Talk to the Human™

Hooray for long titles!

Seriously, I just received Success Secrets of the Social Media Marketing Superstars by Mitch Meyerson. I’ve been waiting for this book, so rather than wait for Sunday to do a review after I finish reading it, I thought I would clue you in to a great purchase you can make today.

Mitch Meyerson has authored and coauthored a number of great books on marketing, including titles such as Guerrilla Marketing on the Front Lines and World Class Speaking with Craig Valentine. He also certifies Guerrilla Marketing Coaches and works with Craig to certify World Class Speaking Coaches. 

This book is a compilation of chapters from very successful people with specif advice on using Social Media. One chapter (which I read immediately), How to Communicate with Impact Using Social Media, was written by Craig Valentine. Others were written by well know authors and blog experts Chris Garrett, Chris Brogran and Brian Clark. I wrote about Brian’s site, CopyBlogger in a previous post. There is also a chapter by Sham Hyder Kabani, author of The Zen of Social Media Markeing.

With 22 chapters in all, this look like a great resource for using social media. Take a look at the Facebook site for the book launch, you can find some good information from Mitch to see if this book is one you should add to your library. Watch for the full review soon.

As I watched the International Speech Contest at the 2010 Toastmasters International Convention, I noticed a few things that, in my opinion, truly contributed to the best speaker being recognized as the World Champion.

First, without a doubt is have a message. This may be a no-brainer, but in two years of watching the finals and three years watching regional/semi-final contests I have seen some speakers miss this one all together. You may ask, how do they miss something so critical? Good question. It’s simple, they only think they have a message. You have to, have to, HAVE TO  be sure that the audience will walk away with your message, and better yet with it worded the way you meant it. See Craig Valentine’s work on Foundational Phrases – No Phrase, No Stage.

Tell your own, compelling story. It has to support the message, and in my experience the strongest messages are the ones learned from someone else, like a parent or sibling.  In David Henderson’s speech, The Aviator, his lesson “losing people is a part of loving people” came from a powerful discussion with his mother. His use of dialog was strong, and it helped us relive those moments with him.

Use humor appropriately. David’s speech had a very serious message. However, he was able to light up the room with parts of his story about how he and his friend would play together. As I remember it, they “flew over a bazillion missions together without any casualties.” In Robert Mackenzie’s speech, My Alter Ego, there were a number of well placed lines that fit right into the speech. A crowd favorite was, “By 30 I had said ‘no’ more times than Toyota said ‘recall’.” 

Set the stage with grand and normal gestures. David took us back to a time when he and his friend, at age 7, used to play aviator together. He did this twice by extending his arms and making airplane (and shooting) noises to simulate the event. Robert did this by showing us the size and place for his invisible alter-ego, and then taking us back to that spot on the stage when he needed to, including simulating a door to go inside and shut himself in.

Of course, giving a championship-quality speech is more than checking off a few boxes of “must-do’s”. But if you are missing any of these elements in your speech, don’t be shocked if your name doesn’t get called.

Another thing – be sure to practice (duh), but don’t overdo it on soliciting feedback. Use Ideas #1 and #2 in my advaced suggestion post, and get feedback each time you practice. Have someone you respect and trust write you a manual speech evaluation each time you practice, and ignore all the verbal minutia you get from the rest of the room. Of course, you’ll want to get some professional-quality coaching as well. World Champions Edge (affiliate link) is a great place to start.

Good luck, and don’t wait too long to get started. Next year will be here any minute…

You have your customer. Now it’s time to think about how you deliver your message to him/her. We’ll stick with the example from the last post, you as an expert in health and fitness.

We’ve established your customer as men 35-50 who have an desk job, are married with family commitments and need solutions that fit a busy schedule. Now we need a message that resonates with that group.

This message comes in multiple parts:

Your business name
Your tagline
Names of your primary products and services
Names of your signature presentations
Even how people refer to you

Some of these items can be the same. For instance, Craig Valentine has a product called Create Your Killer Keynote. He also has a presentation with the same name. I know because I own one and saw the other in Tulsa this spring.

For the rest of us, the business name doesn’t have to be complex or totally unique. But, you can choose to go that way too if you like.

Simple
Craig’s fitness coaching
Smith brother’s fitness
Marilyn’s body shaping

Unique
30-something fitness inc.
Pennystone fitness
FitBlogger

Next is the Tagline. For my Talk to the Human Blog, I decided on Ways to improve your interactions with real people. That wasn’t my first tagline, and it probably wont be my last. For more tips on taglines, check out this post on CopyBlogger.com.

Naming your primary products or services, of course, requires you to have them. Examples:

FitBlogger blog
Get fit with Chuck cd set
Eat right and be fit cookbook
Build a Better Bicep home study course
Joey’s personal fitness instruction

As I mentioned before, those signature presentation delivered as a lunch and learn, seminar, or even at your Toastmasters club for practice should have a catchy title to help the audience know the value they will get by listening.

Michelle’s 7 steps to a healthier you
Sonia’s 3 keys to eating tasty and healthy food
A heathlier you in just 9 minutes per day

Finally, I mentioned how people refer to you. This refers to a type of iconic status, which means it develops over time. For instance, I know a guy named Rory Vaden who’s signature presentation is about self discipline. It’s called “Take the Stairs.” I see it enough that whenever I look at an Elevator, my mind says “Rory!” and I head for the stairs (within reason). I should probably hide his Facebook posts, but that’s another story.

Iconic status isn’t always flattering. Personally I’m glad my “Talk to the Human guy” idea from early posts never caught on. I’m not even sure what I was thinking on that one. 

Determining your message is a multi-step process, and thinking about those different areas where your message goes will be important to your success. Start with that combination of who you are , what you offer and who your customer is. Brainstorm with some friends, your Toastmasters club, or here on the message board.

This last year I’ve read a ton (at least a few pounds) of books, especially on marketing, the web, consulting, writing and speaking. I created some reviews on this website, but I think it’s time to highlight the best for those of you just getting on board with this whole 21st century reading-thing.

This list presumes you are looking to become successful at speaking and/or consulting about something you are good at. Of course, you also need to be up to date on whatever subject you are choosing to speak about.

Speaking
World Class Speaking – Craig Valentine and Mitch Meyerson
Money Talks – Alan Weiss

Writing
Six-Figure Freelancing – Kelly James-Enger
Made to Stick -  Chip and Dan Heath

Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing – Jay Conrad Levinson
Permission Marketing – Seth Godin

Consulting
Million Dollar Consulting – Alan Weiss
Book Yourself Solid - Michael Port

Web
The Zen of Social Media Marketing – Shama Hyder Kabani
WordPress for Dummies – Lisa Sabin-Wilson

Ideas
What the Dog Saw – Malcolm Gladwell
SuperFreakonomics – Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

As I made this list, I did realize there were still a couple of book reviews I could do, for those rare (!) weeks when I don’t finish a book.

Also, I know Made to Stick isn’t so much a book about writing, but it is a book about making your ideas worth remembering. And that is a great skill to have as a speaker and as someone who writes down what they are going to say.

If you are behind on your reading, pick up something off of this list. They are all worth your time…

In Part one, you learned the first steps to creating an Icebreaker speech; the first speech you will give in your Toastmasters club.

For this lesson, we’ll take our example message and work on our opening remarks. You may wonder how we can craft these without determining our three main points, right?

Good call. Let’s draft out those three points first. In part four (after developing the closing in part three) we will deal with developing those three points further. But for now we can use a farily easy technique to draft out these points.

For the example message, lets look at a basic chronological Icebreaker speech.
First Point: Where I grew up
Second Point: Where I work
Third Point: My family and hobbies

For the opening, we want to:
1. Avoid pointless pleasantries
2. Make our promise
3. Provide a road-map

What are pointless pleasantries? Things like “glad to be here”, “nice weather”, “Mr. toastmaster”, or anything that doesn’t add to the value of your conversation with the audience. Better to open with a powerful question, a story or a relevant quote.

What about the promise? “In the next five minutes you are going to learn a bit more about me and what brought me to this Toastmasters club”

And the road-map? This is just a way to let them know what those three main points are.

“Dr. Stephen Covey says the seventh habit of highly effective people is to ‘Sharpen the Saw.’ In the next 5 minutes you are going to hear a bit about my life, and what brought me here to sharpen my saw with you. First, you’ll learn about where I was raised, then what I do for XYZ company here in Wichita. Finally you’ll hear about what I like to do with my off-work time and why I’ve added Toastmasters to my life.”

Then you’ll finish the opening with a transition to first main point:

“Of course, being a Toastmaster isn’t what I thought I would be doing when I grew up. In fact, would you believe in high school I wanted to be an Architect? Here’s what really happened…”

That is a simple opeing for the Icebreaker speech. Next would be that first point about growing up. We’ll discuss that more later in the week, along with the other main points.

Tomorrow, we’ll work on the closing statement. This is where you want your best story or other material. You may look to tie it to the opening, such as “I may not have become an Architect, but now I …”

The rest of the closing tomorrow…

<Editors note: Here is an excellent (and recent) related blog entry from Craig Valentine. http://www.craigvalentine.com/open-your-speech-and-open-their-minds/>

A friend of mine (I’ll call him Paul) made this comment to me last night: “You know, it just takes two pages to make a speech.”

He was referencing that we both are avid readers, and in any book we’ve read we could generate a Toastmasters Speech out of an idea from just a couple of  pages.

“When you squeeze the information in, you squeeze your audience out” – Craig Valentine

Do you sometimes receive feedback that you don’t really want (or don’t even need) to hear? How does it make you feel to receive unsolicited feedback? 

In fact, does it matter if the unsolicited opinion comes from someone you totally respect or someone you don’t even know?

It’s human nature to notice perceived flaws and to look for ways to fix them. It’s even becoming a normal practice in society to go to that person with the potential flaw and offer up a suggestion just to help. I’ve seen this countless times at Toastmasters contests, and I’ve observed the facial expressions of the recipients (and yes, I have done it myself).

Last year I attended the Toastmasters International Convention in Connecticut. Early in the week, some of us were fortunate to be able to watch a finalist in the coming World Championship of Public Speaking (WCPS)  practice her speech.

I really like the rule that the World Champs used for this session: after the speech, we were encouraged to provide positive feedback to the contestant – one each. If any of us thought we saw some improvement that just had to be said, we were to hold that comment and provide it to one of the champs (5 were present). Then they would collaborate and work with the contestant to provide the improvements that in their experience would help her out.

That led me to a couple of good rules we can all follow, whether in our Toastmaster club environments, or in the business world:

1. Positive comments are rarely solicited, so be sure to offer them generously when they are deserved. Bonus hint: They are always deserved.

2. Unsolicited critiques are almost never appreciated. Avoid offering your evaluation unless you’re asked. Note: You are not the exception to this rule.

3. Consolidate improvement where possible. I don’t mean gang up (i.e. “12 of us thought you should pause longer, so I was elected to tell you”), but you should avoid a steady stream of 2-3 improvements from multiple sources.

In Good Guys, a new comedy/drama/cop thing on Fox, the lead character asks his boss why he can’t move into a more exciting job in the department. As an example of his behavior, She offers “You corrected the Captain’s grammar…in front of the Chief.” Instead of realizing his mistake and moving on, he responded “There is no ‘statue of limitations.’”

Giving a critique to someone, even if you are completely right, is not some sort of constitutional right. You’ll be more successful with your opinion if it’s solicited, and you’ll be more effective when the recipient is receptive. Remember to stay positive, and only give critiques to those who actively seek your opinion.

Are you in Oklahoma City today? Me neither; but I am in Tulsa attending the District 16 Spring Conference. What a fantastic event! Great people, great presenters and two unbelievable presentations by 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking, Craig Valentine.

After a delicious lunch, Craig gave a keynote about the 4 R’s of Remarkable Results. Being a fan, I have heard some of the material before. But watching him present (did I mention that he is good?), and hearing some new stories really added to my understanding of the material. His story (new to me) about “The Sheen Effect” was particularly amusing.

After lunch, there were three local presenters that gave great presentations about being a “Gung Ho” Toastmaster, having the “Courage to Evaluate”, and “Conquering your Fear” when giving presentations. It’s always great to see a mix of experienced local presenters with someone of Craig’s caliber.

For his educational presentation, Craig presented a new session on how to Create your Keynote. This session was based on his awesome program Create Your Killer Keynote Home Study Course.

He managed to distill his patented (I think) PARTS formula to help the audience understand his methodology and how they could apply it. The response was amazing. There were ~100 people in attendance and Craig had no trouble getting participation and questions from the group.

I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell, but it turns out there was a secret 5th R in the 4-R presentation, and he talked about it again in the afternoon. The secret was no secret to readers of my blog, but Craig makes a far more compelling case than I’ve heard from anyone else.

This important secret: Reading. Craig is a slightly more active reader than I am, maintaining a book-per-week pace for the last 16 years. Wow.

One of my favorite parts (no pun) of the PARTS presentation was the discussion about the Foundational Phrase. Craig gave a very compelling argument for using your Toastmasters club to help you refine your message. He mentioned how he had a great story about a misunderstanding during a Fast-Food drive through experience, and needed a phrase to go with it. After all, “No Phrase…No Stage”.

He took the story to his club, and a member responded with “What you say is not always what they hear.” Another great foundational phrase that Craig now uses in Leadership presentations. I am going to have to use that one myself, although I’ll go ahead and use one of my own stories.

It may not have had the excitement of Oklahoma City (inside joke), but the conference in Tulsa was a lot of fun, and it probably won’t be my last trip to District 16.

Every now and then, a good book may be a reference book you can turn to again and again. If you are a person who writes or speaks, you need to have a reference of great quotes handy all the time. Seriously.

The Harper Book of Quotations, Third Edition was published too early to include any George W. Bush gems, but contains over 6,500 quotes from both the famous and obscure.

What’s great about this book:
Sorted by topic, such as Adversity, Education, England and the U.K., Honesty, Sport, Success, Work and 194 more catgories.
Fully indexed by source, so you can find, say, all 40 of Oscar Wilde’s quotes, or just the one by former President Clinton.

Limiting Factors:
It would be nice to have a fourth edition out soon. There were a few good things said in the past few years.
You’ll have to search the web for more contemporary quotes from greats like Seth Godin, Alan Weiss, or Craig Valentine.

Great Quotes:
“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” – Thomas La Mance
“Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else.” – Will Rogers
“See everything: overlook a great deal: correct a little.” – Pope John XXIII

Recommendations:
This is a reference book that would be useful on your shelf. You should have no trouble getting it for less than the $14.95 retail price.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now at full price
Buy if you get a discount
Wait for the paperback (and it’s already in paperback/discounted)
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the jist of it

I picked this book up after hearing the author and other World Champions of Public Speaking on a CD set I had purchased last year. All of those on the CD set, including author Craig Valentine, had very professional styles and believed in providing valuable information in their products.

I picked this up, hoping it would give me a few insights into being a better speaker. I hadn’t even considered the marketing portion to be relevant, or something I needed to know. After all, if I’m good enough, people will find me and ask me to come to their organization to speak, right?

Like most budding professionals, I didn’t simply undervalue the concept of marketing. I ignored it. Lucky for me, Craig (with co-author Mitch Meyerson) did an amazing job of integrating the concept of marketing with his topic of being a world class speaker.

In fact, reading this book helped me see the integration of speaking and marketing (impossible to be successful in one without the other) and put me on the road to understanding not only the need for marketing, but how to do it right and with a very limited budget.

After I read this book, I was fortunate enough to meet Craig and hear him speak. Not only does he practice what he writes, not only does he teach what he writes, but he is absolutely fantastic as a speaker and trainer.

As a Toastmaster myself, I have been consistently working to improve my speaking, and where Toastmasters shaves years off of your learning curve, Craig’s methods in this book will take you to the next level. Plus, if speaking for a living is what you want to do, this book will also cut significant time off of that learning curve as well.

Like others who posted reviews on Amazon, this book took me a while to get through. There was so much I wanted to try as I went through it. After reading it, I have used it multiple times as a reference when developing presentations.

What’s great about this book:
Lots of specific tips that you can use right away
Serves as a great reference for both speaking skills and marketing ideas

Limiting Factors:
Not a “single-sitting” read – I had to stop to take notes many, many times
You’ll need to be willing to learn a lot

Great Quotes:
Do not leave money on the table
Marketing is not an event – it’s a process

Recommendations:
This book is truly in my top 10. If you’re thinking at all about taking your speaking skills to the next level, make this one of the first books you read. Same if you want to go pro, and need some marketing ideas (and if you’re a human, you probably do).