Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TalkitOut
From Fears to Cheers
Halina St James
TalkitOut
Halina St James
TalkitOut
From Fears to Cheers
Halina St James
Contents
Introduction How TalkitOut Gets Such Amazing Resultsvii
Chapter 1 Prepare to Unleash Your Passion and Your Power1
Chapter 2 How to Master the Three
Languages of Communication9
Chapter 3 Bodies Speak Louder Than Words27
Chapter 4 Inner Language: Let Your Emotions
Show (But Not All of Them)33
Chapter 5 Communication Impact: Putting It All Together43
Chapter 6 Sharpen Your Axe:
The All-Important Planning Stage47
Chapter 7 TalkitOut: The Heart of Powerful Presentations59
Chapter 8 Capturing Your Voice in Print:
A New Way to Write Speaking Notes71
Chapter 9 How to Make a Message Memorable81
Chapter 10 Stand and Deliver89
Chapter 11 How to Make All That Hard Work Look Effortless97
Chapter 12 Its All About the Audience105
Chapter 13 Tune Up Your Inner Communicator117
Chapter 14 Every Day Uses For Your Speaking Skills123
Chapter 15 Making Group Presentations131
Chapter 16 Taking Your Speaking Skills Around the World137
Chapter 17 Writing for Others: Tips for Speech-Writers145
Chapter 18 How to Create Memorable Slide Presentations155
Chapter 19 Think Hollywood: Add Impact With Video165
Chapter 20 Let the Force Be With You: All About Technology173
i n tr odu c ti on
TalkItOutvii
Heres the really good news. Everyone has the potential to be a commanding speaker. You just need the right technique and the right
strategy. Youll find both in this bookand youll find them quickly.
I understand youre busy. You dont have a lot of time. So this book
is easy to use. You can read it from beginning to end or you can
jump right to the chapters that will transform you into an amazing speaker. You can go to any chapter any time. Keep this book
nearby as a handy reference whenever you are preparing a speech
or presentation.
Life for many of the executives and leaders Ive worked with is a
seemingly endless round of meetings. With all those meetings and
all that talking, we need to know how to command an audience and
get our points across quickly and effectively. Its all about strategy
and knowledge. If youre in business, you have a business plan or a
strategy for your company. Do you have a strategy for speaking? Can
you be successful without one? Frankly, the answer is no. You need
knowledge and a strategy to master public speaking. Thats your key
to success in front of an audience, just as it is in everything you do.
By the way, speaking well is not just for people in business or in the
public eye. Every time we open our mouths to speak, were speaking
in public. Thats why its important for everyone to know how to do
it well.
Public speaking is not a fate worse that death. Its a skill you can
learnand one that I will help you master. Whether youre a nervous
novice or an accomplished speaker whose presentations have become
a bit flat, my TalkitOut technique will make you better. I promise.
So lets start your transformation.
TalkItOutix
chap te r
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is
that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness
that frightens us.
Marianne Williamson, Author
Heathers Story
TalkItOut1
Johns Story
Like Heather, John didnt want to see me. But for a completely different reason. He didnt think he needed coaching. John was an experienced and confident speaker. He was about to make an important
presentation to the board of a large corporation. He needed its support and money for his research project.
I was recommended to help him polish his presentation. He agreed
reluctantly, and we settled on a date for a three-hour session. The
day arrived. I was readybut John was a no-show. Our go-between
called him. John was tied up in meetings. He wasnt sure hed make it
to our session. Finally the go-between convinced John to see me after
his last meeting. When John finally arrived, there was only half an
hour left in our session. He told me he absolutely had to leave on time.
As I listened to Johns presentation, it became apparent he was
goodbut he wasnt commanding. He needed to go to the next
level, especially if he wanted that research money.
I started applying my TalkitOut technique to his presentation. John
saw the improvement immediately. The technique intrigued him.
After 30 minutes, I asked if he still wanted to leave. He said no. We
worked for another hour, polishing and improving his presentation.
He left satisfied and confidentjust as I knew he would.
tens of thousands of
You are your most valuable asset. There is nobody else on this earth
who thinks like you, walks like you or talks like you. Even identical
twins are not 100% identical, according to scientists. So why dont
TalkItOut3
with your authentic voice and you have the foundation upon which
great speeches are made and great speakers are born.
Passion is not necessarily unbridled emotion. Its not about speaking
loudly and getting all worked up, although it may bedepending on
your personality and your topic. By passion I mean believing in and
caring about what youre saying. You should never talk about something that leaves you cold. At the very least, you must be interested
in your topic. You need to connect to it. When youre connected, the
audience will know it and you will make a connection with them. Its in that connection that under- When youre connected,
standing and real communication happens. The the audience will know
foundation is passion.
Some people in the audience may disagree with
you. But theyll respect you because youre passionate. You may never convince everyone, anyway. Just
figure out whats important to you, and speak from
the heart.
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Ive seen top CEOs who run huge corporations make lackluster
speecheseven though what they had to say was of great relevance
and importance to the audience. These were smart men and women.
They simply lacked the right strategy and technique to be a commanding speaker. Or maybe they were in the hands of speechwriters
who were equally ignorant.
So our smart people make mediocre speeches, with minimal impact.
Sure the audience applauds at the endbut are they just politely
applauding the speakers title, or are they grateful the ordeal is over?
What you want every time from your audience is strong heart-felt
applause because you inspired them, motivated themand made
a difference.
Speaking is personal. It means being yourself by revealing yourself.
Add technique and strategy and you will reach your audience. The
key is to be well prepared, well rehearsed and confident. This will
put you in control so you can deliver your message effectively and
make that message memorable.
Aristotle said all three elements need to be present when you want
to persuade someone. Understanding this is the beginning of
developing your speaking strategy.
TalkItOut7
chap te r
very time you speak, you actually use three languages simultaneouslyspoken language, body language and an inner
language. To be a commanding speaker, you must understand
the effect each language has on your message and your audience.
Once you know this, you can use the three languages strategically to
achieve success.
In the next three chapters we will look at the three languages, and
examine three revelations that will change the way you think about
planning and making presentations. Well start with the language
people are most familiar with.
Spoken Language
The spoken word now rules, in all its informality and occasional
vulgarity. The effects are felt in politics, public taste and even in
our writing.
Jack Rosenthal, President, New York Times Foundation
TalkItOut9
Our language has become less formal and shorter in almost all situations. That doesnt mean we cant use proper grammar, effective rhetorical styles and descriptive words. It just means that to be understood today we need to be conversational. There is
Being conversational more focus on plain language now than ever before.
For now, its important you remember that you are a speaker,
that your most important tool is the spoken language delivered
conversationally by the real you. Lets examine some guidelines that
will help you develop a strategy for the spoken language.
TalkItOut11
subordinate clause. Itll make your sentence longer and more difficult for the listener to understand. You can write with subordinate
clauses for readers because they can always read the sentence over
and over until they understand it. Listeners only get one chance to
hear the sentence youre speaking.
Dont say: The challenge that faces us today, just before the
reorganization which is going to make our company more
profitable, is to find the right director who will lead us through
these difficult times.
Say: We are about to reorganize our company. This will make us
more profitable. We need the right director to lead us.
Dont make your sentences longer by stringing separate thoughts
together with conjunctions such as and. (The worst one is and uh.)
Conjunctions creates run-on sentences. Run-on sentences are hard
for speakers to deliver, and harder for audiences to comprehend. Oh
dear, there was a conjunction in that previous sentence. If I was writing that in a speech I would separate the two thoughts into separate
sentences. Run-on sentences are hard for speakers to deliver. And
harder for audiences to comprehend.
Its OK to start a sentence with a conjunction. And to write in fragments. The benefit of doing it in the example above, is that we turn a
comma into a full stop. When we read we tend to skip over commas.
We dont really slow down. We do pause for the period, or full stop.
Those pauses are really important for speakers and presenters. They
help us signpost our thoughts. They help us add emphasis. And they
provide comprehension gapswhere the audience gets to process
the information were sharing.
Dont say: Were supporting the new changes and we hope theyll
move us forward towards achieving our goal and help us be the
number one choice for our clients and we believe theyll keep
everyone happy.
Say: Were supporting the new changes. We hope theyll move us
toward our goal. We hope well be the number one choice for our
clients. We believe these changes will make everyone happy.
Which version was easier to say? Which one do you think an audience would understand more easily? I suspect you picked the version
with one thought per sentence.
A good check is to count your words. If youve written more than 20
words in one sentence, youre too long. Start cutting. Simple sentences are easier to say. And easier to understand.
If youve written
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Guesstimate
Impacting
Implementation
Industry-leading
Leading edge
Learning curve
Leverage
Maximize
Mission critical
Mutually beneficial
Optimize
Out of the loop
Partnering
Proactive
Quick win
Repurpose
Synergistic/synergy
Takeaway
Value-add
Win-win
Sometimes you have to use jargon when its industry specific and
youre speaking to a single, specialist group. A doctor speaking to
other doctors would say tonsillectomy; she would not have to say
the surgical removal of tonsilsunless she wanted to. If a sailor
speaking to other sailors said head, the audience would know he
was talking about the toilet.
Dont use an inflated phrase when one good, hard-working word
will do.
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Dont Say
Make the decision
Reach an agreement
Give approval to
Issue a warning
Conduct a survey
Will be able to
In order to
Say
Decide
Agree
Approve
Warn
Survey
Can
To
Avoid Acronyms
Then there are acronymsabbreviations of phrases. Speakers
seem to like these as much as over-inflated phrases. My suggestiondont use them. Never assume your audience knows what
they refer to.
Always mention the whole phrase first, then the acronymunless
the acronym is acceptable and common. Most people know that
ASAP means as soon as possible. BLT is a bacon, lettuce, tomato
sandwich and BYOB means bring your own bottle.
But unless you work in the financial industry you probably wont
know that SEQUINS are Select Equity Indexed Notes. And youre
probably an astronomer if you know that ALEXIS is Array of Low
Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors.
Unless your acronym has a universal understanding, explain it first.
Be especially careful about using acronyms with foreign audiences.
Simple means
powerful.
TalkItOut17
I tell my clients
they have to become
word warriors.
sense, use it. But if you cant imagine ever saying something like this
to your mom, you know its not conversational.
Try it on the speech I quoted above. Say this out loud:
Hi Mom maximizing value drives us to invest in our assets
and move our resources to opportunities that generate the
greatest returns and position us for continued growth.
It doesnt work. It will never work, because real people dont speak
this way to people they care about. The Hi Mom Test will guarantee
youre conversational.
TalkItOut19
The pause is one of the most important tools a speaker has. Your ability to shut upstrategicallywill determine how
Your ability to shut good a speaker you are.
upstrategically
will determine how
good a speaker you are.
The basic rule of human nature is that powerful people speak slowly
and subservient people quicklybecause if they dont speak fast,
nobody will listen to them.
Michael Caine, Actor
When you start pausing, you will automatically vary your pace. You
wont fall into a repetitive reading tempo. People naturally speed up or
TalkItOut21
When you speak, decide which part of your presentation you want
the audience to remember and make sure you emphasize it. You add
emphasis by saying it a bit louder, or very softly, or by pausing before
you say it.
You Not I
Talk to people about themselves and they will listen for hours.
Benjamin Disraeli, Politician
The number of times you say you should be equal to, or far exceed,
the number of times you say I. Your speech or presentation is really
not about you. Its about them, the audience.
TalkItOut23
Latin Proverb
Audiences are easily distracted. They may be tired. The room may be
too hot or too cold. The seats may be uncomfortable. You dont want
people to miss that really important point you just made. So repeat
it. You can say it again immediately. Or you can strategically repeat
the phrase a few times throughout your presentation. When you are
delivering an important point, make sure you lodge it clearly in the
mind of the audience.
One of the most famous examples of repetition was in a speech Martin
Luther King Jr. made in 1968. It was part of the Civil Rights March on
Washington, DC. King said I have a dream 11 times in 16 minutes.
The speech was a defining moment for the civil rights movement.
More that 40 years later, its still universally known as the I have a
dream speech. Thats the power of repetition.
There are many different rhetorical styles of repetition. The one King
used is called anaphora. Its where you repeat the same word or
phrase at the beginning of a succession of clauses or verses.
Winston Churchill used anaphora when he was Prime Minister of
Great Britain during World War II when he repeated the phrase we
shall fight:
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing
grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Epiphora is the use of repetition at the end of a word or phrase. After
Hurricane Katrina, in the USA in 2005, the president of one the districts in Louisiana used this technique in a television news interview:
Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency
and give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a
sensitive idiot. Just dont give me the same idiot.
Commoratio is repeating the same idea using different words. A classic example comes from Monty Pythons Flying Circus. It was used by
actor John Cleese in the Dead Parrot sketch:
Hes passed on. This parrot is no more. He has ceased to be.
Hes expired and gone to meet his maker. Hes a stiff. Bereft
of life, he rests in peace. If you hadnt nailed him to the perch
hed be pushing up the daisies. Hes kicked the bucket, hes
shuffled off his mortal coil, rung down the curtain and joined
the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot.
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chap te r
Bodies Speak
Louder Than Words
TalkItOut27
The signals from your Body Language are so strong, they can affect
the audience. The audience may be spending more time wondering
about that pink streak in your hair than listening to what youre actually saying. I once missed a whole TV newscast because the anchor
had a lock of hair hanging in her eye. She blinked her way through
the news for 10 minutes. Instead of listening to her, I kept wondering
how long it would take her to simply brush her hair
Your Body Language out her eye.
Hands
Use your hands naturally when you speak. If you talk with your
hands when you speak to friends, use them during your presentation.
Dont wave your arms like a windmill. Just do what you always do.
I have yet to meet someone who doesnt use their hands to some
extent during a conversation. Think of your speech or presentation
as a conversation with the audience, and you are well on your way to
that natural body language that helps you communicate effectively.
Standing perfectly still is unnatural. It will affect the way you speak.
Your whole body will tense up. Be yourself. Use your hands. Dont
clutch the lectern. Use it as a prop. Stand beside it
If you speak from the if you can. Dont lean on it. Keep your body erect,
but not rigid.
Posture
Adopt a body position that matches your content. If youre talking
about something serious, dont stand casually leaning on one leg
with one hand in your pocket. It wont look right. The audience will
be confused by the casual body language and the serious content.
When the audience gets confused, they dont follow what you say.
By the time they re-focus on your words, they may have missed a
relevant point. And if that happens, the rest of the speech becomes
meaningless. Thats when they tune out.
Dont cross your arms or look down at the audience. It makes you
look aggressive or superior. Always stand, even if you are addressing
a very small group. When youre standing, all your internal organs
are hanging properly. Youre able to breathe deeply. Youre sending a
lot of oxygen to your brain, so youre alert. You can think on your feet
more quickly. Your voice will be stronger and more positive.
If youre using slides, dont turn your back on the audience to look
at the screen. How would you feel if someone was talking to you and
they turned their back?
Relax
Keep your body relaxed. Before you speak, go to the washroom or
somewhere private and give your body a good shake. Make faces
to loosen the facial muscles. Roll your shoulders. Shake out your
hands. Wiggle your hips.
Your body is your instrument. If its tight, you will sound tense. The
more relaxed you are the more natural youll sound. Do some deep
breathing to relax and to focus. Theres more on how to relax later.
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I attended a terrific Boot Camp for Speakers organized by the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and
delivered by Warren Evans and Kit Grant. Here are the areas they
considered weak and strong on a stage.
Back of Stage
5. Weak
3. Strong
6. Weakest
1. Strongest
4. Less strong
front of Stage
audience
Light, humorous.
Symbolizes the past. Tell
jokes, share laughs here.
Casual or formal
As our language becomes more informal, so does our appearance. A
study at St. Marys University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, surveyed the
types of clothes worn by professors. Students were shown pictures of
TalkItOut31
chap te r
Inner Language:
Let Your Emotions Show
(But Not All of the Them)
eve talked about how you can use Spoken Language and
Body Language to deliver your message effectively. Now,
lets talk about your Inner Language
and how it affects your message and your audience. The Inner Language
is the language of
TalkItOut33
Back to Passion
34 Chapter 4: Inner Language: Let Your Emotions Show (But Not All of Them)
South Africa, Ian Thomas, talks about the team building lessons
hes learned by observing a pride of lions. To drive his points home,
he stalks, crawls and leaps around the stage like a
Passion is the single
lion. His passion for his subject is evident in every
most important
movement and every word.
ingredient of any
the audience.
TalkItOut35
36 Chapter 4: Inner Language: Let Your Emotions Show (But Not All of Them)
TalkItOut37
38 Chapter 4: Inner Language: Let Your Emotions Show (But Not All of Them)
So you need to take a dip into neutral territory first. Give the audience a second or two to get ready for the new information. You can do
this with a pause, or a neutral phrase such as, Now, Id like to talk
about. The audience will see you as a caring,
thoughtful individual who is completely in control Sometimes people are
of the presentation.
so nervous when they
TalkItOut39
Be Yourself
persuasive, dynamic
speaker is to be yourself.
40 Chapter 4: Inner Language: Let Your Emotions Show (But Not All of Them)
TalkItOut41
42 Chapter 4: Inner Language: Let Your Emotions Show (But Not All of Them)
chap te r
Communication Impact:
Putting It All Together
TalkItOut43
Communication Mantra
The Communication Mantra sums up the strategy for the Three
Languages of Communication.
Its a handy way to remember how to become a powerful and persuasive public speaker.
Have Something to Say
Decide on your content. Dont try to deliver absolutely everything.
Pick 2 or 3 key areas to talk about. Less is more. Ask yourself what
you want the audience to take away from the speech. When they are
listening to you, they are wondering Whats in it for me? Figure out
the answer to that question and your speech will be a success.
Believe It
Be passionate about your speech. Connect to it. If you dont care, neither will the audience. Speak from the heart. When you do, you will
have the right tone, emphasis, pace and body language. Everything
will work. Then you will connect to the audience, and they will get
your message. Remember, realistically you cant
convince everyone. But even those who disagree Albert Einstein
will respect your point of view when you deliver
famously said If you
your message with honest passion.
Say it Simply
Stick with simple sentences. Avoid subordinate
clauses or long, convoluted constructions. Use
strong, sturdy words. No jargon, business babble or clichs. Being
simple doesnt mean being simplistic. It means clarity, which leads
to understanding. Youll win over your audience with simplicity.
Youll lose them with complexity. Albert Einstein famously said If
you cant explain it simply, you dont understand it well enough.
TalkItOut45
Shut up
Avoid the temptation to keep babbling. Say what you have to say. Say
it in the most compelling way possible. Then shut up. The sign of a
confident speaker is his or her ability to stop talking at the appropriate time.
Now that weve talked in general about creating winning presentations, its time to move on to the specifics of TalkitOut. In the next
chapter we'll look at the all-important planning process. But first,
a recap.
chap te r
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four
sharpening the axe.
Abraham Lincoln
he key to a great presentation is planning. The more you organize at the beginning, the less work youll have to do putting
your presentation together. Start by jotting down ideas. Resist
the urge at this point to write complete sentences, except for the controlling idea. Focus on capturing and organizing your thoughts.
Dont think about your slide show at this point. And if you have
slides you are hoping to re-use, resist the temptation to look at them.
I guarantee that if you focus on organizing your thoughts, youll find
that the slides evolve organically when the time is right (and the right
time is towards the end, not the beginning, of the TalkitOut process).
Be Creative
Get a pen and paper or a blank document on your computer. I favour
using a pen and paper to jot down ideas. The physical act of writing
TalkItOut47
will stimulate your right brain, your creative side. You can doodle for
more stimulation. You want to be as creative as possible.
As someone once told me: If you do what youve always done, youre
going to get what you always got. Unless youve been incredibly successful as a speaker, you dont want to get what you always got. You
want to evolve and develop. So put some effort into being as creative
as possible. Dont self-censor. Dont set limits on
If you do what youve your imagination. You are looking for the spark that
always done, youre will ensure you capture your audiences attention.
Controlling Idea
The controlling idea is the main idea you are developing. It describes
the direction youre going to take. Begin by deciding exactly what
will be the main message of your speech or presentation. This is the
big idea the one you want the audience to go away talking about
and thinking about.
Condense your message into one clear statement. Write it down.
Everything you say or do will support this statement. It will guide
your whole presentation or speech. It will keep you focused.
Lets imagine you are explaining what Acme is doing to support a
clean environment. You want to tell the audience all the good things
youve done and why theyre important. That is what your speech is
about. But its not a controlling idea. The controlling idea has to be
one clear simple sentence that expresses what you
want the audience to understand. Your controlling Once you decide on
idea should be something as clear and simple as your controlling idea,
We strongly support a clean environment because
keep coming back to it
its good for business.
Once you decide on your controlling idea, keep
coming back to it throughout your talk. Its like
background music; its always there. Let it guide all
your arguments and all the points you make.
It may take a bit of time to define and refine the controlling idea. But persevere. It will save you time in
the long run. It provides a clear focus for your whole presentation.
Its the glue that holds your speech or presentation together.
Hook
This is the opening of your talk. The hook grabs the audiences attention. It arouses their interest. It makes them want to listen. The hook
can be one word, one sentence, a quote, an outrageous declaration
or a short story. It can be anything you wantas long as it does its
job and engages the audiences attention.
TalkItOut49
But, please, no forced jokes. And please, dont recite a shopping list
of what you intend to talk about, as in My objectives today are blah
blah blah.
Please, dont automatically start with how happy you are to be
thereunless theres a compelling reason to say this. If someone introduces you, you can thank them quietly as the audience is
applauding. You dont have to publicly thank them for your introduction. And please, no lame Gee is that really me? remarks after the
introduction.
Please dont do the old good morning routine. Thats the one where
the speaker comes on and says, Good Morning Everyone. The audience mumbles back Good Morning.. The speaker, predictably, says
What? I didnt hear you. Good morning! The audience is forced to
scream back Good Morning. All this routine accomplishes is to irritate the audienceso you now have to work harder to win them over.
All these openers are tired and predictable. You can do better. And
your audience deserves better. Be creative. People remember the hook.
Psychological studies show we can evaluate a person in about two
seconds. You want to make sure you not only pass that two-second
inspection, but you also have the audience begYou need to hook em ging for more. You want them to know what theyre
and hold em. about to hear will be worth their time. You need to
hook em and hold em. If you dont do that at the
beginning, youre going to have to work a whole lot harder later on
(and it may be too late).
One very successful banking executive I coached was speaking to
the annual meeting of senior executives and managers. She was
introducing a new program aimed at getting very young customers
acquainted with the bank. She looked around the room and said
Lets talk about babies. She paused, surveyed the audience again,
and said You heard me right. I want to talk about babies. With
that hook, she had everybodys attention. Her presentation was a
great success.
Or is it all of the above? Figure out what you want your hook to do,
and find the most creative way of doing it.
Lets return to Acme Ltd and the topic of Green Not Mean. Imagine
that the hook will be a story about how your 10 year old daughter,
Melissa, came home from school. Her teacher had been talking about
how we are destroying the environment. Melissa was worried about
her future. That got you thinking about what we all need to do to save
the environment.
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Why Me?
Sometimes the audience needs to know why you are the one speaking
on this topic. This is especially true if they dont know you, or if they
know you in a different role. One politician Ive worked with was both
a lawyer and chartered accountant. So when he spoke to an audience
of accountants, he made sure they knew his Chartered Accountant
credentials early in his presentation. It made him more credible to a
specialist audience than if hed just been a visiting politician.
If it helps, tell the audience a bit about yourself. Make sure its relevant to the presentation. Keep it short. The audience doesnt want
your whole life history. For the Acme presentation, youre the operations manager. But before Acme you worked for an environmental
company. So you want the audience to know this.
Context
This is the need-to-know-information. Without it, what you say
makes no sense. But its very tricky territory. If you have too much
context, youll lose your audience. They get bored with the history
lesson. But if you dont have enough context, youll confuse your
audience. They wont have the basic information to connect the dots.
So pay attention to your context, and where you place it in your talk.
It might work after the hook, or later on. It all depends on your strategy and your content.
There are no hard and fast rules as to what should come firstcontent or context. Perhaps the audience needs to understand a point of
context before you give them the content. It could be the other way
around. You decide.
Lets go back to the banking executive with the babies hook. The
context of her presentation was that the bank was implementing a
new customer service program. The content was how it would work,
why they were doing it, what each manager would be responsible for
and other details. Without the context, none of those details would
make sense. Context is important.
Dont assume the audience knows the context. In the age of information, when we are bombarded with facts, figures, stories and media,
the easier you make it for your audience to understand your point,
the more chance youll have they will remember what youve said.
Give them the information in manageable, logical, bite-size pieces.
And make sure they know how the pieces fit together.
For our Acme presentation, the context the audience needs to hear
will be how much money is lost by wasteful company practices.
Content
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because
they have to say something.
Plato
The content is the bulk of your presentation, where you develop your
arguments, where you convince, inspire and teach. Figure out how
many points you want to talk about. Then jot down a few notes for
each point.
Say what you need to say and no more. Less is more. Craft your
content carefully and pepper it with stories, anecdotes and details.
Usually for a 15 or 20 minute presentations, three
Give them knowledge.
subject areas or main points are enough.
If you want people to listen and remember what you said, dont just
give them information. Give them knowledge. Give them wisdom.
TalkItOut53
And, most importantly, give them a good story. (Theres more on storytelling in the chapter on How to Make Your Message Memorable.)
Understand the purpose of your context and content. Is it to:
Conclusion
Your conclusion should support your controlling idea. If it doesnt,
your key points or main focus will probably get lost.
In presentations, your ending or conclusion is a power position. So
how should you end a presentation? It depends on your content, of
course, and what you want to accomplish. The conclusion could be
any one of the following:
You can use the dinner party ending to gently get into your conclusion. Usually at a dinner party, when its time to go, someone will
announce Well I guess I should be going now.
What inevitably follows is more chat until another, You can use the dinner
party ending to gently
similar, announcement.
Or is it all of the above? Think about what you want people to do after
youve finished your presentation. Develop your conclusion accordingly. People will remember what is said in the conclusion.
At the Acme presentation, youve decided to end by referring back to
your story about Melissa. Youll tell your audience that you discussed
your plans for a more environmentally-friendly Acme with Melissa.
It made her feel happy and secure. Everyone in the company will be
doing the same thing for their children.
We have now completed our Think It Out form for the Acme presentation. Heres what it looks like:
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Topic
Try to think of a snappy
headline
Audience
How many and
who are they?
Time of Day
Specific time
10:30 AM
Controlling Idea
One sentence thats
your focus/premise.
Hook
Jot down ideas on how
to grab the audience.
They can help the company and the environment without a lot of pain.
Why me?
You worked for an environmental company
What are your credentials for speaking on this before.
topic.
Context
Jot down the need to
know information
Conclusion
Jot down the point(s)
you want to make at
the end.
Heres a blank form you can use to prepare for your own speech or
presentation.
Topic
Try to think of a snappy
headline
Audience
How many and
who are they?
Time of Day
Specific time
Controlling Idea
One sentence thats
your focus/premise.
Hook
Ideas on how to grab
the audience.
Whats in it for them?
What are the benefits
for the audience.
Why me?
What are your
credentials for speaking
on this topic.
Context
Jot down the need to
know information
Context
2 or 3 subject areas
your facts, ideas &
arguments
Conclusion
Jot down the point(s)
you want to make at
the end.
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You can type this shit, George, but you sure cant say it.
Harrison Ford, Actor (On George Lucas dialogue in Star Wars)
The moment you pick up a pen you begin to lose the spontaneity
of the personal relation, which contains the very essence of interest.
With shorthand dictation one can talk as if he were at his own
dinner-table always a most inspiring place. I expect to dictate
all the rest of my life, if you good people are willing to come and
listen to it.
Mark Twain, Author
hen Mark Twain was around 70 years old, he started dictating his recollections to his stenographerand discovered the essential difference between writing and speaking. He realized that speaking his thoughts, rather than writing them
down, made them more natural and conversational. What most of
us dont understand, and what Twain discovered late in life, is that
speaking and writing are very different communication delivery systems. And yet too often, and with disastrous results for speakers, we
treat them as interchangeable.
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Plan it
Write it out
Memorize it
Deliver it from memory
When you use the TalkitOut Technique this is how you prepare:
1. Think it out
2. Talk it out
3. Deliver it
As you can see, the emphasis is on speaking out loud right from the
planning stage. You dont write anything until you are completely
happy with the way your words sound. This ensures your words are
conversational and easy to deliver. And you save a
But the biggest problem substantial chunk of time because the memorizawith speeches created tion stage is built into the preparation system.
by tapping or scratching
words onto a page is that
people cannot easily and
convincingly speak out
loud what theyve written.
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Be Creative
Say the first sentence or thought of the hook in as
ways as you can. Experiment. Be outrageous. Be
settle for the first phrase that comes out of your
mouth. If you cant think of a way to start, say anything that relates to your idea for a hook. Just keep
talking it out, out loud. Its like priming a pump.
Eventually all the talking will produce some wonderful verbal thoughts.
many different
creative. Dont
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and makes sense. Every time you add a new sentence or thought, go
back a few sentences and speak out loud until the end of the newest
sentence. Listen to yourself. Does one thought flow logically into the
next? Is the information easy to process? Are there any barriers to
comprehension?
Think how the audience will receive your information. The audience
has only one chance to hear and understand what youve said. If they
were reading a copy of your speech, they could go back a few lines
and reread a section that confused them over and over until they
understood it. They cant do this when youre speaking.
So you have to make sure you make sense every step of the way. The
only way to do this is to speak out loud and listen
If it doesnt flow or make
to yourself every time you add a new sentence. That
way, youll know if the new thought fits with whats sense, youll hear it.
been said before. If it doesnt flow or make sense, youll hear it.
The last thing you want is an audience confused or bored because
they cant follow your train of thought. As soon as an audience starts
questioning what youve just said, they miss the next point. If they
miss too many points, the big danger is they give up and check out.
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Getting Unstuck
If you get stuck and cant speak the next thought, go back to an earlier section that youve talked out. Start talking out loud from there.
Focus. Really listen to what youre saying. When you get to the place
where you were stuck, just keep talking it out. Dont over-analyze the
process. Dont try writing it in your head. Just trust the words to fall
out of your mouth.
I know this sounds strange. But it works. The next thought will come
automatically most of the time. Just let go. Trust. Be present in the
moment. Talk it out and the right words will come.
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2. When you hear the best version, write it down exactly the
way you said it.
3. Say the first sentence out loud again. Add the second
thought. Talk it out. When you hear the best way of saying
it, write it out exactly the way you said it.
4. Say the two written sentences out loud and add the third
thought.
5. Keep going like this until you finish.
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chap te r
s you are speaking your thoughts out loud, you still need to get
your speech or presentation on to paper or into the computer.
But with the TalkitOut technique, you write it differently.
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Double space for each pause and each new thought. Keep doing this
as you talk out your speech or presentation. Essentially, youre double spacing when you would normally insert a comma if you were
writing for the eye.
The BFP
When you finish the hook and are ready to talk out the content or
context, go down three spaces. This is your BFP or Big Fat Pause
or Break For Pause. Use the BFP (three spaces) when youre changing direction in logic and you want to give the audience a second
to understand. Or if you want to have a longer pause for emphasis
or effect. BFPs help you slow down and bring a change of pace and
mood to your performance. They also let you take a breath.
72 Chapter 8: Capturing Your Voice in Print: A New Way to Write Speaking Notes
Kill Punctuation
Nobody is going to read a printed copy of your speech as youre delivering it. So you dont need to fuss too much about commas, periods,
colons or semi colons. These are the grammatical indicators the eye
needs to make sense of a written text. But since no one is reading
your text, you can generally dispense with all punctuationexcept
for periods and question marks. Keep those so you know when youve
ended a thought, or if your delivery needs to change to signpost a
question. Otherwise, the double-spacing down the page will give
you much clearer indications of how to shape phrases, and where to
pause for emphasis or effect.
You may decide to publish or post your speech after youve delivered it. In that case, you can easily reformat it for the eye. But always
use the TalkitOut format when you speak to an audience. It really
enhances your performance.
To illustrate the advantage of the TalkitOut style of setting out a script,
Ill use a corporate speech I found on the website of a major multinational company. Its written in the traditional style. Ive included the
typos as they appeared on the website. But I have removed the name
of the company.
Try reading the speech out loud. Can you do it without stumbling?
Do you understand it? Do you have to re-read certain sections to
get their meaning? Imagine the impact this speech would have on
an audience. Imagine how much theyll understand after hearing it
just once.
Before TalkitOut
The facts are clearour industry already is green; the
challenge for us all is to tell the story better and more widely.
One way to tell that story better isas and industryto
seize the opportunity for leadership on the critical issue to
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After TalkitOut
The facts are clear.
Our industry is green already.
Our challenge
is to make sure people everywhere know this.
One way we can do it
is by telling our story better.
We can tell a better story
if we become leaders in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Built-in Timer
Heres another benefit of using the TalkitOut Technique. If you time
one page as you speak it out loud, youll know how long it takes to
deliver. Lets say it takes 30 seconds to deliver one page. If you write
10 pages, youll have a five minute speech. So you can easily keep
track of how much material youve prepared.
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chap te r
How to Make a
Message Memorable
Anonymous
Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.
Robert McKee, Author
efore the pen, before the printing press, before the typewriter,
before the computer, we talked. And if we wanted to make an
impact and have people remember what we
Stories make sense of
said, we put our content into a story.
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the quest.
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A Story is a Necklace
I think of story as a necklace. The pearls on the necklace may be
beautiful: flawless, good colour, matching in size, and very expensive. The pearls catch the eye. But they need the humble thread to
give them structure and glory. You might have rich, dramatic, inspiring anecdotes to sharebut holding them together is your simple
underlying narrative.
Your story doesnt have to be long. A few sentences that make a
strong point are better than a rambling tale that doesnt clearly demonstrate its relevance.
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1 0
Jobs was the best showman in American business and he worked hard
at his art, preparing maniacally for weeks before an appearance. He
got ready for a keynote much the way Oscar Wilde prepared for a
dinner party. He spent countless hours rehearsing the succinct lines
he would throw off as if they were improvisations.
Alan Deutschman, Author
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to you. The more you hear yourself, the more comfortable youll be
when you actually deliver the presentation.
If you cant rehearsebut youve used the TalkitOut Techniqueyou
will still sound much better than if you had prepared by writing
everything in silence, then tried to read it out loud. If you dont have
time to rehearse your whole presentation, make sure you know the
hook. Rehearse the section(s) of your presentation that may be most
challenging for you. Often we recycle stories and examples from
previous speeches. You dont need to rehearse familiar elements as
much as the new sections.
Dont Memorize
Rehearse until you can deliver your thoughts without paper. The
point is not to memorize your presentation or speech but to understand what youre saying, how youre saying it, and why. Because
you talked it out, your rehearsal time is minimal. But the more
time you put into rehearsing your presentation, the better it will
be. When you feel comfortable with your material, stop rehearsing.
Do one more rehearsal on the day of your presentation, to refresh
your memory.
making. Dont
If you need amplification, get a wireless microphone so you can move around. Dont use hand-held microphones
unless youre really comfortable with them. Many speakers forget to
hold the microphone close enough to their lips to pick up the sound.
Watch your movement on stage. Resist the temptation to pace about
wildly. It can be distracting. Limit your movements to three steps.
The best advice is to move for a reason. Some speakers plunge right
into an audience. Be careful. If you jump off a stage into the audience, many people wont see youunless you are being projected on
screens around the room.
If you walk down an aisle while speaking, some people see only your
back. Make sure every move you make is made for a good reason.
Everything you say, everything you do, and every slide you show has
a single purposeto help make your message memorable.
If you are planning some kind of movement on stage, rehearse it as
often as possible. Get to the venue early and rehearse the move there.
Familiarization will make you comfortable.
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Pause
Walk to the centre front of the stage
Stop
Look at the audience
Speak
Every time you have a really important point you want the audience
to remember, head for the front centre of the stage.
Using Props
Props are wonderful. They create interest and variety. Props can act
as cue cards for a speaker, instead of notes. They can be items that
you demonstrate and later sell at the back of the room. Props can be
your personal signature that people will associate with you. Props
make your message stick if you use them properly. One professional
speaker (a man) put on a pink ballet tutu to make his point about
associating words with images.
Another speaker was talking about workplace bullying. To make her
point, she donned a crown to talk about the evil Queen Bee dominating an office.
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So choose well.
3. You dont have to stand behind the podium. You can stand
to the side and have your notes on the podium, to glance at
as needed. This wont work, of course, if you are using the
podium microphone.
4. If you are behind the podium, stand back a step or two.
This will keep you from clutching or leaning on it. It will
encourage you to use your hands naturally. This in turn will
enhance your speaking voice.
5. Make sure the notes, water, and props are yours and not
something a previous speaker left there.
6. Take a few seconds to get yourself comfortable at the
podium before you speak. Place your notes the way you
want them. Make a final check on microphone height.
Make sure youre not leaning down into it. Keep your eyes
away from the audience as you do this. Take a couple of
deep breaths. When youre ready to speak, lift your head,
look at the audience, smile (if the content warrants a smile)
and begin.
7. If the podium has a light and youre using it, make sure it
doesnt obscure your face. Adjust the height so its closer to
your notes. Make sure you can still turn the pages.
8. Dont be afraid to place your podium exactly where you
want it to be. Usually its better to one side, especially if
youre using slides.
9. Standing behind a podium separates you from the
audience. Look for ways to come out from behind the
barrier and engage more with them.
Finally, go to the toilet before you speak. If youre speaking after a
meal, check your teeth before you leave the bathroom. Andmen
and womencheck clothes and hair before stepping on to the stage.
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1 1
he best speeches or presentations are the ones that look unrehearsed, as if they were given off-the-cuff. The person speaks
confidently, without notes. The audience hangs on every word.
A lot of people think the speaker is winging it. What they dont
know is the amount of work that went into making the presentation
appear effortless. The speaker may have been refining the speech and
rehearsing the delivery for weeks. The late Steve Jobs was a master
of the relaxed, no-notes presentation when he was rolling out new
Apple products. But he was notorious for the hours he spent rehearsing, so his performance could appear spontaneous.
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No matter how good you think you are, no matter how well you know
your material, no matter how comfortable you may
No matter how good
feel, resist the temptation to just get up and speak
you think you are, no without planning or preparation. You will rarely be
matter how well you able to deliver your main points in a focused way.
know your material, no Speakers who are unprepared tend to ramble.
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Give me a couple of years, and Ill make that actress an overnight success.
Samuel Goldwyn, Producer
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Once the words sound good coming out of your mouth, write them
down in the TalkitOut format: space down the page every time you
want to pause; double space for bigger pauses.
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The client practices the hook out loud until it can be delivered flawlessly. Then the client practices the rest of the speech out loud. Once
theyve done the whole speech, they can throw away the paper where
they jotted down the structure and just go do it. Or they can follow a
piece of paper with main points.
Scriptment looks effortless and really captures your true voice.
Unlike winging it from some slide-show notes, you will make sense
to your audience and hold them at every stage of your presentation.
They will get your message because you did all that preparation
work first.
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1 2
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but
people will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou, Author
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early morning, the audience may not be fully awake. This is a time
to gently ease into your message. Dont expect a huge reaction, even
though they may be engaged. Humour is tricky with an early morning audience.
Mid-morning is a great time for a presentation. People have started
their day. Theyve dealt with their emails. Theyve had their coffee.
Theyre awake and alert.
During lunch and the early afternoon, they may be very energetic.
Most people are at their peak at this time. They may be difficult to
control. (I speak from personal experience. I remember how hard I
had to work to keep some degree of control over a room of 300 women
for a luncheon speech).
As the afternoon progresses, energy levels dip. People have more difficulty concentrating. This is when you will need to draw on devices like
repetition, more visuals, audience interaction, maybe even humour.
In the evening, the audience expects to be entertained. The most
difficult spot is last speaker at an evening dinner. People have full
stomachs. Theyre relaxed and may be more interested in speaking to
their table-mates than listening to you. So you have to work harder.
Entertaining an after-dinner audience doesnt necessarily mean you
have to be funny. You could be speaking about a serious subject. Just
dont be boring. Pepper your speech with stories. An after-dinner
speech is a great place for storytelling.
Constantly ask yourself What does the audience expect from me?
Misjudging that expectation can lead to disaster. A person who had
been making headlines turned up to give an afterdinner speech to more than 500 people. The per- Constantly ask yourself
son had a great story to tell, and the audience was What does the audience
eager to hear it. But the first thing he did was fire expect from me?
up his Powerpoint slide show. Instead of speaking
from the heart about his incredible experiences, he tethered himself
to graphs, charts and speaking notes. It was the wrong time and the
wrong audience for an information-heavy slide show.
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You, Not I
An important way of engaging with an audience is to get them thinking about your presentation from their perspective. That means more
use of You and less use of I.
Instead of saying:
I had a very unusual experience the other day. I was sitting
at my desk reading email when suddenly I heard my bosss
voice.
Try:
Have you ever had an experience like this before. Youre
sitting at your desk. Youre reading your email. Suddenly you
hear your bosss voice.
Look for every opportunity to replace I with you. Every time you
say you, you are strengthening your connection with your audience.
Pulse Checks
Keep checking the audience is engaged. Use your instinct, the gutometer we talked about earlier. If you are truly connected to what youre
saying, and attentive to the energy coming back to
If you are truly connected you, you should be able to feel if the audience is
to what youre saying, still with you.
Another pulse check can be to ask for questions. But you must be
prepared to spend time answering themso budget the time for
questions carefully.
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Be Respectful
Respect your audience. Dont be the sage-on-stage. Yes, you are an
expert in your areabut they are experts in theirs. Youre sharing
information to make their world better. But by giving you their time
and attention, the audience will make your world better, too.
Hostile Audience
If you find yourself speaking to a hostile or uncooperative audience, you need to prepare more than usual. The first step is to figure
out why they are likely to be unreceptive. Do they object to you? Or
your message? Are they vulnerable for some reason? Are they facing
changes that could lead to wage- or job-cuts? Are they being forced
to listen to you? Make sure you know every type of objection they
could possibly have. Get an answer for each objection and strategically incorporate them into your presentation.
Here are a few points to remember when dealing with a difficult
audience:
Dont argue. Dont lose your temper. Your speech is not the place to
argue back and forth. You will lose the audiences respect. Make sure
you acknowledge and deal with topics of concern to them.
Dont be defensive. Falling into the trap of apologizing for your
position makes you look guilty or wrong. Present your point of view
confidently. If you make a good enough case, people will respect
youand you will probably win some converts. At the very least you
will have aired an alternative perspective and encouraged a debate.
Dont fall for trigger words in questions from the audience.
Trigger words are words that elicit an emotional reaction. For example, How could you spend so much public money on a junket to South
America? In this case the trigger word junket implies an abuse of
funds. Seasoned politicians have been known to lose their temper
when a heckler asks a question with an emotionally-laden trigger
word. Simply ignore the trigger word and calmly state your message.
Use paraphrasing to disarm a hostile member of the audience.
You can prcis what the person said, to indicate you were listening
carefully to their point of view. You can thank them for their perspective. Sometimes the simple act of letting someone get their opinions
off their chest, and have that opinion acknowledged, is enough to
defuse a hostile situation.
Watch your body language. Dont adopt aggressive or defensive
postures: no frowning, squinting, sighing, crossing your arms, fingerwagging or looking down at the questioner. You will send signals that
only make the challenger more aggressive. Stay relaxed and neutral.
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Using Humour
Humour is a good tool that gives an audience a chance to relax. You
dont need to open with a funny story, unless it really is the best opening. Beginning with a joke is a tired old routine. But if you can make
your point more effectively, or engage the audience more quickly, by
beginning with humour, by all means do. Make sure its relevant.
If you are starting your presentation with a joke and you are scheduled to
speak second, pay close attention to how the preceding speaker ended
his or her presentation. If they ended on a very heavy note, abandon
your opening joke. Move your humour deeper into your presentation.
Jokes are tricky. The best jokes poke gentle fun at yourself. Or they
help us see the ordinary things in life from a slightly different perspective. Some quick tips for using humour:
If they didnt get it the first time, never repeat a punch line.
Gracefully move on.
If they dont laugh, move on or use a comeback line: Thats
the last time I buy a joke from X (someone in the company).
Humour loves the expectant pause. Timing is everything.
Make sure the humour is something the audience will
understand. If you have a mix of Baby Boomers, Generation
Xers and Millennials in your audience, you run the risk
of having part of your audience laughing and the rest
scratching their heads at your joke.
Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse your funny story out loud.
Make sure there is a point to your funny story, in the
context of your presentation.
If in doubt, leave it out.
Managing Q&As
If you have a Question and Answer session in your presentation,
do it before your closing remarks. You cant control questions and
answers. You dont want to have to end your speech
or presentation on a negative remark or question If you have a Question
from the audience.
and Answer session
in your presentation,
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13
Tune Up Your
Inner Communicator
e a good listener. What does listening have to do with speaking? A lot, actually. Listening to your audience can determine
what you say next. You can plan and prepare before an event,
but when you go live things are not always in your control. You may
have to edit your presentation or speech on the spot, depending on
what you hear or sense from your audience.
You listen to your audience when they ask questions or make comments of course. But you should also be listening to them when
theyre laughing or applauding. You should be listening when they
are as quiet as mice with socks on.
Its surprising how your life changes when you practice active listening; thats really tuning in to other people, and not just pretending
to listen. In this section I want give you some tips for active listening,
whether youre having a conversation with one person or many.
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We have two ears and one mouth. That is probably because listening
is twice as hard as talking.
Anonymous
The more you listen, the better youll speak. Listen not only to the
words spoken by the other person, but to the tone of those words and
watch the body language used to express them. In
The more you listen, other words, listen to the speakers Spoken, Body
the better youll speak. and Inner Languages (whether its an individual or
a large audience). Here are some tips to help you
hone your listening skills so you can be a better presenter:
1. Be Honest
If you dont have time to truly listen to someone, arrange to talk later.
2. Pay Attention
Give the person your full attention. If youre on the telephone, dont
multi-task by reading or typing on your computer. People will hear
you tapping the keyboard. This will not help build a good relationship. If you get a business call on your mobile phone while youre
driving, pull over to talk or arrange to talk later.
3. Show Active Listening
Give the speaker a response that says Yes Im listening to you. I hear
you. Use your body language to acknowledge you hear the other person. Nod, smile, lean forward, maintain eye contact, have an open body
posture, be relaxed. If youre on the phone, you can inject a few phrases
that shows youre listening such as I see, of course, I understand.
4.Demonstrate Understanding
This shows not only that youve been listening actively but you actually understand whats been said. Do this through your words, tone
of voice, body position and gestures so the other person knows hes
understood. You can paraphrase what the speaker said: My understanding of what you said is or Let me see if I understand what
youve been saying.
5. Reflect Feelings
When a speaker is feeling very strongly about something, his emotions are engaged. In order to really listen to the person (as opposed
to just hearing their words), you need to be in touch with their feelings. Let the speaker work through the emotion before you respond.
Then paraphrase the feeling and the facts to let them know youve
heard what they said and how they feel.
6.Dont Judge
Everyone has the right to their opinions. You may not agree, but you
should generally respect the other persons right to their feeling. So
dont judge verbally, or non-verbally with your body language.
7.Respond
Always say something even if its just Ill get back to you. Be honest, and respectful. Treat the other person the way you would wish
to be treated.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the
mind on the present moment.
Buddha
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Make sure every word means something. Dont waste the audiences
timeor yours. Borrow a technique from the Buddha. Let your
ego go. Dont focus on having a certain outcome. The outcome will
always be perfect if you are fully awake and connected to the present moment. You will be speaking from the heart, and your words
will inspire. You will say and do the right thing. There is no failure
in this state.
true to yourself and speak from your heart. To be an effective communicator you need confidence. And you have to trust yourself.
TalkitOut forces you to be yourself because when you say each
thought out loud, you are tapping into your natural, conversational
voice. You can cheat and pretend youre someone else. You can drop
you voice, or raise your voice. You can pound the podium with your
fist. But the result will be a lousy presentation if the audience senses
that youre not authentic. They wont like you, or trust you.
To be yourself takes faith and guts. Faith that you are as good as
anyone. Faith that the audience will love you for who you arenot
because you can imitate someone else. Guts to speak in your own
authentic voice. If you believe in yourself, others will too.
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very time we speak, we have an opportunity to showcase ourselves as commanding speakers. Our speaking style is part of
our brand, embodied in the way we introduce ourselves, pitch
our products, or set up our voicemail. Not only does it reflect us, it
also reflects the company we work for.
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Voicemail
Voicemail announcements are often taken for granted. But for many
potential clients or customers, voicemail is where they first hear us.
Use the 15 to 20 seconds of a voicemail announcement to say something positive about youbeyond speak at the tone.
A voicemail announcement can reveal a lot about a person. Weve all
experienced disinterested voices rushing through scripts laden with
the stilted prose of the worst consumer-contact training programs.
We all know how refreshing it is to hear a friendly voice delivering a
sincere message. That friendly voice needs to be you. Here are a few
tips for recording and leaving voicemails:
1. When you record your voicemail announcement, stand
as you speak. This will give your message energy. Most
people record while hunched over their desk or phone. This
produces lifeless messages. Stand when youre leaving a
message for someone, too.
2. Smile as you speak. This will keep your tone warm and
pleasant.
3. Use pauses, to give people time to hear the information.
Pause after your name. If youre leaving another contact
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Making Group
Presentations
Unfortunately too often, the coordination and rehearsal gets overlooked. After an initial meeting, the project degenerates into a group
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of individuals working on their own. The first time the group actually
gets together is the day of the presentation. So they have their first
rehearsal in front of the client. Not a good idea.
One of Podium Coachings long-standing clients is a large advertising company. Staff are called on regularly to present their creative
ideas to clients in a group format. The group usually consists of the
account manager, the creative director, the communications director
and sometimes others. If its for a big client the presenters will be the
president and vice presidents of each department. Theres always
a lot at stake, so its important the presentation is smooth, professional and lands the contract.
Putting on a high-stakes group presentation is like mounting a small
theatrical play. You plan it, block it out (plan peoples movements
and the logistics), rehearse it and then deliver it. This section is
about how you can work together as a team to create and deliver a
winning presentation. All the advice about individual presentations
applies when youre working with a team. But there are a few additional elements you need to be aware of.
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have used in group presentations. They may not be right for you and
your audience. But they may spark a creative idea of your own:
Use a talk show format. Have the leader interview each
team members in a television talk show setting.
Do skits
Use a sport like football or basketball as a framework for
the presentation
Include videos to break up the monotony of speaking
to slides
Include humour
Use props
Tell as many stories as you can
Construct the whole presentation as a mystery plot,
giving the audience clues throughout and the answer
at the end
Kill the bullet points and use pictures instead
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Step 8: Rehearse
So often this very important step is neglected. The more you rehearse,
the more successful the presentation. Rehearsing will give the team
confidence. Theres a world of difference between knowing the plan
and being able to deliver the plan, especially when the clients skeptical eyes are focused on you.
Its in the rehearsal that each person will refine their individual roles.
This is the time to fine-tune the presentation. The group will become
united through the rehearsals. People can relax, knowing how their
part fits into the whole. You have time to identify and fix any glitches.
No matter how busy everyone is, you must find time to rehearse.
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138 Chapter 16: Taking Your Speaking Skills Around the World
Ensure your visuals (photographs or video) are culturally appropriate. You should use as many visuals as you can. They bridge the language barrier and will help you make your point quickly and clearly.
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Always remember its not you delivering the words. reach an audience
For the speech to be believable it has to capture the
through someone else.
authentic voice of the person delivering it. So its
important to work collaboratively with the speaker. Not only do you
have to understand the informationyou have to understand the
style and personality of the speaker.
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Use the TalkitOut Technique (talking out loud) just as you would if
you were preparing a speech for yourself. The only difference is, you
have to be a bit of a mimic. Get your clients voice in your head. Try
to imitate they way they speak. Formal or informal? Lively or laidback? How do they make their point in conversation? What rhetorical
devices do they use? Talk out the speech the way the client would.
Then the client can deliver your words with ease and conviction,
because it will sound natural.
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On behalf or your client, find out who will be making the introduction. Write it for them, so that the introduction flows seamlessly into
the beginning of the speech. This is an important detail you should
As a speechwriter, you
cannot not leave anything
to chance. Your job is to
help the speaker give the
best speech ever.
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To enable the speaker to relax and have confidence in you, you need
to double-check the logistics and the technology, and make sure relevant information is shared with the speaker. Have a fact sheet ready
with the speech. Heres what you need to arrange:
Location
What is the address? Whats the best route?
How long will it take to get there? Allow for traffic. Build in
extra time for contingencies.
Identify an alternative route, just in case.
Suggest the best way (taxi, car, train, foot) to get to the
location.
If the speaker is driving, make sure they know where to
park. Arrange for parking if necessary.
Make sure the speaker can get to the location in time to do
a sound check and get comfortable with the room and any
equipment being used.
Find out the room size. Is it appropriate for the intended
audience? Can it be re-arranged if necessary.
Check the temperature in the room. As the audience fills up
the room, it will get warmer.
Visuals
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Have the speaker rehearse the first draft out loud. Make
changes as needed.
Get the speaker to rehearse a second time. Listen as if you
were in the audience.
Ask the speaker to memorize the hook.
Ask the speaker if he or she wants any part of the speech
(other than the hook) in a key word format.
Prepare the slide show if one is needed.
If the speech is to be part of the public record, reformat a
copy for publication.
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Slides do not exist to bring life to a dull presentation; slides are not a dumping ground for all the
details your dont want to talk about; slides do not
let you cram even more data into your presentation. Most importantly, slides are not the star of the show you are. Slides reinforce
and make memorable the points you make in your presentation.
Too many presenters begin by creating their slides first. Then they
transcribe the content of the slides and use that as their speaking
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script. The slide presentation will never rise above the level of a
childs early reading book: see dog, say dog. This chapter will try to
persuade you theres a better way.
Dont Be a Slide-Reader
Being a slave to slides can lead to an even bigger sin. Some presenters prepare their slides with lots of information packed into sentences and bullets, then get up and deliver by simply reading whats
on the slide. They turn their back on the audience, and read to them.
The most important rule for any slide presentation is this: never turn
your back to your audience and read word-for-word the content of the
slides. Fall into this bad habit and you risk alienating your audience by:
a) putting them to sleep
b) antagonizing them
c) boring them
d) insulting them
Kill Objectives
Of course I dont mean abandon your objectives for your presentation. I mean kill the objectives slide. Thats the slide at the top of
the pile that lists everything youre going to do or say. Some people
call it the agenda slide. Many people show it right after the title slide.
Just like a speech, you need to begin your slide presentation with a great hook that grabs, intrigues
and engages the audience. Differentiate yourself
by launching into your presentation in the cleverest, most creative, way you can. There are subtler ways of establishing your purpose than by showing a slide with a list of bullet points.
Speaking of which
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you, and theyll not be focused on what you have to say. While youre
explaining bullet number 1, theyll be reading bullet number 4.
By revealing your points one at a time, you deliver your information
to the audience in bite-sized, understandable chunks. Youre not
The audience is there to confusing them by putting up too much information too soon.
Less Is More
The fewer words on the slide the more powerful and effective the presentation, whether you use bullets or not. The more words, the more
confusing it will be for the audience to listen to you
Slides should clarify,
and read at the same time.
Slides should clarify, not confuse. They should enhance, not detract.
enhance, not detract. They should never be the
main attraction. Thats your role. Check each slide for the number of
words. Can you get rid of any, in the name of clarity?
Slides with bullet points should have a maximum of six bullets, with
no more that 3 words in each one. Avoid complete sentences at all
costs, unless youre using a quote.
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After youve finished your slides, cut 25% out. Be brutal. Your audience will love you for it.
Focus On Content
For slides to make an impact, you must focus on the content before
the look. When planning a slide show, follow our guidelines for any
powerful presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Think It Out
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Write It Out
Reduce It (reduce the words as I showed you in Chapter 11.)
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If you want to skip some slides, you can do this easily if you know
the number of your slides. In PowerPoint you can find the number of
your slides by going to the Outline View and printing it. During the
show, type the number of the slide and press Enter. This will take you
directly to the desired slide.
Use the Appear effect to transition between slides. Its clean and simple and doesnt detract from you.
Be consistent. Use the same format, especially for bullets. Have them
all start with either a verb or a noun. If its a verb, make sure its the
same tense for every bullet.
If you use charts, tables or graphs, minimize the amount of information on each slide. Leave the slide up long enough for everyone to
look at it thoroughly before you launch into an explanation.
Use consistent font sizes. Titles are usually between 36 and 44 point
size, main text is 28 to 32 and the rest is 24 to 26. Dont go smaller than
24 point for your body text. Itll be too hard to read.
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Think Hollywood:
Add Impact With Video
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Getting Started
The first step is to know the basics of video production. At the very
least you need to understand focus, framing and how to get good
audio. Understanding something about production values means
youll create good videos if you do it yourself. And if you work with
a professional, youll be able to give them a clear sense of how you
visualize the finished piece. Plus youll be able to assess the quality
of their work.
Like everything else, it starts with a plan. You need a strategy for
your videos just like you would for your business or speech. Here are
some tips:
Planning
What is the purpose of your video?
Who you are targeting? Think of your ideal client or
viewer. Put yourself in their shoes and see your video
concept through their eyes. Keep them in mind all the time,
especially if youre video blogging.
Length
Shorter is better than longer. Aim for two minutes or less.
If you have a five minute video, try cutting it into five oneminute episodes.
If you do have a longer video, and cant cut it, clearly indicate
the length of the video so the viewer knows what to expect.
Put yourself in the viewers shoes: how much time would
you invest watching an online video?
Technical Tips
Always use a tripod.
Always use an external microphone. The microphone on
the camera will make you sound as if youre speaking from
inside a tin can.
Always use a light. It doesnt have to be elaborate. Just
shine it on your subjects face. Aim to capture a little
sparkle in the eyes.
Presenting On Video
If youre videoing yourself, apply everything Ive talked about, especially my TalkitOut Technique. Start by planning
Video is a cold medium.
your presentation. Be creative. Then rehearse it.
You need to warm it up.
Here are some tips to help you:
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Ive seen others use phones and tablets when presenting. Bravo.
Were saving trees and reducing litter, and we look really cool. There
may even be a buzz of anticipation in the audience because the presenter is doing something new and different. Danger is, that buzz
quickly evaporates when the speaker picks up the phone or tablet,
puts their head down, squints at the small type, and starts reading.
Reading to an audience, whether you do it from paper, a phone or
tablet, is a major turn-off.
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You never make eye contact with the audience, so you cant build a
relationship. Because you are concentrating so hard on reading the
script, your tone can become boring. Because you are reading from
the page, you may miss chances to insert emphaThe screen of a phone
sis. Delivery can sound stilted because the senor tablet works better tences are too long.
Technology is there to serve you. Too often we use technology for the
wrong reason. A well-known speaker bombed because of his love
affair with PowerPoint. Technically, his slides worked fine. But the
slide show was not appropriate for his subject matter. Using slides led
him down a path of graphs and pie charts, when the
When you consider
subject matter (and the audience) begged for stousing any technology ries from the heart of his remarkable experiences.
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Be Nice to Technicians
There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The
most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the
surest is with technicians.
Georges Pompidou, former Prime Minister
and President of France
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Summary: Technology
If youre reading from the screen of a phone or tablet, only
use key words.
Make sure your battery is fully charged.
Switch off the auto lock feature on your device.
Check that your laptop and LCD projector work together and
you have all the necessary cables and connectors.
Ask to have technical support there.
Back up your content on a portable drive.
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Media Mastery
by Neil Everton
Order now at podiumcoaching.com!
alkitOut creator Halina St James shows you how to shake off the anxiety associated with speaking and presenting. Instead, with her proven
technique, youll discover your authentic voice and deliver speeches and
presentations that hold audiences spellbound. Youll learn how to:
alina is a former television news producer and reporter for the two
big networks in Canada, CBC and CTV. She covered wars, revolutions, summit meetings and Olympic Games in Barcelona, Atlanta and
Lillehammer. Halina created TalkitOut to help television reporters and
anchors tell their stories better. Then executives and politicians started
asking for training, to help them communicate better. She founded Podium
Media and Communications Coaching in 2005. She is a presentation skills coach,
workshop leader and professional speaker. Halina lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.
ISBN 978-0-9732804-4-9
www.podiumcoaching.com
9 780973 280449