Categories
Communication Skills

50 Things You Wish You Know That Will Guarantee Your Speaking Success

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A post that I wrote earlier on “250 Things You Wish You Know That Will Guarantee Your Speaking Success” has created quite a buzz on the blogsphere. It started with Andrew Dlugin at Six Minutes who wrote a fairly long post challenging many points that I have raised. And then yesterday, Life Hacker picked up the article (thanks Kevin!) and bang! Traffic at The Public Speaking Blog quadrupled overnight with 829 new visitors (hello!) and the “250 speaking tips” entry was posted on 14 other blogs.
Understandably, not everyone agrees with my list of 250. Some like it and call them “gems” or “speech-prep zen”, others hate it and call them “hasty and forceful”. Well to each his own.
What I am really happy about is the conversations that were created out of this contentious list. At the very least, it makes people aware about how they can raise their speaking standards by a few notches if they pay attention to the tips.
To make the list palatable for you, I have filtered it down from 250 to 50. Yes, it’s Pareto Principle at work here. Focus on the 20% that delivers 80% of the results. Prepare your forks and knives… let’s dig in.
1. Audience always comes first, ask yourself “How can they benefit from listening to me?”
2. Most people seek validation and not education – don’t be like most people.
3. Tell a story, make a point.
4. Create a story bank. Each time something interesting happens – big or small – write it down. You never know where you can use it.
5. Follow the 80/20 rule – 80% prepared. 20% impromptu. Being prepared is extremely important but when you are too prepared, you take the fun out of a speech. The 20% spontaneity allows you to milk any situations that arises while you deliver your speech.
6. A powerful speech is one that can help solve your audience’s problems.
7. The best way to learn is to teach somebody else. Find opportunities to do that. Offer pointers. Offer coaching. Offer suggestions. Remember, you can’t give away what you don’t have. Once you teach somebody else what you learned, it reinforces and improves your speaking skills.
8. Don’t try to impress. Instead try to, share, help, inspire, teach, inform, guide, persuade, motivate… or make the world a little bit better.
9. Stay present in the moment. Forget about the conversations running in your head. Be with your audience. Enjoy the time you have with them.
10. Keep your presentation simple. One message, three points and a kick-ass call for action.
11. Remember, the greatest enemy of speakers is same-ness. (Thanks Patricia Fripp for the tip!)
12. Don’t memorize your entire speech. Internalize. (Thanks David Brooks for the tip!)
13. Never, ever go overtime.
14. Avoid abstractions. Always relate to a common experience.
15. A fail-safe question to answer in your speech – What’s in it for me (the audience)?
16. No pain, no action. If you want to get your audience into action, you need to first understand where their pains are. Once you have identified that particular pain, poke at it. Recreate the scenario so that they can re-experience the pain, both physically and emotionally. When you have successfully brought your audience to that state, they will be begging you to offer them a remedy or a quick solution to rid them of the pain.
17. The key to grabbing attention is surprise. The key to keeping attention is interest.
18. Smile. Smile when you are walking up to the stage. Smile when you make a mistake. Smile when your audience laugh at your story. Smile when you are delivering your message. Smile when you conclude. Smile when you leave the stage. Smile.
19. Videotaping yourself speak can be very confronting but necessary, especially if you want to improve.
20. Take extra effort to remove all your pause fillers from your speech. Common culprits include “urm”, “ah”, “so”, “you know”, “hmm” etc. They are known to reduce your credibility ten folds.
21. One way of overcoming them is to get used to the silence.
22. Stop asking WHY. (Why am I so sucky in speaking? Why did the audience look so bored?) Try asking HOW. (How can I be less sucky? How can I make the audience interested in what I have to say?) Why gets you defensive and stuck. How gets you moving forward.
23. Remember some of your audience’s names and use them in your speech. They will love you for it!
24. The best speeches are not written, they are rewritten.
25. The next time you prepare a speech, do some imagination. If your speech is a piece of music, what music will it be? If your speech is a colour, what colour will it be? If you speech is a dish, what dish will it be? The secret is to cross and merge different senses so that your speech becomes richer and more real to the audience.
26. Have “flesh” time with your audience before you get up on stage to speak.
27. Plan-Pause-Scan: Plan where you want to stand. Pause and get yourself composed. Scan at the audience. And then begin your memorized introduction.
28. Once in a while, take a risk in your speech.
29. Each time you think of something safe to do for your speech, reverse it!
30. Find things that are “just not done” in the speaking industry and go do it (for the fun of it!)
31. Ask “Why not?” Almost everything you don’t do has no good reason for it. It is usually the result of fear and assumption. So why not?
32. Treat your next speech like a game! Have loads of fun with it!
33. I learned this from Seth Godin: One message per slide. Part of the less is more rule.
34. Be really interested in your audience. It shows.
35. Ask and you shall receive. Never be afraid to ask for feedback. Do it for yourself.
36. Always write your speech because what is written can be edited to be more colorful, concise, powerful and precise.
37. Read ONE public speaking article a day. Try The Public Speaking Blog.
38. You are only as good as your last speech.
39. The two main arsenal of a speaker is his stories and analogies. The better his stories and analogies, the more he get paid. (Thanks Darren La Croix for the tip!)
40. Pay attention to stories and things that happen to us. (funny stuff does happen)
41. Audience laughed when they are successfully tricked. That’s the mechanic behind humor.
42. Be knowledgeable – know your stuff. Present 70% of what you prepared. Keep the rest for emergency purposes for eg. during Q&A or when you need to show off.
43. You get creative ideas at all time. Carry around a digital recorder or notebook everywhere you go. Whenever a creative idea strikes you, record or write it. You only have 37 secs of window time to capture the idea. Don’t wait till you are booked for speech before you think of what to say.
44. 95% growth happens when you are out there with your audience. Yes, it’s another way of telling you to get stage time!
45. Don’t be afraid to say this to your audience – “RIP ME APART!” Repeat after me, “RIP ME APART!”
46. 10 “You” for Every “I” in your speech! Remember, keep your speech audience-centric.
47. ??????????? (realized this when I was competing in Macau in 2006). Here the direct translation: “Ten minutes on stage is equivalent to ten years of training offstage”.
48. It’s ok to fail or bomb on stage. What is more important is the lesson behind it. Learn it well and make sure you don’t forget.
49. Be willing to fall & fall forward.
50. Persistence is key. And I think you have it if you have read from point 1 all the way to point
EricFengPhoto.jpgEric Feng is the go-to guy if you want to learn how to impress your investors and customers through public speaking. For more tips and tactics that you can use immediately in your next presentation, visit The Public Speaking Blog.

Categories
Networking

Connections that Count – Making Networking Events Pay Their Way

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Networking is booming at the moment with more organisations being formed every week. Many of us, however, attend networking events because someone says it is a good idea or we hope that we will meet someone of interest. Beyond that, few people have a clear vision of what success will look like for them.
More people now recognise that events will not be populated by people looking to buy their product (after all, how many people attend events with a view to buying?) and so, fortunately, the instances of being ‘pitched’ as soon as you shake hands seems to have diminished. However, this leaves a vacuum. If you can’t go to events to sell your services, how can you make them work?
Many speakers like me advise their audiences to ‘pursue the relationship, not the sale’. It is well and good to make more friends, but how can that help your business? One recent commentator on a blog I posted on Ecademy bemoaned that very problem, “People told me they had wanted to refer me for a long while, but since they didn’t really understand what I do (all they had was “some kind of techy”) they weren’t able to.”
The answer lies in being able to leverage the relationships you build. Through networking events you simply build contacts. The development of those contacts into relationships often takes place outside of the meetings, where you can really take the time to get to know each other and your respective business needs.
As relationships develop and people start to know, like and trust you, they will be more inclined to support and refer you. It is vital for you to continually educate this network about your needs, without ever thrusting those needs down their throats! Newsletters which offer valuable information (like this one), quick lines to tell them about something you’ve achieved and regular meetings all help to arm your connections with the information they need.
And always be on the lookout for them, passing them valuable tips and information and, where possible, quality introductions and referrals.
Networking events are a catalyst for new business. They should never be viewed as a pool of prospects enabling you to walk out with business signed.
AndyLopataPhoto.jpgAndy Lopata is one of the UK’s leading business networking strategists. He is the co-author of two books on the subject, including the Amazon UK bestseller ‘…and Death Came Third! The Definitive Guide to Networking and Speaking in Public’. Andy offers a full consultancy service and works with companies to help them realise the full potential from their networking.

Categories
Work Life

De-Stress for Success

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This article is submitted by Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO, SBTV.com. Submit an article today.
The stress of growing your business can take its toll. That’s why it’s important to take care of you. Stress is the number one cause of illness in our country. Learning how to manage your stress level is not only a smart decision, but it’s also critically important for your business success. When you are stressed or not feeling well, your motivation level drops. Your judgment and decision making can become impaired. Certainly, emotions can quickly escalate resulting in irrational behavior or fits of anger.
Be realistic about what you expect of yourself and don’t over commit. Learn to say “no” and really mean it. Before you say yes to something make sure it is the appropriate use of your time and resources. Remember, there are only so many hours in a day, and no matter how hard you try you can’t change that. You should manage your time and plan ahead so your schedule can accommodate time to focus on your personal well-being. If you don’t, you’ll burn out, and so will your business.
Try scheduling time during the week that is just for you to do something you really enjoy. For example, a woman recently told me she leaves her office once a week to take a piano lesson. The lesson and her practice time during the week forces her to think about something entirely different than her business challenges. As a result, it helps her feel refreshed and more creative.
Elizabeth Kekrney, CEO of the California-based Kekrney & Associates: The Experts Alliance suggests calendaring your personal time. “I just decide what amount of time I am going to need, and I actually put it on my calendar. Now that may sound stupid, but I write it down. I flex it if I need to, but if I don’t put it down I won’t even get to a party that I am planning on attending,” she explains.
Julie Fogg, CEO of Active Port, a full-service reseller of converged telephone systems, says she has learned how important it is to keep her health and happiness as her two top priorities. She signed up for a fitness boot camp five days a week starting at 5:30 a.m. and sees a nutritionist regularly. “I have so much more energy now that I am careful about what I eat and I participate in group exercise. My health was affecting Active Port, so I will never neglect that area of my life again.”
Discover what works best for you, but make a commitment to yourself and your business that taking care of you is as important as caring and nurturing your business growth.
This article is submitted by Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO, SBTV.com. SBTV is the first television network on the web devoted 100 percent to the small business market – from business start-ups to established enterprises. Founded in 2000, SBTV is becoming the number one choice for small business information on the net.

Categories
Starting Up

Reasons for Failure

reasons-fail.jpgStartup Spark: You created your business this year, but now, looking back, you wonder if it’s all been a waste of time. Here are just some of the reasons your business maybe failing – and best of all they’re easily corrected!
And although these hints are for online businesses, if you own a brick & mortar place of business, many of these apply to you too.
1. You don’t offer free original content. People use this to understand you and get to know you as an expert they can trust,
2. You don’t use a signature file on your e-mails. It’s a selling opportunity that’s often missed.
3. You don’t have your own domain name. Even in this day and age using a domain that isn’t yours (such as tripod) is just bad and makes you look less serious about your business.
4. You don’t test and improve your ad copy. Testing is the key to finding out what works.
10 reasons why your business may be failing [Startup Spark]

Categories
Recommendations

Powerfull Living Ebooks By Lorraine

This product review is part of a special daily series, GE Network Recommendations. Check out the rest of the series here. Today, we review a recommendation by Lorraine Cohen.
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“How Do I Choose?” eBook

A powerfull five-step blueprint for making rock-solid decisions
Would you rather get a root canal than make important decisions?
When faced with even the smallest decision, do you waffle and procrastinate?
Have you paid penalties or “lost out” because you simply couldn’t make a decision?
This groundbreaking eBook outlines a powerfull (and user-friendly) five-step blueprint for making rock-solid decisions. Packed with worksheets, exercises, useful tips, and real-life examples, How Do I Choose? is a must-read practical business and life tool that will help you make major and minor decisions that feel right – in your heart and in your bones!
9keysebook.gif“9 Keys to Claim Your Personal Power” eBook
This eCourse style workbook is designed to walk you through a process of thinking about POWER in a new way. 9 Keys to Claim Your Personal POWER will challenge you to explore what power means to you, what it is and how you can begin to deliberately become the Creator of your life.
Take Charge of Your Life: Overcoming Overwhelm, Procrastination, and Fear!
Receive insights, loads of practical tools and exercises you can implement immediately to feel more productive and confident in building your business as well as feeling more in charge of your personal life. Click here to learn more about Lorraine’s products.
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This product review is part of a special daily series, GE Network Recommendations. Everyday, one of our resident GE Network Experts will recommend to us small business products or services which they feel are highly beneficial and relevant to aspiring entrepreneurs.