Public Speaking with a Purpose – Part 1

Public speaking and professional speaking are very different animals. My recommendations below will help you regardless of whether you are a public speaker or a professional speaker.

Audience Engagement

I donated a year of my time to serve on the editorial board of Speaker magazine, published by the National Association of Speakers. My job was to write a monthly column where I interview people who book professional speakers. One point these people often make is that they want a speaker that ENGAGES the meeting attendees.

I recently attended a meeting planner site familiarization tour in Breckenridge, Colorado. After the second day of skiing, instead of joining the “jacuzzi” group, I joined the “bar” group. The entertainers, Swing Crew, a local two piece, did an amazing job of ENGAGING their audience by bringing a few people on stage and signing a few up at their tables. For this group, tips were high after their series. And the important lesson was about engaging an audience through participation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen bar entertainers do such a masterful job of engaging their audience.

In a one hour talk, could you have two or three interactions with the audience? Not just asking everyone to raise their hand or repeat after you, but actual interactions. Give it a try.

Crushing Worry Barrier

For your presentation to be effective, you must first capture the attention of your audience. Those people sitting in the seats in front of you are thinking about their jobs, their friends and loved ones, and all the problems around them. They’re worried, and it’s their job to break that barrier. It goes without saying that it is better to do this at the beginning. Start with your introduction; make him short and he needs to sell you. It is best for your presentation to give your audience one or two reasons why they should listen to what you have to say.

Then your opening should be based on your introduction. Your openness is more than just what you say; it’s also what you do. Review your non-verbal statements. What you wear, how you look, how you stand, the way you approach the platform after your presentation, all speak clearly of you. What do these non-verbal statements say about you?

As you wait to present, take the room temperature and determine if your meeting planner gave you the correct information about your hearing. This “last chance” to adapt is crucial. I know, who wants to change at the last minute? Any quality presenter, professional or not, is willing to make last-minute adjustments to better serve the audience.

The first words out of your mouth are being judged by your audience, it’s just human nature. Don’t fight him, go with him. Lean on your strength at first. He tries to really “sell yourself” to your audience in the first few minutes of a presentation. Your effort will make the experience better for everyone in the room, including you.

Using Mental Imagery

One of the stories I frequently tell from the platform is about the importance of having the necessary skills before trying to implement. It is a story of when I learned to ski. My goal is to create an image in the minds of my audience members before I start using my body as a visual element. I start the story with “I wish you had been there; it was a sunny fall day in Yosemite National Park at Badger Pass Ski Area…” This conjures up something in everyone’s mind. Make your presentations more powerful by frequently painting mental images for those in your audience.

Deep Personal Inner Exploration

Consider a deep personal inner exploration of your core message, wisdom, and universal truths in preparation for your next presentation. My good friend, John Alston, CSP, CPAE, once told me to get rid of the “fat” around my universal truths. He told me that it is that “fat” that spreads the power of my message.

As we strive, I think, to develop content to share with others, too often we abandon what Mark Victor Hansen, CSP, told me is “Your inner knower.” Yes, we have to trust ourselves. When presenting our ideas to others, there is a monumental need to access our inner core beliefs. This is necessary in order to gather your passion to effectively influence others. By contrast, think of the monotonous speaker who reads through his PowerPoint bullet points, one at a time, at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Compare in your mind the vision of the slow, monotonous speaker with that of a strong, committed, and powerful speaker, like John Alston. In order to influence others, he must delve into his soul to determine his true beliefs on any subject in order to share the subtleties of the subject through his window on the world.

Before each speech, consider taking the time to calm down the static in your head, explore your beliefs, and determine the central message (on any topic) you want to share with your audience.

Twitter on the back

If you’re presenting to an audience that includes at least a couple of people under 40 (maybe 50?), I can assure you there’s someone on Twitter. What is Twitter? Visit twitter.com to watch. Twitter is something like an instant blog website where people can post from their cell phones using the text messaging feature. Their friends who follow them receive a notice of the other person’s post. You may not realize it, but it’s quite possible that multiple people are commenting on your speech with each other, in real time, as you speak.

What should a presenter do? First acknowledge it. Say something at the beginning of your speech like, “For those of you tweeting in the back, say something nice about my speech.” This is being proactive. Let them know that you know. Also, if possible, leave the podium (definition of podium is; dais or stage, not lectern) and walk to the back of the room, it may keep them off guard and they may tweet less. Of course, this assumes that you have a wireless lavalier microphone.

For years, presenters have been successfully dealing with RUDE people who leave their cell phones on “ring” instead of “vibrate” in the belief that they (the offender) are more important than the entire audience, that it’s okay. bother the others. trying to get some important information. Today, the presenters are also successfully enduring the second generation of “disturbance through technology”.

How powerful is your closure?

Your audience members will likely remember your opening if it’s powerful and the same for your closing. Ross Shafer shared his formula at the National Speakers Association annual convention: Open with “B” material, do your “C” material, then close with your “A” material. Not a bad formula, do you agree?

And what about that closure? Consider the following:

1. Stop talking long before your audience is done listening.
2. Go out with a big bang; story, video or disappearing act.
3. Provide your audience with an action to take immediately or upon returning to their home or office.
4. Give attendees something insightful, emotionally pervasive, or inspiring to remember.

Be heard and make a difference to your audience.