dullhunk

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

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

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

abbasj812

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

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:

bpsusf

I was conducting some interviews recently and I was struck by how important public speaking skills are in the interview process. After all, public speaking is, at its heart, one person speaking to one or many. An interview may be one of the most important public speaking engagements that you have. The fundamentals of good public speaking are also at the centre of a good interview.

1. Preparation. Anyone who has conducted an interview will tell you that it is obvious who as prepared for the interview and who has not. We can easily guess who makes a better impression. Before the interview be sure to learn as much as you can about your potential employer. Google is a great tool for this. Find out about the company philosophy and mission. Find out as much as you can about the future direction of the company. Learn as much as you can about the department you will be working with and the particular job you are interviewing for.

2. Audience analysis. I have gone into detail about audience analysis in previous blogs (just look in the categories). Once again, you will want to find out as much as you can about who you will be interviewing with, what their interests are in this position and customize your interview preparation based on this.

3. Prepare your presentation (your stories). Take a good look at the job description and think of the skills and competencies that will be required and desireable for the job. Then, think of examples in your past where you have demonstrated these skills and capabilities. During the interview you can use thes examples/stories to give a clear picture to the interviewer that you have the experience to be successful at the job.

4. Voice control. Work on your voice before the interview to be sure that you are speaking clearly, loudly enough and confidently. You don’t want a shaky and weak voice during your interview.

5. Non-verbal messaging and body language. You will want to appear confident, interested, honest, caring, etc.  during your interview.  You can give all of these messages through body language by sitting up straight, sitting at the edge of your chair, having good eye contact with the interviewer(s) and smiling.  Of course, you will want to take care that your personal appearance is professional.

6.  Practice .  The key to successful public speaking and successful interviews is practice.  Practice “mock interviews” with friends or family so that you have a chance to answer questions, weave your stories into the conversaion and get confortable talking about yourself.   The more you practice, the more comfortable you will be when the interview takes place.

A good resource which can help both with interviewing and with being successful in your current job is:

How to Be the Person Successful Companies Fight to Keep by Connie Podesta

To your success,

Ellen

Steve Punter

Body language is an integral part of public speaking.  Research has found that people will develop their first impressions of you in 7 seconds.    During presentations, you may not even be speaking during these first few seconds.  So, a lot of the audience members’  first impression of you will depend on your body language.

Further research has indicated that as much as 93 % of communication between people is nonverbal. Body language includes how you stand and move, your facial expressions, where you are positioned in relation to other people and even what you are wearing.  All of these things can send messages to other people about you.  A classic example is how hair length can send a message about a person’s politics.

There has been extensive research into body language.  it would be worthwhile to study body language in order to better understand the powerful messages that you may be sending your audience. Realize that you are using your body to get your message across in public speaking and sometimes it sends a stronger message than your words.

A few things to keep in mind about body language and public speaking (especially the critical first impressions):

1.  Facial expression:  Smile, smile, smile.  As people enter the room be sure to smile at them.  They will then know that they are welcome and will assume that you are friendly, relaxed and confident.

2.  Eye contact:  We all know that it is critical to make eye contact with your audience during your presentation.  it shows that you are confident, helps people to perceive you as an expert and gives the audience the impression tha tyou are interested in them and honest.  it is also important before your presentation to make eye contact with your audience.  If you are staring at your nots, avoiding your audinece, out of the room, or speaking with only one participant you may be giving the wrong message.  This can be interpreted as signs of a lack of confidence, dishonesty or lack of caring.

3.  Positioning:  I would always recommend standing as this sends a message of confidence.  You will also want to consider coming out from behind the podium as the podium can put a barrier between you and your audience.

4.  Gestures:  When you a practicing your presentation, watch your gestures.  Pay attention to using gestures that are open and making a connection with your audience.  Try to avoid crossing your arms, both hands in your pockets, jingling keys and change in your pockets, etc.  As these send messages of impatience and closing yourself off from your audience.  Another big thing to remember is please, never check your watch during your presentation.  This sends a message to your audience that you want to be somewhere else and are impatient to get there.

5.  Attire:  I would rather not give a long list of what not to wear.  Here are some quick rules for your attire.  Be sure everything is clean and pressed (if appropriate).  Try to dress just a little more formally than your audience.  Also, think of comfort when you are choosing your attire.  It doesn’t help your confidence if you are uncomfortable.  Pay attention to your personal hygiene as this sends a message about your self respect.

As I mentioned earlier, you should consider learning more about body language as this will improve all of your communications, not just in public speaking situations.

I would highly recommend Kevin Hogan’s courses on Body Language.

Here are some books I can recommend from Allan Pease, Tonya Reiman and Mark Bowden:

It’s a fascinating subject, don’t be surprised when you get hooked.
To your success,
Ellen

Are you a mind reader? Do you know what people are actually thinking when they are talking with you? Have you ever been surprised after having a conversation with someone that the “pictures” in their mind about the topic were completely different from the words that you were hearing?

An important thing to remember when you are preparing your presentation is that your audience cannot read your mind. They may hear the words that you are speaking very clearly, but they may not get your message completely. If you want to help ensure that your audience gets your message, give them some images to link with your words.

Studies have shown that when we get information through several sensory avenues, we are more likely to retain the information. So, If someone describes the yearly sales figures for us AND shows us a graph of the figures, we are more likely to understand and retain the information. Now, if we take this a step further, and actually attach meaning to the words and images, we have a huge increase in the chance that our audience will retain the information. By attaching meaning, I mean that we appeal to the audiences interests, concerns, dreams, etc through our words and images. When images are attached to information, it can actually tap into our emotions.

There is an excellent video from a TED University talk by Tom Wujec about how the brain attached meaning to images. He actually shows you how the brain processes images and makes them meaningful by
1. Making ideas clear by visualixing them
2. Making them interactive
3. Making them persistent
TED University – Tom Wujec

It is clear that we will be much more successful in getting our message across if we use both words and images. And, if we then attach meaning to the words and images, our message will come across even more powerfully.

Public speaking is at its heart all about communication. We can be much more effective communicators if we include images along with our words.

How will you incorporate images into your next presentation?

To your success,
Ellen

I was just reading Tom Peters list of Forty-six “Secrets” and “Clever Strategies” For Dealing with the Recession of 2008 – xxxxx.  Tom always has some brilliance to share and I recommend his blog for anyone who is looking to develop their career.  I started reading Tom Peters back in the ’80’s with In Search of Excellence and have been reading his wisdom ever since.

In his list of Forty-six “Secrets” he begins with things that some do not want to hear like: “You come to work earlier; You leave work later; You work harder”.  Tom is a master at clearly stating what we all really know we need to do to succeed and be excellent.  But, he says it in such a way that we nod our heads and think “yes, he’s right”.

One of the items in his list is “You learn new tricks of your trade.”  For me, this is where public speaking comes in.  By improving your public speaking skills you become the person who can:

• Lead the meeting
• Train new or existing staff
• Move into sales
• Gain more clients
• Travel to meet and work with clients

As people within your company see you improving your public speaking skills they will see you expanding your expertise and skill set.  This can lead to new opportunities, promotions or simply being the person they don’t want to layoff.

If you are looking for work, join a Toastmasters club to improve your public speaking skills and use it as a networking opportunity at the same time.  Mentioning in an interview that you are actively working on your presentation skills will impress prospective employers that you are using your time to improve yourself.

Right now, take a piece of paper and list a few areas in your current work situation where you could apply public speaking to enhance your work situation.  Perhaps you could start with something as simple as “speak up more in staff meetings”.  Once you start looking for ways to apply public speaking in your career and you are actively focusing on improving your public speaking skills, new areas will open up all over the place.

Click here to see a complete package to improve your communication skills.

Check out Tom’s list of 46 Secrets and other “free stuff” here

To find some of Tom Peters recent books:

To your success,
Ellen

DoubleM2

We have all seen the books and courses on public speaking that tell you of the “Top ten tricks for public speaking brilliance”. When we open up the book or the course, it is filled with advice on removing the “umms” and “ahhs” from your speech. Or, we are told to practice voice techniques and eye contact. While all of this is good advice to polish your public speaking, it does little to deal with the core issues of public speaking fear or the person who wants to seriously develop their public speaking skills.

Training in public speaking is not just a matter of externals like voice, body language and eye contact. It’s not about conforming to standards or imitating the skills of someone you admire. Public speaking is about you speaking in public. I know, that’s pretty obvious but many people miss this critical point. The first thing we must understand is that we have to have something of value to share, to speak about in public. If there is nothing of value to share, then no tricks or training will make the talker anything more than a person taking up space and time.

So, the starting point is here.

1. What do you have of value to share with your audience? Do you have an idea, a product, a service, some information, etc. that will improve their lives and/or solve a problem?

Take a pen right now and write down at least five things of value that you have to share with an audience. You will probably find that have more than five when you begin listing all your experiences, ideas, information, etc.

2. How do you know it is of value to your audience? Take the time to find out as much as you can about your audience so that you can tailor your message so that it is clear to them that it is of value.

Take a pen right now and write as much as you can about your audience. Who are they? What do they already know about your topic wnd what do they want to know? Why are they going to listen to you?

Once you clearly have something of value to say and you know enough about your audience to see how it is of value to them, then you can begin crafting the presentation. At this point we can bring in the important aspects of writing a powerful speech, practicing techniques to deliver a strong presentation and using tricks to capture and hold attention.

Make a great cake (that you know your audience will like) and then add the frosting.