One point per story, please

Fellow speaker,

When you want to really get your point across to the audience, tell a story that "drives the point home".

Driving,

Tim

3-D speaking

Fellow speaker,

When you speak, always keep in mind your:

• Content
• Presentation
• Environment

In the third dimension,

Tim

Learning all the time

Fellow speaker,

You can always learn from other speakers. When you see something in a speaker that you personally like, you can start doing that in your speeches. When you see something in a speaker that you don't personally like, you can avoid that in your speeches.

Learning at both ends,

Tim

Bringing in the audience

Fellow speaker,

When speaking to your audience, your goal is to bring that audience to you. If you are always taking your audience's view on everything, there is no growth in your audience. Instead, gradually, slowly bring the audience around to your point of view.

Bringing 'em in,

Tim

In the beginning...

Fellow speaker,

Business "guru" Stephen Covey says there always two "creations":

• Mental – have to see it in your mind
• Physical – then you can achieve it

Make sure in your speeches that the listener can "see your points in their mind" so they begin to believe they can achieve those points.

Seeing and believing,

Tim

Heart over humor

Fellow speaker,

World Champion Speaker Mark Brown says, "Heart wins over humor." Putting heart into an "emotionally stirring" speech will be more effective than making your speech "really funny".

Heartily,

Tim

Getting 'em going!

Fellow speaker,

World Champion speaker Craig Valentine suggests three different ways to get audiences interested in our speeches:

• Push – give the negative results if the audience fails to take your suggestions
• Pull – give the positive results the audience will get if they take your suggestions
• Passion – put a lot of energy and excitement into your speeches

Passionately pulling,
Tim

Conflicting stories

Fellow speaker,

Remember always to create conflict early and often in your stories, to keep the stories "alive" and interesting to your audience.

Conflicted,

Tim

A picture isn't a thousand words

Fellow speaker,

Using visual aids (including presentation slides) does not eliminate the need to present. No matter what visual aids you use, you still have to do the presentation well in order to get your message across to the audience.

Presentably,

Tim

Give me five!

Fellow speaker,

When creating a slide presentation, remember to have no more than five words per line and five lines per page.

Fiving,

Tim

Chatting 'em up

Fellow speaker,

When writing/speaking your speech, use a casual, conversational style as if you and the audience are having a "little chat" together.

Chatting,

Tim

90 seconds

Fellow speaker,

Always remember that the first 90 seconds can make...or break a speech.

Making it,

Tim

Structured speaking

Fellow speaker,

Here are four speech structures for showing two sides of a situation:

• If/then – you do this, then you get that
• Cause/effect – because you didn't do this, this will happen
• Pro/con – these are the advantages, now here are the disadvantages
• Chronological – to determine how you got here, let’s look at where you started

Comparing,

Tim

"Yeah...I see where you are coming from."

Fellow speaker,

When creating your speech, make sure it is easy for the audience to follow and understand.

Understandably,

Tim

Why to speak

Fellow speaker,

Here are four purposes for speaking along with the target audience that goes best with each purpose:

• Inform – business
• Persuade – business, motivational
• Inspire – motivational
• Entertain – after-dinner

The best speakers should have some of all four purposes in any speech they give.

Purposefully,

Tim

What's the beef?

Fellow speaker,

When you are creating your speech, make sure there is a clear, understandable point. You should be able to put the main point of the speech into one (nor more than) ten word sentence.

Pointedly,

Tim

Personal effect

Fellow speaker,

To create the most personal audience experience:

• Involve the audience
• Ask them questions/to do something
• Keep the listener an active participant

Personally,

Tim

Punchy presentations

Fellow speaker,

When creating your presentations, keep them short and to the point, so your audience has an enjoyable, focused experience.

Focused,

Tim

You are your credentials

Fellow speaker,

Your personal experiences are your credentials: you are an expert on yourself. Share those personal expert experiences in your speech and your audience will accept you as an "expert speaker".

Expertly,

Tim

Open and Shut

Fellow speaker,

When giving your speech, always keep in mind your "intro" (what you say at the beginning of the speech to get the audience interested) and your "outro" (what you say at the end of the speech and want the audience to remember).

In and out,

Tim

Under time

Fellow speaker,

When you are giving your speech, speak about 5 to 10 minutes less than your full time to make sure you keep your speech on time.

Timely,

Tim

The speech bone's connected to the...funny bone

Fellow speaker,

Using humor in our speech helps us "connect in" with our audience: when everyone is all laughing together everyone feels very "connected" to each other.

Connecting,

Tim

Making a speech about it

Fellow speaker,

Here are the steps to creating a great speech:

• Write speech
• Read speech
• Record speech
• Listen to speech
• Rewrite speech
• (repeat)

Repeating,

Tim

Picture this!

Fellow speaker,

When using pictures in a presentation, make sure the picture is directly connected to the subject of the speech.

In pictures,

Tim

The slide is not the speech

Fellow speaker,

YOU are the speaker, not the slides. Put the least amount of information you can on each slide and then explain what each slide means to the audience. Keep them focused on you, not the slides.

Keeping in focus,

Tim

Writing like you speak

Fellow speaker,

Write your speeches for the ear, so that the written out speeches sound natural and are easy to say.

Naturally,

Tim

Economic speaking

Fellow speaker,

World Champion David Brooks says that writing a speech out is important because it encourages "economy and precision." Economy is about using the fewest words possible while precision is about using the best words possible.

Economically precise,

Tim

Try something different

Fellow speaker,

Try something different and new in your speeches. You may make a lot of mistakes...but you will learn what new things you can add in to your speeches.

Living and learning,

Tim

Hook, line, and sinker

Fellow speaker,

"Hook" your audience at the beginning of your speech by focusing on them and their interests.

Giving 'em the hook,

Tim

Little things mean a lot

Fellow speaker,

Improving a speech is simple...if you remember to take it one step at a time. Making lots of little changes is the easy way to quickly improve your speech.

Changing,

Tim