Archive for Delivery
Have a Spare Tire in Case Murphy Shows Up!
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Murphy, of Murphy’s Law,
always seems to be lurking around the corner, waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting victim. That casualty could be you!
Always be prepared for anything and everything you can control.
If the computer crashes, projector dies, or sound system goes silent, you must still present your material! There are people in the audience who came to learn something. It’s your presentation and your responsibility they don’t leave disappointed.
Be sure your “trunk” is well equipped for all contingencies.
If I’m using slides, I backup my presentation on a USB flash drive. Because I use a mac, my slideshows are made with iWork Keynote software. I export copies to PowerPoint and convert, also, to PDFs. The PDF conversion is done because they work when versions of PowerPoint and Keynote are not the versions on a backup computer.
I also print a copy of my slideshow in Light Table view, which allows Read More→
The Elevator Speech Booklet – CLICK to Open!
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Your Elevator Speech is a Mini-Presentation
CLICK to Open Booklet
Use this as a Template for Your Elevator Speech!
The term, Elevator Speech, implies it’s something that won’t take very long to deliver. If someone’s only going to be in an elevator with you till the next floor, it may be less than a minute. It’s not an exercise to take casually.
Just as an Elevator goes up one floor at a time, the Elevator Speech should be delivered “by the floor.”
At each stop, the verbal and/or nonverbal signal to look for is, “Tell me more.”
Everyone doesn’t want to go to the Top Floor with you. Some don’t want to leave the lobby! There is no need to waste time and energy taking them all the way up.
The Elevator Speech can be a good tool for Qualifying and DisQualifying prospects.
The Elevator Speech starts simple. As interest and time permit, it is expanded.
Again, not everyone wants to go with you to the Top Floor and you don’t want to take everyone there.
Let’s get in the Elevator and start going up!
1st Floor - Describes Who You Are
Hello! My Name is Fred Miller.
That may be all someone wants to know about you – Your Name.
2nd Floor - Describes What You Do
I’m a Speaker, a Coach and an Author.
That’s what I do.
Hopefully, they want to know: Read More→
Remember: NonVerbal Communication Trumps. . .
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Verbal Communication
Have you ever watched a Professional Mime? They speak no words, but communicate very well, don’t they!
If they were to use their voice, their NonVerbal Communication: eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and body movements, would outweigh their spoken words.
Our NonVerbal Communication carries more weight than the words we say and how we say them.
Example: The speaker on the podium says, “I’m very excited to be speaking to this group today.” At the same time, he is yawning, not giving eye contact to anyone in the audience, and continually looking at his watch. What’s the message he’s sending?
Everything in the Delivery of our presentation must be in sync, else the audience will believe what they “See.”
While we can consciously use our NonVerbal Communication Skills to emphasize parts of our presentation, it’s important to remember that we exhibit involuntary NonVerbal Communication, also. Read More→
Speakers: Brand Yourself with – “No Sweat!”
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“If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.”
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This is how David Gregory, the moderator of the the longest-running television series in American broadcasting, signs off each Sunday morning.
Tim Russert, the previous host, and all hosts before him, signed off with the same words. It’s part of this weekly television news/interview program’s Branding.
Branding yourself and company in several ways, so others know who you are and what you do, should be part of your marketing strategy. Using it in your Closing can be particularly effective. This is because of the Law of Primacy and Recency which says, “The last thing the audience sees and hears will be the first thing they will remember.”
If you’re a fan of the great motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, you know his presentations always closed with his Branded Tag Line, “I will see You - At The Top!”
My good friend and internet marketing expert Russ Henneberry blogs on the site,
Tiny Business, Mighty Profits. He closes and Brands his presentations with the statement, “Starting tomorrow, do the things we worked on today, and Your Tiny Business will have - Mighty Profits!”
If you hear the phrase, “It just works!” you associate it with Steve Jobs. Another of his favorites was, “And one more thing!” Combine those statements with a black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, and white sneakers and you have the Brand, Steve Jobs!
That Brand was, and will forever be, associated with the bigger Brand, Apple.
I’ve worked very hard on my “No Sweat!” Brand: Read More→
“No One Here Gives Presentations.”
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Really?
I’ve sometimes heard this from executives, business owners, and other professionals.
It’s all about how you define the word “Presentations,” isn’t it?
Here are some questions for them:
- Does anyone ever talk to a prospect?
- Does anyone ever talk to a client?
- Do you have salespeople?
- Does anyone work in customer service?
- Do co-workers ever discuss the opportunities and challenges of their job?
- Do co-workers ever discuss the opportunities and challenges of the company?
- Does anyone ever attend networking events?
- Does everyone have an elevator speech in case someone asks them what they do and where they work?
- Are there ever company meetings?
- Does anyone ever attend trade shows or conventions?
- Do you ever have a booth at one?
Here are some more questions:
- Do you believe Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities? Read More→
Speakers: Don’t do these 11 Things!
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Read them – Study them – Don’t do them!
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If you’re a speaker there are certain things you should do, and should not do. Here are 11 Definite Don’ts!
- Don’t ”Wing it.”
- Your non-effort will show.
- You’ll embarrass yourself and waste the time of your audience. They came to learn something from your talk.
- It is your responsibility they leave the room knowing more about your subject than they did when they entered.
- Prepare and practice your presentation as if it were very important – because it is!
- It is, and always should be, about the Audience!
- Being Audience Centered is one of the
Laws of Presentation.
Props for Presentations: Seen and UnSeen!
Posted by: | CommentsMake the Invisible – Visible! Sometimes – Not! 
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A prop is something used to support your presentation. Props can be very effective tools for presenters to use.
People have three styles of learning:
- Visual – Learn by seeing.
- Auditory – Learn by hearing.
- Kinesthetic – Learn by doing.
Example:
I used to be in the Coffee Business. If I were speaking about Coffee, I might hold a mug in my hand and talk about different beans, roasts, and brewing equipment. The audience sees the mug. Most of them have probably had a cup or two that day. It reinforces my message about coffee. When I finish talking about coffee, Read More→
Have a ‘Plan B’ Because When the Screen Goes. . .
Posted by: | CommentsBLANK - You’re Going to Need It! - Glad I Had Mine!
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Have you ever changed a tire? (I don’t mean calling the Auto Club and waiting for the service truck to arrive!) I know many of you haven’t. So if you had the misfortune of getting a flat in the middle of nowhere and had a properly inflated tire in your trunk, and all the tools to make that change, you might have to grab your manual and figure how to change that tire – correct?
Having a ‘Plan B’ doesn’t mean implementing it is going to be easy!
Murphy’s Law, if something can go wrong it will go wrong, applies to the world of Public Speaking and Presentations, also.
I always have a ‘Plan B’, and often a ‘Plan C’. But, like having that spare tire, I never really expect to need it.
Successful Speakers Focus on. . .
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The AUDIENCE!
Speakers: It’s not about you!
It’s all about your Audience!
Successful Companies are Customer Centered.
- They focus on the Customer; the needs and challenges their customers have.
They focus on meeting those needs and solving those challenges.
That means:
- The Medical Community is Patient Centered.
- The Educational System is Student Centered.
- The Hospitality Industry is Guest Centered.
To be successful in the Public Speaking / Presentation World we need to be
Audience Centered!
The audience didn’t come to see and hear you. They did come to learn! They came to Read More→
Slideshows Help Them SEE Your Message!
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PowerPoint / Keynote Slide Presentations
Help the Audience GET IT!
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. There are three styles of learning.
- Auditory – Learn by hearing.
- Visual – Learn by seeing.
- Kinesthetic - Learn by doing.
For speakers, if more than one of these styles can be addressed to convey your message, the odds they’ll GET IT are dramatically increased. Combining high quality, universally understood images on a screen with you, the speaker providing the “text” is an excellent way to do this.
Unfortunately, the majority of slide shows are designed with lots of text, bullet points, corporate templates and logos. If they include any images, they are often cheap clip art or graphics that have the audience scratching their heads wondering what they are.
Sometimes you wonder why the presenter even showed up! They are standing at the lectern, with their back to the audience, and are reading each and every bit of text to the attendees. Yech! They could just have well emailed their powerpoint presentation to everyone!
So your audience GETS IT! here are better ways to use slides in your presentation:
Use very little text and as few bullet points as possible.
Here’s why: Read More→
