The Five Great Skills of Speaking - YouTube

Through analysing thousands of speaking performances, these guys have determined that good speakers have developed proficiency in five skill areas. Every problem you experience as a presenter can be solved by mastering these.

How To Improve Your Memory And Concentration

Speeches:
How To Improve Memory And Concentration

If you're looking to improve your memory and concentration, the first thing is, you have to make sure that what you're trying to remember is important to you.

A colleague once said to his wife, in an unwise moment, 'I have real problem remembering people's names'. She said, 'When they start to matter to you, you'll remember their names.' So you've got to make sure that what you're memorising has significance to you.

Telling a Good Story Makes for Better Presentations

There should be a good story behind every business presentation and hopefully, a good storyteller too.

Whether you are simply making a speech to your extended family at your uncle's wedding or you are trying to persuade the venture capitalists to invest a $1M in your new company, the rules are the same.

Here are some tips to remember to make your presentation not only more convincing but also more memorable.

• Always have a great opening - an attention getter. This can be either a one liner or a visual joke


• Look for and play on the emotion in the story - Look beyond the facts and figures. When telling a good story you need the audience to be involved. So, draw them in.


• Show them the proof - A picture paints a thousand words and an interactive demonstration is more convincing than any picture.


• Repetition is re-enforcement - Don't be afraid to state the same thing in different ways or to simply re-state your argument. It is convincing and shows focus.


• Use Silence as a speaking tool - Don't forget to pause occasionally and wait for the audience to breath and think for a few seconds. Some people need time to allow the penny to drop and it also allows you to gather your senses for the next slide.


• Remember to vary the tempo - Be aware of the time you are taking and the pace you are setting. This will keep your audience both awake and engaged.


• Maintain a dialogue with your audience - You are not in a play. You have the leading role in an interactive presentation that allows for questions, comments and active participation betwen you and your audience.


• Actions speak louder than words - Use your arms, legs and facial gestures to illustrate the dialogue. You are not a mime but you want to be the focus of attention.


• Establish the interactive nature of your talk - Let your audience know the rules of interaction from the start and make it comfortable for people to speak and ask questions.


• Don't speak to quietly or too quickly - Yes, you are nervous and you have so much to say and so little time to fit it all in. So, the temptation is to talk fast and set off at a cracking pace. Your audience will very quickly tire of keeping up with you and fall asleep.


• Don't preach or try to teach a grown-up audience - The primary goal is to be persuasive when introducing your audience to new information, not to accuse, nag and criticise.


• Always have a well prepared story to tell - To be truly convincing in a presentation you need to appear confident and well practised in your delivery. If you are trying to make it up as you go along, the mob will devour you.

I hope these few words, tips and hints are of some benefit to you when next you start to prepare for a public speaking event or an in-house presentation.

If you have enjoyed what we talked about and think you need more information or want really strong presentation strategies, contact the experts Lisa.Lipkin@storystrategies.net

Lisa is a very experienced, professional speaker and communications counseller from New York but we also enjoy her company and good advice, in the European capitals, where she speaks to global scientific, pharmaceutical and IT organisations.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Public Speaking and Presentations

'You've got to have appeal as well as power in your voice. You must convince your audience that you have something to offer them'

This was the adage that Franklin D. Roosvelt lived by when presenting in public, on the radio and latterly on TV. Very few people realise that he gained this incredible insight from the Winner of the Hog-Calling Contest, held in his hometown in Texas.

Errant Children misbehave
I always tell my students that when presenting, they must consider there audience as a group of errant children who will run around and misbehave as soon as your back is turned. Therefore, they must face their audience at all times and not turn away, for any reason. Certainly not to read their own presentation, because as soon as they do they will direct the audiences attention away from you, the presenter and onto the screen. You want to hold them enthralled by your presence, your sincerity, your enthusiasm and your gaze, like a professional actor.

Make eye contact
Another important thing to remember, is to make eye contact with each and every one of them. Direct your presentation to all areas of the room and include all your audience. Believe that, as soon as you miss someone's eye contact, they will fall fast asleep, check their emails or just run off.

Use an even hypnotic pace when making eye contact. Move or flow gently around the audience. Do not attempt to flash a quick glance at everyone, like a startled animal, this will simply confuse your audience or worst, trigger a chase or flee response from the crowd.

Orchestrate your public performances and presentations, as if you were conducting a concert.

The structure of your presentation and the concert, depends very much on what the subject matter is and your audience. Once you have decided what you want to achieve then you can select the style. Here are a few I made earlier;

The Wave: Have an introduction, build up to a climax, plateau and then subside. It ends with the wave crashing spectacularly onto the shore, in a cascade of sound and images.

The Surfboard: Sometimes you will want to end the presentation on a high level of energy so that the audience will run out the door ready for action, riding the wave of energy you have developed. Very popular with charismatic figure-heads, dictators and revolutionaries.

The Mole: This is appropriate for mid-Project Rescue & Recovery, Trouble-shooting and Brain-storming sessions. In this situation you begin at ground level and start to dig your way through the problems and issues, listing and defining them as you go.

Once you have collected and considered these, you should be at the lowest point for the audience. Keep the doors locked and don't allow anyone to leave at this point, for their own good.

Now start to look at options and examine potential solutions, matching them to the issues. In this way you start to dig your way back to the surface and your audience will, hopefully, see some light at the end of the tunnel. Try and gather pace as you near the 'surface'.