by Beth Levine | May 20, 2014 | preparing for a presentation, public speaking
For some reason, even the smartest, most seasoned professionals lose all sense of perspective and proportion – e.g. time, place, purpose – when they have to approach a microphone. I have seen the mere invitation to make a statement, or speak at a press conference, or make welcoming remarks escalate into nothing short of the need to draft a 45-minute inaugural address.
For example, I recently had a client who was asked to make brief pre-dinner welcoming remarks to a visiting industry group. Knowing full well there would be other presentations during dinner that evening, this client and his handlers still came up with a full-blown speech that not only welcomed everyone, but addressed the biggest challenges facing that particular industry. It was meant to be meaningful for the audience, but it was long, philosophical, and dissertation-like. Great stuff for a keynote speech, but way overboard for “brief welcoming remarks.” I offered to help, and we cut his remarks back to be much shorter and somewhat more entertaining, although still relevant.
Another example was a client who was in the early stages of a multi-year project to build a new, much-anticipated state-of-the-art facility. At the point in the design process when the client was preparing to announce the selection of the firm that would create the look and feel of just the interior space, I caught wind that the CEO was planning to say this: “Today is the culmination of 10 years worth of dreaming and planning and hard work by many. We are so proud and thrilled . . . ”
Huh? Really? To see if I could awaken a sense of proportion, I gently asked, “um, well, so, if you say that now, what will you say at the ground-breaking when construction begins, or at the ribbon-cutting for the grand opening? Don’t you want to save the 10-year dream-come-true theme for one of those occasions?”
Here are some tips to help you keep it all in perspective and maintain a sense of proportion:
1. Think about the audience and the occasion. Why is the audience in the room and what do they care about, want, and/or expect? How patient and attentive are they likely to be? (In fact, how patient and attentive is any audience?)
2. Know your role for the occasion. Are you the only speaker or one of many speakers? What specifically were you asked to do?
3. Know your “job” for the occasion. Are you introducing, informing, inspiring, entertaining? What verb describes your primary communications task for the occasion?
4. Finally, if you are asked to introduce a speaker, confer with the speaker about how they like to be introduced or what they prefer you say – or not say – about their topic. Find out what will suit the speaker’s personal preference and topic, don’t simply ask for and then read a bio because “that’s what people do” and don’t dive into someone else’s topic in your intro!
You’ll be just fine if you keep the audience in mind, stick to your assigned role, and do your “job” – nothing more, nothing less! Stay in your lane.
by Beth Levine | May 9, 2014 | preparing for a presentation, public speaking, smartmouth talks!
Do you get nervous when you have to speak in front of a group?
Instead of allowing yourself to stay in that dialogue with yourself about how nervous you are, force yourself to turn your attention to and then dialogue with your audience.
Literally dialogue. As people are entering the room or taking their seats, and as you are gearing up and feeling those butterflies, start looking at and talking to THEM. Look into their faces, talk to them as if you are getting to know them.
Stop dialoguing with yourself about you and your nerves and start dialoguing with them about your content. It will shift your focus away from how nervous you are, and you will feel better. And no doubt, so will they!
by Beth Levine | Apr 2, 2014 | preparing for a presentation, public speaking
Looking for your message or big idea? Here’s an easy shortcut that works 99.9% of the time:
Go to the end of the document or page of notes you’ve written to prepare for your talk, and it’s probably sitting right there in the last paragraph or last sentence. We tend to save our best thoughts for the end, and so our conclusion usually nails it.
Go ahead and take that thought or statement and move it up front, it’s your message! (For more on how to construct a talk or presentation, and where to put your messages, refer to your SmartMouth Public Speaking Toolkit.)
by Beth Levine | Mar 19, 2012 | Just Mouthing Off, preparing for a presentation, procrastination, public speaking
Preparation. Procrastination. Both begin with P. Both are factors before a
speech or presentation. And both are easy to conquer.
In fact, preparation can
conquer procrastination … but only if it’s super simple. And that’s actually easier than you’d think. So let’s be realistic about preparation, let’s talk about being efficient and effective, let’s talk about what to do when you only have a few minutes to
prepare.
Hold onto these 3 shortcuts:
1.
Know your JOB. Are you supposed to inform, entertain, persuade, educate, introduce? What is the communications verb that best describes what you are supposed to do in your talk? Once you know your job, you can focus, and it will help you eliminate extraneous material and relieve you of having to create and deliver a magnum opus.
For instance, if you have been asked to make the welcoming remarks at a nonprofit fundraiser, then you simply need to welcome; you do not need to prepare and present the history of the organization.
2 2. Have a
FOCAL POINT. What is the one thing you want your audience to know, think, do or feel when they leave the room? There is always that something. And that is your focal point. Be transparent and direct, use your focal point as part of your talk … et voilà, you have your opening and closing! Giving your audience clear guidance helps ensure that they actually do leave the room knowing, thinking, doing or feeling what you want them to.
Let’s continue with the example of you making welcoming remarks at the fundraiser. Let’s say your focal point is that you need your audience to give more volunteer hours in the coming year. So, one option for your opening (and adaptable for closing too) is, “Welcome to tonight’s event. You’ll hear from a variety of people tonight, and you’ll have plenty of time to socialize, but it is my desire that you leave here tonight even more committed to our organization and even more inspired to make your donation this year in volunteer hours.” Focal point set.
3 3.
Limit the INFO. Unless you are delivering a technical paper or research findings at a scientific or medical conference, you can probably do without a lot of detailed information. Think about your topic, and what is most significant about your topic to your specific audience, and then plan to tell your audience the significance while limiting the supporting info to anecdotes and/or memorable facts, details or data. You can never deliver all the info on a topic anyway, so take the pressure off yourself and be prepared only to talk about the significance with a few quickie, retainable tidbits of info as backup.
In a nutshell, if you 1) are mindful about your “job” and stay in your lane, 2) know your “focal point,” what you want to ask of your audience, and 3) know what’s significant about your topic and only use “info” as backup, you are ready to go … !
