Tuesday was a good day to be Rob. It was probably a good day to be you too, but that’s not the point. I had the opportunity to talk to my friend and fellow speaker Arlen, and we were discussing our coming plans and products. While we were discussing his coming speechwriting course, a theme and title for my slant on the subject came to mind.
That’s right, I’m claiming The Four Aces of Speaking™ to be my theme for delivering spectacular speeches. This will be an audio program based on the Ace your Opening audio lesson I’ve already created. I’ll put out 4 free audio lessons; one for each ace. These will be short, useful lessons. I’ll also offer expanded versions in CD form to provide expanded knowledge on speaking preparation.
I did an exhaustive search of the Internet in all of its glory (i.e. Google and Amazon). I found no instances of anyone using “four aces of…” related to speaking or speechwriting. So those are now the titles of my works in progress.
Dying to know what the Four Aces will be? I’m glad you asked!
Ace your Preparation, Ace your Opening, Ace your Content, and Ace your Conclusion.
I haven’t decided wich one will be Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, or Clubs just yet. In fact, these may see some changes, since I’m not prepared to Freeze the Design just yet.
Also, I’m using The Four Aces of Speechwriting™ for my course on writing phenomenal speeches. Expect that to be out in early 2010.
I like it when a plan comes together, and working with other professionals really helps me to focus my ideas. As I said, it was a good day, and I’m always glad when I capture ideas in that first 37 seconds…
Some of the material I want to include in my book will require some serious research. I’ve already found some of the statistics and material I need, but I’d also like to get data from real users (i.e. you).
I have a few multiple choice questions on SurveyMonkey, so I invite you to answer them to help me establish some baseline information for my research. Also, please feel free to pass this along to any person you feel may have Internet access and the ability to click a mouse.
The questions include:
Which social networking site do you use most?
What is your favorite blog site/software?
What type of blog do you prefer reading?
How do you use YouTube?
How much time do you spend online each day?
The survey is here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Uk_2fnStvzYlb3spV3YRhiCQ_3d_3d
The results from this (and future) surveys will be incorporated into the existing data I have from the Internet (which is clearly true). If you read my post from earlier this month with the chapters descriptions for my book, you may recognize that this data will mostly be used in the first three chapters, specifically in chapter 1.
Have you ever been confused about the difference between practice and preparation? When it comes to speaking, sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. There is a distinct difference though and not just in the academic definitions.
Let’s say you’ve analyzed your audience, made your promise, created your outline, and written your speech. Perhaps, you’ve edited it to some extent as well. What’s your next step? Easy: the next step is…practice.
Practice is just like it sounds. It’s just a matter of finding the method that works for you. Some people like to stand in front of a mirror. Personally, I like to use an open room. If I’m going to a new venue, I want to be sure I practice there at least once as well. How many times you practice is based on your own needs, and to some extent the length of your presentation. It’s not about memorizing your presentation. Many great speakers have said to me, “you need to internalizing your speech, not memorize it”.
What’s the difference between memorize and internalize? Think of it this way, do you have your name memorized, or do you just know it? Another way…when you memorize something, you recite it, when you internalize something you don’t provide it the same way every time.
Preparation, on the other hand, includes all of the actions you need to take to be successful, including practice. For instance, making sure that your handouts are ready and that you have the necessary equipment and props that you need. This pre-event preparation even includes things like having a pressed shirt and a way to get to the location.
As for on-location preparation, there are a few specific actions you should take prior to the presentation:
1. Know the room – hopefully you practiced on site at least once. If not, get there early enough to pick out locations in the room, and see where any dead spots might be.
2. Have your media ready – this includes electronic and handouts. Test the slides all the way through to make sure the colors still look right.
3. Have any recording equipment set up and tested.
4. If there are too many chairs, remove some from the back to bring the audience closer together.
5. Make sure the MC has your introduction ready.
6. Turn off (and remove) your cell phone!
7. After all of that, be sure you have time to rest/reflect for 5 minutes before going on stage.
There is a lot to think about when preparing for your next presentation. Don’t wait until the last minute to get set up. Take your time, use your own checklist, and be ready when it’s time to take the stage. With proper practice and preparation you will be more comfortable, more confident, and more valuable to your audience.
I’m thinking that Talk to the Human - taking your communications off-line and on-point will be about using interpersonal communications skills, but with the twist of social media and other on-line communications thrown in.
First, a section for on-line communications:
Chapter 1 - definitions for on-line communications, such as social media, e-mail, blogging and the like.
Chapter 2 - a look at how these concepts are misused and ineffective.
Chapter 3 - discussion on what is effective about these forms of communication, and how to use them to move to the off-line talks.
Next section – transitioning to the face-to-face communications
Chapter 4 – Know your Audience
Chapter 5 – Design your Discussion
Chapter 6 – Tell your Story
Chapter 7 – Craft your Message
Chapter 8 – Practice and Prepare
Final section – Style, the zero to 90% solution
Chapter 9 – One on one deliveries
Chapter 10 – techniques for the conference room
Chapter 11 – the keynote or seminar delivery
Chapter 12 – how to get there from here
Of course, you know what worries me now, right? You’re right! I’m getting to the point where I may have to actually put a book together to be published! This overview may (!) see some changes as I put the content together and decide how much I have in a certain area. The idea is that this book will help anyone out there have better success talking to the humans in their lives.
Here’s a funny coincidence: I was just looking at the post about the back cover to my book, and I noticed that I wrote that exactly one month ago, on the 3rd of September. What are the odds…
Today, I gave a speech at McConnell Air Force base to the Toastmaster’s club there, and to the special guests from the base “Route 56 club”. If you’re not familiar with that group, it is composed of Junior NCOs (non-commissioned officers) that comprise most of the first line supervisors at the base. About 20 total were in attendance, and I gave a presentation that I titled “Three Keys to Better Presentations”.
For this audience, my three keys included the things that I felt would be the biggest pain points for this group, and the way to best improve their skills for their jobs.
My first key was “Know Your Audience”. I spoke about the difference between giving a safety briefing at a commander’s call (which some of the audience had done) and the types of briefings you might give a visiting VIP vs. a new Airman in your duty section. I told my own story of giving monthly status briefings while a member of the communications squadron, and how a change in leadership can result in a whole new tactic for those presentations.
Second, I talked about reducing their dependence on Power Point. I found out that many of them had heard the phrase “the slides should speak for themselves”, which is common on military presentations. But I gave them a few tips for reducing their PPT footprint and ways to avoid staring at the wall when they speak.
Finally, I talked about the need to practice your presentations, and proceeded to demonstrate my own preparedness by tripping on a cord at the end of the presentation. As I exited the stage, I was able to use a callback to my own point by saying, “If I had practiced at the site this morning, I could have avoided tripping on that cord just now”.
I did miss an opportunity to use a callback to the Toastmaster, who mentioned his own misconception that Toastmasters were “stuffy shirts” and that’s why he waited so long to join. Since I’m now a “business casual” dresser, I should have used that in my introduction to uncover some humor in the situation, but I didn’t.
Just like I said in my “know your audience” point, you have to tailor your presentations to your audience. I believe I was able to provide some useful information in a short time, and show my audience the advantage of Toastmasters and the advantage of proper preparation for their future presentations.
There are many keys to successful presentations…what are yours?
As a member of Toastmasters, I’ve had the good fortune to have many experienced speakers provide me with guidance, feedback, and advice. Toastmasters uses the term Mentor to describe the person who helps you reach your goals. Although many members can act in that capacity, usually you only have one named as your mentor.
What surprises me is how many folks join Toastmasters to improve, and then don’t take advantage of the mentoring opportunities – from both sides of the relationship. As an example, I recently agreed to be the Toastmasters mentor for someone in my club that I’ll call “A.B.” (because I want to).
“A.B.” and I had lunch today and we spoke about some of his goals, and also about some things that I am doing right now (i.e. this blog). The idea I had in discussing my blog with him was to talk about some of the things I have learned doing this, and I even suggested that he try something similar. I did stress that he not feel the need to necessarily post/publish his thoughts to Al Gore’s Internet right off the bat, but simply get them down on “paper” so he could review them.
Before I talk about what happened next, think about one of the Leadership Giants of our generation, Dr. Stephen Covey. In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (available in bookstores), the sixth habit is Synergize. In short, this habit says that we can create more working together than we can working separately. Put another way, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Covey’s words.
Back to the story:
“A.B.” and I talked about his goals and how Toastmasters would help him improve his abilities (he’s already a solid speaker – he won our club’s annual Humorous Speech contest two weeks ago). But guess what else happened? Did you say Synergy? Good show! While we were talking about putting thoughts on paper and working out story files, a couple of ideas surfaced about how I could format my future book and/or tighten the focus of this blog. So, while I went there to help “A.B.”, I ended up with some tangible benefits as well (on top of that whole “it feels good to help others” thing).
So, what did “A.B.” get out of this process? I can’t answer for him, but I hope at least a couple of things:
1. Some ideas for the process of becoming a better speaker
2. The wisdom of Rob (!)
As for me, I can speak to what benefits I recieved:
1. A new friend that I can learn from
2. Some ideas to improve my own writing and speaking
3. An idea for tonights post (this, obviously)
4. Bonus: An idea or two (on mentoring) for future Toastmasters speeches
If you’ve passed on the idea of having a mentor or being one yourself, you may be underestimating the incredible value of the relationships that you’re missing. Like many things in life you can learn some things from reading and hearing about them, but you’ll never see the true value and potential you can reach until you step up to the plate and take on that mentor role. For just an hour or two per month, you can make a difference in a fellow Toastmasters journey to success, and even move a bit closer on your own journey.
Heck, I’d even call that “Win-Win”, if Dr. Covey hadn’t beat me to it in Habit #4…
Should a speech be written before it is practiced and presented? I’ve heard a variety of answers to that question, and I’ve even made different choices in my own speaking experience. In this post, you’ll learn some specific tips on when you should answer yes, and when you may want to answer no.
Sometimes, the answer is clouded by the fallacy that if you put it in writing, you’re planning to either memorize it or read it. This, of course, is Hooey. Taking the time to write your speech out before you give it can accomplish at least these few things:
1. You will be able to see your outline, your opening, and your conclusion to see if it fits in your plan
2. You will be able to see how the timing of your speech works
3. You will have clearly done some preparation, rather than just “wing it”
Many experts would tell you that, in fact, it is important not to memorize your speech, but to internalize it. What’s the difference? To internalize it, you need to practice and really know your topic. You may (and should) not present it exactly the same each time, but the overall content and message would be the same.
Example: You have a main point about setting goals, and a story about how you completed your college degree. For a high school audience, you may point out that it’s never too early to start thinking about their future. In your story, you’d mention than when you took you SAT test, you were already thinking about where you would go to school one day. For an audience of adult learners, your point would be that it’s never too late to move forward in their educational goals, and in your story cite statistics about adult graduation success that drove you to go back to school to finish your Masters Degree.
When would you not want to write out your speech? Good question. Here are my thoughts:
1. Anytime you’re happy with doing less than your best
Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean it needs to be written out word for word. Some preparation may call for more detail, some may allow you to use some of your own shorthand, like “Tell the University of Maryland graduation story – focus on how I felt seeing the Masters Degree students walk across the stage”. (A true story of mine, by the way)
For a next step, I’d invite you to look at my post “3-dimentional winner” to see how you can use a method I learned from Ed Tate to help make your presentation more successful.
Should a speech be written before it is practiced and presented? That answer is going to be yes, anytime you want to increase the success of your presentations. Don’t try for a literary masterpiece, just get your thoughts down on paper so you can deliver the best presentation possible. The extra few minutes you spend crafting the written word will pay dividends in reduced practice time, and a better result in front of your audience. Try it, and you’ll be glad you did.
How many books do you read per week? Per month? Per year? I’m told that once Americans finish school, on average, they read less than one non-fiction book the rest of their lives. Ouch. Since I know many folks who do choose to read, at least from time-to-time, I have to believe this means there are a lot of folks out there reading zero books.
This leads me to hypothesize some reasons for the zero book club members, as well as some possible strategies to combat those reasons. If I were to use this as something to help influence others, it seems ironic that I would choose to use the printed word to reach those who have taken a vow of readinglessness. That’s not a word, of course. But, since my target audience isn’t reading this anyway, who cares?
In project management, we have what is called the triple constraint. In any project, you are constrained by either time, money, or quality. Said another way, you can have it fast, cheap, or good. Pick any two. I think this triple constraint can explain why people do, or don’t do, a lot of things.
1. Time- we all say we don’t have enough time, and it’s easy to let self-improvement take the hit in our schedules. Here’s today’s blockbuster phrase™ that you may not want to hear: You have enough time to do the things that are truly important to you. The real question is, what are you making important in your own life, or what are you letting others make important for you?
If time is your issue when it comes to reading, here are a couple of things I learned in project management training that can help:
a. Set realistic goals (i.e. one book a month, or one every two months to start).
b. Establish milestones (mini goals) to track your progress (i.e. 15 pages every Tuesday and Thursday, 40 pages each Sunday)
c. Write down you goals and milestones, and chart them over time.
d. Find something you can give up, or reduce the time you spend doing so you can add in this new goal. (i.e. give up one 30 minute TV show per week, or read during halftime)
2. Money – a book habit can be expensive, especially if you choose to buy in hardcover and ignore sale opportunities. I don’t have a “you have all the money you need” phrase for this one. Lots of us are feeling the pinch in this economy. Prioritization can play a part here too, but don’t forget your local library. Better than that: Start a book exchange with your friends. You don’t have to go to the extreme of hosting your own book club, but you can talk with a few friends once in a while and exchange books. Plus, that will help you stay on task to finish you book if you know you need to give it up next month. This one is a money saver and it gives you some common things to talk about. Don’t have friends? Try using a bulletin board at work to get the ball rolling.
3. Quality- Saving the best for last is almost cliché, isn’t it? After all, like I mentioned above you will find the time, and usually the money, to do what is truly important to you, right? So what’s the thing stopping most of the zero book club members? However you want to specifically phrase it, many people don’t believe that reading will make any valuable difference in their lives. Can you belive it? Disclaimer: No single book will make you a PhD by next week. The fact is the changes come in small, manageable doses. If you truly believe that reading won’t make a difference in your life, I’d like to recommend you take a three-book challenge. Finish the three books I list below, and if after you read them, you can’t find a single thing that helped you in your life, let me know. I will write your story for the blog and make you a nationally known phenomenon. Here are the books:
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham
Bonus Book: Talk to the Human™ by Rob Christeson (to be published, 2010)
Put those three constraints to work for you, and you’ll find some interesting improvement opportunities for yourself. It has nothing to do with becoming the next CEO of your company. With the economy the way it is, rampant outsourcing, and increased competitiveness in the workplace, you need every edge you can get.
Don’t be a member of the zero book club; their book bag doesn’t even match your shoes…
The more I read, the more I hear, the more I listen, and the more I say, two things become more and more evident to me. First, great speakers and great writers alike use stories to convey their messages and their points. Second, and most important to me, my verbal and written storytelling skills still need work.
You’re probably thinking, so what, who cares, and what’s in it for me, the reader? Fair question.
Imagine yourself sitting at a computer, surfing the web and looking at a professional speaker’s blog posting for today. Continue to imagine that as you read this post, you think, “wow, he posted this topic just for me”. That’s right…just for you.
How do we get there from here? You probably already know the answer…stories.
So why stories? Here are a few keys:
1. Stories can relate abstract concepts and bring them to real life.
Not too many years ago, I was teaching groups of new supervisors in the Air Force about how to motivate their people to work hard and achieve top ratings on their performance evals. If you would have been in one of those audiences, you would have heard me make my point about the way to get there from here is to give concrete criteria for achieving the top ratings in each of 7 performance categories.
You would have heard me give clear and useful examples from each of the 7 areas, working from examples in a variety of job skills, very likely including one or more of yours. To tie it all together I’d tell this story:
I had the opportunity to supervise a troop a few years ago. I knew that she was underperforming, in part, due to inexperienced supervision. Her previous boss was still a new supervisor, and his boss had spen a number of years avoiding those types of duties, so he wasn’t a very good role model. Fortunately, my new troop had been in the service less than a year, and I was sure the right motivation could be uncovered. When we spoke about her goals, she mentioned that she wanted to be promoted early, commonly known in the Air Force as a Below-the-Zone (BTZ) promotion. This opportunity only came once per person, and usually around the 2-3 year point in an Airman’s career.
Of course, this is a goal many Airman share, but in the Communications Squadron, it was a rare event for one of the Project Managers (our field) to be recognized. This is by no means the prelude to an excuse, but something we had to keep in mind and remember as we looked toward this goal.
Going over the criteria I have been teaching you, I discussed all seven performance areas with her. In each area, I told her what performance levels would get her a mid-level rating, what would get her a higher rating, and what would get her a maximum rating. Then, I included 3 things she needed to do in each area, above the max-rating standard I had set, if she wanted to be competitive for BTZ promotion next year. Besides job performance, knowledge, and having a sharp uniform and demeanor, these standards included self improvement (college), additional duties and volunteer work.
I made sure she understood that if she performed to this level, I would put together the best package I could for her BTZ board. I even made sure to sit on two of the three boards before her’s so I knew what it would take to achieve this promotion with our unit’s leadership. I gave her regular feedback throughout the year, and made sure to do my absolute best to accurately, honestly, and professionally convey her achievements for that year. When it came time for her records to meet that board, there were two promotions that could be given in our unit, because there were 14-20 eligible Airman during that quarter.
If you had been at our next commander’s call (a meeting for all of the members of the unit), you would have been on the edge of your seats right there with us. The commander called the first person’s name to receive the promotion. Rats! It was someone from the helpdesk. They always seem to get those promotions. Okay…okay…I’m clapping. But wait, here comes the second name. Our commander said “The second Below the Zone promotion to Senior Airman goes to…” Bam! She had earned it, and now she was walking up to the stage to receive it.
All of her hard work had paid off, but it wasn’t just that. Because I had taken the time to use the tools, taught to me in the same manner I’ve taught you today, she didn’t just know I wanted her to do a “good job”, but she knew exactly what was expected of her, and what would be waiting for her, no matter what path she chose. This process works if you use it, and because of it she was able to succeed.
In the end, this story had the ability to make the concepts I was passing on to them very real, not just academic “try this” and “tell them that”. Real world stories, preferably from your own real experiences, make the difference in bringing those abstract concepts to life for your audience.
2. Stories can take the focus off of you, and allow someone else to be the expert and the hero, and allow the process to be what the audience remembers.
In the story above, you noticed how I reference the process I was teaching was given to me in a similar setting (in this case an experienced Senior NCO teaching new supervisors). This means I was passing on someone else’s wisdom, used to help yet another person succeed.
3. Stories give your audience an anchor to connect your point to, so later when they are in a similar circumstance, the point comes back through the association.
In my story,all of the new supervisors were going to have to write performance appraisals and set standards and goals for their troops. My hope was that the next time they caught themselves saying “be on time” or “do better work” they would remember how giving specific standards (i.e. at your desk by 7:30 am or answer the phone within two rings) would give their troops the best chance of success.
That example was one of the very few decent stories I had developed when I was giving this training. It also led to the most successful connections I was able to make with my audience as well.
Lots of great speakers will tell you that you need a story file. As it turns out, this is an area that I’m seeing my own need to improve as well. If you already have one, then that’s good news. If not, I’ll tell you my plan and you can use what you like from it:
1. Create a Microsoft Word file (use Apple stuff if you have to) and copy and paste the above story into it.
2. I’m going to categorize this file by roles (on the job, at home, Toastmasters, etc.)
3. Over the weekend, I’m going to work on some titles (i.e. BTZ promotion at xxx Air Force Base) to get me started remembering things that have happened
4. Continuing on, I’ll fill in the gaps and have stories categorized much like the blog has categories
5. Also, I’ll incorporate these stories into future blog posts, to help me stay on track
Follow along, and feel free to provide comments. And while you’re watching, start your own story file. Believe it or not, whether you’re a presenter, a coworker, or a parent, you too have a need for stories.
Do you remember the movie City Slickers with Billy Crystal (as Mitch) and Jack Palance (as Curly)? There is this point when Curly tells Mitch about the secret to life being “One Thing”. When Mitch asks what the one thing is, Curly simply tells him “that’s for you to figure out.”
You may be expecting me to post about the value of finding your one thing. Fooey. If I tried to live my life as some human just focusing on one thing, my head would explode. No…no…seriously. Just thinking about the possibility has me contemplating running a lap while I write this. I know that doesn’t make sense, but I’m trying to keep my head from exploding here.
Still with me? Good…Here’s my novel idea: Add One Thing! I don’t mean switch to the Jack Palance one thing, I mean take what you’re doing and Add One Thing! You may have to cut back on something else, like TV or sleeping (please don’t add TV or sleeping as your new one thing).
What could this be? Here are a couple of ideas:
1. 10 minutes of stretching per day
2. 20 minutes of reading (mostly non-fiction) per day
- Note: If you want to finish The Lost Symbol first, I understand
- Note2: My blog should take less than 2 minutes per day, if you are so inclined
3. 20 minutes of writing each day (you don’t have to post your writing on-line)
4. Listen to books or audio lessons on CD during your drive to work instead of Rihanna
5. 15 minutes a day with Rosetta Stone (learn a language)
6. 90 minutes a week to join a Toastmasters club (you had to see that coming)
7. The number one thing on your “I’m waiting for such-and-such so I can do so-and-so” list (we all have one). Stop waiting …and just do it.
Of course, I practice what I preach. No score and four weeks ago, I began the (possibly insane) task of posting my Talk to the Human™ blog on a daily basis. I did this for a variety of reasons:
1. To see if I could really write (results are a bit mixed so far)
2. As a method to capture my ideas and compel me to at least try to refine them
3. To encourage feedback
4. Because people I respect kept using sentences with “hey you”, “should” and “blog” in them
5. As a way to become instantly rich (4 out of 5…you know the joke)
Around the third day, I thought, “at the one week point I should change this to a weekly blog, and see if anyone notices.” Do you know what happened next? Oh…duh, of course you do. But do you know why? I kept posting each day because I started to get used to posting every day. I’m not saying it became easy to gen out content. But I am saying I’ve become used to the process, and now I capture two or three potential ideas per day, and I’m usually able to come up with a coherent (!) post at home in the evening. In fairness, if you could see my drafts you would see six or seven posts with less than a paragraph done because I had writers block. I just changed subjects and posted on something different.
One of the draft posts began as an idea for preparing readers to ace their next interview. I actually feel like a dork for not getting through the second paragraph. Hopefully some inspiration will hit in the next few days and I’ll finish that one off. Rats! I think I just said that I’m waiting on something before I do something with that idea. Okay…ignore that whole paragraph. Read this next one instead:
One of the draft posts began as an idea for preparing readers to ace their next interview. I actually feel like a dork for not getting through the second paragraph. My plan is to work on this one again this weekend so that you can have a few ideas before you need them to ace your next interview. Ahhh…better.
If you’ve made it this far, there’s no doubt that you’ve begun thinking about the one thing you could add to make a small, but useful change in your life. Don’t try to implement all 7 (or more) ideas I gave you at one time. Just pick one and add it this next week, then make a promise to yourself to keep doing it regularly for the next month. At that point, see if you have made any progress. For my example, of course my writing wasn’t going to transform into novel-quality work in just four weeks, but my writing is getting written each day, instead of just churned uselessly in my head again and again. It may not be a Lotto-Winning caliber achievement, but just maybe it means I’m not the same exact person I was a month ago.
Think about it. What will your next One Thing be?