When I was in high school, I had this one teacher, Mr. Adams, who was constantly fiddling with the change in his pocket. It was distracting to say the least.
Then in university there was Professor Evans, who when lecturing had a habit of pacing from one side of the lecture hall to the other four times in a row, stopping to take a rest by leaning against his desk for a couple of minutes, then getting up, clapping his hands together and starting the process all over again. His lecture laps, as my classmates and I liked to call them, were almost hypnotizing, and as a result I often found myself dozing off in class – though the intermittent handclaps were rather effective in jolting me awake again. (In fact, I wonder now if that was their intended purpose!)
Then there’s my co-worker Jane, who during work presentations incessantly twirls her pen in her fingers – dropping it regularly – so that you find yourself paying more attention to her pen and whether she’s going to drop it than what she’s actually saying.
This last one reminds me of this clip from the TV show “The Office,” where the staff are listening to a presentation by their boss, Michael Scott, but are distracted by the DVD screen in the background.
Funny, isn’t it? And true: Audiences are easily distracted.
We all have our own little quirks and mannerisms, and it’s important to know what they are so we can work on toning them down – if not eliminating them completely. (Confession: I myself have a pen problem. Put one in my hands and I’m either mindlessly clicking the nib in and out or pushing the cap around in circles with my thumb.)
One of the best ways to discover if you have any distracting mannerisms is to watch yourself on tape. Videotape your next presentation and then watch it afterward looking for anything you might be doing that could serve as a distraction. Do you make the same hand gestures over and over? Are you constantly adjusting your glasses or tucking your hair behind your ears? Do you clear your throat too frequently? Are you pacing back and forth?
Learn your mannerisms today and you’ll deliver a more effective presentation tomorrow. I promise. Now if someone could just tell Professor Evans….
P.S. In Inspiring Speakers news, we’ve added a new section to our Speaker Resource Centre this week. We now offer a series of teleseminar resources for building your speaking business. Visit the Speaker Resource Centre today to check them out.
There’s this quotation about speech-making by Dale Carnegie that I just love.
“There are always three speeches for every one you actually gave. The one you practised, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.”
It’s so true! No matter how many times you practise a presentation, when you’re up there on stage it just comes out differently somehow. Whether it’s because you’re nervous or because you experience technical difficulties or because you get an unexpected reaction from the audience, like laughter after an anecdote you didn’t realize was funny – your speech just never goes exactly as planned, does it?
So who was this wise man Dale Carnegie, anyway? Well, he was the author of the oh-so-famous book How to Win Friends and Influence People, one of the best-selling self-help books of all time. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? It’s such an important book that even though it was first published in 1936 – over 70 years ago! – people are still buying it, reading it and talking about it today.
In fact, Carnegie was one of the very first public speaking professionals. He began teaching workshops on public speaking at a New York City YMCA in 1912 and by 1916 he was speaking in front of sold-out crowds at Carnegie Hall. Inspiring, or what? He went on to create Dale Carnegie Training, which still operates today offering courses based on Carnegie’s numerous writings, including topics such as leadership training, communication skills and building self-confidence.
I highly recommend you read both How to Win Friends and Influence People and his book on public speaking, Public Speaking for Success. While Public Speaking for Success was first published in 1926 under the name Public Speaking: A Practical Course for Businessmen, it has since been updated several times and is still incredibly relevant today. Enjoy!
Last Monday we talked a bit about the importance of creating online content. Having an online platform is vital for marketing yourself as a professional speaker today.
As a professional speaker, you most likely have an area of expertise. So don’t just speak about it – write about it!
Start with a blog. You can sign up for a free blogging program, such as Blogger or WordPress. These blog-publishing services are simple to set up and use, and they offer design templates and linking capabilities so you can connect them to your personal website with ease.
Signing up for and starting your blog is the easy part, it’s creating content that’s more challenging. Write about what you know and write often. The more content you publish online, the more opportunities there are for people to discover you and your message.
It’s also important to make the most of the tools your blogging platform offers, for instance tagging keywords in your blog posts so that they come up in Google search results and enabling comments so that readers can comment on your ideas and so you can foster discussion.
And read blogs, too! Follow blogs written by other authorities in your area of expertise and comment on them regularly. By fostering communication with experts in your field, your blog and your ideas will get disseminated even further.
It’s so important to embrace all aspects of social media. So once your blog is up and running, make sure you’re advertising it through your other social networking platforms. Whenever you write a new blog, post a link to it on your Facebook page and ask your Twitter followers to have a look at it as well.
Inc. is an online magazine geared toward entrepreneurs and business owners, and it is replete with information about running a business, sales and marketing, and technology and innovation – all of which can be applied to the business of professional speaking. Check out this short article they recently published titled “8 Tips for Effective Social Blogging.” It’s got great advice on how to encourage interaction and feedback and on how to use applications and schedulers to streamline your blogging activity. So give it a read and start applying their tips to your blog today.
And don’t forget to check out our Speaker Resource Centre here on the Inspiring Speakers website for eBooks on every aspect of social media marketing you can think of.
I wrote last Thursday about TED Talks, a series of inspiring presentations by people who have “ideas worth spreading.”
Well I just came across one talk in particular that’s extremely relevant to us here at the Inspiring Speakers Blog. It’s by Nancy Duarte and it’s called “The Secret Structure of Great Talks.”
Duarte is an American writer and graphic designer who is best known for her book Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations (O’Reilly Media, 2008). After listening to and analyzing hundreds of speeches, she has been able to map out a presentation structure that is common to so many inspiring speeches, from Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech to the talk Steve Jobs gave at the 2007 launch of the iPhone.
“If you communicate an idea in a way that resonates, change will happen – and you can change the world,” says Duarte. Watch her presentation to find out how you can transform your ideas into an effective presentation and a powerful call to action.
For more ideas on crafting powerful presentations, check out the series of teleseminar recordings on the SpeakerNet News website. You’ll find seminars on everything from how to get your audience involved to how to use stand-up comedy techniques to add humour to your presentation.
One of the most effective tools that can be used in public speaking is storytelling.
Oral storytelling is an ancient tradition that has likely existed since humans first began to speak. And it is a tradition that still persists today.
Stories are how we connect with others. Stories are how we learn. In fact, nothing engages and captivates an audience better than a good story. But the stories you tell as a professional speaker should do more than just entertain. When speaking in public, it is important that the stories you share are relevant to your overall topic and presentation, and that they reflect your greater message. In her article “3 Tips for Effective Storytelling,” professional speaker Gilda Bonanno writes: “As you’re preparing your presentation and practising your story, think about it from the audience’s point of view. An irrelevant story, no matter how funny or unusual, will only distract from your message.”
So what types of stories should you tell?
Tell stories about yourself: about your own life, about your own experiences. Tell stories about personal challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome. Tell stories about things that have really happened to you. And most importantly, tell stories that your audience can relate to. There is no better way to connect with your audience than by sharing your personal history.
One of the most important aspects of storytelling is knowing your story inside and out. So – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – practise, practise, practise. Tell your story out loud. Tell it to everyone you know and tell it to everyone you meet. Tell it to your mom. Tell it to your cat. You don’t have to memorize your story word for word, but you should know it innately. Know the characters, know the sequence of events and know all the important descriptive details. The more instinctively you know your story, the more you can focus on your presentation and how you deliver that story to the audience.
When you tell your own stories – as opposed to stories you’ve read or heard about elsewhere – you tell them with more feeling, more passion and more emotion. Under the guise of a story, an everyday real-life occurrence can become a life-changing learning experience.
For some examples of storytelling at its finest, you should really check out The Moth.
The Moth is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Their slogan is: “True stories told live.” Since 1997, The Moth has hosted a wide range of storytelling events and workshops across the United States and Canada, including their headliner event The Moth Mainstage, a speaking event in New York City that has featured hundreds of stories told by people both well-known and not. The organization also hosts open mike storytelling competitions across the country and runs a community education program teaching storytelling principles and practices to students and marginalized adults in needy communities.
Looking for some storytelling inspiration? The Moth posts stories – all of which are moving, engaging and entertaining – on their website here. The group also runs a storytelling radio program and a podcast, where you can download a story for free each week. Plus, check out their events page for a storytelling event happening near you.
Want to share your story? The Moth is currently accepting story submissions to be featured on their website and radio show and live on The Moth stage. It’s a great opportunity for professional speakers like you to share your stories with a wider community. Click here to find out how to get your story heard.
There are many great resources out there for the professional speaking community.
Professional associations such as the National Speakers Association and the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers offer their members workshops, seminars, conferences and other networking opportunities, as well as online resources such as certification programs and emerging speaker training programs.
There are also numerous websites and blogs written by professional speakers themselves, who share their personal knowledge and experiences about the art and business of public speaking. A good one to check out is Stephanie Scotti’s blog Professionally Speaking. Stephanie writes about how to get inspired, speak persuasively, connect with your audience and so much more. Plus, she has a great resource page full of tips and techniques for improving your speaking.
And then there’s SpeakerNet News, my all-time favourite professional speaking resource. This website is geared toward the speaking, training and consulting communities, and it publishes a free weekly newsletter full of useful information pertaining to professional speaking, from how to craft superior presentations to how to market yourself. One of my favourite features is their “Topic of the Month” column where the editors pose a question or create a scenario and ask readers to write in with their candid thoughts and ideas on the subject at hand. It’s a wonderful insight into the situations and issues that affect professional speakers on a day-to-day basis.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the resources we offer right here at Inspiring Speakers.
Our Motivational Speaker Academy is a step-by-step 26-week training program for starting and running a successful professional speaking business. The course material also shows how established speakers can take their success to the next level by becoming a “Guerilla Speaker” who generates engagement opportunities from mastery of both the online and offline worlds. If you haven’t registered yet, you can find out more on our New Speaker Representation page.
And our Speaker Resource Centre offers eBooks that empower speakers to develop their own marketing and self-promotional strategies.
Do you have any professional speaking resources you’d like to tell us about? Share them with us on the Inspiring Speakers Facebook page today.
You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again: You only have one chance to make a good first impression.
Some say that you have as little as 10 seconds to make that impression. Others give you anywhere from 30 seconds up to a couple of minutes. Whatever the amount of time, it’s important that you make the most of it, because those first moments are some of the most critical to a successful presentation.
Here’s what to keep in mind when it comes to making a good first impression.
Dress appropriately. Make sure that your clothing fits well and that it is neat and clean. And make sure that you’re comfortable. It won’t matter how well you are dressed if you’re constantly fidgeting with a tie that’s too tight or a shirt that just won’t stay tucked in. Plus, looking good – and feeling good – are natural confidence-boosters. So dress to impress!
Walk with confidence. When you’re called to the stage to give your presentation, don’t look down at the ground, slouch your shoulders or shuffle your feet. Do keep your head up, keep your back straight and take purposeful strides. Your body language speaks volumes, and by standing tall and walking purposefully you demonstrate both confidence and authority.
Smile and make eye contact: these are two of the best ways to make and maintain a connection with your audience. Try to avoid overly reading from notes. Every time you look down you risk losing the audience’s attention. Instead, pick out a person in the crowd and look at him or her for a few seconds while you speak. Then move on to someone else in another part of the room. Throughout your talk, try to make eye contact with as many people as possible – this way both you and your audience will feel connected. And smiling will let them know how happy you are to be there.
Have a solid opening. The opening line of your speech is the one moment where you know you have everybody’s attention – so make it a good one. And learn it by heart. Draw the audience in with a voice that is loud and clear, but also warm and compelling. Try to keep the intro light: A short joke or amusing anecdote can be a great way of capturing the audience’s attention. Just be careful not to say anything that might alienate or offend anyone in the crowd, or you’ll lose them for the rest of the talk.
Finally, practise, practise, practise. Practise what you want to say, from beginning to end. Practise your delivery and practise your body language. Even practise your handshake! The more you’ve rehearsed the more confident you’ll feel, and the more confident you feel the better first impression you’ll make.
How do you prepare for making a good first impression? Share your tips with us on the Inspiring Speakers Facebook page.
We thought it might be nice to start a regular feature here on the Inspiring Speakers Blog, and so we’re instituting a new series that will appear every Monday, titled “Social Media Monday.”
We all know that in the speaking profession self-marketing is a must. And we all know that social media is one of the best ways to do it.
If you weren’t convinced already, HubSpot, a venture-funded marketing software company, has prepared a great report explaining why you need to get on the social media bandwagon – and fast. The report is titled “100 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts & Graphs” and you can access it here.
One of the key statistics from the report is that “US Internet users spend 3x more minutes on blogs and social networks than on email.” We’ve talked about the importance of email marketing strategies here on the Inspiring Speakers Blog already, but connecting with your online audience via email is just not enough. There are so many more ways to make that connection, from social networking on Facebook and Twitter to professional networking on LinkedIn.
Another key fact from the HubSpot report: “The more keyword-rich content you generate, the more search engines will find (and love) you.” So if you’re an expert on a topic, don’t just talk about it – write about it online! Start your own blog and update it regularly. And make sure that it is search engine optimized so that when someone is searching for information on your area of expertise, your website or blog is at the top of the search results.
It’s easier than you think. The Inspiring Speakers Speaker Resource Centre offers a series of eBooks with topics ranging from search engine optimization for beginners to how to write quality, targeted content.
The bottom line, according to HubSpot, is that “if Google can’t find you, neither will anyone else.” So get out there, get online and get connected.
They say that if you want to become a good writer, the best way to go about doing so is to read. A lot.
In April 1947, American author William Faulkner, winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, was asked to conduct a series of classes for the University of Mississippi’s English Department. The classes took the form of question-and-answer sessions. One student asked: “What is the best training for writing? Courses in writing? Or what?”
William Faulkner. Photo by Carl Van Vechten, via Wikimedia Commons.
Faulkner replied: “Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the most. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”
It seems to follow that one of the best training methods for becoming a great speaker, then, would be to listen to a whole lot of speeches. Listen to speakers who inspire you and speakers who don’t. Pay attention to what they have to say and how they say it. Study their presentation skills and their body language. You’ll come away with a wealth of information about what makes for a good presentation – and what does not.
I came across this great blog, Inspired Speeches, that’s just chock-full of important and moving speeches. Check it out and I promise you’ll be inspired.
Enjoy!
And don’t forget to visit our Speaker Resource Centre for info on speaking and how to market yourself.
When I think about some of speakers who have inspired me recently, I think about TED.
TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a non-profit organization that strives to share “ideas worth spreading.”
The TED Conference began in 1984 as a one-time event, then in 1990 became an annual conference. It has since expanded further with two annual conferences, as well as a TED Talks website, a fellowship program and the TED Prize, which presents the winner with $100,000 to put toward a “wish to change the world.”
The speakers come from a wide range of backgrounds and fields of study, but what they all have in common is that they are passionate, and that their work is inspiring and engaging. And this is where you come in. TED is on the hunt for new speakers, and has announced a talent search for the TED 2013 Conference.
“The best moments at TED have often come from unexpected places,” writes the TED Blog. “But this year, we’re pushing that to an entirely new level. We’re staging a global talent search to bring together the most remarkable lineup in TED’s history. A series of public auditions in cities around the world will reveal voices, talents and ideas that delight and surprise. As a result, at least half of our TED 2013 program will literally be crowd-sourced. Welcome to TED 2013: The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.”
So to all you emerging speakers out there, here is an opportunity like none before – a chance to share your message with the world. Check out the TED 2013 Conference website to find an audition near you.
Feeling rusty? There’s no better time to check out the Inspiring Speakers Motivational Speaker Academy and to finesse your presentation than today. Find out more on our New Speaker Representation page.
