The TED commandments of public speaking – this says it all!

By: Ellen Egan

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You all know that I love TED.com.  According to the web site:

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual TED conferences, in Long Beach/Palm Springs and Oxford, bring together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

On TED.com, we make the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free.

I am truly addicted to this site as it allows me to hear the ideas of some of my heroes and soon-to-be heroes.

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to find The TED Commandments of Public Speaking.

The TED commandments of public speaking:

1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick. Don’t just rehash an old speech or someone else’s old speech.   If the ideas you are presenting are old and tired, then why will anyone bother to listen.  Put a new spin on things – look at the problem from a new perspective or come up with an innovative  solution.
2. Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before. Take the time to come up with something new and interesting and specifically new and interesting for your audience.
3. Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion. Take a risk and show that you care.  Reveal a bit of yourself to your audience and they will get caught up in your enthusiasm.
4. Thou Shalt Tell a Story. Stories have always been a powerful way to present ideas to audiences.  They make connections between people and ideas.
5. Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.  Don’t be afraid of controversy, it sparks interest and reminds people that there are different perspectives on an issue.
6. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt Thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success. This speaks for itself.  You are not up on stage to speak only of yourself and your triumphs.  Audiences relate to humanity and humility in presentations.
7. Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness. This is a special commandment for TED talks.  many of our public speaking presentations will relate to promoting our businesses, products, writings, etc…
8. Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good. Laughter is the best medicine for your stress, your audience’s stress and is welcome in any public speaking environment (even if the topic is very sobering).
9. Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech. Amen.  Show your audience the respect to look at them and not just at your notes.  The only thing worse than reading your speech is handing out copies of your PowerPoint presentation and then reading the presentation to the audience, word-by-word.
10. Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee. Keep to the time that you have been given.  If you “spill over” into the next person’s presentation, you are “stealing” their time.

If these commandments can be followed by “the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers”, when they have been challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes), then certainly we can keep them in mind as well when we are delivering a presentation.

To your success,

Ellen

5 ways to end your public speaking presentation with pizazz

By:  Ellen Egan

There has been a lot of research into human memory skills and the principles of learning.  One of the clear findings is that, when give a list of things to remember, people will have greater success at remember the first things in the list and the last.  The principle of primacy states that the things that people learn or hear first tend to create a stronger impression in the mind and are easier to remember.  The principle of recency is based on the fact that things learned most recently are more easily recalled.

These principles of primacy (what you say first) and recency (what you say last) are they foundation for why it is so important to have a strong opening and closing to your presentation when speaking in public.

There are 5 ways that you can ensure that you close your presentation effectively and leave a strong impression in your audience’s memory.

1.  Personalize it.  Make your key messages personal for your audience.  Re-frame your main point from their perspective so that  affect on them is very clear.  Tell a story if you like

2.  Add something unexpected. Everyone expects a wrap-up at the end of a business presentation.  If you want to be effective in communicating your message, add something unexpected at the end.  Perhaps you have a shocking statistic that demonstrates your point.  Or maybe you have a surprising story that you can tell which clarifies your message.

3.  Introduce something new.  What?  Put something new at the end?  Yes.  At the end of your speech, introduce some new idea or new concept which is a likely conclusion to your ideas or which is a natural next step.  This not only perks up the audience with a new idea it also segues well into another presentation.  Its kind of like the movie that sets up the sequel at the end.

4.  Challenge them.  Challenge the audience to meet the expectations that you have set up in your presentation.  Call on them to meet their goals.  Use a challenge to inspire your audience as a call to action.

5.  Liven things up with a little humour.  Wrap up your presentation on a lighter note by including a humourous story or anecdote.  Of course, it should be appropriate and related to your topic.  But, if you feel comfortable telling a joke, then go ahead.  Leaving the audience smiling or laughing is a great note to finish on.

Whatever way you choose to close your presentation, be sure to finish by leaving a strong impression of you and your key messages in your audience’s mind.

To your success,

Ellen

How to be sure that your audience remembers your message when speaking in public

by:  Ellen Egan

Brenda Starr

One of your main goals as a public speaker is to ensure that your audience remembers your key messages.  If you audience doesn’t remember what you came to say in your presentation, then there is little point in getting up on the stage at all.  So, how do we go about ensuring that the audience remembers what we want them to remember.

Define your key messages. First of all, as you are preparing your presentation, take the time to clearly define your key messages.  What are the 3-5 ideas that you want them to walk away with?  By the way, if you can’t put this into 3-5 clear, concise sentences, then you need to focus all of your attention on this part of your presentation.

Look at it from your audience’s point of view.  Look at your key messages and think about them from your audience’s point of view.  Why are these things meaningful for them?  Does it solve a problem for them, or perhaps make their lives easier?  If you can present your messages from their viewpoint, they are more likely to 1.  pay attention, 2.  remember what you have said and 3.  take whatever action you recommend.

First things first. Studies have shown that when given a list of things to remember, people are most successful at remembering the first and last items in the list.  This is called primacy and recency.  This means that people remember the first and last messages from your presentation and the stuff in the middle is a bit of a blur.  So, what you should do is be sure to put the most important messages at the beginning and the end.  Another option is to be sure to recap at the end and include all of your key messages.

Keep it short. If people are more likely to remember what you say at the beginning and the end, then this is a great argument for keeping your presentation nice and short.  Then there is less stuff in the middle for them to forget.   I have heard some great advice to keep all presentation to no more than 20 minutes.  I think this is fabulous advice.  If your presentation is focused, interesting, lively,  framed from the audience’s needs and short, then you will be delivering successful presentations (and enjoying public speaking at the same time).

To your success,

Ellen

Should you use hypnosis to get rid of your public speaking fear?

By Ellen Egan

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When people speak with me about their public speaking fear, we will discuss the many techniques for ridding themselves of the nervousness they feel before stepping up on stage. For people whose nervousness feels so profound that they can’t even get near the stage, the question of hypnosis often comes up as a potential “magic pill” cure for their public speaking fear.

At the same time that people will broach this topic with me to see if I support it, they may have an image of the stereotypical stage hypnotist who makes people do silly things on stage while they are hypnotized. This stereotype of hypnosis is not the type of hypnosis that will help rid you of your fear of public speaking.

Public speaking and presentations are really all about effective communication. The real goal we all have is to improve our speaking skills to the point where we are able to easily and effectively get our message across to an audience. If you have a fear of public speaking, this is a real hurdle to your being able to stand up in front of people and get your message across. Your nervousness causes other reactions like shaking hands, inability to find the right words, perspiration, mumbling, etc. which all get in the way of you feeling relaxed and your audience receiving your information. So, the real key is to find a way to diminish the nervousness or find a way to relax.

This is where hypnosis can fit in. You can consider hypnosis as a relaxation method. If your brain tends to go down the path of nervousness when you consider an upcoming presentation, hypnosis simply provides another path. Hypnosis is really just deep relaxation. When you are really relaxed it is easier for you brain to create new paths or new options for you to use in various situations. You can create the option to be comfortable and confident when you step in front of an audience instead of feeling scared.

Hypnosis is not a magic pill that you can take which will rid you of all of your problems. But, it is a tool you can use to increase the choices you have available to you when you are in a public speaking situation. You can choose to be calm, confident and relaxed.

There is no need to feel trapped by your fear of public speaking. With a short hypnosis session, you can learn to let go of the fear and move into confidence.

Click Here! for a hypnosis programme that really works.

To your success,
Ellen

Powerpoint presentations – what your audience wants to see

by: Ellen Egan

Geetesh Bajaj

Death by PowerPoint.  It’s a term we have all heard before, representing the excruciating feeling of being bored to death by a too-long presentation, delivered in monotone and at its foundations is a set of PowerPoint slides containing too much text, too many ideas and too much clip art.

PowerPoint was designed as a presentation software that would aid the presenter by providing an easy way to create slides and move away from the dreadful overhead transparencies.  However, people who lacked the skill to present and the desire to create an interesting presentation began to use PowerPoint as a crutch, a flashy way to distract from the fact that they didn’t know or care enough about their topic to make an effective presentation.

Let’s talk about how to use PowerPoint (or any presentation software) properly.  After all, presentation greats like Steve Jobs  use presentation software.  They just do it well.

people want to see presentations that are:

Short:  No matter what type of presentation tool you are using or what topic is at the center of your presentation, stick to the 10- 20-30 rule that Guy Kawasaki promotes.  Your presentation should be no longer than 10 slides.  Keep it short.  If you can’t get your ideas across in 10 slides, then you need to have someone else edit it down to 10 slides.  The “20″ part of the equation is that you should speak for 20 minutes at the most.  We all get distracted after 20 minutes.  This allows time after your presentation for Q & A.

Simple: Keep the ideas focused.  This is true for the overall theme of your presentation and for each slide.  Within the general theme of your presentation, you should have about 3 main points (no more than 5).  you should be able to get 3 main points across in 10 slides.  Keep the slides simple as well.  long gone are the days when audiences will put up with slides filled with text at a 10 point font.  Keep it to a few words per slide,  that express the ideas that you are presenting.

Understandable: Here is where the “30″ part of the equation comes in. Use a 30 point font. Then, even the person at the back of the room has a chance to read the words on your slide.

Appealing: Use words that capture people’s attention, trigger their emotions, mean something to them.  As I always say, keep your audience in mind.  Think of what would mean something to them and build your presentation from that standpoint.

If you follow these rules, your audience will thank you.  You will also find that you are much more effective at presentations  and you enjoy public speaking a lot more.

To your success,

Ellen

PS.  Here is one of the best books that I know of on creating great presentations Garr Reynolds Presentation Zen: