What Do You Do When Your Jokes Are NOT Funny…
on Jul 09 in UncategorizedHave you experienced the weird atmosphere which comes after a funny story you’ve cracked fell flat on the target audience?
Or, do you have the belief that you are, simply, not funny at all?
Even the most confident speakers may falter when it comes to the skill of injecting humour adequately in their speeches. Not to worry, though, as this entry aims to offer several tips which, I hope, will guide you in adding just the right dosage of humour in the right moment so as to make your stories or punchlines work.
As the cliché saying goes, laughter is the best medicine and people today are drawn towards humour like bees to honey simply because cynicism has been ingrained in today’s culture. Thus the value-add of humour in public speaking. While, this may be the case, a lot of people out there find themselves lacking the skill sets to pull off punch lines effectively and effortlessly.
Though humour is commonly believed to be an elusive art to master, I think otherwise.
How can I avoid a humour debacle?
The great comic Jim Mendrinos once shared, “In order to be funny, you got to first know what makes you laugh as this will give you obvious clues to what makes other people laugh.” This means that you have to know what form of humour works for you, and what does not!
Different people find different things funny and these are all common elements in your everyday life, be it in everyday conversations, quotes, books etc. Humour is ubiquitous in life!
There are many forms of humour, ranging from normal banter to exaggeration techniques. Hence, make an effort to build a humour bank! It will be great to start off by observing yourself and the people around you. Jot down the comical instances which occur – there has to be noteworthy ones each day! You will never know when these instances will come in handy as ammunition for your speeches.
On the day of your speech, get to know the audience! As Scott Friedman of Advanced Public Speaking Institute suggests, “the more you know about the audience, the more opportunities you will have to play with them”. Understand the dynamics of the audience, as this will make it easier for you to relate to them through your language, tone and the framework of your speech. As mentioned above, different people find different things funny. So, knowing your audience allows you to cater your humour to the intended group in mind properly – chances are that knock-knock jokes are unlikely to work for adults as opposed to primary school children!
Also, be sure to know the intention of the speech and what you intend for the audience to get out of listening to you. Time is a precious commodity these days, and implanting suggestive and timely, yet relevant humour, will be a very effective way to make your speech more memorable without having to drone on and on with examples. Establish and manoeuvre your speech around this purpose, bearing in mind what works for you, as well as the target audience, in creating your stories or punch lines.
There are also potholes to avoid, so do not step into them! The following is a compilation of some “Don’t”s , adapted from the Rostrum publication “Tips on Public Speaking and Meeting Procedures Vol 1”:
1. Don’t use recycled jokes and stories, the faux pas of public speaking. As you have probably experienced this yourself while listening to speeches before, hearing familiar stories countless times before are bound to elicit groans instead of laughs.
2. Don’t laugh at your own jokes while reciting it — self-control is important! The best way to pull off a punch line is always with a straight face. This will catch the audience off guard and intensify the humorous effect.
3. Don’t give the audience too little time to savour your punch line. Let them digest and laugh before you move on! This will allow the audience to catch the subsequent stories after that.
4. Don’t ever explain your jokes or punch lines! If the audience fail to get the joke, move on. Explaining the joke will not help matters, especially when the funny moment did not, have not, and will not come. To lighten the tense mood at this instant, though, some self-effacing humour may work.
Why do people laugh?
To help find the key in instilling humour in your speech, let us take a look behind the scenes at what makes people laugh. Max Eastman, author of The Enjoyment of Laughter presents the four laws of humour related to being “in fun”.
The first law is that things will only be funny when we are “in fun”. You must however still observe that beneath our humour may lurk serious thoughts or motives, but even in that state you may still perceive things as funny. This is the “half in fun” state. As the speaker, knowing the audience well enough will assist in breaking the ice and getting them to be “in fun”.
The second law is that when we are “in fun”, a shift of values takes place so that pleasant things will remain pleasant, while negative things will also acquire a positive emotional flavour and in turn provoke laughter. This is so long that they are not so disagreeable that they end up “spoiling the fun”. A positive example is in the form of self-effacing humour, where you laugh at yourself for something negative, thereby inciting laughter in others.
The third law is that being “in fun” is a condition most natural to childhood, and that children at play reveal the humorous laugh at its rawest. You may notice that, to kids, every action which may be shocking or even disturbing, is enjoyable as ‘funny’ unless it is disastrous enough to force them out of the mood of “fun” (in which tears will supersede)
The fourth law is that grown-up people retain varying degrees of this aptitude of being “in fun” and thus enjoy unpleasant things as funny, to varying degrees. Therefore, the main challenge for you as the speaker is to reach out to the entire audience present, even the detractors within a crowd who have lower degrees of aptitude for being “in fun”.
With all that being said, try it out! You will never know what works for you unless you do so. BE FUNNY and have your audience rolling off their seats!
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/public-speaking-articles/what-do-you-do-when-your-jokes-are-not-funny-1018148.html
Voice Of A Champion
on Jul 08 in Uncategorized
I was recently teaching one of my corporate leaders whose company is based in Washington State. During my visit, I helped him recognize something that he took for granted—that he is in fact a visionary. Then I shared one of Walt Disney’s favorite words that he helped coin, “imagineering.” Walt Disney used to say, “If you can imagine it, you can engineer it.”
At this moment, I’m also creating a new program. One of the modules has to do with the “voice of a champion.” My business partner on this project asked me an interesting question the other day, “What does a champion’s voice sound like?” I said a champion’s speaking voice doesn’t sound different than anyone else’s, because speech is habit. When we communicate we are “just being ourselves,” (We’re actually not—we just think we are, but that is another blog.)
I said that the inner Voice of the champion, however, is fundamentally different. That Voice embodies a belief system and a dedication that commits the champion to fulfilling his or her highest ideals. In the Work that I’ve created over a period of four decades, one of the major principles is to integrate the inner Voice through the outer voice and strategically, through breath, something I call visceral language and other techniques, stay in conscious contact with this integrative process.
Here is a thought and a technique for you to try. Identify something you would like to accomplish. Determine if there is a passion that is crying out to be pursued. Write it out and do something every day to help manifest your vision. If this is a new process for you, don’t try to take the journey in leaps and bounds—small, consistent, incremental steps are best. To support what I call your Deeper Self, stay in contact with a slow, silent, loving, conscious breath. The breath will help diffuse anxiety and empower you to be there for your Self.
In addition, practice verbalizing your vision. See your words. Feel the energy of your voice. Convey the integrity of your intention. Practice daily as often as you choose. As you begin, possibly confused, nervous and wracked with doubt—Do it anyway! You will be amazed to discover how easy it is to be there for your Self and to break old habits. Trust. Commit. Don’t just be a dreamer but become a pragmatic visionary.
Arthur Samuel Joseph, M.A. is a master teacher/strategist to Hollywood celebrities, notable sports figures and many others. He has also lent his expertise in the political arena on both the state and national levels. His books, audio series and courses are available through this website. He is the founder of the Vocal Awareness Institute, and has studied the physical, emotional and psychological aspects of the human voice for more than four decades. Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/public-speaking-articles/voice-of-a-champion-1018939.html
10 Things To Do Before Your Speech That Will Take The Nervousness Out Of You
on Jul 07 in UncategorizedInspired by Andrew Dlugan’s recent post “Stop Rehearsing! 3 Critical Things to Do Before Your Speech“, I will like to add to his list 7 more things you can do before your speech to take the nervousness out of you.
First, let’s do a quick recap of his three excellent pointers.
1. Study the venue logistics
2. Meet your audience (extra tip: build before rapport)
3. Watch, listen and participate in the event agenda
The rationale for #1 and #2 is straightforward – to reduce uncertainty, which is usually the main cause of a speaker’s nervousness. #3 is an extremely powerful strategy that is used by all professional speakers. And I strongly recommend you to do the same if you want to create impact in your presentation.
OK here’s my other 7.
4. Practice aloud your 30 seconds introduction
The first 30 seconds of any presentation is the most crucial because the audience is the most skeptical, and you the speaker is the most nervous. By making sure you have memorized your introduction, you will be less likely to fumble at the start. It helps to practice aloud too so that you know how you sound like. I will usually incorporate hand gestures too. By getting your entire body involved, your mind will be conditioned to think that you are doing the actual speech. And when you are on stage, you will feel like you have done in umpteen times. This has great effect in boosting your confidence.
5. Listening to music of your choice
Music is therapeutic and has a soothing effect on even the most nervous speaker. Here’s something you can try: create a personal playlist of music that works for you. It could be music that calms your nerves or music that perks you up. For some people, it is jazz. For some, it is loud heavy metal. Well to each its own. For me, instrumental music (especially piano recitals) works best (a.k.a Kevin Kern or SENS). What I usually do is to start listening to the music as I travel down to the speaking venue. And once I am there, I will usually start setting up and if possible, I will even play the playlist using their sound system. If they don’t allow them, you still have your ipod.
6. Do something that gets you in the mood
OK I know.. this sounds vague. Let me give you an example. I always get nervous before a contest. And sometimes it can get really bad. But what calms me down is watching some of my idols do their thing on stage. That includes comedians like Dane Cook and Russell Peters. Their cool demeanor never fails to make me feel relaxed. And I like how they make their audience laugh at cue. And after watching 3 – 5 mins of their gig, I will feel all motivated to also do the same. I suspect the laughing also helps a lot. So yes, watch something light-hearted.
There was once when I delivered a speech on human connection and in order to help me get into the mood, I watched a youtube video titled free hugs, which was what inspired me to deliver the speech in the first place.
So as you can tell, the form doesn’t matter, as long as you do something to get you into the mood.
7. Clear out the trash
This is a phrase I borrowed from this underground cult movie “The Peaceful Warrior”. Trash in this case is the clutter and voices in your head. Usually the black dogs. Here are some familiar ones:
You will never be good enough.
You don’t deserve to win.
They are going to walk out on me… just like the last time.
Aww.. you are trying to do your thing again. Don’t you remember how you failed the last time?
Why did I even agree to do this presentation… I am going to screw it up.
You are going to get too nervous and muck it all up!
I don’t have anything worthwhile to say, I am wasting their valuable time.
I am going to forget something important and look like a fool.
Most speakers empower these conversations by listening to them and believing in them. That’s why they look distracted and nervous on stage. The trick is to throw out these trash BEFORE your speech. Let me share with you one very effective way of doing so.
WRITE DOWN EVERY VOICE / CONVERSATION YOU HAVE IN YOUR HEAD.
Yes, it is that simple. All you need to do is just offload. Empty out all the voices in your head so that you can focus on delivering the presentation. What I like to do is to hand write it on a piece of A4 paper. Once I am done, I will crush the paper and dump it into the trashcan. The whole act itself is extremely liberating and really helps to keep you focused.
8. Do voice exercises
When you are nervous, your muscles tense up, including your throat. And if you don’t warm up, you will sound like a strangled frog on stage. Not a beautiful sight.
Voice exercises do not have to be complicated. Singing the scale works. Doing funny faces in private works too. Let me share with you a tried and tested procedure from a book titled “Preparing for Peak Performance”.
i. Massage your face. Loosen the jaw.
ii. Align your body, head, shoulders and spine; get grounded and breathe deeply
iii. Use sounds like “zzzzzzz”, “sssssss”, “haw” and “hoo”. Breathe deeply without lifting your shoulders
iv. Try some tongue twisters
v. Speak some key sentences from your presentation
If you have a microphone, I suggest you do a mike test too. So you know how you sound with a microphone. And of course to get used to holding and speaking from a mic.
9. Anchor yourself in a positive experience
Recall a positive experience where you did an excellent job on stage. Note your environment – what do you see, smell and hear? Be as specific as you can. The important thing is to re-experience the emotions – the excitement, relief, joy, happiness, pride etc. You can even pick a non-speaking experience like clinching a $100K business deal or a successful day out with your family. Any experience/memory that helps you re-experience the positive emotions.
As you are waiting to be called, close your eyes and relive your experience. Soak up all the emotions and then slowly open your eyes. Tell yourself that YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN. And then go do your thing!
10. Breathe deeply
If you recalled my first encounter with public speaking, you will remember how my best friend advised me to take 50 deep breaths to calm my nerves. And by the time I hit 20, I was hyperventilating. (grins)
Breathing deeply does help though… coz it helps your muscles relax. However you don’t have to do it 50 times. Sometimes doing it once is sufficient. The whole point is to help your body relax.
(Bonus) Ask yourself this question…
“Why am I delivering this speech in the first place?”
Remind yourself the value of your speech – how will your audience benefit from listening to you. Why is it so important for them to hear your message. In short, focus on your audience. That will also take the heat off you and allow you to put up a good show, because it is for a “higher purpose”.
Now go break a leg!
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com
5 Simple Ways To Attract Positive Attention & Draw A Sizeable Crowd To You
on Jul 07 in UncategorizedHow do you attract positive attention and draw a sizeable crowd to you?
This is a question I ask myself when I did my first book talk in KL. Unfortunately, I could not find any credible or relevant information that answers this burning question of mine. In times like this, I improvise.
The good news is some work and I will like to share them with you.
Here are the workable ones that have been refined after three book talks.
1. A crowd attracts a bigger crowd… hire groupies if you need to
People are naturally curious. So if they see a crowd (about 5-10) standing, with their full attention on you, they will check it out.
Most of these people will stay for about 30 seconds to assess if your talk is relevant or interesting enough for them to drop their agenda. If you want to play safe, I encourage you to “hire” a crowd. Gather some of your friends and fans. Make sure they report on time. Get them to rally together. Each time someone passes by or stops, have them give a warm smile to the person and invite him/her to join in. This has proven to work wonderfully well!
2. Location, location, location!
Pick a place where you have a lot of open space. This way, you are highly visible.
When we were in KL, the first day turned out was much better than the second day even though the second bookstore was a bigger one. Here’s why. In the picture above, you notice we were right smack in the middle of the bookstore. Judging from the density of the crowd, most of them walks in from the right (of me). I even have a friend who will stop these people and invite them to sit in.
However on the second day, we have this really HUGE waterfall blocking us (to the left of the picture).
Hence we only have a crowd on the far right and we miss about 50% of the people in the bookstore. Plus, the talk was held in the quadrangle which creates an invisible barrier. People who are not in the quadrangle will think it is a scheduled talk and avoid it. This is why the crowd size did not increase significantly compared to the first day.
3. Let ‘em do the talking
Make sure you have a lot of activities that get your audience talking and mingling. Firstly, this creates buzz which attracts people. Secondly, it allows the audience to interact with one another which makes the whole environment friendlier. So what you get is a friendly buzz that naturally draws people in.
Getting my listeners up to talk works like magic. It’s usually normal to see someone in suit talking since people will assume he has been hired. However to see a shopper speak, now that is something you don’t see everyday. So in your talk, find as many opportunities as you can to have pockets of your listeners up on stage or make sure you have a lot of activities where they get to interact with one another.
4. Use the “S” word
The word SECRET and SUCCESS seems to have an effect on the audience. Each time I say something along the line of “Let me tell you a secret…” or “Here are three tips on how to be successful…”, you will hear a pin drop. Everyone will keep really quiet. Even the kids. Passer bys will deliberately slow down so that they can eavesdrop into the million dollar secret that you were about to share.
The lesson is simple – make it exclusive.
5. If need be, pay them to laugh at all your jokes and clap at opportune times
Laughter and applause are your two best weapons in drawing crowds. In a short 60 minutes, I have about 8 stories planted in my talk. And each of them are intentionally funny. Some even require audience participation. For example the analogy about swimming and public speaking.
So if you are going to give a talk to an open crowd, make sure your speech has about 80% stories, 20% tips. Stories are naturally engaging so it becomes your magnet in pulling a crowd. After you finish your story, land them with a power point or a valuable message, that will keep them staying. Repeat the formula and you will have 10 soccer teams eating out of your hands in no time.
Here are other miscellaneous pointers on drawing an attentive crowd.
Don’t just address the crowd. Make sure you talk to passer-bys too. Catch their eye and speak to them as if they are meant to be listening to you. I guarantee you that they will stop and listen, at least until they find you boring or irrelevant to their needs.
Have a whiteboard with big words on it. Mind maps work well too. When passer by walks past, they will be curious enough to check out what you have written and since it is hard to walk and read at the same time, they will linger for a while.
Final note: Even if you have just one listener, hide your disappointment. It’s ok. Really. On the bright side, you won’t be suffering from aerobic effects of public speaking… and if you keep at it, you will start to draw a crowd. Why? Coz’ people are curious. They will be wondering why are you speaking to only one person. Why is that one person so focused on you? Is there something that they are missing out on? And before you know it, you have ten, twenty people clamoring for your attention.
Final final note… I am going to assume here that you have SOLID content that (1) resolves your audience’s top three frustrations or challenges and (2) bring them one step closer to their wants and desires.
Good luck with your next public appearance!
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com
15 More Ways To Take The Stage And Sharpen Your Public Speaking Skills
on Jul 06 in UncategorizedLet’s set things straight. There is absolutely NO way you can learn how to swim or cook from just reading a book or attending a seminar unless you are a genius. Yes?
And there’s a reason why there are still a gazillion number of people who are not rich in spite of the number of books on how to get rich. Yes?
If you have realized by now, the fastest and most effective way in mastering a skill is by DOING it. As the saying goes:
Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skills is knowing how to do it and virtue is doing it.
But Eric, I don’t deliver presentations everyday! No worries, you can still clock stage time if you adopt this insider strategy practiced by many top leaders and speakers in our world.
And here’s the barring truth – champions never turn down stage time. So instead of harping on it, I shall share with you 15 more ways to take the stage and sharpen your public speaking skills. If you have other brilliant ideas, please share them with me under the comments section.
1. Volunteer to emcee at your company’s event or your child’s birthday party
2. Give a toast at your friend’s wedding
3. Ask a question at a conference (during the Q&A session)
4. Join a Toastmasters meeting (speak at the Table Topics segment)
5. Conduct a mini workshop for your friends on a topic that you are an expert on (say cooking)
6. Speak up at your department’s meeting
7. Volunteer to deliver a presentation on behalf of your team in school
8. Attend a business networking event – find opportunities to speak up
9. Say hello to strangers on the way to work or school
10. Volunteer to teach at a non-profit organization
11. Videotaped yourself delivering a speech and then get professional feedback
12. Search for speeches and scripts on youtube and then recreate them.
13. Do a stand up comedy gig (warning: not for the faint hearted)
14. Have a boys or girls night out and take the chance to share some of your juicy stories with them.
15. Attend a public speaking program!
And I have just the right program to recommend you, especially if you are in Singapore!
It’s no ordinary program because it has taken close to a year to develop.
It combines years of experience and wisdom from all my mentors and speech coaches.
The process that we are adopting in this program has been fine-tuned over the past three years, with many success stories to boast of, including mine!
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com
Toastmasters Speech Competitions Are Not The Best Way To Measure Your Speaking Success
on Jul 06 in UncategorizedA couple of days ago, I raved about having a female winner for the International Speech Contest held by Toastmasters International. This competition is akin to the Olympics of public speaking. Anyhow, one of the readers (Simon from UK) commented that “a Toastmasters competition is not the best way to measure skills as a public speaker…” and he sees “competitions as a bit too artificial to give a decent idea”. If you are curious about why he thinks that way, check out his blog.
Nonetheless, our conversation triggered a question – Can a winning speech be considered an excellent speech?
With the recent win by LaShunda Rundles, people all around the world are raving about her, judging from the number of times she gets mentioned in blogs and websites. For people who haven’t heard her speaker, we would be curious about what she spoke about that got her that win. What’s her message? How did she deliver it? What techniques did she use? Who was her coach? And etc.
However, is her winning speech a model of an excellent speech? Now, that’s a tough question.
What makes a winning speech is fairly subjective. Not only does it depend on a set of judging criteria, it also depends on the judges that day and the other contest speeches.
Take for example the District International Speech Contest held in Delaware, US in 2005, organized by the Toastmasters International. Five of the eight speakers had messages that revolved around death! At first, the stories shared were rather touching and the first two speakers managed to move the audience. However, when the other three speakers continued speaking about death, it totally spoilt the mood. All of a sudden, the audience felt manipulated. It didn’t help that the timekeeper that day was donning the attire of a Grim Reaper! Not surprisingly, the three speakers who won that day were those who avoided the topic of death. And mind you, they weren’t the best!
Having said that, let me share with you a secret on how Darren La Croix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, beat 11 other world-class speakers that year.
It is best explained by telling you how his winning speech came about. A couple of months before the contest, Darren went to his speech coach, Mark Brown (1995 World Champion of Public Speaking) for some assistance. He was not sure what to speak on and his coach gave him one assignment.
“If you have only one day left to live, what is one lesson that you have personally learnt in your life, which you want to pass on to your children?”
For those of you without any children, replace that with your loved ones, or even the world if you like.
Darren had two days to list them all down. You see, if you were to think on the spot, you may come up with the obvious few. However, this may not be the most heartfelt or authentic ones. Remember the importance of speaking from the heart? As he glanced through all the possible topics, one stood out.
“I became a comedian because I was willing to fail…”
And Darren ran with that topic.
The next assignment was to find stories that related to his message. Again, if you were to just take whatever comes to mind first, you will put yourself in the league of the ordinary. Stories on Thomas Edison or Abraham Lincoln were way too common and predictable. Instead, Darren chose a character that was listed at the bottom of page four – Dr Robert Gardner, the man who invented the first rocket.
The lesson is simple. When you speak on a topic that you can relate to; that has the most significance on your life, that when shared, will create the greatest impact on your listeners, you will effortlessly win your audience over. That is also how you can create a winning speech.
Watch Darren deliver his winning speech.
Now let me answer the second part of the question. Can a winning speech be considered an excellent speech? Again, excellence is subjective. It also depends on whose benchmark you use to judge the speech’s excellence.
In my opininon, a winning speech is NOT an excellent speech because the people judging your speech may not have an eye for excellence. In addition, when you win a speech, it may be because your competitors are weak! Hence, even if you win several speech competitions, you are not necessarily good.
At this point of time, some of you may be asking us “If that is the case, how can one measure his speaking success?”
On top of the speaking accolades you win, there are two other ways to measure your speaking success. Interestingly these two ways are often overlooked.
1. Personal Growth
Your success can also be measured by how much you have grown from giving the speech. There are some types of speeches that you are not comfortable delivering (e.g. humor speeches), and you made an attempt, that’s personal growth… as long as you learnt something from your act of courage. It can come in the form of realizing that you do have a knack for humor or discovering some techniques that did not work very well for you.
Growth could also come in the form of speaking to an audience that you are not used to. For example, large size or higher seniority, or speaking in a style that you are normally not used to.
Take myself for example. My default mode is high energy, always smiling and positive. That works very well for me, especially if I want the participants to warm up to me. However, I realized that this style doesn’t work if I were to coach a bunch of adults who are not producing results. Being nice only gives them the permission to take advantage of me. This is when my tough side needs to show.
2. Create Value For Your Audience
Interestingly, “creating value for audience” is a favorite measure of success for many champion speakers, including Darren La Croix (2001) and Jim Key (2003).
“Champion speakers do not aspire to get a wow. We aspire to get the audience to do something for themselves, or to think differently about your subject or themselves when we are done. You need to think the same way. You cannot worry about what the audience thinks of you…that is an amateurish way of thinking. Think bigger. What will they ‘do’ as a result of you speaking… makes sense?” – Darren La Croix
Furthermore the audience has given you the gift of time and attention, so it is only fair to return them something valuable. Value could come in the form of what the audience wants. For example, to de-stress after a long day at work. Hence a speech peppered with funny anecdotes would be much appreciated. Alternatively, if they are here to learn, then make sure that your audience walks away with useful pointers that they can apply immediately to areas of their concern. Remember, under-promise but over-deliver! Or, maybe what your audience needs is to be challenged and inspired to grow. You can write a speech that bestows them with such opportunities!
The next speech competition is coming near… we have the Humorous Contest, Evaluation Contest (in Singapore) and Table Topics Contest (in US). I suggest you take the opportunity to clock your stage and remember, winning is only one way of measuring your speaking success.
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com
Here’s 60 Public Speaking Tip-Bits To Keep You Ahead Of The Speaking Game
on Jul 05 in UncategorizedAren’t you curious about how to take the guesswork of public speaking?
Aren’t you dying to find out that ONE lesson top speakers learn that made all the difference?
Aren’t you intrigued by how some amateur speakers could wow the crowd by applying that one tip-bit?
I did.
And lucky for you, I took the liberty to find out.
Presenting to you a list of 60 public speaking tip-bits that kept the top speakers ahead of the speaking game. So can you… if you take the next five minutes or so to study the list.
1) The greatest enemy of speakers is same-ness. – Patricia Fripp
2) Stage time, stage time, stage time. – Darren La Croix
It is not about how good you are today, it is about stage time. If you get up in front of your audience today, you will get better tomorrow, as a result of that experience.
3) Here are three things that a persuasive speaker must be: authentic, passionate and have a gun (created over Humor College with Darren)
4) Comedians are people who get paid to complain – Dave Fitzgerald
5) Fact tells, stories sell.
6) Don’t memorize, internalize. – David Brooks
7) Be so good that the only question is “Who’s in second place?” – Otis Williams, 1993 winner of international speech contest
The two main arsenal of a speaker is his stories and analogies. The better his stories and analogies, the more he gets paid.
9) Remember that the one person considered by many to be the greatest communicator in history ONLY spoke in stories and parables. He was a leader of tens and hundreds, and ultimately millions, and he didn’t have the benefit of a speechwriter, or a large organization for support, or the leverage of the media for that matter. But he changed history more than any other man, in one solitary life. And Jesus did it all by speaking. With stories.
10) It’s not what you say that matters, it is what they (your audience) remember that matters (it’s about memorability and action)
11) KISS = Keep it simple, stupid!
12) Great speeches are not written, they are rewritten
13) Don’t forget the power of other people’s experiences.
14) Learning is directly proportional to the amount of fun you have. – Robert Pike
When they laugh the most, they learn the best.
15) To sell Jane Doe what Jane Doe wants to buy, you got to see the world in Jane Doe’s eyes. (Dale Carnegie)
16) Good communicators inspire people to reach for the stars; great communicators make people believe they can reach them. – Tom Hopkins
17) Never read your speech to the audience.
18) Stories are simulations that run on the mind. – Keith Oatley
19) There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience. – Alexander Gregg
20) It’s (public speaking) quite simple. Say what you have to say and when you come to a sentence with a grammatical ending, sit down. – Winston Churchill
21) Always be shorter than anybody dared to hope. – Lord Reading
22) Grasp the subject, the words will follow. – Cato the Elder
23) If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour. – Dianna Booher
24) Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything. – Herbert Gardner
25) There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave. – Dale Carnegie
26) It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech – Mark Twain
27) Be sincere; be brief; be seated. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
28) A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart. – Peggy Noonan
29) The eloquent man is he who is no beautiful speaker, but who is inwardly and desperately drunk with a certain belief. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
30) Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances – Thomas Jefferson
31) You are only an attitude away from success. – John Maxwell
32) The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives. – Lilly Walters
33) If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will. – Harvey Diamond
34) Best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about. – Michael H Mescon
35) Find out what’s keeping them up nights and offer hope. Your theme must be an answer to their fears. – Gerald C Myers
36) 90% of how well the talk will go is determined before the speaker steps on the platform. – Somers White
37) Say not always what you know, but always know what you say. – Claudius
38) Be who you are
And say what you feel,
Because those who mind
Don’t matter,
And those who matter
Don’t mind. – Dr. Seuss
39) Humour is also a way of saying something serious. – T.S. Eliot
40) Knowledge is the antidote to fear. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
41) You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart. – John Ford
42) Speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners. – Dale Carnegie
43) Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent. – Dionysius Of Halicarnassus
44) If we are not trusted, we have no business. – Larry Page, co-founder of Google
45) If you don’t have fun, you don’t have a show. – Bertolt Brecht
46) He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense. – Joseph Conrad
47) Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people. – W.B. Yeats
48) To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others. – Tony Robbins
49) It’s not how strongly you feel about your topic, it’s how strongly they feel about your topic after you speak. – Tim Salladay
50) Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall. – Oliver Wendell Holmes
51) The most precious things in speech are the pauses. – Sir Ralph Richardson
52) Talk low, talk slow, and don’t talk too much. – John Wayne
53) They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. – Carl W. Buechner
54) The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. – Dorothy Nevill
55) Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech. – Martin Fraquhar Tupper
56) Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening. – Dorothy Sarnoff
57) Humor is the sunshine of the mind. – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
58) The art of communication is the language of leadership. – James Humes
59) All the great speakers were bad speakers at first. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
60) To be a person is to have a story to tell. – Isak Dinesen
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com
5 Powerful Lessons That Will Get You Speaking On Par With The Best
on Jul 05 in UncategorizedIn this article, I am going to do a spin to five of the life lessons he has shared and show you how they can also be aptly applied to improving your speaking skills.
1. Embrace failure as a wonderful thing
Personally, this advice is new to me. I have heard about how we should always learn from our failures and also the importance of falling forward (thanks Darren!). However, I never hear anyone encouraging me to fail. Not even my parents. Perhaps this is because there is a huge taboo attached to failing. And failure is usually associated as something negative and embarrassing which causes people to avoid vehemently.
However, on second thoughts, the speaker is right. Failure is a very good thing and should be embraced. When you fail, it immediately feedbacks to you what doesn’t work and what works. The same principle applies to self-evaluations.
Admittedly, I learnt the most when I made mistakes. The more serious it is, the more memorable the lesson becomes. For example, how I embarass myself in front of 800 people while delivering a nuclear energy speech at high school. This incident alone has provided me with the impetus to improve in my public speaking skills. And the drive was so great that it gave me the courage to compete internationally. So were the other champions of life, like Rocky.
So my friend, if you have not failed enough in your public speaking, please do so AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. And please do so intelligently. You won’t want to fail at your most critical presentation or in front of your boss, will you?
Hence the best way is to increase your stage time, which gives you more opportunities to take risks. (for eg, trying a new technique or speaking on a unknown topic)
And when you fail, learn and improve. When you succeed, relish your victory and then take another risk. The more chances you give yourself to fail, the more opportunities you give yourself to grow.
For those of you who have failed a lot and are still defeated, I urge you to watch the Rocky video clip above. Failures are expected. Failures are necessary. What counts is not your fall. What counts is you PICKING YOURSELF UP. Remember it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward!
2. Remarkable people do the extremes
This was one of the observations that the speaker made after studying remarkable people for 20 years. Say Tiger Woods, considerably the best golf player in the world. He will practice ONE stroke for 12 to 14 hours! To us, this is crazy. But to him, this is merely a demonstration of his passion for the sport, a demonstration of his commitment to his skill. How many people have such discipline?
Another worthy mention is my mentor Kelvin Lim. He is by far the best coach I have ever met and also one of the best in Asia (FYI, he was awarded Master Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation, the highest recognition you can give to a coach) And yes, he was also one of the authors of The FAQ Book on Public Speaking. Unlike some coaches out there who get qualified just by attending a 4 day coaching program, Kelvin was trained for 12 years before he could even coach a real client. 12 years!
How about you? How can you go to the extreme in your pursuit to becoming a powerful speaker? If you haven’t been speaking regularly, how can you change that? If you haven’t been reading materials on public speaking, how can you change that? For those of you who have been consistent in your public speaking education, how can you take it to the next level?
Remember, true masters go to the extreme and if you want to be as powerful as them, you got to go to the extreme. Instead of spending one hour everyday studying public speaking, can you spare three hours instead? Instead of attending one Toastmasters meeting, can you attend one every week instead? Instead of just reading tips from my blog, can you commit to a coaching program that gives you the opportunity to see results in a shorter span of time? If you have yet to see MASSIVE growth in your speaking ability, chances are you have not walked the extra mile.
3. Kaizen without limits
Kaizen is a Japanese word that represents continuous self improvement. Again, masters make this lesson a daily habit. Tiger Woods, the best golf player in the world, spend hours every day perfecting his swing. James Galway, the flutist superstar, starts his day by playing the scales. Mark Brown, world champion of public speaking of 1995, is re-doing his basic speech manual that all Toastmasters start out with. These masters understand one thing. The only way to stay at the top is to keep working on their skills, even to the extent on training their basics.
There is a saying that if you find a field of interest and study it for a minimum of one hour every day, in five years time, you will become an expert in that given field! So likewise, if you ever want to become a powerful and impactful speaker, you got to start doing CONSISTENT work. One time-tested strategy is through daily damnits. The other is by making a commitment that you will learn at least ONE new thing that will help you improve your speaking skills.
Just one. It could be a inspiring quote you can use in your next speech. It could be an eye contact technique that you saw another speaker use with great success. It could be a success formula you learn here that you can apply in your next presentation. Anything. As long as it helps you move forward. Go the extreme, and kaizen without limits!
4. Don’t set goals!
Instead, set adventures for yourself! Goals vs. adventures. Which is more fun? Which is more exciting? Which is more promising? Adventures of course because of the positive connotation it comes with. So instead of coming up with singular goals like “become more confident in my next presentation”, inject some fun in your next “goal”. Combine a few goals together and design a story around it. What is the kind of impact you want to create for your audience? Describe in full details – what would you SEE, what would you HEAR, what would you audience SAY to you?
Setting an adventure also means that there is no hard and fast rules on how to get there. In fact, there are infinite ways to get there and you should explore as many of them as you can. It’s like how you explore a new city. It becomes boring when you rely on a map because you never get to have random encounters which may prove more meaningful. And while you are at it, enjoy the journey.
5. Always choose the path of least resistance
Human beings are motivated by two things – avoidance of pain and enjoyment of pleasure. One of the reasons why you are reading this blog is because you hate losing face in front of people and you want to get rid of the possible embarrassment. There may be some of you who are passionate about public speaking and hence you like to find out new strategies of approaching public speaking. Either way is fine. However if you are here for the long haul, I suggest you pick the path of least resistance.
This is especially so for people who are fearful of public speaking, for whatever reasons. Instead of getting stuck with these reasons, I suggest you do this – associate something pleasurable to public speaking. If you are someone who loves to grow (pleasure), remind yourself that no matter how bad it turns out, there will always be a lesson to mine and this will keep your nerves in check. If you are someone who loves attention, this is going to motivate you to spend more time sharpening your tongue (even though you hate the long hours involved). If you are someone who aspires to change the world, learning public speaking skills become necessary because words can move the world.
Take note, pain and pleasure are merely two ends of the same spectrum. So instead of getting stuck with all the pain and misery, switch gears and get yourself acclimatized to the possible pleasures of speaking in public. In time to come, you will love the art. I am a living proof.
(There is another version to this lesson, check it out here)
So there you go, FIVE powerful lessons that will ensure you speak at your best. Let me summarize.
1. Embrace failure as a wonderful thing
2. Remarkable people go to the extremes
3. Kaizen to the limit
4. Do not set goals, set adventures instead!
5. Always choose the path of least resistance
Finally, here’s a fun exercise for you to get involved in.
It will only take about 10 mins but chances are, you will enjoy it so much that you will keep going.
Here’s the exercise.
Take a blank piece of paper and start writing down what you want to achieve in the domain of public speaking. You can apply this to other parts of your life too. What would you write down if whatever you write will come true? What would you write down if you can start afresh?
This is your chance to set an adventure for yourself. Tell me in full details and colour, what kind of speaker do you want to become? How do you want your audience to behave before, during and after your presentation? How do you want to feel each time you are up on stage? What do you want to experience when you are up there delivering your speech? What kind of impact you want to crate for your audience? If you get to choose three topics to speak on, what will they be? And if there are particular talents you will like to have as a speaker, what will they be?
WRITE THEM ALL DOWN… with no reservation. Watch your internal conversations. Notice how you sabotage yourself by telling yourself that what you wrote down is pure bulls**t, and they will never come true. Ignore these voices. They don’t serve you. Instead I want you to have fun generating them. This could be YOU if you let it.
Once you are done, read it one more time. Pick three things out of your wish list that you can start working on. Incorporate the five lessons that I just shared with you. Most importantly, TAKE ACTION.
I repeat, TAKE ACTION.
It could just be doing ONE thing everyday. That’s good enough. The rest will take care of itself.
See you at the top!
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/public-speaking-articles/5-powerful-lessons-that-will-get-you-speaking-on-par-with-the-best-1012351.html
10 Power Tricks To Get Your Standing Ovation Before You Speak
on Jul 04 in UncategorizedYou step onto the stage.
Your audience stares back at you – a sea of unknown faces. If you’re lucky, they’ll be receptive. If you’re not, they’ll be bored.
And if it’s just not your day, they’ll even be hostile.
There’s a lot of information out there on how to make sure your speech is effective. But what most people don’t realize is that half the battle is won if your audience is awake and eager before you even open your mouth.
Here’s 10 things you should know so that you can win even more than half that battle!
1. Mingle with the audience before you start the speech.
The author of Using Stories and Humor: Grab Your Audience, Joanna Campbell Slan, advises that you should arrive as early as possible and mix with the crowd of people beforehand, and many other experienced speakers do the same.( See, I’m not the only person who preaches about doing this) Make small talk, introduce yourself, and get a feel of what the audience already thinks about the topic. It helps you be prepared and is better than simply fretting alone backstage and getting more nervous.
You don’t have to tell them that you’ll be speaking later if you don’t want to. You can surprise your audience when you walk out on stage. Wave at the people you spoke to for more effect. This also gives you an effective starter. Be careful, though: if your audience is likely to be hostile to your topic, it’s best to be honest from the beginning.
2. If there’s no chance to mingle beforehand, simply BE ON TIME
If you’re half-an-hour late in beginning, the audience will have long settled down to a nap in their comfortable auditorium chairs. Having to wake them up at that point doesn’t earn you brownie points, and even if you get their eyes open, sleepy people don’t pay attention. And sleepy people don’t like to have their sleep interrupted.
3. Dress well and appropriately.
The first impression is made within ten seconds – and it’s been estimated that up to 90% of that impression is made based on how you look. Gail Hogan, a former news anchor writing for business journal Business First, tells us:
“Take a former politician of a large city in the Midwest. At the start of a luncheon speech to announce his new economic plan, the candidate was greeted by snickering and hushed whispers from the crowd.
It seemed a piece of the poor guy’s cherry cheesecake missed his mouth, found his chin and decided to stick around for the speech. Post-speech chatter centered around the candidate’s embarrassing public moment and not on his well-thought-out economic plan.”
If you look sloppy or if your hair is messy or if your clothes are not professional, your audience is less likely to take you and your speech seriously. This doesn’t mean that you can’t wear casual clothes for a more laidback atmosphere, but you must be sure that it’s appropriate for the occasion
4. “More speeches than you can imagine are doomed to fail by bad introductions…Instead of kindling fires of enthusiasm within the audience, the introductions lead to an epidemic outbreak of brain freeze.”
From The Toastmaster, a public speaking journal
Don’t let your intro be a dry narration of your academic credentials or the bare facts of your life’s story. The audience isn’t really interested in that. Either keep it as short as possible or find some interesting( humor would be a bonus) way to say it – possibly through a narrative story about an interesting incident. Let me give you an example:
“Eric just loves to be gawked at..even if it is in a pervert kind of way..”
Introduce yourself if possible, but if someone else is introducing you, make sure that you have control of what will be said or you’ll have someone shout “BRAG!” from the back of the room.
5. Make the venue interesting.
Put up posters or visuals of your subject. If you’re giving a presentation on aid for places struck by natural disasters, tack up images of victims or of the devastation caused by the hurricane/earthquake/etc. If you’re giving a corporate presentation on a product, put up images of the product, or better still, have the product there for your audience to fiddle with first.
6. Think up innovative ways of leading them into the topic, such as printing memorable statistics or quotes of key points and pasting them to the floor or even the ceiling.
Your audience will find themselves actively treasure-hunting for the information you’ve left them, and this will ensure that they’re warmed up for your actual presentation.
7. If possible, leave a quick introduction of your speech topic on the seats.
Don’t write a six-page article, though!( If not, we’ll be back to the sleeping problem ) The idea is to tantalize your audience and allow them to get a better idea of what you’re about to say without giving the game away. Give them one or two pertinent questions at the end of the introduction, to get them to think and warm up their brains. Once again, humour will be a bonus here.
8. Give out freebies.
Especially in Singapore! What better way to please Singaporeans then giving away free stuff?
Business writer Meredith Pond advises that freebies are a great way to help people remember your business. For her, ‘giving away free stuff, even if it’s just your advice, shows people that you’re willing to help them out’, and they ‘help your customers remember you’.
This is equally applicable to public speakers – it builds goodwill even before you start speaking. Who doesn’t like free stuff? Besides this, if you customize it or make it relevant to your product/speech topic, people will remember you whenever they use it.
9. Get them moving.
While this may be limited by the place constraints, just getting your audience to get up and do a few stretches before your speech will provide a change of pace and get the blood moving. It’s not possible to fall asleep while doing a jumping jack. More importantly, get the audiences involved in your presentation. By doing these 2 things, you’re giving the audiences the much desired attention and they’ll love you for it!
10. And before you move into the body of your presentation, use your opening to grab attention. First impressions matter.
We size a person up in the first ten seconds or so, so don’t waste it. Toastmaster J. A. Gamache once opened a speech by blowing a whistle and yelling, ‘All aboard!’ Not only does the noise wake up any potential sleepers, it intrigues the audience and creates a genuine interest in your speech. In his case, it transported them from a boring auditorium to the train he wanted them to be on.
These are just a few ideas to begin with. You don’t have to do all of them, but bear in mind that you definitely want the audience to like you or to fire their interest in your topic (best if both, of course). They’re be warmer, more likely to be forgiving of any mistakes you may make later, and far more receptive to your message.
And of course, they will LOVE YOU!
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/public-speaking-articles/10-power-tricks-to-get-your-standing-ovation-before-you-speak-1012372.html
The Lazy Speaker’s Way Of Spicing Up Your Presentation
on Jul 04 in UncategorizedThe average attention span of a literate adult is 20 minutes.
Good, you think to yourself. 20 minutes is plenty of time.
But how many speeches have you sat through where you fell asleep within the first two minutes?
And how afraid are you that people are going to do the same for yours?
It seems terribly obvious: unless you’re interesting, no one is going to pay attention. When you watch an episode of the O.C. or Gray’s Anatomy, you’re there to be entertained. You watch because the plot twists and the developing relationships on-screen are interesting. Not interesting? You switch the channel.
People may not have the luxury of turning off a speaker. But they can certainly turn off their own brains, and if you’re not careful, you’ll find most people snoozing in their chairs.
Find out your audience’s expectations, and do your best to break them. Does your audience expect you to be very formal? Take off your jacket and walk out from behind your podium. Does your audience expect you to be very serious? Be irreverent. Be self-deprecating.
One simple way to do this is to ask unexpected questions. It makes people think and also keeps them awake because it’s embarrassing to be singled out for sleeping.
1) Laugh! Never underestimate the power of humour. It’s been said to the death, but somehow people still don’t seem to get it. And they end up with dead audiences.
And I don’t mean just a humorous beginning or ending. Make sure you keep it up! It’s a pity if your audience doesn’t pay attention to the body of your speech.
2) Be visual. Okay, the above blog post advises that you ‘show a (half) naked woman’. But take that with a pinch of salt. It might not be appropriate, and you never know when you might have a dedicated, stone-throwing feminist in your audience.
Instead, you can be visual. It’s pretty much an undisputed fact that we remember images better than words. If you have a powerpoint presentation, make it visually striking. At the most basic level, it’s as simple as bolding words to make them stand out. At higher levels, you can add images or even videos.
3) If you’re stuck with words only, then use what fiction writers and poets have been using throughout the ages: metaphor, simile, and analogy. All these techniques are meant to call up images in the mind of the reader – or in your case, the listener – and help them retain your message better.
4) Tell stories. It may sound difficult but it’s not, because we do it all the time.
When you tell your friends about the time you were stuck in a traffic jam or about dealing with your horrible boss or about the time you tried so hard to get tickets to a concert, you’re essentially portraying the essence of life: conflict.
Tell your audience about a particular conflict you resolved. It endears you to them and also helps them empathize with you. Besides that, stories are simply far more memorable and interesting than a series of unconnected facts.
5) Start writing your speech early. A lot of people wait till the very last minute to start working on their presentation, which results in them being unconfident and boring. If you don’t craft your jokes and stories carefully first, you’ll end up telling them badly or not telling them at all.
6) Keep your role as a public speaker in mind, all the time. You can start keeping a folder of notes or materials to use in any speech.
If something interesting happens to you, write it down. If a friend tells you a good joke or if you happen to read a nice anecdote from a book or the Internet, write it down. You never know when it’ll come in handy.
Eric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your customers, employers and investors through public speaking. Eric has successfully helped over 3000 people to become confident and compelling speakers. To watch FREE videos on how you can unleash the speaker in you and charm your audience in 8 simple steps, go to: www.TakingTheStageNow.com Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/public-speaking-articles/the-lazy-speakers-way-of-spicing-up-your-presentation-1012377.html
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