was that, before I applied for any more jobs I needed to be clear about “why”. If I had been honest with John and said I wanted money or security or some kind of stimulation in a shiny building somewhere; that would have at least demonstrated some sort of why.

This brings up the issue of why most people apply for the jobs they do, whether that "why" is good enough, and whether you should be honest about it. Let's face it, in a perfect world, all people should be able to say they applied for a job because they were genuinely excited by the role and the company in question. That’s not the way it works out, though, is it?

What’s my solution? Let’s look at using bare-faced honesty…

“I applied for this job because I need the money…”
“I went for this job because I can’t find anything else…”
“I applied for this job because my husband/wife/friends told me to…”

You might argue that it’s better to bluff, pretend and lie. Happily, there is a third alternative, which is my top tip for today:

Whatever your reasons were for applying for a job… get interested in the role and company (if you aren’t already). Then prepare for the interview.

If you cannot find any way to get passionate about a role you are applying for, you should not be applying for it. Even if your prime motivation is to pay the bills, there must be something you can find about the job itself (or the company) to get you fired up. It’s your job to find that hook. Why? Because your audience (the interviewers) will pick up on your passion. Think about it - if they had to choose between two people with equal skills: one with only selfish motivations, and one with a pinch of passion about the role or company, I hope it’s obvious which one is the better candidate. Nothing trumps passion!

It shouldn’t matter how menial the role may seem to you (or anyone else). Are you applying to flip burgers in a fast food takeaway? Okay, it may not be your life’s dream to be the best burger flipper on the planet, but you might be able to pick up essential skills in the following areas:

• People management: How to deal with customers, solve conflicts
• Time management: How rosters are managed, budgeting food prep times, managing queues
• Business management: Profit margins, handling cash, marketing skills

The skills you learn about might be part of the role you are applying for, or the staff working around you. The lessons you learn could happen through watching successes or failures. It doesn’t matter. You can learn quite a lot from practically every job on the planet. By the way, it’s okay to mention your hooks in your interview…

“I’d like to know more about how retail business works…”
“I’m impressed by your marketing abilities. I’d love to know more….”
“I want to develop my customer hospitality skills…”

Please note, a decent interviewer will be able to tell if an applicant is not interested in their role or company. The tragedy is that most interviewees fail to get themselves interested, and worse, they fail to demonstrate that passion.

By the way, from the interviewer’s point of view, it’s a fair question to ask; “Why our company, and not a rival down the street?” And it’s not good enough to say; “Because the rival isn’t hiring right now.” Find a hook for the company and demonstrate you have it.

Now that I’ve made my point, let me offer a number of tips to help you...

Before the Interview:

1. Find out as much as you can about the the company and the position you are applying for. Be very clear on why you are applying, including all possible hooks. Keep those hooks in mind.

2. List 8-10 questions you could be asked during the interview. Group the questions under 3 categories: personal/human-resource-orientated (your passions, hobbies, etc.), technical (specific skill-related questions) and general career goal-orientated (what your ambitions are, etc.). Draft 30-45 second scripts for answers to each question. You don’t need to stick to the scripts verbatim during your interview. The scripts should serve as mental anchors to give you more focus during your interview. Feel free to paraphrase without falling into waffling.

3. Put all other candidates out of your mind. Nothing about them will help your own interview, so forget they exist. Even if an earlier candidate catches you in the corridor and offers a remark about “difficult questions” or “a challenging interviewer” remember that’s just their perception. Carry no judgements when it’s your turn.

During the Interview:

1. Make sure you smile sincerely at all interviewers to put their minds at ease (Note: most interviewees fail to realise that being an interviewer can be as scary as being the interviewee).

2. If there is more than one interviewer, no matter which interviewer is asking a particular question make sure you offer eye contact to all interviewers while you answer. Never focus too much on one face, because the others might feel ignored.

3. Remember, your job is to generate a trust relationship with your interviewers, so be open with your personality in a way that’s helpful. Don’t try to be the best. Aim to be the most helpful.

4. Focus on passion at least as much as knowledge, and demonstrate this through your language. Cut down on "I was the best in..." and move towards "I am most passionate about..."

5. If you do not know the answer to something, don’t bluff. Admit you don’t know. If you like, say that you would love to learn whatever it is.

6. If you feel you made a mistake at any stage, ignore it and move on with the interview. Don't let mistakes phase you. Confidence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes, are important traits.

7. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you are offered the opportunity. This demonstrates your interest in the job and the company.

After the Interview:

1. Don’t focus on all the things you did wrong. Stay confident and assured about your performance, but write down anything interesting that happened during the interview. You might be able to spot something important that you can address at a 2nd interview (never assume that you won’t be asked to do a 2nd interview, even if it’s not advertised. A 2nd interview may indicate they are interested but not 100% sure about you yet).

2. If you don’t get the job, don’t despair. Ask for feedback on why you weren’t successful on that occasion.

I will leave you with a final tip in the form of a quote:

“Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.” – Katherine Whitehorn

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

Do Q&A sessions scare you?

Speakers fear Q&A sessions for all kinds of reasons. In Parts 1 and 2 of my Q&A blog I shared many tips and ideas designed to turn those fears into opportunities. For Part 3 I would like to finish with 3 simple tips to further empower you for your next Q&A...

1. Rephrase the questions you are asked and restate them out loud.

Rephrasing a question demonstrates to the questioner that you have understood what they were asking... just make sure you rephrase it accurately. This can also give you (and everyone present) a way examine what a question really means - its essence. It can also help you to soften some of the more ambiguous or potentially sensitive aspects of it.

For example, if an audience member asked "Why are we not getting any pay rises next year?" during a corporate pep-rally, you could say, "Great question... so why can't we invest in or reward our employees at this time?" Of course you need to follow up with a great answer to a great question but at least you can show your honest understanding of your audience's needs.

Restating the question out loud helps other audience members understand what was asked because many times questioners do not have strong vocal skills (or a microphone) and the audience can often struggle to hear questions. It also gives you time to formulate a response.

2. Make sure your answers are brief but not too brief.

A tightly structured answer is more credible than a loose stream of waffle. On the other hand, no-one wants to hear “yes” and “no” answers because it’s too aloof and introverted. A good balance offers the how’s and why’s without the fluff. Aim for 20-45 seconds depending on your available time, the importance of the question for the audience, and its complexity. If a question is broad or complex, break it down into 2 or 3 areas.

3. Try to call on questioner from the front, back, left and right of the audience.

Don’t exclude any sections of the audience. Make every area feel involved. And don't just call on the "friendly" faces. Make sure you call someone who looks like they might offer a challenge (because life would be too boring otherwise).

Now that we have finished our 3 Part Q&A series, let me ask you... have all your Q&A questions been answered?

Ha! Of course not. It's impossible to cover every answer in life, in blogs, in speeches... and in Q&A sessions. Remember that. Don't aim to answer every possible question that could be asked. Take your audience one step further and that will suffice.

I love questions. Don't you?

“I offered to answer a few questions – now everyone has their hands up – how am I going to control this?”

“Oops! That’s a tricky question. I don’t know the answer to this one...”

“I answered the question correctly so why won’t the questioner accept it and let me get on with my speech?”

These thoughts (and many more) have crossed the minds of many of my clients as they faced challenging Q&A-related situations. If you faced any of the above scenarios (or you are fearful you will) look no further. In part 2 of my 3-part Q&A blog we will explore some techniques that will allow you to minimise, avoid or solve the difficult scenarios that can arise during a Q&A.

In part 1 I made the important point that you should never finish your presentation with a Q&A. One of the reasons is because a Q&A can easily run over time if you don’t maintain a clear and confident control over the session.

The first thing you should do is set expectations for your audience about your Q&A. Make it very clear to them exactly how many questions you plan to answer, and how long you plan to spend on each. And give people an after-speech-option for fielding the questions you don’t have time for.

“Before I conclude I would like to spend 2 to 3 minutes answering 1 or 2 brief questions. And if I don’t get to answer your specific question you can talk to me afterwards.”

A simple straightforward statement like this achieves everything I mentioned above. Simple eh? Now your audience understands the framework and the structure… and you’ve given them an option to field additional questions after your presentation.

What happens if a member of the audience attempts to take over the session?

This can quickly become stressful because your time evaporates. The solution depends on what your questioner is doing. It’s usually something like:

• They are so passionate about the question they forget the framework you laid down
• They want to give their own speech
• They are not getting the answer they want

There are many solutions, but the best ones usually involve parking the question and questioner with the offer to continue in private after the session has finished. Note, it is important to respect the questioner and anyone else equally devoted to getting the answer to that specific question. Say something like:

“That is a great question and clearly it deserves a speech of its own. If it’s okay with you <the questioner> I would like to take 1 or 2 more questions, and afterwards we can continue this discussion. Anyone else who’s interested in joining us is most welcome.”

It’s called the parking technique and it works very well for all situations where time is of the essence. If your questioner argues with you, state that you would like to respect the rest of the audience by fielding 1 or 2 more questions in case anyone needs to leave quickly due to time constraints. Always come back to the issue of time, and the fact that you want to respect everyone equally.

What happens if you don’t know the answer to a question?

You can reduce the chances of coming up against this issue by preparing as much as you can before your presentation. For example, you could list between 5 and 10 questions you may be asked, and craft answers for them. That said, there's always the chance you will face a question you don't know the answer to.

The Speechcamp solution is to be honest but emotionally empowered in your honesty. This can seem challenging for many speakers. Some of my clients give me a reaction along the lines of, “Doesn’t it look silly if I don’t know what I’m talking about?" or "If I don’t know the answer I’m a failure, right?” or "But I'm supposed to be an expert."

Sure, I could give you rhetorical techniques for bluffing and deflecting questions in a way that might save the day. And you could always ask someone else in the audience for an answer – in effect, turn your Q&A session into a brainstorm (if it’s appropriate to the context you are in – for example, it’s not useful to try this during a job interview). However, the best solution is… honesty!

“I don’t know the answer to that one, but I will find out for you…”

“I don’t know the answer to that question but I would love to learn…” (great for job interviews)

“I don’t have an answer for that one, but here’s what I do know about it…”

If you use the last line make sure your answer is relevant, useful and directly related to the question. If not, don’t bluff or fill in with the answer to another question. It’s potentially frustrating for your audience.

The key is to be emotionally empowered. Firstly, cast aside your limiting beliefs about being “stupid”. Stop kicking yourself for not preparing well enough in advance. That inner "perfectionist" voice in your head may have been your best friend during preparation but it can quickly become your enemy in the heat of the moment. Don't let your ego trip you into thinking you need to be a know-it-all. The fact is, you did your best and you are now in this situation, and unless your audience gives you 5 minutes to “phone a friend” (or indeed ask the audience) you have to accept that you don't have the answer. Instead, you should approach the situation in a way that holds your sense of confidence and worthiness.

Let me help to soothe your limiting beliefs with the following 3 absolutely true statements…

“There is no such thing as a speaker who knows everything about everything all the time.”

“There is nothing wrong with admitting you don’t know the answer to something, but you can always make a promise to find that answer. It’s called learning. Everybody does it from the day they are born until the day they die. Anyone who claims that expertise equals 'no more learning needed' is delusional.”

“An honest, earnest and passionate personality far outweighs a know-it-all or a bluffer.”

This last statement is particularly important to keep in mind during a job interview.

During a corporate presentation there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying:

“That’s a great question. Unfortunately I don’t have the answer to that one but I will find it for you, so please give me your contact details afterwards, and I will get you the answer. For anyone else who is interested in the answer give me your details and I will send you the answer as well.”

It really is worth it to understand this point because, though you may pride yourself in being an expert in a particular field (and/or you put pressure on yourself to know it all) these are traps of the ego. The fact is that there may come a time when you don't have an answer. A coward believes they should know everything all the time. The measure of a true master is accepting when you don't know something (and indeed, embracing it) and dealing with it in an empowered way.

By the way, if someone else in the audience offers to answer, let them. That’s a classic win-win situation. Only a limiting belief like, "Damn, that person knew the answer and I'm supposed to be the presenter - I'm the one who should know" will threaten to lower the energy. Another ego trap! And if someone else in the audience holds the mirror to that belief - "Wow, the presenter should have known that answer" - that's their business. Good luck to them with their dis-empowered limiting belief. They will have to grapple with it during their own Q&A sessions. What those people think of you is of no concern to you. Focus on the people who understand the realities of being a human being. Focus on the people who respond to an confidence, engaging, empowered personality (i.e. every well-balanced person in the audience).

And if you believe that a job interviewer is only looking for the candidate who gives the most correct answers to technical questions you are missing a trick. An emotionally empowered passionate person who knows the answer to enough questions to honour the job is at least (if not more) employable. Remember, if you look like you have an issue with not knowing the answer to a question (if it phases or knocks you off balance) that's potentially a bigger issue, though even that's more forgivable than being a bluffer. We tend to think of interviewers as monsters. Would it surprise you to know that being an interviewer is as difficult as being the interviewee? I will explore the world of job interviews in a future blog, so stay tuned...

Being emotionally empowered means being comfortable, passionate, non-judgmental, enthusiastic, honest and realistic. To be frank, emotional empowerment is gold-dust for public speaking, far and above needing to know everything. Sure, it is nice to have both knowledge and emotional empowerment (and strive for it), but if you have to choose in any moment, pick feeling good. Feeling good = better presenting = a better experience for your audience overall.

To quote Abraham Hicks, “Would you rather be right all the time, or happy?”

In part 3 I will share more top tips for succeeding with your Q&A sessions.

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon (speechcamp.ie)

How long should my question and answer session last?

What happens if I don’t know the answer to a question?

What happens if an audience member tries to take over my Q & A?

In this new 3 part blog I will answer all these questions and more, as well as offer you World Class tips, tools and techniques to take the stress out of your next Q & A session. Holding a worthwhile and engaging Q & A is not that difficult, but you do need to know what you’re doing.

In Part 1 I will cover the essentials of structuring your Q & A so that you can avoid all the pitfalls, giving you the best opportunity for a truly engaging session. Part 2 will offer top tips to avoid unexpected and difficult situations. Part 3 will bring it all together with powerful yet easy to employ guidelines for success.

I’m going to start with a golden rule. Please note, I don’t like hard and fast rules in the world of public speaking. The truly professional speaker understands that spontaneity and adaptability are at least as important as following rules. That said, here comes an important rule for guaranteeing a successful Q & A! Are you ready?

TOP TIP: Do not end your speech with your Q & A

99.9999999% of speakers end their speeches with their Q & A session. Don’t!

If you finish your presentation with a Q&A session, you will have very little control over the last words spoken. Why is that important?

World class public speaking expert Patricia Fripp once said, “Your last words linger.” The final words spoken (whether they are spoken by you or a member of the audience) will become the words most loudly echoing in your audience’s minds afterwards. You absolutely need to have full control over what those words will be.

2 years ago I spoke to a farmer who delivered a highly persuasive speech entitled “Organic Farming will be the New Norm” to a group of contemporaries. His message was clear (even the title gives it away). Unfortunately he made a damaging error right at the end of his otherwise superb presentation. He decided (like most speakers do) to finish his speech by holding his Question and Answers session. As it turned out, the final question he was asked involved an obscure issue relating to horse feed. The conversation between speaker and questioner went on for 2 minutes before the speech ended.
What was foremost in the audience’s minds after the speech finished? Horse feed! What should have been in their minds? The speaker’s message!

This may seem like a subtle issue, but I assure you it can blow up big time. The impact of your message can be diluted, as my farmer friend discovered. When he later discussed his presentation with individual audience members they tended to remark on the “horse feed” issue. It became a disproportionately prominent sub-topic in people’s minds.

Your audience tends to recall best what they heard first and what they heard last in any presentation. Make sure your last words are directly related to your overall message (in a future blog I will return to crafting effective conclusions). Make sure you have full control over those final words. So…

When should you hold your Q & A session?

Answer: Right before you begin the conclusion of your presentation!

Begin your Q & A session by saying something like, “Before I finish I would like to take a couple of questions…” Finish your Q & A by saying something like, “Thank you very much for those questions. To conclude I would like to say…”

There is of course a… drum roll… exception to this rule. Yeah, like I said no rule is 100%. It is acceptable to end your presentation with a Q & A when you are 1 of a group of speakers where the time only permits 1 collective Q & A session.

If the agenda is such that you are 1 of a group of speakers afforded a single collective Q & A session, then you must (out of professional politeness) adhere to the rules of the agenda. You can, however, cleverly insert your overall message (or other key presentation points) into the answers of any questions you are asked, as long as you are not repetitive and blatant about it. And make sure you always answer the question you are asked!

That’s an important tip that might seem obvious but it’s worth re-iterating:

Answer the Question you are Asked!

In Part 2 we will discover the secrets to keeping full control over your Q & A, handling all the difficult scenarios that can arise, while keeping your audience on your side.

Stay tuned!

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

Have you ever sat down for a presentation and after a minute or so wondered what it the ultimate message was going to be?

This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for those speakers who wish to inspire or entertain their audiences. A little suspense about your presentation can be enticing as long as your opening hook is strong enough. A powerful story is the best opener, as we have seen in Part 2.

For informative and persuasive speeches however it is important to follow your opening hook and gratuities by sharing with your audience what you hope to cover with your presentation… and of course what you hope your audience will gain from your speech…

There are two optional but powerful components that can achieve this. They only take one or two sentences, but they can result in a satisfying moment for your audience. Here they are:

• The Road Map
• The Big Promise

The Road Map is a brief rendition of what you plan to deliver in the body of your speech. Think of it as the agenda. For your audience it’s illuminating, because they will understand what’s coming and when. A typical example of a Road Map is:

“First I will share a success story about our product with a famous company. Then I will list the most powerful benefits and results for you as a customer. And finally I will show you a demo of the product so you can get a feel for it in action.”

It’s so simple but, as an audience member, I will understand in a clear way what I can look forward to by continuing to listen to your presentation. But it doesn’t end there…

The Big Promise is one sentence that let’s your audience know what they will be able to think, feel and/or do differently as a result of listening to your presentation. A typical Big Promise begins with:

“So that by the end of this presentation you will…”

Depending on the purpose, message and major motive of your speech you may continue this sentence with something like:

“…be able to…”
“…have a clear picture of…”
“…become an expert in…”
“…understand how to…”
“…see the benefit of…”
“…understand the opportunity that I’m offering you…”
“…be persuaded to…”

Note that this is called a Big PROMISE, so make sure you deliver on that promise. As Mae West once said, “An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.”

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

Let’s begin by learning all about the Opening Hook, and we are going to do it with a powerful exercise. It will take 10-15 minutes of your time, so make sure you are sitting at home in front of the computer. I understand that most blogs don’t make you engage in homework, but I promise it will prove fascinating and insightful. Are you ready?

I am going to ask you to watch 7 videos – but only the 1st minute of each. Each video contains a speech that’s been published by a website called TED.COM. If you haven’t heard of it, TED is a major resource for inspirational, informative, persuasive and entertaining speeches. I will list the Youtube links for each video (because Youtube is slightly easier to navigate… no offense, Ted).

EXERCISE: I want you to watch the 1st minute of each speech below and as you do, pay attention to how engaging and interesting the speech is (and for the purposes of this exercise, please don’t watch any further than 60 seconds). Click away:

• Bill Gross: The single biggest reason why startups succeed
• Ricardo Semler: How to run a company with (almost) no rules
• Abe Davis: New video technology that reveal an objects hidden properties
• Roger Stein: A bold new way to fund drug research
• Chrystia Freeland: The rise of the new global super-rich
• Barry Schwartz: The way we think about work is broken
• Tony Wyss-Coray: How young blood might help reverse aging. Yes, really

At this point I ask you to rate each speaker for the following:

• Building a relationship with the audience (how much do you feel you got to know the speaker)
• Engagement (how interested are you in hearing more)
• How memorable they were (which speeches do you remember the most right now, after you have finished the exercise?)

Now ask yourself, why did the most memorable and engaging speakers succeed so well?

Let’s examine the components each speaker used to open their presentations:

• Bill Gross – A series of facts
• Ricardo Semler – A personal story
• Abe Davis – A series of facts
• Roger Stein – A personal story with a visual aid, and a joke
• Chrystia Freeland – A series of facts
• Barry Schwartz - A question
• Tony Wyss-Coray – A visual aid with facts

Is it clear yet what elements make up the most powerful openings? If not, then let me list them in order of impact:

• A Personal Story
• Any Story
• A Question that resonates with the audience
• Humour
• A Visual Aid

These are the most successful Opening Hooks. They introduce their topics in a relatively intriguing way. They also engage the audience in an emotional way. Let's examine each in detail:

Personal stories are the most powerful way to open any presentation because you immediately:

• Build a strong relationship with your audience
• Engage their emotions
• Engage their memories

Stories are hands down the most engaging and memorable method for relaying information. Storytelling is what human beings used to teach facts before we had pens, papers and schools. Storytelling is in our DNA. If you have young children and your job is to tuck them into bed at night, I guarantee you they don’t want to hear a bunch of facts before sleep-time. They want a damn good story. The right good story will buy you up to 10 minutes of listening time from any audience. In public speaking terms, 10 minutes of undivided attention is gold dust!

By the way, which of the 7 speeches do you remember details from… right now? How many facts can you recall? Be honest. Here’s an equation as solid as anything mathematical...

                                                              Story = Emotion = Memorable

How about questions, then? Opening your speech with a question works quite well because it directly engages the thought process of your audience. In my blog on Technical Speeches I mentioned the importance of engaging the thought process of your audience. In short, questions imply interaction. Interaction is a sure-fire way to build a relationship and stick in your audience’s memories. Just make sure your question is relevant to your topic, message and audience!

I’m sure you will agree Barry Schwartz’s opening - “Why do we work?” - is a provocative and relevant question. With a question like that, you can buy another 2-3 minutes of listening time from your audience.

Other techniques include using humour. Humour is best employed within the context of a story, question or visual aid. Depending on the situation, a humorous moment can buy you between 10 seconds and 2 minutes of listening time.

A visual aid, by the way, is most useful when it’s pictorial (not factual). The visual aid should also ideally serve to enhance a story, question or joke. Therefore, it’s not much use on its own (unless it evokes a strong positive emotion).

What about those speeches you watched above that began with bare facts?

Be honest, can you remember any of the facts in the speeches that opened with bare facts? Maybe a few... just maybe... if you have a so-called photographic memory... or you really love the topic...

The problem with opening with facts is that you cannot be sure that your audience are ready to absorb and accept your facts as something important or even relevant to them. Facts needs to be sold, and they need to be memorable. And they need to be broken up throughout your speech, not machine gunned.

After 3 or more facts in a row the mind tends to switch off because it needs time to digest everything. The best way to break up your facts is with… drumroll… a story or question. This isn’t rocket science but 99.99999% of speakers don’t understand this… er, fact.

Before I finish I would like to make the point that I’m not saying facts are useless as openers. I’m also not suggesting that the speeches I listed above with fact-heavy openings are failures. After all, they score highly in viewer numbers. If the subject matter means a lot to you (i.e. you have an emotional connection to the topic) you will likely continue listening. But you have to be in the mood (i.e. be in a receptive emotional state). Otherwise the speech won’t engage you (hook you emotionally). And if you are forced to sit through it, the speech won’t be memorable (because our memories work strongest on an emotional level).

Did I mention how important emotions are?

To prove that I'm not bashing fact-heavy openings let me finish with a link to a speech that opens successfully with a series of facts…

                                         Marlene Zuk: What we learn from insects’ kinky sex lives

This speech works very well for several reasons:

• It’s funny (a positive emotional reaction)
• It’s quirky (an emotional reaction also)
• The subject matter of sex has a strong emotional reaction
• We get to know the personality of the speaker (she is a relatively open person)

Facts can work as openers, but they need to be surrounded by emotional hooks. And you need to be an open person – someone who doesn’t hide behind their speech. Make your facts hilarious, quirky and very much related to your audience’s base motivations (which are always emotional).

Did I mention how important emotions are?

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we learn all about the Road Map and the Big Promise...

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

“Hi, my name is Eddie O’Hanlon…”

“Thank you for having me here today…”

“Hello there...”

Be honest, this is how most people open their speeches, right? This kind of opening is referred to as the Gratuity. There is nothing wrong with it. It’s perfectly friendly to begin by introducing yourself (if you haven’t already been introduced). It’s perfectly polite to thank people for allowing you to speak. Yes, this opening is perfectly friendly, perfectly polite… and perfectly ordinary… in other words, utterly forgettable.

You want to do better than that, don’t you?

Good. Welcome to the first part of a 3 part series on how to open your presentations with impact. In this part I want to lay the foundations for what we call the World Class opening. It can be adapted to any kind of presentation… AND… it’s so easy to learn.

By the way, why is the opening of a speech so important? The simple and stark answer is that your audience will form a decisive impression of you within 7 seconds! After that, depending on how those precious seconds pan out, you just might buy yourself more listening time… another 10 seconds… which may lead to another 30 seconds… and so on.

Let’s start by understanding what every opening should achieve:

• Build a relationship with your audience (i.e. build rapport and trust)
• Give your audience a clear understanding of what’s coming in the speech, and why it should matter to them (or at least tease them about what’s coming)
• Set the stage for a memorable experience (i.e. avoid being unoriginal and forgettable)

Here is the essential World Class Speech Opening Checklist that successfully achieves all of the above (listed in the order that they should be written and delivered):

• The Opening Hook – something that grabs your audience and hints at your overall purpose and/or message
• The Gratuity – the pleasantries and special instructions (if appropriate)
• The Road-Map – the agenda (what’s coming in the body of the speech)
• The Big Promise – a statement about what your audience will be able to think, feel or do after your speech

Did you notice how the Gratuity comes after the Opening Hook? Why? Let’s take an example where a presenter called Mary Jane wants to pitch her Internet Broadband Services to a group of business owners who are looking for a more reliable Internet service…

Opening 1: “Hi my name is Mary Jane, and I am here today to offer you fast and reliable broadband service for your business… Raise your hand if you are happy with your broadband speed...”

Opening 2: “Raise your hand if you are happy with your broadband speed… Hi, my name is Mary Jane, and I am here today to offer you a fast and reliable broadband service for your business…”

To choose between Opening 1 and 2, I would go for 2 for the following reasons:

• Opening 2 immediately cuts to a highly relevant issue for your audience.
• Opening 2 is more immediately interactive and engaging.
• Opening 2 is more original and therefore more memorable.

Note that the Gratuity and/or Road Map can include special instructions for the audience (this is particularly important for longer speeches and seminars). For example, if you want to explain to your audience how long you will be speaking for, whether or not they can ask questions during the speech... even where the bathroom is... whatever they need to know... the middle of the opening (after your Opening Hook and before the Big Promise) is the place to do it.

So... what are the secrets that make a great Opening Hook?

In part 2 of this blog we are going to watch the openings of a small selection of real-life speeches, and we are going to use them to discover the answer to that very question. Yes, we are going to find out the most powerful first things you you can possibly say or do to grab a hold of your audience’s minds and hearts, to set the stage for a memorable experience.

Stay tuned!

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an electronic presenter’s toolkit? Especially one that was mostly free of charge?

There are many useful, frequently free and occasionally innovative tools that every speaker can (and should) have in their pocket. Let’s categorise them and explain their uses. Note that some will be blindingly obvious but I think you will agree all are worth noting for the record…

Internet Resources for Brainstorming, Inspiration and Scripting:

Google – I told you some of the tools would be obvious, but really… Google is the speaker’s best friend. You name it, it’s online somewhere - newspapers, articles, white papers, videos, pictures, jokes and the perfect quote to end your speech with. Just make sure you never violate copyright by stealing images and videos without permission. And always quote your sources.

For videos of speeches, interviews, documentaries and so on, the best trio are:

• www.youtube.com
• www.vimeo.com
• www.ted.com

For writing and visual aid support, go to:

• www.dictionary.com – great for checking spellings on visual aids.
• www.thesaurus.com – if you want to avoid repeating the same words over and over.
• www.pixabay.com – the best free resource for royalty free images.
• www.wikipedia.org – great for digging up facts and figures, just make sure to verify anything you use elsewhere online, as Wikipedia’s information is populated by anyone and everyone.
• www.brainyquote.com – great for quotes.

Phone and Tablet Apps:

All the above mentioned websites have their own apps but here’s a few more for you:

Evernote (IOS, Android, Windows) – great for jotting down ideas.

Simplenote (IOS, Android) – another great one for jotting down ideas.

Way2Quotes (Android) – the best quote finder out there.

Famous Quotes (IOS) – one of the best iphone quote finder apps.

Dictomate (Android) – a seriously good voice recorder with bookmarking capabilities so you can record scripts, mark paragraphs or sentences, and review your scripts piece by piece for content and vocal techniques.

Dictaphone (IOS) – it has all the features of Dictomate, but for iphones.

Dropbox (IOS, Android, Windows) – in case you lose the printout of your script or your laptop won’t power on. Store all your scripts on Dropbox and use your smartphone to view documents.

Docs to Go (IOS, Android) – Free document viewer that allows you to view Word and PDF docs. Along with Dropbox this app means no more printouts of scripts.

ProPrompter (IOS) – cue card simulator and script prompter for €10.

Speeches (IOS) – a cheaper cue card simulator.

Cue Card Plus (IOS) – a free cue card simulator.

Pocket Cards (Android) – a free cue card simulator.

Simple Teleprompter (Android) – a free cue card and prompter system.

Office Remote (IOS, Android, Windows) – Allows you to remotely control your PowerPoint presentations.

Timely (IOS, Android) – A great stopwatch for timing speeches

Smartphones also make great video recording devices, so make sure you use them to record practice sessions. Yes, the smartphone might just be the speaker’s second best friend after Google.

Visual Aid Software Applications and Services:

• Microsoft PowerPoint (Windows)
• Keynote (Apple Mac) or Keynote (Apple IOS)
• Prezzi

Prezzi offers a free option, but for the rest, you have to fork out. If you are a student, make sure you avail of discount pricing. Microsoft also offer cloud based subscription services such as Office 365.

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

Before you begin developing any presentation there are 2 extremely important questions you must answer in order to ensure success. They are straightforward. They take seconds. But let me tell you… they will turn a muddled, confusing and utterly forgettable presentation and a focused, engaging and memorable experience.

Welcome to Speech Writing 101. Keep reading…

First, it is essential that you choose a purpose for your speech, because that defines what your audience will get out of sitting through it. Most speakers are content to choose a topic and build a speech around that topic. You might be content but your audience won’t be. It’s important to note that choosing a topic is not the same as choosing a clear purpose with that topic.

The purpose should be one or two sentences long (preferably one) and it should be written from the audience’s point of view. For example, "You will understand how to set up your own business in 6 easy steps."

However, that is just one of the questions you must answer. The second is equally important, because it will help you to structure your speech, as well as making sure that your purpose shines through. It can even help you to define your purpose. Are you ready?

You must choose what’s known as your Major Motive. Here is the most important point I will make in this article… You get to choose 1 Major Motive per speech! Yes, just 1. Don’t worry, I’ll explain why soon. There are 7 Major Motives to choose from. Here they are:

·       Informative
·       Entertaining
·       Inspirational
·       Persuasive
·       Honouring
·       Facilitating
·       The Seminar

I will explain each…

Informative speeches are presentations where you inform, teach, and/or demonstrate something. If you ever attended school you will be familiar with this mode of speaking. There is no message for the audience other than the knowledge. An example of an informative speech might be “How to navigate a Microsoft Windows-based laptop in 5 easy steps.”

Entertaining speeches do the same job as entertaining television – they provide escapism! They don’t have to be funny – they can be dramatic. They may even involve an element of performance or recital. There could be a running theme or moral (within a story, for example), or there may be nothing to bind the speech together other than moment-to-moment entertainment (e.g. most stand-up comedy routines).

Inspirational speeches are designed to inspire your audience towards a noble, spiritual or universal ideal. These speeches have a high-minded message and tend to be highly emotive. The message can also be plugged into many (if not all) areas of life. An example may involve a personal story about overcoming alcoholism, with the message “everyone can change”.

Persuasive presentations are designed to sell a specific message, idea, process, concept, product or service. The motivation here is to influence your audience into a specific call to action. One of the major differences between this and an inspirational speech is that there is a specific “how to” in a persuasive speech. It’s amazing how many sellers forget to give their audience’s the “how to” after they have successful convinced them of a concept.

Honouring speeches honour an occasion, event, organisation, individual, couple or group in some way. The primary emotions are celebration and gratitude. Typical examples include wedding speeches, funeral eulogies, toasts, roasts and business-related end-of-year glass-raisers.

Facilitating is a more applied type of public speaking where you take on the role of a host, interviewer or other type of “linker” for presentations or special occasions. Typical real-life examples include radio interviews, television announcements, narrations or commentaries. There is much more of an off-the-cuff or conversational style of speaking in these situations.

I will explain the Seminar later.

At this point I’m sure you are asking, “What if I want to persuade AND inform? … AND inspire, for that matter?”

Excellent questions. Can’t you have two or more Major Motives? After all, who wouldn’t want to inspire their audience regardless of whatever else they want to achieve.

The answer is that you can indeed combine two or more motives… You can have an informative presentation that persuades, or an entertaining speech that inspires, or indeed any combination you like. But there is one important caveat…

There must be one primary choice! One boss! One Major (hence the name) Motive that other motives may support but no more.

Why only one? Am I not restricting you? In this case I can assure you that restriction equals focus… restriction equals clarity… restriction equals success.

Let me ask you a question… have you ever sat through a speech where the topic was clear, the speaker’s body language was polished, the vocals were excellent... but you weren’t sure if they were trying to teach you something, sell you something else, motivate you generally in some way, or just try to make you laugh? If you’ve ever experienced this kind of “schizophrenic” presentation… if you were left scratching your head as to why you were made to sit through the speech in the first place… the answer is usually because the Major Motive wasn't clearly chosen. The result was a mash-up of elements of two, three or four speeches cobbled together under the guise of a single speech.

The fact is that if you do try to fulfill more than one Major Motive per speech, you’ll end up presenting none of them in a truly stand-out way. They end up competing with each other. That’s the danger, and that’s why this is such an important question to get right before you write. The rule is, you are allowed one Major Motive per speech, possibly with others as cameos, helpers or influences. Otherwise you will reduce your impact. It’s as simple and essential as that.

To put this point another way, never try to deliver more than one speech per speech!

Or…

Hold a Seminar!

The Seminar a linear sequence of presentations (each with different Major Motives if you like). The seminar may involve a group of speakers, or a single presenter, but they typically last longer than 30-45 minutes because you cannot realistically fulfill two or more Major Motives in a shorter time.

If you do hold a seminar, I would encourage you to give the audience a short break in between Major Motives – it helps to transition between modes of thought. The break only needs to be 1-2 minutes, during which you could offer a group activity – for example, directing the audience members to say hello to the person next to them, or to engage in an exercise by brainstorming the answer to a question posed by you.

I understand this article was lengthy, and there were no stories to bind it together - not today. The Major Motive can be a subtle concept, or a blindingly obvious one, but trust me - clarity of purpose is essential for every speech and you cannot ensure this without putting one Motive in charge. The Major Motive is a major stepping stone on the route to successful speech-building:

· It helps you to distil the one major message and/or purpose behind your speech.
· It directly affects the elements that make up your speech (your structure).
· It helps your audience to understand the all-encompassing one thing you want your audience to think, do or feel after they listened to you.

Trust me, if you want to sell something to your audience it’s a good idea if they get the clear impression that you are selling something. If you want to teach, you should signal that you are in teaching mode. I will show you how signal your Motives (and purposes) in future blogs. I will take you through each Major Motive so you understand what makes them a success. Stay tuned for some insights and tips.

For now, just know this: Keep it simple!

One speech, one Major Motive, one purpose!

To quote author Ann Voskamp - “Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus.”

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon