Story types

Fellow speaker,

Six types of stories:

• Who I am - tells about the speaker
• Why I am here - shows the speaker's purpose in speaking
• The vision - gives the speaker's vision of the future
• Teaching - speaker teaches the audience
• Values-in-action - shows how the speaker uses their values
• I know what you are thinking - shows the speaker understands the audience

Typing,

Tim

"W"

Fellow speaker,

Answer the "Five W's" in your speeches:

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?

W-ing,

Tim

We got to get organized!

Fellow speaker,

To organize your presentation use:

• Chronological – associate points with a specific time-frame – look backward or forward – examples: history or series of events, phased implementation
• Priority:
  - Highest to lowest – gets your audience attention immediately
  - Lowest to highest – helps sustain your audience interest
• Problem/solution – clearly identifies your problem – involves audience
• Spatial arrangement – your presentations about physical objects (e.g., building, room, equipment) – your instructing people about use of equipment – accompany with demonstration or hands-on practice

Organizing,

Tim

Under construction

Fellow speaker,

Here is a way to build your presentation:

1. Determine your speech objectives – realistic and action-oriented – “By the end of this presentation the audience will be able to ______________ "
2. Develop your main point - "I want the audience to Believe ________, Accomplish ________, Remember __________, and I will have no more than 3 points to support the main point"
3. Develop supporting material using Exercises, Statistics, Examples, Quotations, Humor, and Stories
4. Introduction to grab audience's attention
5. Conclusion to keep 'em wanting more

Constructing,

Tim

It's sort of like...

Fellow speaker,

To get an idea across to an audience use an analogy.  Tell how your idea is like something the audience already knows about.  To develop analogies:

1. Identify your point – write down things that make the point unique
2. Brainstorm connections – think of similar items that share the same characteristics
3. Choose the analogy – accurate and familiar to your audience – simple and memorable
4. Explain the connection – explain how unfamiliar object is related to the familiar object

Analogizing,

Tim

Making the point

Fellow speaker,

To get the point across in your story consider:

• Relevance – content should illustrate the point of the presentation make the connection between the story and your point very clear
• Delivery – tell with enthusiasm, eye contact, and gestures – pick a story you enjoy
• Length – under two minutes in length – give only the details necessary to create a picture for audience – avoid unnecessary details
• Rehearse – practice over and over to see what can be eliminated or “tightened up”

Pointedly,

Tim

So the story goes

Fellow speaker,

Benefits of telling a story to support your point:

• Enjoyable to listen to
• Keep the audience’s interest
• Act as testimonials

Multi-storied,

Tim

Some like it hard

Fellow speaker,

Use "hard content" to support your points and give a source to where you get your information. Sources for "hard content" are:

• Facts
• Meaningful Statistics
• Examples

Hardy,

Tim

Get organized!

Fellow speaker,

Professional and industry organizations have  speaking and speech information:

• Research departments
• Publications that offer targeted information
• Access to subject matter experts

Organizationally,

Tim

Check it out!

Fellow speaker,

Your local library has speaking and speech information:

• Books
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Journals
• Government publications

Ex Libris,

Tim

Internetting

Fellow speaker,

Get speech ideas from the Internet:

• Search engines – use one that uses multiple engines
• Database services – charge fee on subscription or per-use basis

Searching for info,

Tim

Getting ready

Fellow speaker,

To get ready to speak, develop the content of your speech:

1. Find places to get information
2. Get a variety of supporting information
3. Generate ideas based on this information

In development,

Tim

Real active

Fellow speaker,

To have an achievable goal which results in the audience taking action make the goal:

• Attainable – attainable and realistic based on who you are talking to and the time available
• Action-oriented – identifies a specific behavior desired as a result of the presentation

Really,

Tim

End in sight

Fellow speaker,

Write a detailed description of what result you want the audience to get out of your speech. Then create a "road map" that helps you develop your content and key points so you achieve this result.

Mapping it out,

Tim

Purposeful

Fellow speaker,

Make your speech's purpose clear to the audience:

• Inform – persuade audience you are knowledgeable – stick to the facts and use stories that are business-oriented
• Evaluate, interpret, or clarify – add lots of examples to your presentation – help the audience assess the information and reach an informed conclusion
• Arouse interest – persuade your audience to consider information more thoroughly – use interesting stories and examples and humor
• Instruct – involve the audience members – persuade them to implement your information – give them confidence they can do it successfully
• Sell – persuasion opportunities – persuade your audience to make a decision to buy – combination of facts, benefits, and emotional interests

Purposefully,

Tim

Warning signs

Fellow speaker,

To see if your speech topic might cause conflict with your audience look at:

• Historical background – problems in the past with certain topics
• Resource issues (e.g., time, people, money) – resources needed to achieve objectives of presentation – competition for resources? Could be an issue in presentation
• Current conflicts – personality issues
• Trends affecting the industry or profession

Warning,

Tim

What do you know!

Fellow speaker,

How you speak to the audience depends on whether or not they are knowledgeable about what you are talking about:

• People not knowledgeable about the subject – no jargon, business acronyms, or too much information
• Experts or technical people – assume a level of familiarity – suggest rather than instruct – involve them in presentation

Subjectively,

Tim

Status symbol

Fellow speaker,

Know your audience and what you need to do for them:

• Group you know personally – share successes – informal – lots of examples and demonstrations
• Peers – be credible and knowledgeable – acknowledge peers' expertise – encourage knowledge sharing
• Upper management – cut to the bottom line – streamline your remarks – get the facts right – offer opinions as suggestions – formal tone
• Special interest group –focus on members’ needs –may need to do extra research and interviewing in presentation development
• Mixed group – include something that appeals to everyone in first few minutes

Statused,

Tim

Size matters

Fellow speaker,

Keep in mind the size of your audience when interacting with them:

• Small ( 1 to 30 ) – eye contact and individual contact
• Large ( 30 to 50 ) – eye contact with less chances of individual contact
• Largest ( > 50 ) – eye contact with parts of the room – use microphone to make sure all can hear

In contact,

Tim

Touchy-feely

Fellow speaker,

To make your speech "touchable" to your audience us:

• Board games and other “hands-on” activities
• Virtual reality software or simulations

Touchably,

Tim

Special delivery

Fellow speaker,

When developing your speech delivery, work on the big things and then, after you are doing those well, focus in on the finer points. First work on the vocal variety (e.g., loud, soft, harsh, etc.). Next plan out and practice your emotional delivery so your emotions "come alive" for your audience. Finally experiment with the pacing of the speech (e.g., where to go faster, slower, etc.).

Delivering,

Tim

For example...

Fellow speaker,

Examples help your audience remember your speech points. Describe your examples fully and completely.  Let the examples remind you of the points you are making in your speech.

Remembering,

Tim

Speech in a nutshell

Fellow speaker,

To quickly create a short, targeted speech:

1. Write a sentence that describes the purpose of your speech
2. Only put information into your speech that directly relates to your purpose - when in doubt, leave it out
3. Use a personal story to illustrate each point you mention in your speech

Nutshelling,

Tim

Presentation plan

Fellow speaker,

Before you present:

• Analyze the audience – tailor the presentation to your audience so your objectives hit the mark – know what to avoid and what to emphsize
• Enhance the environment – shape an environment that facilitates interest and learning – varies depending on the audience – relate to those in the audience and “individualize” the information
• Establish objectives – create objectives that meet audience’s needs

Planning,

Tim

Audience focusing

Fellow speaker,

Focus on the needs of your audience:

• Relevant – creative solution to a problem that audience can immediately use – use case studies with real-world solutions
• WIIFM (What's In It For Me) – frame your objectives in terms of how it will benefit the audience
• Time – letting the audience know you are aware of their time – always finish right on time or a few minutes early
• Respect – avoid sermonizing or pushing too hard, which will turn off audience and appear condescending

Focusing,

Tim

Getting 'em going

Fellow speaker,

To get the audience involved with your speech use:

• Questions
• Activities – break into smaller groups to allow audience to “connect” with each other and share experiences – changes the pace
• Games – build interaction into presentation
• Evaluations – unsigned, written evaluation of presentation – helps presenter improve – allows audience to share feedback anonymously

Involved,

Tim

Give 'em the "Why"

Fellow speaker,

Make sure you let your audience know why they should listen you:

• Emphasize a practical approach – problem/solution instead of point by point
• Focus on useful information
• Use real-world stories and examples that are meaningful to your audience – analyze your audience in advance

Whying,

Tim

Helps and hurts

Fellow speaker,

While you speak you get both:

• Helpful audience feedback – the message we get back from the audience in their body positioning, words, etc. that gives us an idea of how well our speech is going
• Hurtful noise – things the communication has to cut through to be heard and paid attention to

Two-sided,

Tim

Learning the adult way

Fellow speaker,

To best get your message across to your audience:

• Focus on concrete information
• Involve them
• Build on their experiences
• "Signpost" your speech so they to understand what they need to focus on

Learning adultly,

Tim

How to "You" your audience

Fellow speaker,

Focused on saying "you" (to the audience):

• Tell a story and put the audience in the story
• Tell a story about someone (not the audience) but "step out of the story" from time to time to directly talk to the audience
• Talk directly to the audience

About "you",

Tim

Getting emotional

Fellow speaker,

Methods to develop an emotional connection with your audience:

• Historical – tie your message with meanings or feelings associated with previous events – emphasize current emotions
• Psychological – point of view due to background, upbringing, etc. – how the speaking relationship is psychologically perceived
• Cultural – audience's cultural interests and cultural interactions of the audience

Messaged,

Tim

Speech stress

Fellow speaker,

To handle the stress of speaking:

• Bend forward at waist, letting your hands and arms hang loose
• Do deep-breathing exercises, letting air out slowly
• Flex and relax the muscles in your face, arms, stomach, and legs
• Do arms, legs, and neck stretches

Exercising,

Tim