Archive for Practicing a Presentation/Speech
A Speaker’s Template – SEE The BIG PICTURE
Posted by: | CommentsUse this Speaker’s Template to
Develop, Practice and Deliver Your Presentation
A Speaker's Template - Click to Enlarge!
This Speaker’s Template gives you the Big Picture. Your entire speech is on a single page.
It’s a great visual to ‘See’ how the Content of a Speech should be constructed and Read More→
When You Speak,
Don’t Jingle or Deliver Other Distractions!
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“Did you ever spend a lot of time on a ship?”
That was the question I asked the speaker I was evaluating at a Toastmaster Meeting.
The reason I asked, was that Michael, the person I was critiquing, possessed the habit of rocking from side to side during his speech. He wasn’t aware of it, but it was so bothersome I had to mention it.
Michael, like all Toastmasters, was attending the meeting to improve his presentations. Just telling him what he did correctly wasn’t going to help him get better. I certainly did mention the positives of his presentation, but ’sandwiched in’ the ‘room for improvement’ advice.
Whether it’s rocking back and forth, jingling change and keys in pockets, or Read More→
The ‘Show-Before-The-Show’
Warm up the Audience Before the Emcee Speaks!
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This does it for My audiences! What do You do?
This Slide Show and Music will be playing when people enter the room I’ll be speaking in.
What effect do you think it has on them? My thoughts are that it reminds many of them why they chose to attend. It preps them for the information I’m going to deliver. Read More→
I Get Ideas for My Presentations,
But Forget Them!
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Use a Digital Recorder to
Capture those thoughts ‘In the Moment!’
None of us have the great memories we wish we had.
We’re exercising, walking, driving or maybe just sitting at a coffee shop and an idea for a speech, or a story to make a point in one, comes to us. We don’t have a pen or paper handy, but we mentally promise ourselves to start working on it when we have the opportunity. Many times that doesn’t happen because we forget that great idea – Bummer!
Yoga teaches to be ‘Always present and In the Moment’. This makes great sense for speakers because what’s happening NOW might be potential material for a new presentation or a delivery technique to add to a speech already in your ‘portfolio’.
Great speakers always update their material and consider all the speeches and techniques they ‘own’ to be works in progress.
Too many ideas have gone unused because they haven’t been ‘recorded’ for future use. Read More→
Nine Ways to Guarantee
Your Presentation BOMBS!
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If You Absolutely Want to BOMB!
- Don’t practice your presentation.
- You’ve given it before – no big deal.
- Don’t visit the facility before your talk.
- Don’t find out what style of seating is in place and don’t rearrange if not best for you.
- Don’t check the lighting; natural or in-room.
- Don’t find out where the temperature controls are located or who to call to adjust heating and cooling. Read More→
Presentation Tip # 2
Use a Mind Map
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Ever looked at your notes when giving a presentation
and everything is a BIG BLUR?
Not much fun when this happens, is it?
Nervous or not, reading notes at the lectern is often a tough thing to do.
Click for link to Master Mind Mapper
Reading black text on a white background doesn’t stimulate our minds as quickly as looking at images do. This is one reason a Mind Map is the perfect tool to use for delivering your presentation. (It’s also great for developing and practicing that speech!)
Mind Maps can be customized to meet your specific needs. They generally use pictures, symbols and colors that trigger associations in our brain so we can ‘tell’ our speech vs ‘read’ it. This invariably makes for a better, and more natural presentation.
Rather then having either a stack of index cards (if you do this, be certain they are numbered) or several sheets of paper to look at, you can have one Mind Map. Read More→
Practice Tip #1 – Read Aloud!
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Reading Aloud Will Improve Your Delivery.
Practice -Practice -Practice
We’ve all heard that mantra, and it’s true.
And one of the best ways to improve your voice is to:
Read Aloud – Read Aloud – Read Aloud
Hearing yourself as you speak, and listening to a recording of yourself, are two of the quickest ways to improve your Verbal Delivery.
Areas for improvement are quickly ‘heard’ and usually easy to correct. Read More→
Brand Yourself: One Way -
Have a Signature Closing!
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I have a ‘Challenge – and a Prediction’ for You!
If you’re a fan of Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker from Yazoo City, Mississippi (he mentioned it often, and sadly, the location of a recent deadly tornado) you’re familiar with his signature close. It was always, “And I will see You At the Top!”
This was the title of Zig’s first book, and something he was always able to tie in with his speeches. Because they were motivational and self-help in nature, this Signature Close made sense to his audiences.
It was always the final statement in a great speech, and left the attendees feeling that, yes, they too, can ‘Make it to the Top!’
Bottom line, if you hear the phrase, “See you at the Top!”, you think of Zig Ziglar. Great job of branding!
When I was in Toastmasters, and after delivering many speeches, I developed the signature close that Read More→
Speech Content – Part #5
The Conclusion
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Two Elements Here:
Tell them what you told them.
Close your speech.
One of the ways to reinforce a message with the goal of the audience ‘Getting It!’ is to repeat that message.
This is why the first part of the Conclusion is to ‘Tell them what you told them.” Restate, in a slightly different manner, the main points of the message you want the audience to take away.
Repetition is one of the best ways to Read More→
EVERYTHING Must Be In SYNC!
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If You Want Your Audience to “Get It!”,
EVERYTHING Must Deliver the
Same Message.
Otherwise, you’re sending mixed messages.
The audience will be confused, and they won’t receive the information you’re presenting the way you intended.
If there is a disconnect between the words spoken and the way the speech is delivered, it will be the message delivered via Read More→
