Great Speaking Coach

Stagecraft is Imperative for Business Speakers

2013-06-19T12:16:13-04:00

How often do you think about stagecraft when you're prepping for a business speech or presentation? If you're like most business speakers I've worked with, you don't give stagecraft much thought. While you probably don't have to worry about elaborate colored lights, you should pay attention because it will add a valuable dimension to your audience and to your own experience being the speaker.

Stagecraft encompasses everything about the presentation space: size, your location relative to audience seating, lights, temperature, seating arrangements, location of a screen and projector if used, the lectern (or not), amplification, props, and equipment such as a white board or flip chart.

Whenever you're invited to speak, or when you invite others to your speech or presentation, once you've considered the audience (Put the Audience First) you should begin thinking about stagecraft.

For example, the size of the room and the seating will impact your decision to use or not use slides. In small spaces it's ridiculous to project slides. Why? Because slides put distance between you and the audience and between you and your content. A small space (conference room or small meeting room) enhances the possibilities of conversing with the audience rather than speaking at them with slides. If you need a 'leave behind", leave them with print material afterwards.

When you're speaking in a large room you'll often be given a lectern. First, ask if you can deliver your speech without it. You always make a much stronger impact if there's no block of wood between you and the audience. If the organizer requires a lectern (podium) for production reasons, then you'll need to include one in your practices and rehearsals. You'll have to emphasize your gestures if you'll be standing behind a lectern. What does that feel like? And how will having a lectern affect your use of notes?

Lighting is always important. In smaller spaces, maximize the use of natural light. If there is none, then study how the lighting casts shadows on you and on the audience. Be sure you know how to be in the most well-lighted area and how you'll be able to see the audience. In large spaces, very often lights will shine on you and make it hard to see the audience. You need to practice speaking in that situation.

Amplifiction is critical to success. Audiences who have to struggle to hear will simply stop listening. In smaller rooms, be sure you speak up. That's not yelling. It's lifting your chest, articulating and enunciating well and projecting. In larger spaces, when you have a microphone, be sure it is positioned close to your mouth otherwise it won't work. Audiences hate people who don't use mics correctly. And practice with the mic in advance. No one wants to hear you say "is this working?"

Props and equipment such as white boards or flip charts, should be positioned for immediate access, while not being in the way when you're not using them. You must set up and rehearse with them in advance. If you're using markers, be sure you have a fresh set for each presentation and that they all show up clearly. Have workable erasers for white boards. Props should be on a table, covered if need be, and you must practice getting them and using them seamlessly. Nothing ruins the use of props more than fumbling with them or letting them delay or interrupt the flow of your speech.

What other questions do you have about stagecraft for business speakers? Send them to me and I'll post my answers.

The best performances incorporate a lot of variety while coming across as seamless. When you pay attention to stagecraft you'll grow your reputation as a master speaker.

Basic or Awesome Speaking for Business? There Is No Choice

2013-06-13T12:03:00-04:00

Anyone can be a basic speaker. Write what appeals to you, practice a few times, stand up and read. That's basic and it will not serve you well. In fact, basic speaking may become a barrier to your advancement.

Awesome is completely different. Awesome speakers are appreciated in the moment and remembered afterwards. Awesome speakers get requests for more speeches and that visibility makes them a person of interest. When someone is seeking a candidate for a high-visibility position, awesome speakers are at the top of the list.

So which do you want to be: basic or awesome? I don't think there is a choice if you want to succeed in your chosen field, no matter what it is.

Here are three steps to be an awesome speaker:

1) Put the Audience First. No matter how much you are admired for your expertise and knowledge, every speech needs to be focused on the specific audience in front of you. Each audience is comprised of individuals with particular needs and interests. They want you to address what's on their minds. Avoid canned speeches or generalities. Take the time to understand what's going on with each audience on that day and in that moment and speak about these issues. That's the first step to being awesome.

2) Have extraordinary presence. Presence is one of those qualities that you know when you see it and it can be developed. Presence takes time to build.

Your topic should be something you're passionate about (and that the audience needs).
You must practice dozens of times, until the content is installed and internalized deeply. This allows you to be in the moment in front of the audience and is a big component of presence.
Once you know your audience and your content, then you develop your delivery style. Start with your natural voice and movement/gestures. Identify places where you can add vocal variety that is memorable but not outlandish. Stories are excellent candidates for vocal variety such as change of pace, high and low volume, varied pitch and strategic pauses. Use gestures to add visual interest. Again, practice dozens of times so that your delivery style is internalized.

3) Expand your thinking about your topic every day. Nothing reduces presence like being in a rut of unoriginal thought. You'll get bored and your audiences will know it. Just becasue you have had a point of view one day doesn't mean you can't modify or update that point of view the next. Add fresh material--especially your thinking--regularly. This should be coupled with your knowledge of each particular audience. Ask yourself how the audience's needs affect your perpsective on your topic. Look for freshness in world events, as you meet new people, and as your own life changes.

I've updated my speeches frequently over the years and no longer speak about some ideas that I used to think we really important. My experiences, both personally and with clients, have given me new insights and new ideas and that's what I talk about now. I expect that I'll continue to change in the coming years.

How about you? What have you done to put the audience first, develop presence and expand your thinking? Share your experiences and if you need some help, let me know.

Create Culture or the Vacuum Will Create It For You

2013-06-10T12:05:00-04:00

Culture wars. Culture clashes. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Many negative ideas about company culture are floating around and make it easy to ignore culture's importance as a force for success.

Here are my ideas about how to create a culture that serves as a force for success. You'll see that all of these ideas rely on communicating meaningfully and acting in accordance with the culture.

1) Executives must describe the desired culture and then act in ways that make it happen.

Words that describe culture are words that people can easily understand: Integrity. Superior customer service. Respect for all people. High value relative to the cost. Strong desire to retain clients. High employee retention. Innovation.

All additional words, actions and decisions must reflect absolute fidelity to these words. There is a never "We respect all people except..." or "Integrity is for my direct reports (but not for me)." or "We charge the highest price the market will bear."

Policies, speeches, websites and other collateral need to repeat these words and reflect these actions every day, every week, every month, every year.

2) The culture must flow down and flow out. Make it real to everyone, and give recognition at every level for all who epitomize the behavior that reflects the culture. Culture development should be desirable, not a punishment or dull or only for lower level people.

The executive team can talk the culture talk by having frequent retreats themselves where they look for more ways to reflect the culture. Then they have to get out and demonstrate. They bring people along with them and show them what it means to act that way. People will follow the actions of the leaders.

3) Strategic goals have to be attainable by hewing to the stated culture. In other words, you can't have a strategic goal of revenue growth through charging what the market will bear (price gouging) if an element of your culture is to price your goods and services to provide high value relative to the price. If your strategic goal is to reduce personnel costs and your culture is to respect all people, you can't reduce your costs on the backs of the least powerful employees.

When you and your fellow executives, managers and peers do not actively create, speak about and act on a clear and desired culture, you'll be leaving a vacuum that people will fill in their own ways. It's human nature to create rituals and customs so without culture leadership, everyone will invent their own. It's impossible for a ship to sail in one direction when hands are working in many different directions.

Create a positive culture, speak about it regularly, act upon it daily and bring eveyone along. You'll vanquish culture wars and culture clashes and make sure that strategy and culture support each other.

PS-When you speak about your culture, make sure you use mostly examples and stories, stocked with emotions, inspiration and successful outcomes. Culture is not policy, it's lifestyle.

Fix These Three Sales Presentation Mistakes

2013-06-05T14:00:00-04:00

Planning and delivering sales presentations feels like a huge burden. So much is riding on them: keeping the customer interested, getting the business and making a great impression so they'll invite you back.

I've seen three problems over and over again as I work with sales teams on their presentations. Here they are and here are my recommendations for fixing them.

Problem #1) The company has an 'approved' slide deck that everyone is required to use. This is the biggest insult to your customer. They don't think of thmselves as being like anyone else and they reject your approach that treats them as if they are no different than the others.

Fix #1) Before you offer any slides of any kind, spend time asking them what I call "getting to know you" questions. These are open-ended and conversational. Click here for a list of sample questions and statements you can use to establish at least some individualized relationship with your customer.

Once you have the answers, customize your slide deck in a way that clearly responds to their answers. And never, never begin with an introduction of your company. They do not care! Get right to the solution and benefits you can provide them. Once they believe you can help them achieve their goals, they might have some curiosity about your company and you can talk (not show slides) about the company and it's value.

Problem #2) No or poor preparation. You are so sure you know your stuff that you don't prepare for each new customer or prospect. After all, you're talking about your company and its offerings.

Fix #2) Every customer has different needs and desired outcomes. You've learned about these from taking the steps in Fix #1. Allot some time to prepare to repsond to each audience's specifics: what are their immediate needs, their longer terms needs and how important is it to them they meet those needs? Know your customer, not just your company content.

Problem #3) You show your slides on your laptop, causing the customer audience to look at the screen rather than at you.

Fix #3) First, stop showing your slides on your laptop (and a projector isn't any better). Bring hard copies with you. One set for each audience member and one for yourself. Leave them unstapled. Hold each one up to your chest and direct the customer's attention to you. This will allow you to make eye contact with them and to smile, nod and otherwise engage with them through body language and facial expressions.

Overall, think 'conversation' not 'pitch' or 'presentation.' When you get an appointment with a customer, be sure you've framed it as a conversation. If you don't call it a 'sales presentation" they won't have their defenses up. They'll be open to an interesting and engaging conversation with them about their needs and objectives. In fact, you may just make the sale without ever even using a slide.

Do Speaking Habits Tie You Up in Knots?

2013-05-30T14:00:00-04:00

A twenty year career, many promotions to his current senior status and dozens, perhaps hundreds, of presentations under his belt--so why did this person have such a hard time speaking to one slide?

Time after time he said "I'm used to doing it this way." His entire framework for presenting was tied up with habits he'd picked up and used repeatedly. When he was faced with an imperative to break free of these hbaits, he couldn't let them go. He had to be replaced because his small part was taking down the whole presentation.

Habits are not rules that can't be broken. Habits are learned behaviors you pick up from others and you can break free of them if you put your mind to it. Think of it as creating a new habit that replaces the one you're used to. If there's construction on your normal route to work, do you sit in traffic or stay home? Of course not, you find a new route and make that your habit.

This resistance is in your mind. When someone suggests you stand facing the audience instead of facing the slide, you think "But I always face the screen." When you're told to write down only the top three points you should speak about, you think "I always present from top to bottom and left to right." When you're asked to speak from handheld note cards, you think "I always read from the notes pages." I'm sure you can think of other "but I always..." thoughts.

Audiences simply will not stand for bad presenters. They may stay seated in their chairs but they're not listening or they're actively tuning you out by focusing on the devices in their hands. You, not the audience, must change your speaking habits in ways that appeal to today's audiences.

I've written about this many times: Put the Audience First (talk about what they want to hear, not what you want to say); talk about concepts and ideas, not facts and information; begin with an attention-getting opening that includes the audience in it; end with a call-to-action that will help them change their behavior. Face the audience and engage them. A speech or presentation is NEVER about the slides.

Stop letting your speaking habits tie you up in knots. Every executive knows what it means to be a capable and confident speaker and they look for people in their ranks who do the same. If you get stuck in your old habits, you'll be left out.

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Yes, even those most tied to their habits can be loosened up and improve. When I coach, I'm focused on improvements for your future. Ask me how.

What I Would Say to Graduates

2013-05-28T14:00:00-04:00

Five words: Be Open-minded, Optimistic, Persistent.

Everyone I know who has been working for 30 years or more is not currently in the job or even in the field that they started out with right after graduation. I myself have had 5 different careers over the years.

What does it mean to be open-minded, optimistic and persistent?

Open-minded: There are many paths ahead. Think about each of them in terms of your values, not in terms of your recent education, degree or career (and money) expectations others have for you. This thinking needs to be deep: How do I want to feel each day when I wake up? What energy will I have for this path? How does that compare to the energy I'll have for another path? What is the best that can happen for me on this path or that path? What will I learn about myself?

One way to approach open-mindedness is to clearly see what what boundaries and parameters are currently surrounding your thinking. You can't think beyond the limits if you don't know what the limits are. Typical limits are: the expectations of others; financial needs; what your friends are doing; where you live or want to live; your own aspirations from a time before you were actually poised to take whatever steps you want. Childhood dreams can be hard to give up.

Optimistic: Headlines, numbers, predictions, analyses, media, peer pressure--these all can conspire to make you view the near future pessimistically. I'm emphatic in reminding you that if you look for them, you'll find many numbers, predictions, analyses, media and peers who think the future is bright and worth going out into with optimisim. You choose your perspective, so choose to be optimistic.

Optimism enables you to see opportunity in the numbers. Instead of being fearful and limited by the one number that says it will be hard for grads to find jobs, look at a broad range of numbers for many different work areas. There are plenty where the opportunities are abundant. Look at trends instead of the current numbers and set your path to coincide with upward trends. Use the thinking and analytical skills you learned for your own benefit.

Most of all, believe that taking one path today is just that--a path for today. You'll be able to veer off or go in various other directions over the years.

Persistent: This may be the hardest behavior to stick to. Social media combined with peer pressure from those physically near you make it hard to stick to a path that is different from the crowd. I assure you that anyone who has been successful has persisted in following their own path, no matter how much external pressure and influence they feel from the crowd.

Persistence also requires resiliency because there are always things that go wrong, obstacles that pop up or changes in the community/industry in which you work and live. Speak to anyone you admire and ask about their failures--there will always be some. You learn from them and keep going.

Success over many years is possible and that's the view you should be taking as you graduate. Nothing you do today has to prevent you from doing something else tomorrow. Define yourself by your values, not by processes, tools, degrees, alma maters or other external factors.

People are always curious about my path to being a successful speaker and solo practioner of speech and presentation consulting and coaching for the past 14 years. The quick summary is this: there was no path. I did many different kinds of work: social worker, adjunct professor of finance, executive director of several non-profits, and owner/operator of a small restaurant before I discovered my love for speaking and my knack for making a difference for my audiences and my clients. I learned a lot from my various other careers that I've brought with me to the work I do now.

Take a deep breath, look inside yourself, and overpower the naysayers with your open-mindedness, your optimisim and your persistence. A few years from now, you'll be telling others how well these three personal qualities worked for you.

Improve Your Speaking By Changing Your Speaking Culture

2013-05-23T12:02:00-04:00

You're very well aware of the culture (the sum of beliefs and behavior) of your company and you do your part to fall within its boundaries. That's largely how people get along and succeed. Company culture unfortunately can be an impediment to better speaking and presentation skillfulness, although that may not be readily apparent.

Over the 14 years that I've worked at hundreds of companies I've seen these three beliefs and behavior predominate. Your company may only believe one of these but that's enough to cause behaviors that hurt your speaking skillfulness.

1) Belief #1: Our marketing tactics must be reflected in all of our speeches and presentations

Marketing is about establishing your brand identity with a widespread audience. It is general and all about your company. Your brand identity may include specific colors and language or talking points.

Speeches and presentations may be used for marketing in the sense that they cause people to call you. When speaking for marketing, you'll be successful only if the speaker connects with the people right in front of him or her. So forcing broadbased branding tactics on speakers (and slides) is inappropriate for speeches and presentations and is counterproductive.

Real people in audiences respond to lots of variety and surprises. Marketing always limits these.

2) Belief #2: Our company story is extremely compelling and must be told to all audiences

I'm sorry to say that except for a tiny sliver of all the businesses in the world, the company story is not so compelling that it needs to be told all the time. What people really want to hear is what your company will do for them. How will working with you, buying from you or teaming with you help them reach the goals they have for themselves? When you articulate this with passion and deep meaning, you'll be far more compelling than any company story will be.

3) Belief #3: Different speaking rules and standards apply to each level of your organization

When it comes to speaking and presenting, the only way to create a high level of skill in speeches and presentations company-wide is for everyone at every level to have the same speaking precepts for content and style. When CEOs assign their direct reports or subordinates to attend a speaking skills workshop or work with a speaking coach, but then they do not improve their own speaking skillfulness, the others will not change. The investment will be wasted because no one will do what the CEO doesn't do.

Time after time, I've coached a manager or vice president to begin their speech or presentation with an attention-getting opening, only to have the CEO listen and say "We don't do it that way." That's the end of any improvements and a waste of their investment in coaching.

CEOs can work with an executive speech coach privately if they prefer not to join a group. The most important part of the coaching must be teaching the same approach to everyone at every level. And when the CEO implements it, everyone else wiil implement it as well.

Culture brings people together. Use the avenue of company culture to improve speaking effectiveness from the top down and across the whole organization.

How to Hold Your Audience in Rapt Attention

2013-05-13T17:03:00-04:00

There is magic in those moments when everyone in the audience is paying full attention to you. You don't need to be a sleight-of-hand magician to make this happen. You only need to tell a great story.

A powerful example of how a great story is like magic was reported in the news about Bill Clinton speaking at Howard University's 2013 graduation. Clinton described his visit to Indonesia and a tour through the camps sheltering many tens of thousands of those left homeless by the tsunami in 2004.

Clinton praised the handsomeness of a 10 year old boy. The interpreter told Clinton that yes,the boy was handsome and that until the tsunami, he had had 9 siblings. All of them were lost in the tsunami. As the reporter wrote "The crowd fell silent."

It's what Clinton said next that makes this an example of speaking magic. He said to the graduates "This man who had lost nine of his ten children led me through that camp with a smile on his face and never talked about anything but what those other people needed and what he wanted me to do."

"No matter what happens to you, it is highly unlikely that you will ever face anything as awful as what happened to that mother and father."

No facts and statistics, no policy rants, no logic. A compelling story related in simple meaningful words with obvious emotion in his voice. Those graduates will remember their graduation day for a long time. I'm sure that from time to time, when faced with the difficulties of life that everyone faces, they will remember this story.

How well do you create magic with your stories and hold your audience in rapt attention?

Do You Know Likability Makes Influence Possible?

2013-05-07T10:18:28-04:00

"Organize the facts logcially" or "create an incontrovertible formula" or "collect a zillion proof points." I've heard these approaches to being persuasive thousands of times over the years. Yet the study of human psychology shows that these "left brain" approaches hardly ever work, or don't work on their own to influence behavior.

What does work well is being likable. Likabiltiy is one of 6 influence factors identified by Ribert Cialdini, PhD. proven to make a difference in the behavior of people. The stronger your likability, especially when you're speaking for business, the better your chances to influence behavior in the desired direction.

Why should business speakers assess their speech or presentation content through the filter of likability?

1) Likability draws attention. People much prefer to look at and listen to someone who tells interesting and engaging stories about people behaving admirably. We're attracted to heroes acting bravely to overcome obstacles.

2) Likability-focused content leads to likable voice, movement and facial expressions. When you're filtering for likability, you'll choose stories and points that people will like. Then your delivery will reflect this likability further deepening the attention of the audience.

3) Audiences want to spend more time with likable people. When your call to action includes inviting your listeners to spend more time with you (by buying your services or products or following you online) or changing their behavior in the office, your likability increases their desire to take action. They think "When I do this, I'll get to spend more time with, or I'll get recognized by, him/her."

Likability can be learned if you think you're not very likable now. It starts with having an open mind about everyone and everything; looking for the bright side of events and people. Likability continues to grow when you consciously choose language that is optimistic, upbeat and forward looking. You get more likable when you craft stories that show the best of people.

In effect, you talk yourself into likability. Then it's easy to take that quality to your audiences and influence them as you wish.

Sometimes You Just Have to Stop Revising

2013-05-02T09:54:00-04:00

Is there one set of words that is perfect? That could never be improved upon? That wouldn't benefit from just one more tweak?

Probably not. If for no other reason, as we and our circumstances change, our thinking changes and we could continue to revise ad infinitum.

Sometimes you just have to stop revising. It may be the fifth, eighth or tenth time and then you've got it. Additional revisions will just make your content weaker, more labored, more stilted, more distant from the original thought that prompted the writing in the first place.

Here's an example: After several revisions of a 2 minute speech I felt the speaker had captured her voice perfectly, with rhythm, the right combination of humor and introspection, and enough intrigue to make people want to learn more. Then she revised again and it just felt flat. Not horrible, mind you, just missing the spirit of the draft before.

You won't always know in advance when to stop revising, but you will certainly know afterwards. Have the courage to put two drafts side by side, read them aloud and hear the differences. You'll learn two things: the last may not be the best, and it may be that the second to last is "perfect"--at least as perfect as it needs to be for now. Instead of revising yet again, stop! Pick the one that feels the best and start your practices.

I think many hours and tons of energy are often expended seeking some ultimate perfection when you already have what is perfect for today, for you and for your audiences. Sometimes you just have to stop revising.

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How to Become a Person of Interest by Susan Trivers available for Kindle now ($2.99)