Great Speaking Coach

Public Speaking Rehearsals or 'You're Out'

What do baseball and spring training have to do with public speaking? Even for those of you who aren’t baseball fans, here’s a great learning moment.

Manny Acta is manager of the Washington Nationals and is committed to not giving outs away.

His Principle: do not give away outs that you have the choice to avoid giving away

His Specific Goal: zero outs due to double plays (two outs on one play) on a line drive with no outs.

While this may be deep detail for non-baseball fans, there are two key points you can apply to your public speaking strategy

1.       Set an ambitious goal (zero in this case) and do everything in your power to achieve it

2.       Imagine every single thing no matter how seemingly small and plan a response to it

Practice involves honing skills such as hitting, fielding and running. These are done daily separate from specific game situations.

Rehearsal builds on practice. Manny Acta gathers all the players at first base and gets them to visualize being on first base, no outs and the batter hits a line drive. They plan what they will do in that situation.

They all move to second base: imagine being on base, no outs, line drive, what will they do?

They all move to third base: imagine being on base, no outs, line drive, what will they do?

The team spends one hour planning how to avoid double plays when there are no outs and the batter hits a line drive. One hour on a specific detail in a sport that has zillions of details. Will it make a difference? Manny believes that it will, and he made the time to help his players prepare for the occurrence of that detail. When they are wrapped up in the action and intensity of an actual game, they will know how to respond because they have rehearsed it.

When you’re in the action and intensity of your speech, what you prepared for in your rehearsals will give you the freedom to respond to the details of the moment, making a big play that will endear you to your audiences and hitting a home run for your own career.

The Best Public Speakers Practice Like Crazy

Be the best business public speaker! Not just the best you can be, but the best, period. What does that mean?

Think about what is not the best:

• Reading boring text from slides
• Memorizing a script
• Speaking about things you don't know enough about
• Filling your talk with jargon and cliches
• Audible pauses--the uh's and um's that drive your audience crazy
• Talking towards your slides
• Shaking your pointer at the screen
• Too loud or too soft and monotonous volume
• Pacing or rocking as you speak
• Playing with stuff: glasses, pens, the pointer, your notes, etc.

The best business speakers eliminate all of these distractions and disconnects.

The best business public speakers:

• Are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their content
• Speak with passion, which allows the right volume, speed and pauses to occur organically
• They are self-aware but not self-conscious
• They connect to the audience--that is, each person in the audience feels that the speaker is speaking directly to them
• Resist bad company habits and doing things because "that's the way we always do them."
• Believe that the audience is ready and eager for more: excitement, creativity, energy, inspiration
• Give themselves plenty of time to write, practice, re-write, practice, practice and practice.

Quick tips for practicing:

1. Write as much as you need to comfortably remind yourself of your thoughts
2. Talk through your content many times--I think at least 10 times; try to reduce your reliance on your notes with each practice.
3. Remember that if you are giving a 30 minute speech, ten practices will take at least 5 hours. Make time for these practices.
4. Practice by yourself until you know your material. You don't have to completely eliminate notes, just get them down to a minimum. Speak through the whole speech without hesitation.
5. Begin to add vocal variety (inflections, pauses, changes in volume and speed) during the last 3 or 4 practices.

Read the next post for tips on how to rehearse. That comes after practicing and is necessary for you to achieve your goal to be the BEST!

Virtuoso Public Speaking-Is That Your Goal?

Be the best public speaker you can be! I yearn for my executive speech coaching and sales team presentation skills clients to achieve this goal. Less than the best wastes your time and the investment the audience makes to listen to you. It creates a hole that's very  hard to crawl out of.

Mike Rayburn, renowned guitar-playing keynote speaker and performer, recently told the audience of NSA (National Speakers Association) members that the only goal to shoot for is being a virtuoso speaker. You may not count on speaking engagements themselves for your livelihood like professional speakers do. You should however also aim to be a virtuoso speaker. Your results will be promotions, better marketplace valuation for your corporation, and more sales.

Mike also said there's huge disparity between the amount of time a pro football player practices for each hour on the field and the amount of time a company speaker practices for each hour of speaking. Mike says the disparity is 500 to 1. I must say I don't know if that makes sense, but I do know this: business speakers do NOT practice enough, and they don't practice and rehearse effectively.

I'll tell you how to practice and rehearse in the next two blog posts. While you're waiting, start visualizing yourself as a virtuoso speaker. What does that look like to the audience? What does that feel like to you?

Post your thoughts about the value of being the best on our comment link.

Public Speaking Delivers Special Advantages

Business public speakers often complain to me that they hate presenting and it takes too much time. Some of that dislike is due to fear or discomfort about the whole prospect of standing and speaking, and I understand that. What I don't understand is the attitude that spending the time it takes to prepare to speak meaningfully and effectively is a waste of time.

Public speaking is a privilege. Privilege is defined as a special advantage or right granted to an individual. In terms of business presentations, you are being given the time and attention of a number of people who have other demands on their time and attention. They will drop everything else to sit in your audience. It is up to you to make the most of their time because it is a privilege to have them in your audience.

What do you get from this privilege?

1. You earn recognition--how hard is it to standout from the crowd in these days of large teams often working remotely?
2. You earn status--you represent the ideas of your company and as the status of your company rises so does your own.
3. Your enhanced recognition and status leads to promotions and higher compensation.

Time for preparation can be reduced when you use some smart techniques such as my Speech Development System and the strategies in my Start Fast, Finish Strong approach which shows you how to create, practice and rehearse a 30 minute presentation in 3 hours.

Start imagining the benefits of your speaking opportunities and you'll turn your attitude into one of appreciation for the privilege of the platform.

What techniques do you use to help you enjoy your speaking opportunities? Post your thoughts in our comment link below.

High-Performance Customer Service

Customer service is dismal all around, as surveys and your own experiences reveal. As CEO or EVP, how do you improve the communication and services that your customers and clients receive from your front line staff?

All too often customer service training and policies and procedures focus on the attitudes and actions your front line staff is supposed to deliver to the customer. Do this, do that, and exceed expectations.

What's missing from the company's customer service branding component and this training is anything that recognizes the needs and feelings of those delivering the customer service. I led customer service training at a health care provider a number of years ago, and the most vocal objections were around the total absence of the empathy for the staff. When a patient was rude, resentful or obstructionist, the staff was supposed to suck it up for the good of the company.

You must make it clear that there are benefits to the staff of delivering better customer service--and not just that they get to keep their jobs! When front line staff feel deeply committed to the company, and regularly experience some rewards for their commitment, they'll deliver the customer service you want your company to be known for.

Three messages you, as CEO or EVP, must communicate to your staff are:

1. We can't do it without you. Without you, our staff, we couldn't serve the customers we do have. It's that simple and yet that's a message that is so often left unsaid.
2. We have policies and procedures in place to help you and protect you from the hardest to please customers and clients. And then, give examples! There's nothing more meaningful than stories that back up your claims.
3. We will listen to and incorporate your feedback and a regular basis. This is in opposition to the attitude that the front line staff should appreciate that they have a job, and that they are easily replaceable if they complain. Tell stories that show that you understand the difference between meaningful feedback and griping.

What is your experience with customer service messages  in your company? Post your thoughts about good or bad messages coming from the top--or being delivered by you if you're the CEO or EVP--on our comment link.

Passion in Public Speaking--Is It Good for the Audience?

You feel lucky to have speaking opportunities because you're passionate about your area of expertise and want to share it with everyone.

Your personal passion isn't justification for your speech. Your passion for your subject is a critical and welcome element in the mix of components needed for a speech or presentation. However, the only reason you ask people to give you their time and attention is because what you say will help them do something they otherwise wouldn't or couldn't do. The Return on Investment for the audience must be high.

Answer these 3 questions to determine if your passion translates into a presentation that benefits the audience:

1) What will the audience members do after they listen to you that they wouldn't or couldn't have done before your speech? The answer must be quantitative. Here are some possibilities:

Public Speaking Enhances Your Status--If You Do it Right

Public speaking requires you to do the work, prepare and practice, so your needs should come first, right?

Not if you want to have other opportunities to speak!

There are three components of any speech: the speaker, the environment and the audience. In order of important, the audience comes first. Without audiences, there would be no need for speakers!

I got to thinking about this when I recently talked with an executive coach who was considering working with me on presentation skills because she has an opportunity to have an upcoming presentation videotaped. She would like to post the video on her website, as proof of her ability to speak. It's fine to use video for that purpose. However it bothers me that she wouldn't look for coaching just because she wants to give her best to the audience in front of her.

Why Put the Audience First?

1. The more the audience likes you, the more they will tell other people, and the better your chances of getting other speaking opportunities.
2. More speaking opportunities means increased visibility and status for you.
3. More status for you increases the likelihood that you'll climb your particular career ladder. Whether you want to increase sales, become an executive, or start your own business in the future, the more status you have, the better your chances of attaining these goals.

How have speaking opportunities increased your status? Post your thoughts on our comment link below.

Sales Presentation Timing is Everything

When do you deliver sales presentations to your prospects? If you do your presentation at the earliest meeting, you're making a big mistake.

Typical conversations between sales people and their prospects go something like this:

Prospect: "We'd like you to come over and show us what you can do."

Sales person: "Sure, what day and time works for you?"

You take one of your company-approved canned presentations out of the Power Point library, set the laptop up in front of the prospect, and tell them all about your company, its products and services and the benefits other companies have enjoyed.

The prospect thanks you, says they'll call and you never hear from them again. What went wrong?

1. You gave them a canned presentation! These are always all about you (your company) and never address the nitty gritty challenges they face currently.
2. You didn't come to agreement about what they would do for you in return for your presentation. When they are asking you to come over, you have the perfect opportunity to discuss what they will do next. It's too late to talk about this after you've delivered the presentation.
3. You presented too soon. Economic buyers have pain--that's why they're buying. However people don't describe their pain to people they don't know and feel they can trust. The first meeting must be used to establish some familiarity and trust.

I've estimated that the typical 30 minute sales presentation costs $8000.00.  Would you give thousand's of dollars away to anyone who asked for them? Of course not! So don't give your presentation away too soon and without getting something in return.

What techniques have you used to establish a relationship with prospects before you deliver your sales presentation? Share your ideas through our comment link below.

Successful Public Speaking is More Than Showing Up

What does Woody Allen's prescription "80% of success is just showing up" mean to you as a public speaker? I think the emphasis on the physical act of appearing is bound to disappoint you if you're expecting success to also show up. Jack Canfield says there are 64 principles to achieving success--that's way beyond just showing up.

Will you be successful if you show up but you're unprepared?

Will you achieve success if you show up but you haven't thought about the others who are counting on you?

Will you be successful if you show up but you're lacking in passion?

Too often people who are expected to deliver a presentation to an audience show up but they are unprepared, haven't given any thought to the audience or don't really care about the topic. I guarantee you that just showing up will not lead to a successful presentation.

Preparation means deciding on your call-to-action--what can the audience do differently after listening to you that they wouldn't have been able to do before they listened to you? If you don't have a call-to-action, don't give the speech.

Thinking about the audience in advance means drawing them in to your content with stories and other leading materials that grab their attention. You  must know what appeals to that particular audience. Canned presentations--sadly a staple of too many corporate communications departments--leave an audience wishing they'd been somewhere else.

When you have passion for your topic you'll be an attractive speaker who motivates the audience (assuming you're also prepared and you have Put the Audience First). Your passion comes through in your content and delivery style and helps the audience easily respond top your call-to-action.

Add your thoughts to the discussion about how to achieve success as a public speaker through our comment link below.