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Great Speaking Vol. 1 Number 10
This issue is a few days early because I*ll be working in
Thailand for the next two weeks. There may be a delay in
answering your emails.
Again . . . many thanks for all the cards, letters and emails
you*ve been sending because of my parents' medical situation.
PLUS a Memorial Day remembrance and sincere thanks to all the
persons who gave their lives to preserve the freedoms that you
and I enjoy.
##########################################
GREAT SPEAKING
Circulation 6534
Vol. 1 Number 10 - May 27, 1999
Publisher: Tom Antion tomAntion@aol.com
http://www.Antion.com
(C) Anchor Publishing 1999
##########################################
No one ever lost credibility by
being interesting.
==========================================
Please feel free to forward this E-Zine to anyone you
know that is interested in being a better presenter, or
who may want to make money speaking and training.
If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and would
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PRIVACY STATEMENT: We will not distribute your address
to anyone. Period.
=============================================
IN THIS ISSUE
=============================================
1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
(Beginners should read this too)
3. Humor Technique Series
4. Speaker Marketing Tip
5. Speaker Humor
6. Websites for Speakers
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=====================================================
1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
=====================================================
REALLY LOOK AT THE RESULTS TO IMPROVE
By Terry Paulsen, Ph.D., CSP, CPAE
Don*t be so enamored by the words coming out of your mouth that
you forget to eliminate those that are not necessary. Few people
are upset by speeches that end a little early. By reading your
transcribed messages instead of just listening to your own voice,
you will find it easier to eliminate unnecessary content, sharpen
faulty grammar, and rework key phrasing. While you*re at it, you
may find new and spontaneous stories, humor lines, or phrases
that worked!
Don*t leave such successes to chance; work on perfecting the
content for future talks. Write down new material in a journal or
computer file. The palest pencil mark is better than your best
memory. Don*t script every word, just keep working and reworking
your material.
(Ref: "50 Tips For Speaking Like a Pro" by Terry Paulson,
Page 90)
Terry Paulson, who "Business Digest" called the Will Rogers of
management consultants, is also president of the National
Speakers Association. His programs empower leaders,
professionals, and the next generation of American workers to
"make change work." Visit his website at
http://www.changecentral.com
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2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
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TRANSITIONS
by Tom Antion
Most presentation skills books will tell you to be a polished
presenter you have to tie all your information together so it
flows smoothly. You must lead your audience and alert them that
slightly different, but related information is coming. This is
called transition or segue (pronounced seg*way). LET ME STATE
RIGHT NOW THAT I FULLY BELIEVE SMOOTH TRANSITIONS ARE A NECESSITY
IF YOU WANT TO HAVE YOUR AUDIENCE MEMBERS SO BORED THEY FALL
RIGHT OUT OF THEIR SEATS AND SMASH THEIR HEADS ON THE FLOOR.
Come with me to the amusement park. Look around a little bit and
tell me where the excitement is. Of course, it*s over on the
roller coaster where transitions are sharp. They are sharp and
exciting even though you can see them coming. The excitement
isn*t over at the kiddie choo choo train (notwithstanding, the
excitement you might feel watching your little munchkin on there
for the very first time) where turns and motion are mild so the
little ones don*t get too upset. The excitement is also at the
bumper cars where you can get blind sided because cars are coming
at you from all directions. The excitement isn*t at the baby boat
ride where a 2cm wave would flip your little bundle of joy out of
the boat.
OK. I*ll admit, some thought should be given to transition,
especially with older, more traditional audiences, and when you
have a very high content presentation. But you don*t have to be a
trite, snoozer by saying things like, . . . "Speaking of bananas.
I*m now going to talk about bananas." You could, however, do a
segue like that and then make fun of yourself for doing it by
saying something like, "Don*t you think that transition was
really smooth?" Transitions are one of the places where you could
plan to use some humor. This works well with technical audiences
because they won*t feel you are wasting their time. Since, in
their minds, you are REQUIRED to do a transition anyway, it*s OK
if it*s funny.
Segues aren*t important at all for 85 percent or higher humor
content presenters or stand-up comics. You can just bang away and
as long as they are laughing, no one much cares about
transitions. If you are not in this category, then you can begin
paying a little attention to bridging the gaps between your
points and topics. Just don*t be trite and don*t think you have
to "say" something to make the transition.
You can make transitions by changing stage position, pausing,
using visual aids, giving out a handout, or picking up a prop. Do
anything that breaks the pattern of what you were doing in the
previous segment and introduces what you plan to do.
For verbal transitions, one-liners, anecdotes, and questions work
well. Also, people seem to like and need recaps, so I am in favor
of saying things like, "To recap this section . . ."
Whatever you do, think in terms of roller coasters and bumper
cars so you keep your audience excited and alert all the time.
"Wake *em Up is a great book for the novice and old pro alike.
I*ve been on the circuit for over 20 years and gleaned a number
of valuable tips. More importantly, the book leaves "nothing to
chance" for a presenter or speaker wishing to enhance their
skills and deliver like it should be done. This book is a
must."
Floyd Wickman, CSP, CPAE
Speaker and author of Mentoring: A Guide for Mentors
and Proteges, Owner of the world-famous Sweathog
Real Estate Seminars
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********************************
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3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE
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TOM*S BANQUET / LUNCHEON TIPS
Tom has done many talks in settings where meals are part of the
program. You may want to politely remind the program coordinator
to consider some of the following points:
ROOM SET-UP (Many of these tips work whether food is being served
or not)
=> Avoid spacing round tables widely apart in an attempt to fill
the available space. Distance makes audience involvement and
participation much more difficult. A better idea would be to
space the tables as close together as practicable (allowing
enough room for comfortable waiter and waitress movement).
Empty room space could be filled with a decorative divider of
some sort.
=> Avoid a great distance between the head table/dais/speaker
area and the first row of tables. Again, distance is a great
barrier to interaction.
=> Try to set the head table/speaker area on the long side of the
room. This means that the back row participants will be closer
to the speaker than if you set the head table/speaker area on
the short side of the room (participants will feel they are
really far from the action).
=> Consider allowing the speaker an option of speaking areas.
Many top speakers can do a better job if they are not confined
behind a head table and/or lectern. Most audiences like being
closer to the speaker too. To accomplish this, place extra
chairs near the front of the room to be used by the head table
participants after dinner (of course, this would depend on
your overall program). You would not want them seated behind
the speaker during the program. Set head table back from the
front of the podium. The speaker can perform in front of the
head table.
=> Set buffet tables far to the side or on the opposite end from
the speaker area. If someone goes back for late seconds or
arrives late, he or she will not be disruptive.
=> Discourage use of doors anywhere near the head table/speaker
area.
TIMING
=> When on a tight time schedule, have desserts placed on the
table midway through the meal or already set at the beginning
of the meal. (Hey how many times have you munched on your
dessert first hahaha)
=> Arrange with banquet staff to cease all bussing of tables on a
pre-arranged signal. Many functions have less than interesting
openings because service personnel are running around for the
first 10 minutes of a talk. This gets everything off to a bad
start. (Tom actually puts a clause about this in his contract)
=> Ten minutes before the program is to start, it is very helpful
to announce something like the following: "The program will
start in ten minutes. Please get your drink refills, (go to
the little boys and little girls room), grab another piece of
cake and then take your seats and get ready for a great
program!"
=> When planning lighthearted/humorous programs, avoid heavy
subjects before the speaker, i.e., don*t show tearjerker
slides of starving children (actually happened to a speaker
friend of mine), in an effort to raise funds. Don*t get me
wrong, I*m all for raising funds for good causes, but if you
do this just before a humorist or comedy show, you may have
wasted your money on the talent and actually made it
inappropriate for them to do the job for which they were
hired.
********* GREAT SPEAKER REFERENCE *******
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"Wake em Up! How to Use Humor and Other Professional
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"Toms program and materials will cut five years off a speakers
learning curve."
-- Cavett Robert, Founder National Speakers Assn.
For a FREE Chapter visit
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**********************************************
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4. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$
=====================================================
BE A LITTLE PHONY ON THE PHONE
by Tom Antion
"Wow! Your phone message is just too happy!" "You*ve got way too
much energy." "How do you stay so upbeat?" These are just some
of the comments I get about my voice mail message and my
technique for answering the phone. Many times I answer personally
and the person on the other end of the line starts to leave a
message. They think I*m the voice mail. Hahaha I tell them I
answer that way so if I don*t like them I can say "beep" and
hang up.
You can*t catch me answering the phone poorly. If I feel bad, I
still answer the phone in an upbeat manner which sometimes knocks
me out of my bad mood. If I feel so bad that I just can*t rise to
the occasion, then I DON*T ANSWER THE PHONE. It*s all part of
walking your talk, or I guess in this case you would call it
"talking your talk." If I profess to be able to create excitement
in the client*s organization and I can*t even do it in my own,
I*ve lost a considerable amount of credibility. My interns aren*t
even allowed to answer the phone until they can absolutely prove
that they won*t hurt my reputation of being upbeat and exciting.
Listen to your own voice mail message. Is it as enthusiastic as
it could be? Does it convey the personality you are selling to
the client? How about the way you answer the phone? Would you be
proud if I called you and critiqued your technique?
You can sell a ton of products and services just because of the
way you act on the telephone. Be a little phony if you*re not
feeling great, but push yourself toward enthusiasm. Potential
clients don*t want to hire a dud.
NOTE: I just ran across the most fabulous marketing site I
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=====================================================
5. SPEAKER HUMOR
=====================================================
=> Now that we have finished our chicken, it is time for
some baloney.
=> To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal
from many is research.
=> Sign near podium: "Don*t photograph the speakers addressing
the audience. Shoot them as they approach the stage."
=> "No one ever listened himself out of a job." Calvin Coolidge
=> Funny, I don*t remember being absentminded.
=> It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
=> Nostalgia isn*t what it used to be.
=> Jury: Twelve people who determine which client has the better
attorney.
=> God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things.
Right now I am so far behind, I will live forever.
=> There cannot be a crisis this week; my schedule is already
full.
=> A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
=> Everybody repeat after me....."We are all individuals."
=> What I*m waiting for is the five day weekend.
=> The easiest way to make ends meet is to get off yours.
=> Sometimes the grass looks greener over there because they take
better care of it.
=> The Joy of Motherhood is what a woman experiences when all the
kids are in bed.
=> An angry boss yelled at her secretary, "You should have been
here at 8:00 sharp."
"Why? What happened?"
=> Youth: Such a wonderful gift to waste on the young.
=> "Is the speaker finished?"
"Yes, but he / she hasn*t stepped down yet."
=> I asked a little boy if he prayed every night. He said, "No.
Some nights I don*t need anything."
Lot*s more FREE speaker humor at
http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm
=====================================================
6. USEFUL WEBSITES
=====================================================
Bathroom humor? Hardly. All good speakers know where the
restrooms are and this site helps you do it in the Big Apple.
TOILETS NEW YORK CITY will allow you to find a public restroom
anywhere in the city. Soon their search engine will be able to
search for toilets by gender, porcelain type, and toilet paper
brand. . . . Note to Mr. Whipple . . . Don*t squeeze the laptop.
http://fargo.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~kain/customize.html
You can get the latest consumer reports at:
http://www.consumerreports.org Autos and Financing are at:
http://www.money.com/carbuyer and http://www.bankrate.com
Really great research site for anyone in business or doing
business presentations
http://www.brint.com/interest.html
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Commissions normally start between $500.00 and $1250
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***********************************************
=====================================================
FREE ARTICLES FOR YOUR PUBLICATIONS
=====================================================
I have many articles available for reprint in your
publication, company newsletter, etc. You may use
articles written by me that you see here or email me
to request a list. All you have to do is print the
article in it's entirety along with the by line at
top and the credits, and complete contact information
at the end of each article. I would appreciate a tear
sheet or electronic copy too. Thanks
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