Speed up and stop enunciating...?

Image by juliaf

For the first time ever, I told a client to stop enunciating so much. And, for maybe the first time, I told a client to speed up instead of slow down.

It's a rare occurrence that a speaker is actually over-enunciating and talking too slowly, but it happens.

In this case, my client is shooting a video for his website. He's taking two minutes to grab the attention of site visitors, ending with a call to action for them to contact him for more information. In this two minutes, he needs to be snappy, friendly and intriguing, or site visitors won't stick around for the rest of what he has to offer. For that matter, they won't even finish watching the video if it doesn't engage them.

Overly precise enunciation and a slow speaking pace makes him look stiff, boring and robotic. He doesn't come across as conversational, and he doesn't come across as someone you'd want to get to know better. (Part of the problem is that he's speaking from a script, which is hard enough to do well without filming it on video.)

The exercise I recommended for our session that day was to let go, to lighten things up and loosen things up by speeding things up. I asked him to go over his presentation quickly, without stopping to correct mistakes or flubbed words. Leave the ums alone and stop thinking so much. Let the words flow as though he's in a conversation with a person and he's really excited to tell them about his business. He said, "I get it -- it's like I'm talking to someone in the same room, eating lunch together, having pasta." Exactly!

When he let himself speak freely, without worrying so much about perfection, he had so much more life in his voice, so much more energy and excitement. This is what his site visitors need to see, not some professorial lecture that feels like a downer.

Video can be hard to pull off for inexperienced speakers, because it's awkward to emote in front of a camera with no live audience, no feedback from facial expressions or body language to help you feel connected. Speaking to a camera is downright uncomfortable for a lot us, and smiling and showing emotion feels fake. One client suggested taping a picture of someone's face next to her webcam to give her more of a sense of speaking to a person, and if that works for her, great!

Speaking too properly (and this includes avoiding contractions and using the word "a" like the letter "A") can be just as distracting to an audience as speaking too sloppily. There's a balance you need to have between enunciation that is clear and a speaking style that's conversational and friendly. For a good example of this balance, listen to a radio DJ or TV news anchor. They speak clearly and enunciate well, but -- most of the time -- don't sound overly stilted. (I'm still trying to find a recording of the radio announcer I heard on KUSP radio a few months back who sounded like he was doing elocution exercises.)

Even when recording a video, keep in mind you are still speaking to an audience. You may not be able to see them, but they're there. Imagine these faces when you're speaking to the camera. Smile, and use your face and body just as you would if you were sitting at the same table as the person you're speaking to. Have a conversation and don't worry so much about perfect enunciation. Your message will be heard and felt.

Why we need a dog

For a clear, concise story within a clear, concise story, look no further than the current Microsoft commercial. The commercial shows a child using PowerPoint to convince his parents to add a dog to the family.

The PowerPoint within the commercial is also simple, delivering three main points with video, a chart, and on each slide, one clean line of text:

Protection (we see a dog attacking a man)

Teach me responsibility (we see the boy "walking" a stuffed dog)

Dog owners live longer (a nifty chart showing years vs. "dog" and "no dog")

There is no dialog in the commercial, only facial expressions and body language expressing the family members' reactions to the presentation. Later (after the dog has been adopted), we see Dad approach Mom with a similar presentation about playing golf on Sundays, but Mom shoots him down with a shake of the head.

And all of this is achieved in 30 seconds.

You think 20 minutes or ten minutes or five minutes isn't enough time for your presentation? Sure it is! Keep it simple, choose your most critical points, and appeal to your audience's emotions... and you've got yourself a dog!

Complete your presentation with gratitude

When you've done everything right... when you've prepared as much as you needed to... you know your material inside out...you're ready to engage your audience... all the pieces are in place and you're about to take the stage... here's one more thing to add to your toolkit.

Gratitude.

Not everything a speaker prepares for a presentation is a physical, tangible item like movement, words, and slides. A lot of speaker preparation is mental, as in positive thinking, visualization and reframing negative attitudes. Add to this mental preparation the concept of gratitude.

First, think about how grateful you are for the people who have come to hear you speak and the people who are organizing your speaking engagement. They are supporting your cause, they are looking forward to learning, they are wishing you success. Be grateful for your audience, because they're here to take in and spread your message. Be grateful, because without an audience, you can't be a speaker.

Then think about how grateful you are for the opportunity to share something you care about with this audience. Think about how fortunate you are to have people sitting and listening to your ideas and your message for 10, 20 or 60 minutes. Think about how lucky you are to help people and give them something relevant and useful that they can use right now to change and improve their work or their life.

Now, dig down and find the thing that makes you care about your topic. What is it that makes you want to do what you do? What is it that makes you want to share what you're sharing? Find that motivation, that emotional connection, that energy for your topic, and bring it out. Then give it to your audience.

Turn your gratitude and your motivation into energy, and feed that to the audience. They'll give it right back, and then you're connected. It's the last piece that will complete your perfect presentation.

See previous posts on love and gratitude here:

L.O.V.E.

How to accept a gift from your audience

"Have to" or "get to"?

POM Wonderful Presents... Good lessons for speakers

Yesterday I watched the movie "Pom Wonderful Presents... The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," Morgan Spurlock's advertisement-within-a-movie-within-an-advertisement about product placement and marketing in movies. He filmed every aspect of putting together the advertising for the movie, including his pitches to the companies who ended up being his major sponsors.

A lot of what Spurlock went through in pitching his clients and putting deals together demonstrated good lessons for speakers. Here are a couple.

Use simple but striking visuals

I enjoyed watching his pitches. While there are some things I might have changed (such as inserting each company's logo in place of "Brand X" on his storyboard so they could visualize themselves as the title sponsor), I especially liked his simple, clean visuals. He didn't use PowerPoint, but simple storyboards (which I gather are more common in the advertising world than in the public speaking world). As he displayed each image, he described what it meant in the context of the whole campaign. Here's a clip from his POM Wonderful pitch where you can see how he used the storyboards:



His pitch was successful enough that POM Wonderful became the movie's title sponsor.

Understand what your audience needs, wants and cares about

There was a later scene, however, when his visuals didn't make the impact he had hoped for. In this scene, he approaches POM Wonderful with his three ideas for a 30-second commercial that will be inserted into the movie. He shows his storyboards and explains the story lines of each commercial. All three are flops. Why?

Because Spurlock's commercials emphasize aspects of the product that are at odds with what POM Wonderful wants to emphasize. It's clear from this scene that he has not researched his client enough, and hasn't actually determined what they consider important features of the product. And therefore, all three of his commercial pitches are shot down.

When you show up for a speaking engagement and deliver canned material, without first learning what your audience wants from the session, you are doing both yourself and your audience a disservice. You are doing yourself a disservice, because you might have had some really good, targeted material that would have made you stand out from other speakers. You might have really nailed the presentation and had a real rapport with your audience. And you do a disservice to the audience because now they feel they are wasting their time, listening to a speaker who doesn't understand or care about them. This is hard to undo.

Luckily for Spurlock, the relationship was already established, the company gave him their alternative suggestions, and his commercial was aligned with the company's desires.

Always be prepared

Spurlock learns early on that he himself is a brand and needs to acknowledge and market himself this way. As speakers, we are in the same boat. What is our identity that sets us apart from other speakers? Each of us has a brand, though not all of our brands are equally visible or identifiable. Take a moment and think about this: What's your brand?

Here's a scene where Spurlock approaches people on the street and asks them to define their brand:



People on the street, who are most likely not professional marketers or pitch people, are able to identify their personal brands. Then we meet the Ban deodorant marketing executives. This was maybe the most humorous and shocking scene to me.

When Spurlock approached Ban deodorant to be a sponsor, his pitch was similar to those he gave at other companies (in fact, Ban was the first major company to sign on, influencing the responses of prospects to follow), full of tonque-in-cheek images of his medicine cabinet full of Ban products and of him putting on deodorant before a big interview.

What was surprising was when he asked Ban for their own brand identity statement. He asks, "What are the words you would use to describe Ban? Ban is...'blank'?" Watch the response:



The clip doesn't show how much time actually goes by, but it's long enough for the silence to become uncomfortable. How weird and sad is this moment, where these executives sit here as time ticks by, unable to articulate their brand?

Ban, in this instance, is the potential client, and maybe did not expect to be asked this question. Spurlock is the one pitching them. However, there are likely many occasions where these same executives are on the other side of the table. How is it that they have no words to describe their product?

It's embarrassing to be put on the spot, but as a speaker, you must always be prepared to answer unexpected questions. If that means brainstorming possible questions (even completely off-the-wall ones) before your speaking engagement and imagining or writing down possible answers, then do it. If it means asking your co-workers or friends to throw their toughest questions at you so you know what other people might be thinking, then do it. Sure, there's a possibility that you will occasionally be stumped by a question. But it should never be the easiest one.

This movie is full of great lessons for speakers, and for anyone who wants to stand out and be seen, noticed and recognized for their brand identity.

More TV speechwriting tips

Here's one way to write a speech (or in this case, "speach").

On this week's episode of "Up All Night," talk show mogul Ava asks assistant Missy to write her speech for an upcoming event. First, she suggests words to avoid: "moist, ointment, nubbin, vigorous, vigorish(?) and 'at the end of the day.'"

After briefly running through some ideas, she says to Missy, "So basically, the speech should go: laughter, tears, poignancy, tears, laughter, light laughter, slight tears, laughter into tears, and out. How's that sound?"

Reminds me of another brilliant TV speechwriter: Jean-Ralphio.

Ava and Missy clip from "Up All Night" - runs from 11:43-12:35:

Sophia Grace and Rosie do The Ellen Show

Watching this interview just made my day. 8-year-old Sophia Grace and her 5-year-old cousin Rosie were spotted by The Ellen Show on YouTube doing a cover of Nicki Minaj's song "Super Bass." Ellen flew them over from England to interview them, and I was so tickled by the confidence and ebullience of Sophia Grace.

At one point, Ellen asks, "What made you want to do this together?"

Sophia Grace responds, "We like dancing together and Rosie makes me feel more confident... cuz I've got someone with me."

Such spunky little girls. Here's the whole interview with Ellen:



In this clip, after being surprised by meeting Nicki Minaj, Sophia Grace and Nicki perform together. Watch Sophia Grace hold her own! Priceless.



Here's the original YouTube video:

Get all the results without the any of the effort

Just kidding. You know that's not how it works, right?

I would like to lose ten pounds. In fact, I would like my body to look the way it did in my early 30s. But here's the problem: I'm not willing to do the work. Sure, I work out, but back then I was at the gym six days a week, lifting heavy weights and doing cardio. Six days a week.

And I eat pretty well (at least I have a healthy vegetarian diet going for me), but also eat too many sweets and drink too much wine (well, that's what my triglycerides are telling me). If I really want my body to be the way it was at my peak of fitness, I need to do the work.

I read magazine articles and books about healthy eating and exercise. And I know all that. I'm an expert on what works for my own body. But I don't want to make the effort. I don't discipline myself. So I stay the way I am.

I know you hope your presentations will magically improve without the work. I know you hope that, by reading articles and books and watching good speakers on TED, you will become a more effective and engaging speaker by osmosis. I know you know you could be doing better.

But better requires work. There's just no way around it.

~ It requires first learning what makes an effective presentation (including proper use of PowerPoint) -- and if you're reading this blog, you're on the right track -- and then using and practicing those tools and techniques.

~ It requires preparing way more than you're preparing now.

~ It requires changing your attitude about public speaking.

~ It requires getting feedback from legitimate sources, not people who are afraid to hurt your feelings.

~ And it requires accepting every speaking engagement that comes your way and making opportunities when they're not coming your way.

But you don't want to do the work. I hear you. Believe me, I get it.

I don't want to be a big bummer. The Internet is full of people who tell you how to "lose ten pounds in a week" and "make millions of dollars while you sleep." I'm not one of those people. Losing ten pounds in a week is a temporary condition caused by diuretics. Making money while you sleep? Yep, that still takes a lot of work. While you're awake.

So, here I go again:

Your presentations won't change if you don't make the effort. Your PowerPoint will still be riddled with tiny text and too many bullets. Your content will be unfocused or boring, or mediocre. Your delivery will be disconnected or stiff or monotone, or just unmemorable.

And my body is going to stay the same, flabby, with this ten extra pounds. Unless we stop fantasizing and start DOING.

We can do it. We can even make it fun!


Who's with me?

Do as I say, not as I say.

Sometimes speakers (like all human beings) say one thing, but do another. One gives bad news with an unfortunate smile on her face. Another rails against pollution but smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. And another is a finance expert on stage while trying to crawl out of a deep debt hole in his private life. I spoke about "practicing what you preach" in a previous post, and the importance of your behavior matching your message.

Here's an example I read about the other day, and I think this is very common -- speakers who say they want audience interaction, but behave in the opposite way.

My husband's niece Miranda wrote this on Facebook:

"My teacher complains that we don't talk in class and discuss things, and then when we raise our hands, he skips over us to listen to himself talk. I experienced this first hand today when, for once, I had a good comment during our 'discussion' and he saw my hand was up, looked my way about 10 times, and then kept moving on to the next section, and then asking if we had anything to say and ignoring the people with their hands raised. Sorry, [name of teacher], but you kind of really really suck."

I suppose there are many reasons why a speaker would ignore the audience's attempts at interaction. Maybe he does just like the sound of his own voice. Maybe he doesn't want to deal with dissent or disagreement. Maybe he fears that there's not enough time to entertain all the comments and questions. Which would all be fine if he didn't say he wanted participation, but then not accept it.

Saying one thing and doing another is one of the quickest ways to alienate your audience. No one is going to take advice from or be motivated by a hypocrite. Pay attention to how you come across to those you hope to influence and serve; you might be surprised to discover that you are perceived as a completely different person than you are. Or perceived as exactly the person you're trying to pretend not to be!

2011 Annoying PowerPoint Survey results have been released!

The results of Dave Paradi's Annoying PowerPoint Survey for 2011 have been released! Things are generally the same as in the past: Audiences find speakers who read the slides to them to be the most annoying aspect of PowerPoint presentations.

Dave mentions three recurring themes in the comments to the survey:

1. Presenters attempting to cram too much information in to the presentation

2. Presenters need to be better prepared to deliver the presentation

3. Poorly designed slides

Sound familiar? And I'm not just talking about the speakers you've had to sit through. I'm talking about your own presentations. These themes are not only consistent with speakers I've watched, but with my clients' own difficulties with PowerPoint.

When speakers are audience members, these things drive them crazy. But when they get up on stage, they end up perpetrating the same annoying PowerPoint habits of speakers they criticize.

Why? They don't know how to make it better! They don't have the awareness,

training or knowledge to change their behaviors.

Dave's conclusion from the survey?

"That presentations are becoming a more important vehicle for communicating, but presenters aren’t really getting any better at effectively using this important vehicle to get their message understood. To change the current state, it will take awareness on the part of the presenters and a willingness to do things differently."

If you know you could be doing better PowerPoint presentations, but you're not sure how to get there, e-mail me or give me a call. I can help!

And don't forget: Through the month of October, I'm offering the first six people who book a service with me a $60 gift card or certificate to one of six of my favorite businesses! Happy 6th anniversary to me, but the gifts are for you!

Keeping the pace lively: The job of an emcee

For the last 16 years, our local tribe of Chumash Indians has held an inter-tribal pow wow. Native Americans come from all over the country to participate in the celebration of native culture with dance and drum competitions, music, a healing circle, storytelling, food, and arts and crafts. The event is spread over two days and, as you can imagine, there is a lot of downtime in between dances and ceremonies. Enter Tom Phillips, perennial emcee.

I am constantly impressed with how Tom keeps the audience entertained and informed, while rolling with the unpredictability of a live two-day event with hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators.

Sometimes there's a delay in the proceedings. One of the dance or drum judges might be held up on the other side of the arena, or there's a wait while the dancers take their place to start the competition. Gifts are given, people are honored, the dusty arena might need to be watered down and swept, there might be a lost child (and there was -- identified with the description "She's holding a nectarine, a bottle of water, and some Funyuns"), and Tom manages to keep the pace lively.

Here are some of the techniques I've witnessed Tom using to keep the audience and participants from drifting off during the lulls.

1. Use observational humor

Tom can always find something amusing in a delay. As one woman in a wheelchair carried a folding chair across the arena, Tom made the comment, "So-and-so has a nice chair for sale." So it's not hilarious, and he's not a comedian. But he's observant, and is always able to amuse the audience with whatever is happening at the moment.

2. Keep the audience informed

One of Tom's strengths as an announcer is his depth of knowledge of native culture and his ability to educate those of us sitting outside the arena in an interesting and engaging way. I never feel like I'm at school or being lectured to while Tom explains the intricacies of gift-giving or the meanings of songs or the history of the use of various flags in the Grand Entry. His style is conversational and informal, and he's always got a new tidbit I haven't heard before.

3. Be humble

One thing I love about Tom's emceeing is that it's never about him. He has a smooth, made-for-radio voice and the ability to talk and talk and talk, but I never get the feeling he's talking just to hear himself. He always advances the agenda of the day, not focusing on himself and how entertaining he can be, but rather how he can make this the best experience for all involved. He comes across as sincere, approachable, friendly, human, and modest.

4. Be prepared

It almost goes without saying (but I'm going to say it) that Tom is prepared like crazy. He knows what the schedule should be and he's ready to make announcements, introduce dancers and honorees (read about head gourd dancer Saginaw Grant here), remind drum groups to check in and take care of all the other mundane administration of the pow wow.

Being an emcee is hard work. It's a constant effort to make sure things are running smoothly and that the audience doesn't get bored or feel disconnected from the proceedings. Tom Phillips is a true expert in the art of emceeing, and I look forward to hearing him again next year!

Take a few minutes to check out my short video of the recent pow wow's Grand Entry. This will give you a taste of some of the different styles of songs, a little bit of dancing, and some beautiful regalia. There are a couple more previous videos in my Powwow playlist as well. And here's some basic info on powwows with a little explanation of the Grand Entry.



Here's some information on our local band of Chumash Indians, if you're interested.

Sixth anniversary gifts for you!

October marks my sixth anniversary since starting my business as a public speaking coach and trainer!

To celebrate, I'm offering one $60 gift certificate (from six of my favorite online and local businesses) to each of the first six people who sign up for any of my services in October, including individual public speaking coaching, live or video presentation review, and PowerPoint design. (This offer excludes group coaching.)

Your choice of $60 gift certificates includes:

The Grapeseed Company (luscious spa and skin care for women, men and dogs!)
Lazy Acres Market (diverse and unique specialty foods - Santa Barbara)
Santa Barbara Farmers Market (produce, dairy, meats, seafood, baked goods, honey, jam, olive oil, nuts, flowers and more)
Carr Winery (ultra-premium limited-production  -- and delicious -- wines)
Rotem Gear (Jewish, Asian, vintage and retro style graphics and quirky combos of all of these)
Calla Gold Jewelry (jewelry designed, repaired and reimagined)

I can't think of a better way to celebrate my anniversary than to introduce you to some of my favorite local businesses and fellow Web-based entrepreneurs!

Thank you for reading my blog, buying my e-books and e-course, downloading my handouts, hiring me to speak and coach, following and retweeting me on Twitter and liking my Facebook page, and for offering me your trust and friendship over the past six years.

I so appreciate all the relationships this business has fostered, and I look forward to many more years of coaching and many more years of enrichment from the all the fascinating people I meet along the way!

Is weak language killing your presentation?

In a post last week, I suggested addressing your audience's fears and concerns up front. Today I want to talk about how your use of language can assuage those fears or exacerbate them.

Here's how a client recently described her business in the presentation she was practicing to give to superiors: "It's not going to be our best year ever, but it's going to be a growth year."

In this instance, the speaker wants to focus on what IS, not what ISN'T. If she first says it's not going to be a good year, that's what her listeners will focus on. She needs to leave that out altogether and just talk about the growth.

Another client mentioned how a new employee had "not exactly hit the ground running," but was doing well in her job now.

Again, the speaker wants to talk about how well the employee is doing NOW, not how she had a slow start three months ago. What IS: Employee doing well. What ISN'T: Employee having a slow start. To the boss who wants to know how the business is doing, slow starts are a reason for concern, while an employee who is succeeding in her position is reassuring.

In a newsletter from our local cheese shop the other day, I read this:

"Our friends at [Nearby Creamery] just released their newest cheese, and I gotta say, it’s actually really good."

Saying the cheese is "actually" good implies that the writer thought it wouldn't be good (not to mention the "I gotta say," which implies that she is reluctantly making the statement.) This diminishes the news that "We are carrying a great new cheese you'll want to buy." In this case, the owner of the cheese store isn't trying to assuage her readers' fears, but at the same time is barely giving real praise to the product. Halfhearted praise isn't the way to get customers in the store to buy your new item.

Another thing to watch out for in your presentation is language that overemphasizes the negatives. When sharing bad news with your audience, you -- of course -- want to be honest, direct and straightforward. You don't want to hide anything or try to obscure any information or data that would help your audience understand the issue.

However.

You also don't want to go on and on, finding new ways to say the same distressing thing over and over.

Example: "I know in the past we've had some problems with the health department, but we've figured out how to work with the city now. So even though our relationship with the health department wasn't great before and we had a hard time during every inspection, we're doing better in our communications and compliance." Is it necessary to beat this dead horse about the bad relationship with the health department? No. Say it once, make it clear that there has been a problem, but it has been resolved.

Another example: "Last year we didn't have the right people in place to make improvements happen. Our leadership team fell apart and we were stuck with only two people who knew what they were doing. It was really hard, with the economy and with the turnover. Several new hires didn't work out. Now we have the right people to lead us in a new direction." The problem with going on and on about the same issue (and adding new ones that may or may not be relevant) is that you start to sound like you're making excuses. "It's hard." "The economy is bad." "We didn't have enough people to do the job."

These might all be legitimate reasons why the company struggled, but your audience will now dwell on these negatives, fearing they'll continue happening and having little faith that anything will change. Instead, be very specific about the problem: "We lost three critical employees, forcing us to put our new initiatives on hold. With the new staff we've brought in in the last three months, the initiatives are back on track."

1. Keep your language strong and positive.

2. Don't overemphasize the negatives.

3. Focus on what IS rather than what ISN'T.

4. Instead of saying "Blah blah bad thing, but blah blah good thing," just say, "Blah blah good thing."

These language shifts will encourage your audience to see the positive in what you're saying while understanding the negatives as well.

What are your tips for making a "bad news" presentation more positive?