Archive for October, 2008

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Presentation From A Book: How To Do Dramatic Readings

Monday, October 27th, 2008
Speakers Can Use Dramatic Reading To Make Their Presentations Memorable

Speakers Can Use Dramatic Reading To Make Their Presentations Memorable

In the bag of skills that a public speaker needs to have, there is one that is not used very often: dramatic readings. Now just because we don’t use it very often, does not mean that we shouldn’t be using it more. Remember that anything that we can do to make our presentations stand out from everything else that our audience gets assaulted with each and every day will help to make it more memorable (in a good way) and improves the chances of our message “sticking” with our audience. The big questions are when should I use a dramatic reading as a part of my presentation and just how do I go about doing it?

The first question is actually the easiest to answer. A dramatic reading from a book is a great way to do two things: add color to  a presentation and add credibility to WHAT you are talking about. Published authors often have taken a great deal of time to get their words just right. Opening a book during your presentation and reading their words to your audience allows you to capture the time and effort that they put into creating their ideas and enrich your speech by doing so. Additionally, in order to motivate your audience to make a change or to take some action (the purpose of any presentation), you need to convince them that you know what you are talking about. By reading a passage from a published book perhaps written by a well known figure in the field that you are talking about, you can reinforce your words by having them appear to support your position.

Now the big question is how best to do a dramatic reading. The problem here is that most of us have very little experience with either listening to or actually doing dramatic readings from a book. That’s why we can turn to Mark McLaughlin who is an author of horror books. Mark is often called on to give speeches that contain, what else?, dramatic readings. He probably does this much more than the rest of us ever will; however, this also means that he can teach us a lot about how to do them correctly.

Here are Mark’s top 10 tips for how we can all do dramatic readings as a part of our presentations correctly:

  1. Don’t Read From The Book: Books are great for sitting by a fire and reading. They are quite poor to read from during a presentation: their print is too small, it can be hard to find your place, and turning the page is awkward at best. Instead, copy the pages and blow them up.
  2. Use Voices: Something that you may not realize is that we all make different characters sound different in our head when we read a book. When you are reading from a book, you need to use a different voice for each character so that your audience doesn’t get confused about who is talking or thinking.
  3. Prepare Using A Rainbow: Mark up what you are going to be reading using many different colored highlighters. This way you will automatically remember to switch voices when you are reading.
  4. Characters Are More Than Just Voices: Different characters can have different mannerisms and these can be useful when you are reading their lines. Smokers should have a raspy voice, nervous characters should speak quickly, etc.
  5. Try Out Different Voices: You won’t get it right the first time so be sure to experiment with different voices in order to find the one that will capture the character the best for your audience.
  6. Practice, Practice, Practice: This is always a good idea and it’s even more critical when doing a dramatic reading. McLaughlin recommends that you practice at least a dozen times and even more if you feel that you need it.
  7. The Power Of A Friendship: Nothing beats live feedback. Try your presentation out on friends and see what kind of feedback they give you. This can be worth its weight in gold.
  8. Look At Your Audience While Reading To Them: You can’t do this all the time of course; however, eye contact is always a good idea.
  9. Have A Panic Button Ready: Look, anyone can lose their place while doing a reading – it happens to all of us. If this happens to you, have a question about the reading ready to ask an audience member. Use the time that they are speaking to find your spot again, mark it with a finger, thank the audience member for their answer and then continue on.
  10. Enjoy Yourself!: Dramatic readings are done all to rarely in presentations today. The fact that you have been willing to step up, practice, and then deliver a dramatic reading shows that you are better than the average speaker. When your audience sees that you are enjoying yourself, then they will get into it also and your presentation will be your best ever!

Have you ever been to a presentation where the speaker used a dramatic reading? How did it turn out – was it well done or half-baked? Have you ever had a chance to use a dramatic reading as a part of one of your speeches? Did you practice enough? How did it turn out for you? Leave a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Presentation Pruning: How Much To Chop?

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

You Run The Risk Of Losing Your Audience When You Talk For Too Long

You Run The Risk Of Losing Your Audience When You Talk For Too Long

Congratulations! You’ve been asked to come and present for an hour on a topic that you know a lot about. However, you end up presenting for and hour and a half! Was this a generous gift that you provided and extra 30 minutes to your audience or was it a huge social mistake that you took up 30 minutes that weren’t yours to take? I believe that the correct answer is (b): if you run over your allotted time, then you’ve screwed up. What’s a presenter to do in order to fit into the available time?

Perhaps a quick discussion about why it’s such a great sin to run over your time is in order. Probably the #1 thing to realize here is that your audience will know if you exceed your time. Believe it or not, no matter how wonderful your presentation is they are probably already thinking about what they are going to do AFTER you get done. If you run over, then all of a sudden you’ve screwed up their plans and now they resent you for doing that. Going on and one and on really does not impress your audience. Instead, they are going to lose trust in what you are saying. They will start to think that if you didn’t take the time to make your presentation the right length, then there is a good possibility that you really don’t know what you are talking about in the first place.

So if we can agree that talking too long is a very bad thing, then what is a presenter to do? It’s time to do some editing. Now we are all in love with ourselves and how we present information so this can actually be quite difficult to do. One very good way to start the process is to stop for a moment and ask yourself “What am I really trying to accomplish with this speech?” Remember that the speech is not for you to look good, but rather to cause your audience to be changed in some way. What kind of change are you trying to cause? It’s a good thing to keep in mind that the audience is going to be sitting there thinking “What’s in this speech for me?”. If you can come up with an an answer to your question that also answers the audience’s question, then you will be in good shape.

Having successfully identified the core reason for giving your speech, now the hard work starts. The best way to determine how long your speech is going to take is to write it out. I personally struggle with this approach a bit because I prefer to outline my speech in order to keep it a little bit more dynamic. However, I do agree that knowing what words you are going to be saying is the best way to determine how long your speech will take.

There are a couple of different ways to shorten a speech. The simplest one is to just start dropping words. However, this won’t provide that much of a time savings. Instead, a much better approach is do what Darren La Croix who is a professional speaker does: collapse multiple sentences into a single sentence. This will allow you to reduce the time that your speech takes much quicker.

If after all of this, you find that your speech is STILL too long, then it’s time for some more drastic action. Take a look at the number of points that you are making in your speech. Do you have a list of ten things that you are talking about? If so then perhaps it’s time to cut that down to a list of 5 things. If it’s still too long, then keep on cutting. If you have stories in your speech, then perhaps it’s time to drop one or more of them. Stories take time to tell well and this can be a big time saver. The same thing goes for any examples that you are using in your speech – it takes time to lay out and explain an example well and so perhaps it needs to be dropped.

Finally, make sure that you practice. The greatest single factor that can cause a speech to go on too long is if the presenter did not practice his / her speech. This will come through loud and clear to your audience as they see you fumble with words, lose your place, and ramble on. Practice can help you make sure that you are able to present your speech and respect your audience’s time.

Have you ever overrun the amount of time that you had to deliver a presentation? Did anyone seem to care? Have you ever had to sit though a presentation where the speaker kept going on and on long after their time was up? How did this make you feel? Leave a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Presentation Practice: How Much Is Enough?

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Just Creating A Presentation Is Not Good Enough, You Have To Practice IT Also

Just Creating A Presentation Is Not Good Enough, You Have To Practice It Also

So you’ve got a big presentation / speech coming up. How many times should you practice your speech before you give it for real? This is actually a very good question that most presenters either forget to ask themselves or come up with the wrong answer to. We all know that practice makes perfect so how can we tell when we’ve reached perfection with our speech?

We should probably start with the good news: even a little practice will probably make you better than most presenters. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to sit through a train-wreck of a presentation that clearly showed that the presenter had laid out some thoughts on paper, but had not taken the time to practice what he/she was going to say.

If you want to create and deliver a great presentation, there are three key interlocked factors that you need to make sure that you take care of:

  1. Make sure that the speech plays to your speaking strengths. If you hate to give speeches, make sure that this one is as short as possible in order to minimize your time “on stage”. If you are good at telling stories, then include them in your presentation.
  2. Establish good connections between the different parts of the speech. Ensuring that the speech flows smoothly and logically from section to section will make it much easier for you to memorize the flow of the speech.
  3. Make sure that you have your speech down cold before you deliver it. You’ll know that you’ve been able to do this when you could recite it by heart if someone asked you to do so at a moment’s notice. This will ensure that when you deliver your presentation the words tumble out of your mouth automatically and with no effort.

I’m not sure if you really want to hear this, but you cannot over-rehearse a presentation. I know that you are dying for a hard number to hang your hat on so here it is: 7. I firmly believe that any presentation that you are going to deliver deserves at least seven practice runs by you. The first will be a flaming disaster and the seventh should be quite good. This means that your “for real” presentation will be (at least) the 8th time that you’ve delivered the material and it should flow from you quite naturally. Key point: if this is one of those career defining presentations then you should probably practice it at least 15 times in order to make sure that each and every word comes out perfectly.

So we’ve answered the question of “how many” times you should practice, now the follow on question is “how to practice”. The key to the first few run throughs is to make sure that you are in a secure environment in which you won’t be interrupted. For most of us, this means a bathroom that has a lock on the door. The added advantage of practicing in a bathroom is that there is a large mirror in front of you and you can watch yourself as you talk. I can assure you that it’s hard to do, but you’ll eliminate unnecessary moves and twitches quickly when you practice this way. Beginning speakers often want to make their presentation “perfect”. This means that when they are practicing, they will speak until they screw-up, grit their teeth and then go back to the beginning and start over. This ensures that it’s going to be hours before they can make it through the entire speech. I recommend a different approach: start at the beginning and just run though the entire speech until you hit the end. Yes, there will be screw-ups; however, just keep on going. Doing it this way will allow you to get a feel for the speech as a whole and you may end up changing big parts of it – no need to perfect something that you’re going to be changing anyway.

Last point: get feedback. If the first time that you get feedback is when you present to your “real” audience than you’ve made a mistake. I can’t begin to tell you just how important it is to get feedback from real humans as you prepare a presentation. Words and ideas that seem to flow together for you may turn out to be confusing gibberish to them. Your cutting and trimming to make your speech fit in the allotted time may have caused you to skip over important definitions and concepts that are critical to your audience’s understanding of your main points. It does not matter if the feedback comes from family, friends, strangers, or co-workers, just make sure that you get it.

How many time did you rehearse your last presentation? Did you feel that this was enough times to get it down or do you wish that you had practiced more? Who do you use as an audience for your practice presentations? Do they give you valuable feedback? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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What’s The Best Story That A Public Speaker Can Tell?

Friday, October 17th, 2008
Using A Personal Story Can Really Help Your Speech

Using A Personal Story Can Really Help Your Speech

Oh, this one’s an easy question to answer: your story. I don’t care if you are giving a speech about the company’s 3rd Quarter profits, or telling an audience about the best way to water-proof a roof, if you work a personal story into your speech it will instantly become a memorable speech. Now with that being said, if you do a bad job of working your personal story into your speech you will probably bore your audience to death. Hmmm, I wonder what the secret to doing this correctly is…

The first thing that you need to realize is that if you just up and tell a personal story, the odds are that it’ll fall flat. Although we might think that every story we have to tell is a great tale, this simply is not the case. Instead, your story needs to be taken out, sharpened, and perhaps even polished just a bit before you tell it to an audience. One way to get things started is to sit down and just write / type it all out. Don’t hold back here, just make it as long as it wants to be. Capture your story of overcoming a challenge, fighting a setback, dealing with a health issue, bad relationship, or financial disaster in all of it’s glory. Remember, your audience was not there so you need to remember what it felt like and communicate what all of your five senses were feeling.

Once you have it all written down, now is the time to start to shape it. Your story needs a good clear opening. Let your audience know why this is important. You also need to be aware of just how much time your have for your speech and your story within your speech. You’ll need to trim it down to fit the time available.

Once you’ve got your personal story sorta looking like it’s ready for prime time, now is the time to do some extra checking in order to make sure that it really is a good story to tell. The first thing that you can do is to be very clear about where and when your story took place. Instead of saying “back when I was in college” instead you need to say “12 years ago…” This will allow your audience to better identify with your story.

We all love movies and we’re use to watching them. Just like a movie, your personal story will “play” better if you are able to tell it as a series of connected scenes. Your words will paint scenes in your audience’s minds and these images will then blend together to create a complete movie of your story for them.

Create some drama by telling your story just like you felt it. If you hold back on some information and allow the audience to discover it just as you did, the tension in the room will quickly start to rise. The good thing about creative tension is that it means that your audience will be hanging on your every word.

Finally, you need a great conclusion that brings your audience back into the here and now. One way to do this to take just a moment and explain why the story that you told was so important to you. What did it all mean to you? Your personal story is yours and yours alone. You never have to worry about someone else telling it because it’s all about you. Good luck in adding a personal speech to your next public speaking opportunity and making it unforgettable!

Have you ever had a chance to work a personal story into a speech? How did that speech turn out? Do you take the time to practice personal stories or do you just wing it because you knew the story so well? Have you ever heard a speaker tell a personal story that was badly done? What was wrong with it? Leave a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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10 Tips For Becoming A Public Speaker Who Can Talk About Money

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
It Can Be Hard To Do A Good Job Talking About Money

It Can Be Hard To Do A Good Job Talking About Money

Money – it’s a love / hate thing. We all would like to have lots of the stuff; however, most people (us included) would probably rather lose a finger than have to sit though yet another incredibly boring presentation about the green stuff. Why is this? It’s actually pretty easy to understand what’s wrong with most presentations about money: it is presented in a boring way, the PowerPoint slides that are used are crammed with numbers that are way too small for any human to be able to read, and the presenter often uses vocabulary that we don’t understand. What can be done to fix this?

We already know that one of the most effective ways to deliver a presentation that will “stick” with your audience is to tell them a compelling story. A presentation about money should be no different – it’s the story that you tell that will get your point across. Keeping that in mind, here are some tips that will make your next presentation on money unforgettable:

  1. K.I.S.S: No, not the rock group, but rather Keep It Simple Stupid. In other words, whenever you talk about money there can be the tendency to say too much. DON’T DO IT! Instead, before you create your speech write out a single sentence that contains the message that you want your audience to walk away with. Then, when you are describing some financial tool re-read this sentence and determine if what you are talking about supports it. If not, then drop it and move on.
  2. Come Early, Leave Late: This is just a basic speaker tip; however, it’s even more important when you are talking about money. Making sure that you don’t have to worry about your equipment or the room gives you more time to focus on what you are going to be saying. Not having to run out at the end means that you can provide more detail for those who really want it.
  3. Bring A Partner To Help – Mr. Handout: Since much of what you may be talking about can be (a) complex and (b) detailed, this is one speech that you do want to provide a handout for. However, don’t do what too many speakers do and just give everyone a copy of your slides. Instead, create a special handout that provides detailed information about things that you didn’t have time to cover.
  4. Careful About Colors: Since so much of what is shown in any presentation on money is charts, you need to carefully check your colors. Stay away from the common color-blindness colors and make sure that all of your text is readable from the back of the room.
  5. Shut Her Down When You Don’t Need Her: All too often an audience in a talk about money can start to pay more attention to the slides than the speaker. One way to put a stop to this is to either turn off the projector every so often or, even better yet, put a completely black slide into your deck when you want all eyes on  you. It’s startling and it works really well.
  6. Do The Dark / Light Thing: Making your PowerPoint slides readable is critical. One way to help this happen is to make sure that the contrast between your slides’ background color and the foreground colors is very distinct. For a large room, I’ve found that making your slide background dark while making your text and drawings light colored makes everything readable even from the back of the room.
  7. Turn Off The Hollywood Effects: PowerPoint and other presentation applications allow you to go wild on how one slide goes away and the next one shows up – transitions. Here’s a suggestion : don’t. Either pick one transition and use it throughout your presentation or only vary the transition when you really want to draw attention to the new slide. Otherwise you risk training your audience to look forward to your next transition and not what you are saying.
  8. Don’t Create A Fighter Pilot Eye Exam: I can’t tell you just how important this one is – make sure that you keep your font selections to a minimum and make sure that all text is large enough to be read. I like to choose “sans serf” fonts because they don’t have the loopy stuff and are generally easier to read. I’ve also found that the 18 pt font size is the smallest that you want to use, otherwise it just gets too hard to read.
  9. Remember What A Picture Is Worth: Instead of trying to overwhelm your audience with words that describe technical financial terms, instead try to use more charts and graphs. Displaying a chart and then talking about it gives your audience time to apply your words to real situations and promotes understanding and retention.
  10. Remember That Only 5 lbs. Will Fit In A 5 lbs. Bag: Avoid the #1 sin of public speakers who talk about money – putting too much information on a single slide. We can fall in love with the way that we describe something and we like to add more and more details to it. However, take a moment and think about your poor audience. Try to present just the bare minimum amount of information that they need on each slide.

By following these simple tips you can create a powerful presentation that makes an impression on your audience and leaves them with the thoughts and ideas that you want them to have.

Have you ever given a presentation that talked about money? How did it turn out – was it well received or did your audience go to sleep after your second slide? What made your presentation work / not work? What did you think about the last financial presentation that you went to – did the speaker follow these tips or did he/she make you want to leave? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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