enjoyed your newsletter about effective speaking today. Shorter is better! here is a link to a TED talk covering the same topic from a slightly different angle. Keep up the good work. : -)
In another lifetime in my business career I encountered many speakers. Two I still remember bc they used the same gotcha A $50 bill and asked “who can claim this”
The audience hung on every word At the end of presentation, he asked same question again, answer was the person to walk up and take it. The old adage Money talks….,,
Your comment about no one knowing someone who was asked to make their speech longer? Well, meet me. I was giving a 20 min talk on how the body reflects what is going on in your emotional life. I kept it to 20 minutes exactly. The audience insisted I continue and it ended up being 90 minutes, with requests to come back. So it can happen. But I really loved the topic and used examples that everyone could relate to.
Well, I guess there is at least one more guy Putin can draft. Now that he's a citizen, surely Mr. Snowden will be willing to cough- defend the motherland - cough.
On the Russian military leaving? During the First World War, the Russian military revolted by not fighting, overwhelming their commanders and going home. If you’re not sure about that? Watch it reinacted in the movie “Dr Zhavago”
I make short (10 to 14 minute speeches) every Sunday that I preach as an Episcopal priest. You points are all, well, on point! This comment is how I learned to appreciate point 7 (along with a simple lesson on humility). During seminary I was given the opportunity to preach in the parish where I served as an intern. This was my second time in a formal pulpit. I worked hard on the sermon (written as opposed to my learned practice of being seemingly extemporaneous). As people left the church, an older man (not so old now as I’m 70 and the story happened at age 34) named Doug came, shook my hand and said, “That was a great sermon. You ought to be a bishop!” You can hear the humility lesson building. Six weeks later, I preached again. I wanted the crowd to thin so that Doug could deliver his “Nielsen Rating.” I mean, I worked harder on this sermon than the last one. If I was to be a bishop, what comes next! Finally, Doug makes it to shake my hand. He says as he did before, “That was a great sermon.” And then the lesson so well told in Bill’s point seven. Doug declares “I can hear you.” Evidently my gift as a preacher begins with being loud. I often wondered what Doug did during that 10 to 15 minute period when someone’s lips moved in the pulpit. The real lesson is not just being loud enough to be heard but actually having to say something that worth listening to. You can see and hear if I’ve learned anything at WCT.coach.
At my monthly small business organization meeting, each member had to stand up and state his or her name and the name of the business. I came up with: I’m a member of the Teeth Police and our job is to round up crooked culprits, put them behind bars, and we don’t turn them loose until we set them all straight - Wendy DeBord, HLS Orthodontics. That’s not actually a short speech but I received applause and laughter every single month for ten years and it does capture Bill’s bullet points 😁.
My worst and funniest speech I had to sit through was as a new employee several years ago (I no longer work there). The leadership team consisting of 4 top managers gave a welcome speech to a group of new employees. The first three each spoke for about 5-7 minutes on different subjects. The 4th manager then proceeded to speak for about 90 minutes in a horrible, rambling diatribe that had everyone, including the other managers, looking for the exit. No one tried to cut him off or shorten his speech. One of the other managers checked his cell phone several times. It was awkward. I could go on, but that would defeat the purpose of the message.
Listen to yourself when speaking. If you think you're talking too slow, you're probably speaking at the right pace.
Practice your speech with someone who knows little about the subject, a spouse, brother/sister, etc. But it's not really for practice, it's for questions they have following it. It may bring up something you overlooked in writing your speech. Sometimes we are so expert at what we do, we just assume an unspoken point will be known. Maybe it won't.
If you're not a funny guy, now is not the time to be funny. It will fall flat. Trust me on this one!
Use word count in MS Word. We speak about 120 words per minute so a 20 minute speech is 2,400 words. Best to be around that mark before practicing so you don't panic when you find you're short/long.
I learned an effective formula years ago for a presentation (or even an outline for answering a question). The beauty is that you need minimal notes. It is easy to remember your position statement and the evidence points.
1. Ask a humorous question that requires a hand raise
2. Your name and credibility
3. Subject statement
4. Position statement
5. 4-7 evidence points to support your position
6. Restate position statement as a close
If you have a longer presentation simply use the same formula for each evidence point.
This was the basis for a week long training (only six people in a class) with many videotaped presentation but the basic formula remains fairly simple.
I was with a lot of family yesterday and the conversation turned to High School graduations. I commented that, regardless of how big the class, our high school does it in 2 hours (last year was about 900 students, my daughter's class next year will be over 1000). Someone mentioned that, at his graduation, a member of the school board thought it was her time to shine and spoke for almost an hour. First of all, no one cares about the school board members at their child's graduation. Second, no one cares about the school board members - period. Third, what could this person, who isn't involved in everyday school life, have to say? My patience with people like that...
enjoyed your newsletter about effective speaking today. Shorter is better! here is a link to a TED talk covering the same topic from a slightly different angle. Keep up the good work. : -)
https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_how_to_speak_so_that_people_want_to_listen?user_email_address=4d1f4cde59de7495a1137b80b48d976e
"spacely sprockets".... we are vintage humans ;)
The Spacely Sprockets reference was a classic.....George.
In another lifetime in my business career I encountered many speakers. Two I still remember bc they used the same gotcha A $50 bill and asked “who can claim this”
The audience hung on every word At the end of presentation, he asked same question again, answer was the person to walk up and take it. The old adage Money talks….,,
Mark Twain was once asked to give a five minute talk to a women's club gathering.
He said it would take him three weeks to prepare.
"Wow! What if we asked for an hour-long talk?", they asked.
Oh, in that case I am ready right now.
Your comment about no one knowing someone who was asked to make their speech longer? Well, meet me. I was giving a 20 min talk on how the body reflects what is going on in your emotional life. I kept it to 20 minutes exactly. The audience insisted I continue and it ended up being 90 minutes, with requests to come back. So it can happen. But I really loved the topic and used examples that everyone could relate to.
Well, I guess there is at least one more guy Putin can draft. Now that he's a citizen, surely Mr. Snowden will be willing to cough- defend the motherland - cough.
On the Russian military leaving? During the First World War, the Russian military revolted by not fighting, overwhelming their commanders and going home. If you’re not sure about that? Watch it reinacted in the movie “Dr Zhavago”
I make short (10 to 14 minute speeches) every Sunday that I preach as an Episcopal priest. You points are all, well, on point! This comment is how I learned to appreciate point 7 (along with a simple lesson on humility). During seminary I was given the opportunity to preach in the parish where I served as an intern. This was my second time in a formal pulpit. I worked hard on the sermon (written as opposed to my learned practice of being seemingly extemporaneous). As people left the church, an older man (not so old now as I’m 70 and the story happened at age 34) named Doug came, shook my hand and said, “That was a great sermon. You ought to be a bishop!” You can hear the humility lesson building. Six weeks later, I preached again. I wanted the crowd to thin so that Doug could deliver his “Nielsen Rating.” I mean, I worked harder on this sermon than the last one. If I was to be a bishop, what comes next! Finally, Doug makes it to shake my hand. He says as he did before, “That was a great sermon.” And then the lesson so well told in Bill’s point seven. Doug declares “I can hear you.” Evidently my gift as a preacher begins with being loud. I often wondered what Doug did during that 10 to 15 minute period when someone’s lips moved in the pulpit. The real lesson is not just being loud enough to be heard but actually having to say something that worth listening to. You can see and hear if I’ve learned anything at WCT.coach.
Don’t forget to include some humor (ex: Spacely Sprockets)!
Kris, close....but no.
At my monthly small business organization meeting, each member had to stand up and state his or her name and the name of the business. I came up with: I’m a member of the Teeth Police and our job is to round up crooked culprits, put them behind bars, and we don’t turn them loose until we set them all straight - Wendy DeBord, HLS Orthodontics. That’s not actually a short speech but I received applause and laughter every single month for ten years and it does capture Bill’s bullet points 😁.
My worst and funniest speech I had to sit through was as a new employee several years ago (I no longer work there). The leadership team consisting of 4 top managers gave a welcome speech to a group of new employees. The first three each spoke for about 5-7 minutes on different subjects. The 4th manager then proceeded to speak for about 90 minutes in a horrible, rambling diatribe that had everyone, including the other managers, looking for the exit. No one tried to cut him off or shorten his speech. One of the other managers checked his cell phone several times. It was awkward. I could go on, but that would defeat the purpose of the message.
Listen to yourself when speaking. If you think you're talking too slow, you're probably speaking at the right pace.
Practice your speech with someone who knows little about the subject, a spouse, brother/sister, etc. But it's not really for practice, it's for questions they have following it. It may bring up something you overlooked in writing your speech. Sometimes we are so expert at what we do, we just assume an unspoken point will be known. Maybe it won't.
If you're not a funny guy, now is not the time to be funny. It will fall flat. Trust me on this one!
Use word count in MS Word. We speak about 120 words per minute so a 20 minute speech is 2,400 words. Best to be around that mark before practicing so you don't panic when you find you're short/long.
I learned an effective formula years ago for a presentation (or even an outline for answering a question). The beauty is that you need minimal notes. It is easy to remember your position statement and the evidence points.
1. Ask a humorous question that requires a hand raise
2. Your name and credibility
3. Subject statement
4. Position statement
5. 4-7 evidence points to support your position
6. Restate position statement as a close
If you have a longer presentation simply use the same formula for each evidence point.
This was the basis for a week long training (only six people in a class) with many videotaped presentation but the basic formula remains fairly simple.
I was with a lot of family yesterday and the conversation turned to High School graduations. I commented that, regardless of how big the class, our high school does it in 2 hours (last year was about 900 students, my daughter's class next year will be over 1000). Someone mentioned that, at his graduation, a member of the school board thought it was her time to shine and spoke for almost an hour. First of all, no one cares about the school board members at their child's graduation. Second, no one cares about the school board members - period. Third, what could this person, who isn't involved in everyday school life, have to say? My patience with people like that...