Recycling

Fellow speaker,

Use parts of older speeches to create a new speech. Create a collection of these older speeches, so you have them when you need them.

Reusing,

Tim

Three to get ready!

Fellow speaker,

When working on your speech ask:

• What does your audience know?
• What does your audience need to know?
• What is the one message you want your audience to get out of your speech?

Getting ready,

Tim

Act up!

Fellow speaker,

Act out how you want the audience to feel. For example, if you want the audience to be excited, you should sound excited. If you want the audience to be curious, you should act curious yourself.

Acting,

Tim

Give 'em a break!

Fellow speaker,

When giving a long speech, build in "little breaks" into your speech. Change the delivery methods (e.g., changing from PowerPoint to flip chart) about every 15-20 minutes.

Changing up,

Tim

What do you think?

Fellow speaker,

Give your speech to people you know. Get their thoughts and ideas about it and ask them how the speech could be better.

Asking around,

Tim

Look at the time!

Fellow speaker,

Different times of the day require different speaking approaches:

• Breakfast (get people active and "out of their sleepiness")
• Before lunch (move the speech along quickly and finish on time for lunch)
• After eating (make the speech humorous and fun without too many "deep questions")
• Late afternoon (get people to interact with each other and ask questions that require thought, finish before the end of the business day)

Timely,

Tim

Review time

Fellow speaker,

At the beginning of your speech briefly go over the "ground rules" of how you expect the audience to behave (e.g., what are "on topic" and "off topic" questions) and when breaks will be.

Grounded,

Tim

Our next speaker

Fellow speaker,

Ask the host to introduce you using an introduction you give them. The introduction should include a brief bio of you and tell the audience why they should pay attention to your speech.

Introducing,

Tim

Pre-meeting planning

Fellow speaker,

Before you give your speech, send out the final agenda and any handouts the audience needs to have to understand the speech.

Before,

Tim

Get their thoughts

Fellow speaker,

Get feedback and ideas from people you trust so you give the best speech possible.

Looking for feedback,

Tim

Get some support

Fellow speaker,

Take along some friends or co-workers you get along with so they can help you out if the audience becomes challenging.

Prepared,

Tim

Let me get back to you

Fellow speaker,

When Someone asks you a question you can't answer, let the questioner know you will follow up on the question, and get the questioner a response later.

Following up,

Tim

Try it out

Fellow speaker,

Practice your presentation where you are going to present it.

Practicing,

Tim

Get their thoughts

Fellow speaker,

Get feedback and ideas about your speech from people you trust so you give the best speech possible.

Looking for feedback,

Tim

Know your stuff

Fellow speaker,

Know what you are talking about. Do your "homework" and make sure the ideas you are putting forth are ones you know well and tested out in the real world.

Making it real,

Tim

Get ready for action!

Fellow speaker,

If you are giving a speech which you know the audience will disagree with, make sure to have lots of support information for your point and offer them as handouts after your presentation.

Handing out,

Tim

Dare to be different

Fellow speaker,

When giving a speech which has a subject which you know the audience will disagree with practice the speech with different people and ask whether your speech convinces them to accept the subject or to see it in a different light.

Prepared,

Tim

Give the people what they want

Fellow speaker,

Ensure you understand your audience and what is important to them. What do they expect? What will motivate them to action? What are the issues that are of the most concern to them?

Questioning,

Tim

See it and be it

Fellow speaker,

Look over where you will be speaking. Notice the set-up needed, technical equipment provided, etc. Make sure you know who the on-site person is who can help you when you give your presentation.

Seeing,

Tim

Break it up

Fellow speaker,

Build in breaks in your presentations, such as visuals, movies, or actual time-out for the audience breaks to allow the audience thinking time.

On break,

Tim

Question and answer

Fellow speaker,

Ask questions based on your speech and see who can answer the question. Follow up the audience's answers with reinforcing the correct answer to the question.

Answering,

Tim

Balancing act

Fellow speaker,

Be aware of how much time you spend talking to the audience and how much time you spent getting the audience to interact. Try to have place for both the speech and the audience's interaction with the speech.

Balancing it out,

Tim

Plan your reaction

Fellow speaker,

Plan out what to do when someone starts causing problems in the middle of your speech: How do you answer them? How do you get the speech back on target? How do you ensure the rest of the audience stays focused on your speech?

Planning ahead,

Tim

By any other name

Fellow speaker,

Get your audience's names right and when you refer to someone call them by their correct name.

Naming names,

Tim

Bumps in the road

Fellow speaker,

Practice your speech in front of someone who knows the audience's point of view. Use this person to better understand what difficult subjects might come up in the speech and what is the best way to handle these issues so it "sits well" with the audience.

Practice practice practice,

Tim

Keeping time

Fellow speaker,

If some parts of the speech go longer/shorter than practiced, change the rest of your speech so you end on time.

On time every time,

Tim

Let's speak about that afterward

Fellow speaker,

When a person makes a good point or wants to have a complex discussion during your speech, let the person know you are interested in what they have to say but don't have time during the speech to answer them.  Tell them you will follow up with them on their point after your speech.

Afterwards,

Tim

Without a word

Fellow speaker,

If you get nonverbal audience feedback (e.g., crossed arms, leaning forward, etc.), pay attention to these unspoken indicators and adjust your speech as needed to connect with your audience.

Connected,

Tim

Stay in control...

Fellow speaker,

Keep control of your speaking time: if an audience member goes on too long in response to one of your questions, gently but firmly take back control of the conversation.

Gently,

Tim

Surprise!

Fellow speaker,

Plan "surprises" into your speech which involve the audience in new and creative ways. If you need to use one person in the audience for your speech, make sure to get this person's permission before giving the speech.

Prepared,

Tim

Real stories

Fellow speaker,

Use real life stories instead of examples.

Really really,

Tim

Know your audience

Fellow speaker,

Ensure you understand the content of your speech and can talk both technically and at a basic level.

Multi-leveled,

Tim