Up front

Fellow speaker,

In the book You Are the Message, Roger Ailes says “Research shows that we start to make up our minds about other people within seven seconds of first meeting them. In the first seven seconds, we also trigger in each other a chain of emotional reactions, ranging from reassurance to fear.”  Make the most of your first impression on your audience!

Quoting,

Tim

Quote them

Fellow speaker,

When opening your speech, look to find something an audience member said that you can quote word for word. This will help you instantly "bond" with your audience.

Bonding,

Tim

Ask around

Fellow speaker,

Before giving your presentation, call up speaker(s) who have previously presented and ask them their thoughts about presenting in front of the audience.

Asking,

Tim

Get to them

Fellow speaker,

Create an introduction that relates only to the audience you are speaking to. Focus on the specific things this audience cares about and/or make a hero out of one of the audience members.

In focus,

Tim

Interview

Fellow speaker,

Interview the "movers and shakers" (the people who everyone knows and who get everything done) who will be in the audience. Before giving your speech, find out who the "movers and shakers" are, and talk to them about what they are interested in, what matters to them, and who are speakers they have liked.

Talking it out,

Tim

Understanding the audience

Fellow speaker,

Connect your speech to the audience’s issues, frustrations, and pet peeves. Making your speech matter to the audience makes the speech "stick" in the audience's minds.

Sticking,

Tim

Great expectations

Fellow speaker,

Outline clearly at the beginning of your speech what your speech is about, who it is for, and how it will help your audience.

Clearly,

Tim

Understanding the message

Fellow speaker,

When giving a speech, make sure the meeting planner understands your message so that your message is on-target with the group the meeting planner wants you to present for.

On-target,

Tim

Clear message

Fellow speaker,

Make sure the message in your speech is clear. Everyone in your audience should be able to "get it" based on what they hear in your speech.

Getting it,

Tim

Keep it real

Fellow speaker,

Be yourself onstage and you will grab the audience's attention and interest.

Really really,

Tim

Audience focused

Fellow speaker,

Think about what the audience:

• Wants
• Needs
• Expects

in your speeches.

Wanting,

Tim

Prop up your speech

Fellow speaker,

Using a prop can add a lot to a speech. It gives the listeners something to focus on and to help them to remember your speech long after you give it.

Propping,

Tim

More thoughts

Fellow speaker,

Consider:

• Controversy
• Edginess
• Relevance (cultural, industry, etc.)

in your speeches.

For your consideration,

Tim

Things for thought

Fellow speaker,

Keep in mind:

• Tension
• Relief
• Paradox

in your next speech.

Minding,

Tim

More speech building

Fellow speaker,

Here are a few more ways to build your speeches:

• Side notes – digressions
• Segways – scene change

Bulking up,

Tim

Speech building

Fellow speaker,

Build your speech structure:

• Circular – start and end at same point
• Parallel – them and me
• Alternating – shifting of focus

Constructively,

Tim

The audience's view

Fellow speaker,

Your audience has some questions for you and your speech:

• Where’s this going?
• How is this relevant?
• So what?

Answer these questions and your speech will be great!

Greatly,

Tim

Staying focused

Fellow speaker,

When creating your speech think about:

• Your message
• Meeting theme
• Teaching points
• Stories/illustrations

Minding,

Tim

Things to think about...

Fellow speaker,

When preparing a professional speech think about:

• Why you are speaking
• Why the meeting organizer (the one who authorizes your check) hired you
• Why the audience listens to you

Thinking,

Tim

How to kill the close

Fellow speaker,

To have a bad closing to your speech:

• Change the way you deliver your speech at the end
• Mention the point(s) you forgot to include in the speech
• Avoid summarizing key points of the speech
• Apologize for any mistakes you make
• Ramble on and on at the end

Follow this simple advice and you can turn even the greatest speech into a nonrecoverable dud!

Dudly Do-wrong,

Tim

How do I close thee?

Fellow speaker,

Here are a few common types of closers:

• Return to opening theme
• Future challenge
• Call for action
• Reference to whatever follows the presentation
• Powerful insight

Closed,

Tim

Closing Out Continued

Fellow speaker,

Some other things you can do in your closer are:

• Saying what the benefits are
• Brief, memorable statement

In Closing,

Tim

Close out

Fellow speaker,

Make the speech closer count and include:

• A bridging statement that announces the closing
  - “Let me summarize”
  - “To restate my four main points”
  - “To sum up where I have been”
• A restatement of the key points
• A summary of the main idea

Closing,

Tim

And in conclusion...

Fellow speaker,

The ending of your speech:

• Provides a summary of main ideas and objectives
• Reviews the purpose of the entire presentation
• Appeals directly for audience action

Conclusively,

Tim

How to kill your speech right from the start

Fellow speaker,

If you want to bomb onstage:

• Apologize to your audience
• Make long or slow-moving statements
• Make obvious observations
• Ask lots of unimportant questions
• Tell stories not related to your topic

Pretty soon you'll have 'em snoring in the aisles!

Playing it down,

Tim

A few more openers

Fellow speaker,

Here are a few more speech openers:

• Real-world situations
• Current events
• Outline a chain of events
• Short story to make a point

Open to anything,

Tim

A few openers

Fellow speaker,

Here are a few speech openers you can use:

• Quotations - work to get the lesser known quotes
• Questions
• Definite statements

Open to it all,

Tim

How to be open to others

Fellow speaker,

The main things you need to have in your speech opener are:

• Attention-getting statement
• Key points of the speech
• Benefits the audience will get
• Words and gestures that fit the speech

Keeping it open,

Tim

Opening up

Fellow speaker,

Here are some objectives for your speech opener:

• Sell your audience on listening to your presentation
• Introduce the subject of your presentation
• Establish your credibility with your audience

Objectively,

Tim

Ways to make audience believe in you

Fellow speaker,

Here are some ways to make the audience believe in you and your message:

• Examples
• Comparisons
• Quotations (reinforce your point)
• Personal findings
• Statistics
• Graphs
• Audio-visual media
• Testimony of experts

Listing,

Tim