Know Your Speech

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Posted on 26th April 2011 by Kristin Arnold in Engaging Mindset |Facilitation |Group Interaction |Uncategorized

A CEO recently gave a presentation to a group of CFOs about the critical skills every CFO needs to have.  The information was impressive: data collected from over 75 CEOs about what’s important to the audience’s success.  The CEO prefaced his comments by saying, “I want this to be a conversation….”

In his head, he was thinking “conversation.”  In his heart, he was thinking, “I don’t want to loose control.”  He then proceeded to share slide after slide without creating any space for interaction.  He could have asked an intriguing question and then suffered the silence until he received a reply.  He could have animated the slide to show the question first and let the group speculate on the answers.  He could have taken a poll of the group and compared the CFO answers to the CEO answers.

He could have… but didn’t.  The result?  It was boring.  Great information but duller than dirt.  For this CEO, he didn’t want to loose control.  And it’s not like he’s a control freak either.  He just didn’t think through how he was going to talk about his topic.  Sure, he had interesting slides, but you need more than interesting slides to engage and involve the audience.

You need to know your speech with and without your slides. This seems pretty obvious, but I continue to be amazed at how many people just “wing it.”

Yes, you should have an outline with your key points, memorable phrases and stories, key actions to make the speech amazing in the eyes of the audience, and a call to action at the end.

Yes, you should practice your speech until you are sufficiently comfortable with the opening, the closing, the stories, and the actions you will take to involve the audience.

No.  I am NOT talking about rote memorization.  Although there is a time and place for you to memorize your speech, most presentations in the workplace do not need to be memorized.

However, in order to pull this off, you need to prepare.  Be as much of an expert in the topic as you can possibly be.  Immerse yourself in the content.   Be relevant (see #2).  Think through how you are going to encourage participation.  Be fluent so you can bend like a willow when the audience does interact with you or when the unexpected happens, which it will according to my good friend Murphy.

Is It a Slide, Presentation Handout or “Slideument”?

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Posted on 20th April 2011 by Kristin Arnold in PowerPoint |presentation skills |Uncategorized

Many presenters cram their slides with detailed information – not so much for the presentation, but for the “what if” factor. “What if” the audience wants more information?  “What if” a detailed question comes up?  “What if” they need to access that information later?

For some bizarre reason, this detailed information worms its way into your slide presentation, becoming a “slideument” – a combination of slides with supporting documentation.  (Note: Big thanks to Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen fame for coining this new word).

While it is easy enough to print the “handout” option on PowerPoint, I don’t recommend you print the slides out verbatim as your handout or takeaway.  Keep the two objectives distinctly separate:

-Your handout or takeaway should contain all the detailed information enquiring minds want to know.

-Your slideshow, on the other hand, is the visual representation for your presentation.

They can come from the same file, but you will “hide” different pages depending on whether you are printing your handout or displaying your presentation.

Use PowerPoint with a Purpose during your Presentations

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Posted on 12th April 2011 by Kristin Arnold in Engaging Mindset |Facilitation |Group Interaction |presentation skills |Uncategorized |Visuals/Props

PowerPoint slides are an effective tool to complement your speech.  Your slides should visually punctuate one of your points, tell a story, or create a mental link for the participant to grasp a concept.  If it doesn’t serve your audience, here’s a simple idea: Blank the screen either by inserting a black slide or hitting the button on your remote. All eyes should be on you (see #4), not on a slide that is no longer pertinent.

Never turn your back on the audience to speak to your slides; it breaks the fragile connection you have with the audience.  Your slideshow is not a crutch for you to remember which point you are on either.  If you must, look to see what the next slide is, then turn to the audience and talk about the slide.  Don’t summarize the slide (boring!); don’t read us the slide (even more boring!).  Talk about what the slide means to the audience.  You’ll have a conversation going in no time!

The One Thing Every New Presenter Should Do

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Posted on 5th April 2011 by Kristin Arnold in presentation skills |Speaking Trends

The "Gold Group" - Michael Staver, Steve Siebold, Clint Swindall, Jeff Thredgold, Connie Dieken, Joe Calhoon, Leann Thieman, Brian Tracy, Gayle Carson, Barbara Tracy, Kevin O'Connor, Frank Keck, Barry Banther, Michael Bayer and Kristin Arnold

I spent the weekend in Dallas at the National Speakers Association‘s CSP/CPAE Summit. Over 60 Certified Speaking Professionals gathered together to learn about trends in the business, share best practices and get advice from each other.  What a whirlwind of a weekend!

I was part of the “Gold Group” of 13 amazing speakers who shared selflessly throughout the weekend.  Each of us had about 15 minutes where we could draw upon the wisdom of the group, and my friend, Brian Tracy, CPAE asked an interesting question: “What is the one piece of advice you would give a public speaker, be it a corporate or budding professional speaker?”  Thought you might be interested in the responses:

  • Give the audience something of substance to chew on immediately.
  • Begin with a strong opening that gets their attention.
  • Use your GPS.  Know where you are going with the speech and start there.
  • Read yourself silly.
  • The best programs are a dialogue using the Socratic Method.  Never tell them what you can ask.
  • Make your host look good.  Be clear about their expectations.
  • Finish on time.
  • Start with why and deliver material as an analyst and not linear.  Play by play.  More than what it is.
  • Contrast what is and what could be.
  • Entertainment fo rthe masses and data for the economic buyer.  It’s two speeches at one time.
  • Anchor your point with a story.
  • Use a pre-program questionnaire
  • Talk to three people prior to the event: 1) The insightful insider, 2) the outspoken cynic, and 3) Top producer.
  • Never make a point without telling a story on the wings of humor (Cavett Robert)
  • Tell relevant, current stories balanced with your stories.
  • Take a survey based on pre-session calls.  Integrate their data into the speech.
  • Ask shocking questions to grab them.
  • Work on your credibility between speeches
  • Have an audience plant – friends in the audience who give you confidence to stay and get back on track.
  • Invite a colleague to view you in the back.  Invite them to give real feedback.
  • Be authentic and natural.  Pretend it’s your living room.  Just tell us a story, compared to “giving” a presentation.

What is your one piece of advice?