The power of kaizen in your public speaking

By Ellen Egan

Kaizen: continuous improvement

Those of you who have read my blog for a while will know that follow Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery.  He just came out with a new book Presentation Design While I am not a designer, I have a great respect for proper design.  For me good design leads to functionality, comfort and  attractiveness in the things we are creating, whether they are pieces of furniture, web pages or presentations. 

Garr Reynolds introduced in Presentation Zen what seemed to me to be a lot of good sense into the discussion about presentation design and delivery.  Garr is a follower of  Japanese principles as they relate to design, especially those founded in simplicity. I agree wholeheartedly that simplicity tends to support clarity.  And clarity is helpful for both presenter and audience. 

Another important term I have learned is kiazen, which is loosely translated to mean continuous improvement.    I think that we all fatasize that we will have a matrix-like experience where we can simply download skills into our brains like computer programs.  In actuality, I think an instantaneous transformation like this would be painful and rather scary.  I now appreciate learning things a step at a time and enjoying the process of skill building.  Yes, I think the building part is important.  Continuous improvement means that we are getting better every day.  That sounds much more appealing to my nature.

That philosophy is what this blog is all about – continuous improvement.  If you keep learning, trying and practicing you will get better every day.

To your success,

Ellen

PS.  If you are interested in finding out more about Garr Reynolds, check out Presentation Design or his blog at www.presentationzen.com

A question about eye-contact during public speaking

by Ellen Egan

Someone recently asked me a question about maintaining eye-contact during public speaking.  This person was overcoming a fear of public speaking and also comes from a culture where it is rude to look into another person’s eyes when speaking with them.    He wondered how important it is to maintain good eye-contact with your audience when delivering a presentation.  It is very important.  The main question is, how can we develop this skill.

When delivering a speech, you will find that you are much more effective when you have developed the skill of maintaining the appearance of having eye-contact with your audience.  This establishes a connection with your audience that helps to keep their attention, can bring about interaction and involvement with your presentation.  Notice that I said “maintaining the appearance of having eye-contact”.  If, at first, you are not yet able to actually maintain eye-contact, you can establish the appearance of having eye-contact.  There are a couple of ways to do this.

1.  Talk to their foreheads.  Yes, I’m serious.  If you are uncomfortable looking people in the eye when you are delivering your speech, then try delivering your speech to their foreheads.  It can be much less threatening than looking people in the eye.  When you first arrive, notice each person’s forehead.  Then, as you start speaking, just look around the room at all the foreheads.  No one in the audience will know the difference.

2.  Find a couple of friendly faces in the audience and deliver your speech to them.  As long as you keep moving your attention around the room, even if it’s to the same set of people, most of the audience will feel that you are delivering the speech to the whole audience.

3.  Use props.  Can you use a flipchart to elaborate some points in your presentation?  Or a PowerPoint presentation?  or perhaps you have some examples of something that you are trying to describe that you can hold up for the audience during your presentation.  When using props, your can focus some attention on your prop and then look out at different parts of the audience at various intervals.  This can give the appearance that you are maintaining contact with your audience.

Once you have developed the skill of giving the appearance of having good eye-contact with your audience, you can practice actually establishing eye-contact until you have developed the skill of maintaining eye-contact with your audience.  Skills like this don’t happen overnight, they are developed over time with practice.

If you would like to learn even more about effectively getting your message across Click Here

To your success,

Ellen

Isn’t it funny when…

by Ellen Egan

People often ask me what I think of using jokes during a presentation.  Well, I think it depends on if the joke is funny.  A good joke can be great.  But a bad joke can be terrible. 

It is not mandatory to start your speech with a joke or to have jokes within your speech.  Humorous stories and jokes can help to entertain and make a point during your presentation, if they are appropriate.  I know many public speakers who avoid telling jokes in their presentations.  Being funny comes naturally to some people and it’s more difficult for others.  So, my advice would be to use humor if it feels right for you (and it’s appropriate for the presentation) and don’t use it if it feels too uncomfortable.

However, if you are somewhere in the middle fo the spectrum, you can learn to use humor in your presentations.  Here are a few tips.

1. Be sure that the humor is relevant to the subject matter

2.  Be sure that the joke is not inappropriate or offensive.

3.   Tell a story that the audience can relate to.  Making fun of the establishment is usually an easy target.

4.  Practice your joke or story before your presentation.

5.  Find a model.  Watch other people present and notice how they use humor in their speeches.  Use them as a model.  If you don’t have access to many presentations, go on-line.  I recommend www.ted.com and click on funny in the menu at the left (but, beware as this website can be habit-forming).

Mainly the message is to get out of your comfort zone and take the risk of being funny or not being funny.  With a bit of practice it will feel more and more comfortable.  As you are reading this blog and trying to improve your public speaking skills, you are already getting out of your comfort zone and I applaud you for that.

If you would like to learn even more about effectively getting your message across Click Here

or check out some books on incorporating humour in your presentations like Using Stories and Humor: Grab Your Audience and many others.

To your success,

Ellen

Should you end your speech with Q & A?

By Ellen Egan

Oftentimes, when I am asked to speak, the organizer will say something like ” you will have an hour for your talk and then we will end with Q & A” My answer to that is always the same. I would like to change that a bit, so that I can have a few minutes for “wrapping up after the Q & A session.

I find that finishing a presentation with Q & A is a very awkward way to finalize what had been a strong presentation. Picture this: you have delivered a stunning presentation and answered a set of thought-provoking questions. Then, there is silence and the moderator asks if anyone has anymore questions and again there is silence.  The moderator then says something rather weak like “well, thank you all for coming”  and everyone begins to trudge out of the room.  Yuck, not a strong end to a presentation at all.

On the other hand, if you take control of the conclusion of your presentation, you can decide what sort of impression your audience takes with them.  After the final question:

1.  Thank the audience for attending and for their thought-provoking questions.  Thank the moderator.

2.  Summarize the main points of your presentation, bringing in some information from the Q & A session.

3.  Finish with a strong concluding statement, highlighting the major message of your speech. Note:  I will post some examples of strong conclusions in the coming days. Watch this space!

4.  Thank your audience again and say goodbye.

5.  Enjoy the applause.

That’s a much better finish for your presentation and your audience will feel it too.

If you would like to learn more about effectively getting your message across Click Here

To your success.

Ellen

Do you fear public speaking?

By Ellen Egan

Do you fear public speaking?  We have all probably heard that public speaking is the greatest fear that people have.  it’s even greater than the fear of death.  Within this blog, I’ve give a lot of different tips and techniques about improving your public speaking .  But, this time lets talk about overcoming your fear. 

I can remember a time when I would be shaking in my shoes at the thought of standing up in front of a gorup of people and having to give a presentation.  I would avoid it at almost any cost.  But, sometimes, there was just no avoiding it and I’d have to get up there, with my hands and voice shaking, palms sweaty, talking a mile-a-minute and praying just to get through it.   

Sometimes it seems that people who are excellent public speakers were born that way.  However, even those with a natural talent have to learn the skills of public speaking.  These skills can be practiced and developed by everyone, and that means you, too. The key is practice,practice, practice.  To start, lets talk about overcoming the fear so that you can practice your new skills.

1.  Choose your topic.  It is always easier to talk about something that you are passionate about.  If you are going to practice giving a presentation, perhaps it is best to start with talking about something you are personally interested in but has a universal theme.  If you cannot choose the topic, try to personalize it with a story.  People love to hear stories.

2.  Prepare your speech.  Preparation is one of the keys to overcoming fear.  Make sure you research your topic and find the answers to questions your audience may have.  Get any materials or props that you need and have them ready for your presentation.

3.  Get to know the environment.  Find out as much as you can about the room where you will be delivering the speech.  How big is it?  how many people will be there?  Do you have a stage or a podium?  As as many questions as you can.  Knowing this information, you can be better prepared when you arrive to give the speech.

4.  Dress appropriately.  Be sure that the clothing you choose is comfortable and appropriate for the environment and the audience.  Feeling good about what you are wearing relieves tension and makes it easier to stand up in front of an audience.

5.  Arrive early.  When you arrive early you have a chance to acclimate to your surroundings. If there are any technical “hiccups” like a missing microphone or projector, there is time for solutions to be found.

6.  Let go of your tension.  Find a quiet place where you can sit for a few minutes and just breathe.  Release any tension in your shoulders, neck, face, jaw or other parts of your body where you tend to hold stress.  Clench your fists for 5 seconds and then release.  Do this at least 3 times.  Don’t forget to breathe.

7.  Smile.  Go out to face your audience with a smile.  Keep smiling through your presentation.  The act  of smiling is a stress-reliever.  When you smile at your audience, they tend to smile back at you, which will also relieve some tension.

These are some steps you can take to overcome your fear of public speaking.  The key to overcoming your fear, though, is practice.  One of the best ways you can keep practicing is to joing a Toastmasters club in your area.  You will be surrounded by people just like you who want to improve their public speaking skills.  Go to www.toastmasters.com

If you don’t have time to join a club and want to learn more about improving your public speaking skills,  Click Here  for an on-line course from the World Champion of Public Speaking.

To your success,

Ellen