Here’s a good role model for your speaking. He’s natural, conversational, funny and to the point. Watching others do a good job can help improve your speaking. TED offers many opportunities to watch speakers with something to say. Of course, some a better than others, but in addition to content, you can learn a lot from their delivery.
They can be a quick way to get a point across allowing you to use fewer words and paint better pictures. But “kick the can down the road” is a current example of overkill. Many politicians are using it regarding pending legislation. In an interview on a news show yesterday, a White House spokesman used it twice while explaining why the decision on cutting spending for the country needs to be made now. The third time it began to get old. And after that, it was counterproductive. Use it a couple of times maybe and then perhaps use “put it off” or some other way of saying it. That many times begins to sound like a mantra, a memorized way of making your point. Really. You should be looking to connect with your audience, not just go on autopilot.
In this morning’s press conference on the same subject, President Obama used a couple of good word pictures. When talking about not making the changes piecemeal he used the phrase, “rip off the band-aid,” which by itself worked well, something everyone was familiar with, and immediately followed it with “eat your peas” which was even more homey and drew a chuckle from listeners.
Use them when you’re wanting to explain something quickly and vividly, and if you find yourself using one more than once in the same conversation, be sure you’re focused enough to not sound phony.
Commercials are a great teaching tool for designing your speeches. They can transition anything in a matter of seconds and take us all with them.
TurboTax starts with a man delivering 200 pound ice sculptures needing a GPS to get him there before the ice melts to how TurboTax does the same thing for him with his taxes–a reliable guidance system.
United Health starts with a man winning an award for his barbecuing recipe and transitions to United Health being a recipe for his good health.
Lipitor has a man reminiscing about his having skated on thin ice as a youngster (“what was I thinking?”) and transitions to the thin ice he’s been on with his health.
If advertisers can transition subjects that smoothly in a 30-second commercial, you ought to be able to transition effectively in a business speech and not worry about losing your audience. More than that, if you can capture their attention and do a good transition, you should be able to hold their attention better.
If a bank commercial can jazz up banking it’s probably possible to bring more life to your subject.
The Chase commercial starts with a voice over (I’ve been waiting for this all day) as you see clothing strewn on the floor. And we quickly move into bed where they are trying out a new app that allows them to bank their wedding checks from the phone.
It may be a bit much for a business presentation, but it’s a good illustration of how creativity can be applied to every subject. Keep your eyes and ears open for ways to make it easy for your audience to listen to you and get your point.
Business speak isn’t listener friendly. It’s safe because everyone does it, but it leads to people texting while you’re talking.
Logistics is a perfectly respectable word but it doesn’t immediately paint pictures for anyone who isn’t actually doing logistics as a part of the job. UPS apparently feels so strongly about what “logistics” encompasses that they have a couple of ads designed to help you cozy up to the concept.
To the tune of an old Dean Martin song, “That’s amore,” they’ve described exactly what they do and painted pictures of “logistics.”
It starts with, as, “When it’s planes in the sky, for a chain of supply, that’s logistics,” and includes “There will be no more stress, ’cause you’ve called UPS, that’s logistics.”
You may not want to sing your presentation (although it could work) but you can choose more interesting words to make your point and grab your audience.
That can happen when you’ve been assigned a topic — especially if it’s not your area of expertise.
If it makes sense to do so, you might suggest that someone who’s more knowledgeable about the topic do the presentation. If that’s not an option, ask some questions.
• Why does the one assigning the presentation think the audience needs to hear the subject?
• Ask yourself: How will it help them? How can they use it? What aspect of the subject affects them or might they be interested in?
• In addition, what aspect of the subject does interest you? There’s something about it that will interest you and them. There’s no such thing as a boring subject, only bored speakers. Refuse to be bored.
Once you see that it can be useful and find an interesting angle on it, you’ll gt more interested.
In the long run, you’ll save time, enjoy it more, and convey the message more effectively.
“You have brains in your head./ You have feet in your shoes./ You can steer yourself/any direction you choose. “ Dr. Seuss
Instead of sitting down at the computer trying to force your presentation into being, go out and take a walk. And while you’re walking, examine your presentation aloud. The talking, the movement, work together to bring latent ideas to the front of your mind and begin to sort them–without stress and strain on your part.
At any point in the process (organizing, practicing, shortly before your presentation, or any time you feel stuck or overwhelmed), be kind to yourself, go take a walk and talk your ideas out loud. It’s the fastest way to come up with the ideas and the strongest way to make them yours.
People who participate in my seminars report this really works. So why not give it a try?
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