Six Minutes: A Public Speaking and Presentation Skills blog

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-07-04]

Andrew Dlugan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:15:15 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This giant-sized review features topics including:

public speaking fear;
public speaking education;
common filler words;
commencement speeches by women;
vocal variety exercises;
gesturing tips;
memorizing your speech;
PowerPoint makeover;
3D chart advice; and
setting fees.

Public Speaking Education

Lisa Braithwaite encourages public speaking courses in high school.

If I had my way, public speaking would be mandatory in schools. Because just about every single thing we have to do in our lives involves public speaking. Most people will participate in a job interview (or 50). Most of us will have to speak up in a meeting at some point (or hundreds). Most of us will have to convince, persuade or influence another person one day.

Public speaking is as universally necessary a skill as knowing how to read or multiply. Yet in many cases, public speaking training is seen as a luxury, a frivolous extra.

Nancy Duarte shares her experience working with a public speaking coach, Kelly Decker. [Ed: There are valuable insights here about videotaping yourself, repetitive speaking exercises, and seeking constructive feedback.]

Even though I’m an “okay” presenter, it was easy to see right away some areas of development and the power that great delivery has in connecting with the audience and conveying ideas well. I’d never had an objective view of how I communicate and as Kelly recorded my delivery, she had great insights for me.

Tim Gordon answers “What does it take to teach communication skills?“

Teaching communications means knowing how to help people see their shortcomings, and gently help them find a better way. It means being always aware of your own shortcomings and continually learning what works and what doesn’t in your own life. It’s something I do all the time; examining my own communication skills and noticing what works and what doesn’t.

Speechwriting

Chris Witt advises identifying the problem before proposing solutions.

The fatal presentation error is to throw solutions, like stones, at the heads of those who have not yet realized the problem.

Ellen Finkelstein lists common filler words to eliminate from your speech.

Really: “I really want to say how important this is.”

Actually: “I was actually flabbergasted!”

Literally: “I literally sank through the floor.” (Don’t you mean “figuratively” which is the opposite?)

I mean: “I mean, I think it’s OK to say no.”

Definitely: “I’m definitely a supporter of environmental awareness.”

Basically: “Basically, I’m fine with that.”

Overall: “Overall, I don’t see how we can pay back the debt.”

Just: “I’m just so upset about the situation.”

Kind of: “I’m kind of (kinda) ambivalent about him.”

Sort of: “I’m sort of (sorta) ambivalent about him.”

Like: “I, like, don’t know how it’s going to turn out.”

Vinca LaFleur lists (and links to!) 10 terrific commencement speeches by women.

So here are ten terrific commencement speeches by women leaders over the years — political figures, CEOs, entertainers, academics, and more:

Meryl Streep, Vassar College, 1983

Barbara Bush, Wellesley College, 1990

Gloria Steinem, Tufts University, 1997

Anna Quindlen, Mount Holyoke College, 1999
[...]

Craig Valentine provides 3 ways to get your audience to act.

Say “Most People”

Put the process, not the person, on a pedestal

Use the EDGE formula

Delivery Techniques

Sarah Gershman gives a vocal variety exercise.
[Ed.: I wholeheartedly agree.]

Read childrens’ books. It’s a wonderful way to get your voice “out of the box” and experiment with the full range of your vocal ability.

Chris Witt weighs the pros and cons for memorizing your speech.

I, myself, often advise my clients against memorizing their speeches. And yet I memorize much, if not most, of every speech I give. And I’d like to suggest you consider doing so yourself.

Lisa Braithwaite reminds you to make your gestures and voice “big”.

Both clients are used to “talking with their hands” in regular conversation, but when they give a presentation, their gestures become restrained and tight. They both have strong voices, but when they speak, their voices become whispery and weak. [...]

Making yourself small can also make you seem tentative and lacking in confidence — and therefore less persuasive and effective in presenting your message.

Frank Damelio offers tips for gestures, including:

Avoid the T-REX position with your arms. So many speakers only extend their forearms throughout their entire presentation – keeping their upper arms glued to the sides. After a while it looks funny, like a T-REX. They subconsciously do this because of the cartoon factor.

Visual Aids

Jonathan Thomas urges you to separate Powerpoint from the presentation.

Let’s collectively take a step back from our slide software and say it together, “My slides are my backdrop, and I am the presentation. I will use my slides for good, to engage viewers and amplify my message. My audience members should read less and listen more.”

Mike Pulsifer delivers another educational slidedeck makeover.

[...] the deck shrank in half from 22 slides to 11. Much of the content on the slides were details that didn’t need to be on slides. Even coming up with visual metaphors for each slide or each chunk of content on the slides would have been too much. The presentation is what she was up in front saying to us in the audience, not her slides. I’ll address each of the new slides and what I did and why I did it. [...]

Brent Dykes highlights how 3D charts can be deceptively misleading.

In hopes of making a chart more stylish or impactful, presenters may add a 3D perspective to their charts. Using 2D charts all the time can be repetitive and maybe even boring…
[Y]ou can see how the 2D pie chart on the right more clearly reveals the true size differences between the various data points.

Source: www.powerpointninja.com

Speaker Habits

Nick Morgan asserts the most important rule for success in speaking is having fun.

I’m often asked what is the single most essential thing to remember in order to give a good speech. My first instinct is to respond, “it’s a complex process, an art form, and it involves lots of moving parts. So there’s no one single thing.” But if I’m pressed for one rule only, it would be this: have fun.

Frank Damelio encourages you to use names of audience members.

When you are performing an interactive presentation, you have an opportunity to impress by calling on audience members by name. Very few things will wow an audience more. [...] This makes you appear different [...] and more sincere.

Public Speaking Fear

Richard Garber shares a January 2008 study on social fears. (original paper)

Fear of public speaking is the most significant social fear for residents of the U.S. Fear of speaking up in a meeting or class is a very close second. Both affect about 1 in 5 Americans.

Jerry Weissman highlights a September 1990 study about the sources of public speaking fear?

In his study, Dr. Flax polled 12,000 people, asking “What are your biggest fears about speaking to a group of people?” Number one-as chosen by eighty-one percent of the respondents-was “Fear of making embarrassing mistakes.” Interestingly, number two was “Fear of damaging your career or reputation,” with seventy-seven percent of the respondents listing it; interesting because number two may be perceived as a direct result of number one!

Professionally Speaking

Jane Atkinson advises how to set fees you are comfortable with.

Now she’s earning $2500 per engagement but her local bureau wants to list her at $4000. (Cause she’s good.)

But here’s the rub, if a client called her directly she would not feel comfortable quoting $4K. She’s just not $4K confident yet. So what does she do?

And to close…

For speech inspiration, here’s an index card gem from Jessica Hagy.

This is a clever comparison between the wisdom contained in the lines of faces and great books.

In a speech where your topic is gaining wisdom through experience, you might include this a line such as “What do faces and great books have in common? Wisdom is proportional to the number of lines.” [Personally, I'd like to have the wisdom of War and Peace... a great book with many lines.]

This would be particularly effective if your audience were a group of authors, librarians, teachers, or some other group who is likely to appreciate a reference to great literature.

Jessica’s book Indexed is an inexpensive, but rich source of speech inspiration. I often find myself looking at her drawings and thinking how I can incorporate a similar concept into a speech.

Have a Question?

Contact me anytime,
or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

How to Add Power or Humor with the Rule of Three

Andrew Dlugan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:30:24 +0000

In the first two articles of this series, we learned how using the rule of three can improve your speeches by [1] writing triads of words, phrases, and sentences and [2] by applying three-part speech outlines.

In this article, you will learn how adding an unexpected twist to the third element can add power or humor to your speech.

Rule of Three + Unexpected Twist = Speech Gold

As we’ve learned in the earlier articles, there’s something magical about words, phrases, or sentences that come in sets of three. Three-element sets are found in many cultural areas, including religion.

In Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma, author Nick Morgan searches for an explanation:

Why do we respond so powerfully to them? It’s a mystery — something psychological. Some say it has to do with religious symbolism, since there are groups of three in most major religions, but that may be putting the cart before the horse: the religions may have settled on groups of threes for the same psychological reasons that everyone else finds them powerful. Whatever the reason, we find something complete and satisfying in a group of three, like a three-legged stool that can stand firmly on uneven ground [...]

“We find something complete and satisfying in a group of three, like a three-legged stool that can stand firmly on uneven ground”

-- Nick Morgan

Triads are a classical speechwriting technique, but you can squeeze even more power out of them by carefully choosing your order and adding a twist to the third element.

In Lend Me Your Ears: All you Need to Know about Making Speeches and Presentations, Professor Max Atkinson suggests one way to add a twist:

If your third point is the most important of the three, making it longer is a simple way of implicitly highlighting its greater significance compared with the first two.

The third element in a list of three is often followed by a pause when speaking, so it will linger longest in your audience’s memory. This creates a natural emphasis on this element, even if the three elements are perfectly parallel.

You can take advantage of this natural emphasis by deviating from true parallelism. You could make the third element longer, or shorter, or give it a twist in meaning. All of these will cause your audience to think deeper.

In Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark advises writers to “establish a pattern, then give it a twist”. He notes that three parallel elements create a rhythm of “boom boom boom”, but adding a twist to the third element creates the more memorable “boom boom bang“.

Consider the “bang” created in these examples where the third element deviates from the pattern in length and/or meaning:

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness [U.S. Declaration of Independence]
Truth, Justice, and the American Way [Superman]
Sex, Lies, and Videotape [movie title]
“we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America” [Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech]
God, grant me
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can; and
the wisdom to know the difference.
“[1] It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. [2] It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. [3] It means to say your goodbyes.” [Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement]

Humor and the Rule of Three

Adding a twist to the third element is also the key to creating humor in your speeches.

Consider one popular example that is attributed to both Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain:

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Why does this work? Let’s break it down. The first two elements (”lies” and “damned lies”) set a pattern in the mind of the audience. They expect a third element such as “white lies”, “torturous lies”, ‘or even “deadly lies”. Humor results from the mismatch between expectation and reality.

I like this technique because it is like a magician who is able to distract us with one hand while deftly completing the “trick” with the other. In speeches, the pattern distracts, and thus magnifies the surprise.

“Humor results from the mismatch between expectation and reality.”

Thus, the recipe for a humorous triad in your next speech is simple.

Set a pattern with the first two elements to create audience expectations. These elements could be words, phrases, or sentences.
Break the pattern with the third element. Maximize your audience response by making the third element as absurd as you can while ensuring there is still a connection.

In my “Face the Wind” speech (the focus of a 10-article series on Speech Preparation), I opened with a humorous triad.

Eighteen months ago, my wife and I traded our condo keys for house keys. [1] Our floor space doubled. [2] Our mortgage tripled. [3] Our income didn’t change.

This triad works because the pattern begins with doubled and tripled. The audience expected quadrupled or some other multiplier in the third element.

To perfect the rule of three humor technique, study stand-up comedians. Watch for it the next time you are watching the monologue on the late-night talk shows. The first sentence introduces a new topic. The second sentence establishes the pattern. The third sentence breaks the pattern with a punch line.

Some time ago, I delivered a humorous (and rhyming) speech about the (fictitious) origins of Toastmasters. In the couplet below, I suggested (with tongue firmly in cheek) possible motivations for young men to improve their speaking skills:

Strong speaking will earn you money, diamonds and pearls,
Dignity, respect, and — most importantly — girls!

The couplet above includes two different triads:

The first triad — money, diamonds and pearls — includes three common material benefits. It is not very memorable because all three elements form a consistent pattern.
The second triad, on the other hand, begins with two desirable character traits — dignity and respect — and concludes with an unexpected twist. This line provokes laughter from audience members. They expect the pattern to continue with another noble quality (e.g. wisdom, charisma, confidence); while the third element may be human, it’s not exactly noble.

Remember, the last element of your triad is the key which will determine whether you are humorous, memorable, or forgettable.

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments so far
Post tags: humor, rhetorical devices, rule of three

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-06-06]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:03:44 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

new public speaking books;
creating strong speech outlines;
opinions on filler words;
persuasive speech strategies;
explanations of the misinterpretation of Mehrabian’s research [7%=content; 38%=voice; 55% = body language];
step-by-step slide makeovers; and
elevator pitches for professional speakers and speechwriters.

Week in Review: Six Minutes

Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three
The second of a three-part series on the powerful speechwriting technique. Learn how to organize your presentation with a three-part structure that enhances understandability.
Are… um… Filler Words… ah… Okay?
A review of current opinion from several public speaking experts on whether filler words are detrimental or acceptable.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Resources for Speakers – Public Speaking Books

Check out these recently released public speaking and communications books:

Communication: The Key to Effective Leadership by Judith Ann Pauley
Lend Me Your Ears: All You Need to Know about Making Speeches and Presentations by Max Atkinson
The Voice of Success: A Woman's Guide to a Powerful and Persuasive Voice by Joni Wilson
Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data by Stephen Few
Training Workshop Essentials: Designing, Developing, and Delivering Learning Events that Get Results by Robert W. Lucas

Resources for Speakers

Garr Reynolds is releasing an video version of Presentation Zen. I’m trying to convince the training department in my company to get a copy.
However, on his blog, he cautions:

If you have the PZ book already I do not recommend that you get the video too (unless money is no object, in which case feel free to buy a million copies). But if you know someone who does not have the Presentation Zen book – and they are unlikely to slow down long enough to go through such a book – then the video may be very useful.

Speechwriting

Nick Morgan lists 6 persuasive speech approaches.

problem-solution

statement of reasons

comparative advantages

criteria – satisfaction

general to specific

negative method

Delivery Techniques

Olivia Mitchell launched the Stop the Mehrabian Myth campaign.

The stickiest idea in presenting and public speaking is that the meaning of your message is communicated by:

Your words 7%

Your tone of voice 38%

Your body language 55%.

[...]
I’m also concerned about the persistence of the Myth because of the impact on presenters:

The Mehrabian Myth puts unwarranted pressure on people who are nervous about speaking. They’ve been led to believe that their delivery can make or break their presentation. This is just not true. If they prepare well-organized valuable content and deliver it at least adequately they are likely to get their message across.

The Mehrabian Myth leads some “wing-it” presenters to under-prepare their content under the misapprehension that so long as they can deliver with energy and dynamism they’ll get their message across. Again, not so.

Bert Decker contributes a stirring complementary article about Mehrabian’s research and the controversy. [I don't say this often, but I think this is a must-read article for students of public speaking.]

Professor Albert Mehrabian has provided a great service to communicators who learn of, and apply, his work. Let not misinterpretations of that work diminish the importance of Mehrabian.

Max Atkinson refutes what he refers to as “the overstated claims about the… importance of body language” by suggesting counter arguments:

How come it’s much easier to have a conversation with a blind person than with someone who’s completely deaf?

How come we can have perfectly good conversations in the dark?

How come telephones and radio have been such spectacular successes?

How come we have to work so hard to learn foreign languages?

Visual Aids

Mike Pulsifer explains a step-by-step slide makeover of US Coast Guard slides.

[...] the federal government is a fertile breeding ground for poorly designed and down-right ineffective slides. [...] the event organizers’ decision to make the slide decks available to participants a couple weeks ago gave me just what I needed to share with you a slide make-over.

Professionally Speaking

Ian Griffin describes the importance of and the components of an elevator pitch for speechwriters or speakers.

Entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to venture capitalists. Job seekers are encouraged to develop a compelling elevator pitch to land an interview. Speed dating has even introduced the elevator pitch into our romantic lives.

What about speechwriters? Why should we bother to develop an elevator pitch for a proposed speech topic? Why not just get on with it and start writing?

And to close…

For speech inspiration, here’s an index card gem from Jessica Hagy.

This recent drawing caught my eye for two reasons:

“Sex, drugs, and rock & roll” is a memorable phrase — an example of the rule of three which we’ve featured recently on Six Minutes;
Tension between parents and teenagers is an abstract concept, but this analogy grounds it concretely in reality.

What memorable triad can you add to your next speech?

What concrete analogies can you use to help explain abstract concepts?

Jessica’s book Indexed is an inexpensive, but rich source of speech inspiration.

Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three

Andrew Dlugan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:05:09 +0000

Previously, we learned how the rule of three improves speeches when used at the micro-speech level, to craft memorable triads of words, phrases, and sentences.

In this article, we will learn how the rule of three improves speeches at the macro-speech level when applied to speech stories or to entire speech outlines.

Storytelling and the Rule of Three

Last week, my daughter and I visited our local library to fetch another bounty of children’s books. We returned with a diverse collection that included:

the educational Sesame Subjects: My First Book About Fish,
the hilarious Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business; and
the classic The Golden Goose from the Brothers Grimm.

(Note to parents: All highly recommended!)

The Golden Goose is the story of three brothers who attempt to chop down the thickest tree in the forest. First, the oldest brother fails; then, the middle brother fails; finally, the youngest brother succeeds — a three-part plot structure.

“Every great movie, book or play that has stood the test of time has a solid Three-Act structure.”

-- Stephen J. Cannell

The three-part story outline is a common structure in folk tales, Biblical tales, and Hollywood plots:

Three Little Pigs — The first two pigs get eaten because their houses are weak; the third pig’s house of bricks is strong.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears — The porridge was too hot; the porridge was too cold; the porridge was just right.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff — The first two goats sneak past the troll, while the third goat defeats the troll.
The Good Samaritan [New Testament, Bible] — The first traveller passes. The second traveller passes. The third (the Samaritan) helps the injured man.
Boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl in the end.

The Three Act Structure

These fall under a general pattern known as a Three Act Structure. It is widely used in storytelling and screenwriting because it is a proven formula. Stephen J. Cannell claims that “Every great movie, book or play that has stood the test of time has a solid Three-Act structure.”

Syd Field (author of The Screen Writer’s Workbook and other instructive screenwriting guides) asserts that most successful screenplays follow a structure like this:

Act I: Setup (approximately 30 minutes of a 2-hour movie)
Act II: Confrontation (approximately 60 minutes)
Act III: Resolution (approximately 30 minutes)

He further asserts that these acts are separated by two plot points: events that thrust the plot in a new direction. For example, plot point #1 might be the pivotal moment when the reluctant hero is convinced to join the crusade for justice (after spending most of Act One refusing to do so). Plot point #2 might be the moment when the momentum swings from the villain to the hero, eventually leading to a triumphant climax.

This three-part structure is so pervasive in movies, books, and other storytelling forms that audiences feel naturally comfortable when it is used. This comfort can be leveraged by a skillful public speaker.

Three-Part Speech Outlines

When you apply the rule of three to your speech outline, you gain all the benefits of the three-part structure. Your presentation gains warmth, familiarity, and understandability. With the three-part outline framing your ideas, your speech will be easier to follow and remember.

Let’s examine a variety of three-part speech outlines, beginning with the most basic.

Speech Outline #1A: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

It doesn’t get any simpler than this. Even if you don’t read the rest of this article, you will improve as a speaker if you consistently apply this generic speech outline.

It seems obvious. Almost too obvious. Yet two of the most common speaking blunders are:

Omit the introduction: The speaker launches directly into the meat of the content without providing a roadmap or context.
- Result: The audience wonders “How did we get here?“
Omit the conclusion: The presentation ends abruptly immediately after the last statistic or slide with “So… any questions?” Perhaps this is the result of poor time management and a novice speaker who decides “I’m running short on time. I’ll skip the conclusion.”
- Result: The audience feels stranded, far from the point of origin, wondering “That’s it? What does it mean?“

Speech Outline #1B: Tell them what you’re going to say, Say it, Tell them what you said

“Repetition is a powerful speechwriting technique.”

This isn’t a new speech outline, but a slight elaboration of the first:

Tell them what you’re going to say (Introduction)
Say it (Body)
Tell them what you said (Conclusion)

Some may say that this speech structure is almost too simplistic. If it is accompanied by boring content and lifeless delivery, that’s a fair critique.

However, repetition is a powerful speechwriting technique, and you can do much worse than repeating your key points three times during a speech to persuade your audience. Take inspiration from Lewis Carroll in The Hunting of the Snark:

I have said it thrice: What i tell you three times is true.

Speech Outline #2: Past, Present, Future

This speech outline can either stand on its own:

Past, Present, Future

or take the place of “Body” in the pattern above to make:

Introduction, Body [= Past, Present, Future], Conclusion

A common application is a persuasive speech where you pitch a solution to a business problem:

Past – You set the context by identifying a problem facing your company, and describing how it came to be.
Present – You lay out the decision to be made now, and the alternatives to choose from.
Future – You paint a picture of prosperity that will be realized if the right choice is made (perhaps you use a successful case study).

If you apply this speech outline well, your audience will more easily understand your message. On the other hand, your audience is more likely to be confused if you jump forward and backward in time repeatedly (talk about the decision first, then the future prosperity, then the root cause of the past problem, then another alternative, then…)

Speech Outline #3: Complication, Resolution, Example

Another three part speech outline for persuasive speeches is the S.Co.R.E. method offered by Andrew Abela in Advanced Presentations by Design: Creating Communication that Drives Action (read the Six Minutes book review).

Abela recommends starting your speech (Introduction) by establishing the Situation, and then iterating through a three-element series of Complication, Resolution, Example. In a sequence form, your speech might look like:

Introduction – Situation
Body
- Complication, Resolution, Example
- Complication, Resolution, Example
- Complication, Resolution, Example
- …, …, …
Conclusion

The three-part Complication-Resolution-Example structure can be repeated once (e.g. a five-minute speech) or many times (e.g. a one-hour seminar).

Speech Outline #4A: Three Main Points

“Limit yourself to your best three points. Any fewer, and your message won’t be compelling. Any more, and your message risks becoming tedious.”

A basic three-part informative speech outline is as follows:

Introduction — Establish topic and core message; list supporting points
Body
1. Supporting Point One
2. Supporting Point Two
3. Supporting Point Three
Conclusion — Recap main points; summarize core message; call-to-action

In this case, the rule of three magic lies in limiting yourself to your best three points. Any fewer, and your message won’t be compelling. Any more, and your message risks becoming tedious. Brainstorm many, but select your best three.

The Decker Grid System (from You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard – reviewed here) is built on this foundation. Bert Decker goes on to say that, for longer speeches, each of your three supporting points can be reinforced with (no surprise) three sub-points each.

Speech Outline #4B: Three Stories

Stories can strengthen any type of speech, but are especially powerful in motivational speeches where making an emotional connection with your audience is required. When you tell stories, pattern them on the three-act structure for maximum impact.

The Three Main Points speech outline can be given a storytelling slant with the following:

“When you tell stories, pattern them on the three-act structure for maximum impact.”

Attention grabbing opening which introduces the topic and core message
Tell story #1.
- Make point #1.
Tell story #2.
- Make point #2.
Tell story #3.
- Make point #3.
Memorable conclusion which ties together all three stories to support the core message.

Speech Outline #5: Pros, Cons, Recommendation

We’ll conclude with a common speech outline used for persuasive speeches where you are recommending a course of action.

Introduction – Brief setup of problem and proposal
Body
1. Pros – What are the benefits of this proposal?
2. Cons – What are the drawbacks of this proposal?
3. Recommendation – Why do the pros outweigh the cons?
Conclusion – Restate the pros and repeat the recommendation

Other Three-Part Speech Outlines?

Do you use other speech outlines that follow the rule of three? Please share in the comments.

Conclusion of the Rule of Three Article Series

The final article addresses how the rule of three applies to speech humor.

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments so far
Post tags: rhetorical devices, rule of three, speech outline, storytelling

Are… um… Filler Words… ah… Okay?

Andrew Dlugan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:56:14 +0000

Um.

No other two letter word says so much when a speaker says so little.

Except perhaps ah or uh or so.

Are filler words the most sensational speaking sin you can commit? Or do they make you imperfectly human and help you connect with your audience?

The topic has created quite a buzz in public speaking blogs recently, so read on to find out what the experts are saying.

Um… the Book

Authored by Michael Erard, Um… : Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean aims to be the most authoritative work on the topic.

Personally, I haven’t read it, but I am curious due to positive reviews from highly credible sources.

New York Times Book Review:

…An enjoyable tour of linguistic mishaps… …Rewarding.

Publishers Weekly:

…Challenges the reader to think about his or her own speech in an entirely new way.

Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Erard’s enthusiasm for his subject is infectious. He gets you wondering about blundering.

Oprah’s O Magazine:

…An absorbing survey of the (mis)spoken word, from ancient Egyptian cases of speechlessness to television bloopers…

You can listen to the author read chapter one here [MP3].

If you’ve read the whole book, please let me know whether this should be required reading for Six Minutes readers.

Perspective on Filler Words from Public Speaking Bloggers

If the book doesn’t grab you, maybe the opinions of several excellent public speaking bloggers will resonate with you?

Jerry Weissman draws attention to Obama’s filler words.

… “er” or “um.” When spoken, those two sounds are known as “fillers” or “unwords,” because they have no meaning. Unwords are the bane of any speaker’s existence because they produce a perception of uncertainty. …

I can tell you with absolute certainty that unwords undercut any presenter’s effectiveness, including that of the current President of the United States and his far more often than not charismatic speaking style.

Olivia Mitchell offers a cure — chunking — to eliminate ahs and ums.

To be effective at stopping the habit you have to focus on something else – something positive that you can do, as an alternative to um’ing. That alternative is chunking. Chunking is talking in short chunks of words with breaks in between the chunks. When you chunk you get into a rhythm: burst of words/break/burst of words/break….Focus on that rhythm and your um’s will go.

Steve Arrowood lists “situations that motivate us to inadvertently utter ‘non-words’?”

We are processing at a deeper level than surface thoughts or well-rehearsed phrases, while at the same time we feel the expectations of people around us to speak.

We were asked a question and feel social pressure to start speaking quickly or we will look dumb.

We are running 0ut of allotted time and feel pressure.

We pressure ourselves to sound like what we think an expert should sound like.

We don’t want someone else to start speaking yet.

Steve Arrowood argues that filler words are okay in moderation.

Because there are no defined rules in the court of public speaking law, somehow the rule of speaking just defaulted into: NEVER USE A SINGLE FILLER.

But that rule is wrong. It is a ‘letter of the law’ rule rather than a ’spirit of the law’ rule.

Richard Garber summarizes an academic paper on the subject by Stephen M. Croucher (read the full paper here – PDF).

Croucher found that college men and women used about the same numbers of Uhs and Ums. However, women used both Like and You Know a LOT more than the men. He suggested this was due to a cultural influence from Southern California as humorously portrayed by Frank Zappa in the song, Valley Girl.

Max Atkinson points out a possible correlation between “the” and “uh”.

Interestingly, the definite article often comes before ‘uhs’ and ‘ums’ when we’re speaking. Even more interesting is the fact that, when it does, speakers invariably use the ‘thee’ form: ‘thee-uh’.

James Feudo questions whether Toastmasters needs the Ah Counter role.

… society has become less formal in recent years and therefore, the standards for what constitutes a good speech (or a good speaker) have dropped. …

Now if you can relay a powerful message, most audiences will forgive a few filler words…

What’s Your Opinion on Filler Words?

Credibility killer for a speaker, or nothing to worry about?

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-05-30]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 30 May 2009 07:10:42 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

the Rule of Three unmasked;
TEDxTokyo review;
tips for using analogies;
essential humor skills;
toastmasters pros and cons;
marketing advice for emerging professional speakers; and
answers to the question “which women are the best speakers?”

Week in Review: Six Minutes

How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches
A comprehensive review of this powerful (yet easy) speechwriting technique. What is the rule of three? What are some famous examples? How do you use it in speeches?

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Resources for Speakers

Garr Reynolds reviews the recent TEDxTokyo conference.

It was an amazing collection of presenters and 200 thinkers and doers from around the world who set aside a day to come together to reflect, share, and engage in Tokyo.

Speechwriting

Brent Dykes suggests 7 tips for using analogies. (His context is PowerPoint presentations, but the 7 tips apply to general speechwriting.)

Can your audience relate to the analogy?

Does your analogy clarify your concept?

Is your analogy short and simple?

Is your analogy boring?

Can you use strong visual images with your analogy?

Can your analogy go the distance?

Is there “loose wiring” in your analogy that prevents it from communicating effectively?

Humor in Speaking

Jason Peck pens 32 essential skills for speaking humorously, including:

Learn how to read an audience

Know how to set up a room

Deal with interruptions

Know about and hone your timing

Toastmasters

Lisa B. Marshall addresses the question “Does Toastmasters Work?“

I think the first thing a person notices about Toastmasters is how organized, productive, and engaging the meetings are. They’re highly structured, with members filling very specific roles and responsibilities.

James Feudo alerts you to five signs that you may have outgrown Toastmasters.

You no longer find it challenging to give a speech at meetings.

You get the same feedback each time you give a speech.

You gave a terrible speech but got great feedback.

Your speaking skills are where you need them to be.

You find it difficult to come up with manual speeches.

Professionally Speaking

Tim Gordon advises you how to promote your small speaking gig.

Let’s start with the assumption that you don’t do too many speaking gigs. Enough to ‘stay in the game’ as it were, but not enough to make a living.

Still, when you DO speak, you want to make your presentation in front of as many receptive folks as you can. So a little promotion is called for.

Which Contemporary Women are the Best Speakers?

Denise Graveline is in the midst of a series of articles aiming to answer this question. So far, she has highlighted:

Carolyn Bertozzi
Jennifer Granholm
Michelle Obama
Aimee Mullins
Hillary Clinton
Stacy Allison
K. Jefforts Schori

How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches

Andrew Dlugan — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:08:51 +0000

The rule of three is powerful speechwriting technique that you should learn, practice, and master.

Using the Rule of Three allows you to express concepts more completely, emphasize your points, and increase the memorability of your message.

That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

What is the rule of three? What are some famous examples? How do you use it in speeches? Read on!

Western Culture and the Rule of Three

Trios, triplets, and triads abound in Western culture in many disciplines. Just a small sampling of memorable cultural triads include:

Christianity
- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- Heaven, hell, and purgatory
- Three Wise Men with their gold, frankincense, and myrrh
Movies & Books
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- Sex, Lies, and Videotape
- Superman’s “Truth, Justice, and the American Way“
- Nursery rhymes such as the Three Little Pigs or Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- In a more general sense, there is the allure of trilogies as with Indiana Jones, The Godfather, The Matrix, Star Wars, and many others.
Politics
- U.S. Branches of Government: Executive, Judicial, and Legislative
- U.S. Declaration of Independence: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
- French motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
- Abundance of tri-colored flags
Civic, Organizational, and Societal Mottos
- Fire safety motto: Stop, Drop, and Roll
- Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius or Faster, Higher, Stronger
- Real estate: Location, Location, Location

Historic Rule of Three Speech Examples

Speechwriting is, of course, part of our culture. Examples of the Rule of Three can be found in some of the most famous speeches ever delivered:

Julius Caesar
- “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered)
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
- “Friends, Romans, Countrymen. Lend me your ears.“
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
- “We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground.“
- “Government of the people, by the people, for the people“
General MacArthur, West Point Address, 1962
- “Duty, Honor, Country” [repeated several times in the speech]
Barack Obama, Inaugural Speech
- “we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America“

What’s Magical About the Rule of Three?

It is reasonable to ask what’s so special about three? Why is it so popular in our culture? Aren’t there just as many examples of two- or four-element famous speech lines?

For a famous duo, there is Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death.”

For a classic quartet, it is tough to beat Winston Churchill’s “I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Despite examples like these, there is something magical about the Rule of Three in the way that it allows a speaker to express a concept, emphasize it, and make it memorable.

In his book Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark provides insights to the magic of the number three:

“The mojo of three offers a greater sense of completeness than four or more.”

-- Roy Peter Clark

… the “encompassing” magic of number three … in our language or culture, three provides a sense of the whole …

… in the anti-math of writing, the number three is greater than four. The mojo of three offers a greater sense of completeness than four or more. …

Use one for power. Use two for comparison, contrast. Use three for completeness, wholeness, roundness. Use four or more to list, inventory, compile, and expand.

Rhetorical Devices — Rule of Three

The rule of three describes triads of all types — any collection of three related elements. Two more specific triad variants are hendiatris and tricolon.

Hendiatris

A hendiatris is a figure of speech where three successive words are used to express a central idea.

Examples of hendiatris include:

“Veni, vidi, vici.” [Julius Caesar]
“Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité“ [French motto]
“Citius, Altius, Fortius” [Olympic motto]
“Wine, women, and song” [Anonymous]

Tricolon

A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements (words or phrases). In a strict tricolon, the elements have the same length but this condition is often put aside.

Examples of tricola include:

“Veni, vidi, vici.” [Julius Caesar]
“Be sincere, be brief, be seated.” [Advice for speakers from Franklin D. Roosevelt]
“Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation – not because of [1] the height of our skyscrapers, or [2] the power of our military, or [3] the size of our economy.” [Barack Obama, Keynote speech to Democratic National Convention, July 2004]

Contemporary Speech Examples using the Rule of Three

“Using the Rule of Three allows you to express concepts more completely, emphasize your points, and increase the memorability of your message.”

Nearly every speech critiqued on Six Minutes has wielded the magic of the Rule of Three, as shown by numerous examples below.

Click through the links to read the detailed analysis.
Watch the speech being delivered, and note the delivery of these key triads.
Note how memorable these passages are within the whole speech.

Examples like these cross a wide array of speech types and settings. You can study these examples, and then apply the lessons to your own speechwriting to see how you can incorporate the Rule of Three.

5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech

Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered.

Steve Jobs: Stanford Commencement Address, 2005

[1] It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. [2] It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. [3] It means to say your goodbyes.

Dalton Sherman: Do you believe?

You’re the ones [1] who feed us, [2] who wipe our tears, [3] who hold our hands or hug us when we need it.

J.A. Gamache: Toastmasters, 2007

A sandal of hope when you reach out.
A sandal of joy when you listen to your heart.
A sandal of courage when you dare to care.

Electrify Your Audience with a Shocking Speech Opening

Tobacco. [long pause]
Alcohol. [long pause]
Guns. [long pause]
Criminal items seized in a search [slight pause] of a 6th grade locker in a bad school district.

Patrick Henry Winston: How to Speak

Your careers will be determined largely by how well you speak, by how well you write, and by the quality of your ideas… in that order.

Speech Preparation #6: Add Impact with Rhetorical Devices

… we cannot predict when the wind blows. We cannot predict how strong it will be. We certainly cannot predict its direction.

Other Magical Ways to Harness the Power of Three in Speechwriting

The next Six Minutes articles in this series show you how to apply the Rule of Three to speech outlines, and how to create humor with the Rule of Three to get your audience laughing.

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments so far
Post tags: hendiatris, rhetorical devices, rule of three, tricolon

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-05-23]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 23 May 2009 07:03:35 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

public speaking book review;
six-word speech contest;
public speaking haiku;
podcast on the basics of public speaking;
tips for using notes; and
encouragement for developing better public speaking skills.

Week in Review: Six Minutes

Book Review: You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard by Bert Decker
A review of the strengths and weaknesses of Decker’s comprehensive, general-purpose, introductory public speaking guide.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Resources for Speakers

SpeakerNet News held a contest soliciting six-word speeches. Participants were asked to capture speaking wisdom (in several categories) in just six words. Difficult? Impossible? Check out some of the winners:

Give wisdom away; it returns tenfold. (Charlie Hawkins)

Stand up, be great, sit down. (Margaret McDonald)

Speak eloquently, be funny, get paid (Doc Blakely)

Reading from PowerPoint slides brings snores. (Pamela Alexandra)

This reminds me of public speaking haiku!

Delivery Techniques

Tim Gordon and Roger Pike discuss [13 minute MP3 podcast] what they consider the six basics of public speaking.

Make movement matter.

Stop non-essential chatter.

Be good with body language.

Get rid of your crutches.

Say what you mean.

You are there to perform, not just deliver information.

Kathy Reiffenstein encourages (yes, encourages) you to use notes.

Practically, having notes takes the pressure off having to remember every fact, as well as the order and flow, of what you are presenting. Perceptually, having notes provides a security blanket. If you don’t need them, fine. But if you do lose your place or forget what you wanted to say, a quick look at the notes rectifies the situation.

Visual Aids

Bert Decker repeats a common mantra, but one well worth repeating: PowerPoint slides are not your presentation.

With all the recent emphasis on the design of your PowerPoints (Keynote for the Mac), it’s time to revisit the fact that your visuals are NOT your presentation. You and your Point of View are the centerpiece. … Make no mistake that having powerful and visual support materials is critical to your impact. But it’s still your impact – it’s not a PP.

Speaker Habits

Joey Asher underlines the purpose of improving your speaking skills: leadership.

All this talk about public speaking is for nothing if you don’t use it as a tool of leadership. We speak because we’re trying to connect with people and move them somewhere.

So when you’re speaking, take a position and defend it.

Lisa Braithwaite reminds us that better public speaking skills means better communication skills.

When people say “I hate public speaking,” they are considering a very narrow application.

Hating public speaking is like saying, “I hate communicating,” because public speaking skills encompass every kind of communication and interaction we use on a daily basis.

Book Review: You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard (Bert Decker)

Andrew Dlugan — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:07:27 +0000

Bert Decker’s revised edition of You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard was one of many books recommended by Six Minutes readers last year.

Now I know why.

Decker’s public speaking classic is a comprehensive book which deserves to be on your public speaking bookshelf.

This article is the latest of a series of public speaking book reviews here on Six Minutes.

There is much to like in Decker’s book. To keep this review shorter than the book itself, I’ll focus on the three parts of the book that stand out the most for me.

1. Emotion and the First Brain

The first half of the book establishes the case that effective communicators (Decker describes these as New Communicators) understand the importance of emotion in the communications process. That is, communication is more than logical arguments. More than facts and figures. More than metaphors and triads.

“It’s the listener’s First Brain that makes the decision whether or not to trust and believe the speaker.”

-- Bert Decker

Decker explains the importance of emotion by reasoning that our brains are composed of two parts:

The New Brain – the intellectual part of the human brain which reasons and processes at a conscious level, and
The First Brain – the nonreasoning, nonrational, subconscious, primitive part of the brain.

The First Brain, he argues, acts as a powerful filter. Before your message can even get to the New Brain, it must first pass by the First Brain. For that to happen, you must connect emotionally.

2. Communication = Leadership ?

“When people have confidence in someone as a communicator, they have confidence in that person, period.”

-- Bert Decker

Decker asserts that communication and leadership are intimately linked. He clearly reasons that to effectively communicate is to be a leader; to be a leader is to effectively communicate.

Decker is not unique here. I, too, hold the belief that communication and leadership are joined at the hip. However, Decker is so persuasive on this point that, as I was reading, I began to wonder whether leadership and communication are actually the same thing. Are they really separate concepts at all?

3. Speechwriting and Delivery Tips Abound!

While the first half of the book is somewhat theoretical, the second half is packed with practical tips for speechwriting and delivery.

Here are just a few of the public speaking issues addressed by Decker in You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard:

Eye contact,
Posture and movement,
Dress and appearance,
Gestures,
Vocal variety,
Word selection,
Pauses,
Fear of speaking,
SHARPs (Stories and examples, Humor, Analogies, References and quotations, Pictures and visual aids), and
A comprehensive speech organization method he names The Decker Grid System.

These tips can be found in other books or blogs, in one form or another. The great value here is descriptions offered by Decker, and the relationships he makes between them and the concepts introduced earlier in the book. For example, Decker offers insights into public speaking fear drawn from the First Brain concepts.

What Could be Improved?

I loved this book, but it’s not perfect.

“The profound role of the First Brain in the communications process has been virtually ignored by communications experts and theorists until now.”

-- Bert Decker

Is emotion ignored in traditional communications training?
Decker claims that the role of the First Brain (that is, the importance of emotion in communication) has been “virtually ignored by communications experts”. While I concede that many traditional public speaking books underestimate the importance of emotion, I think “virtually ignored” is overstating it. For example, one of the oldest books on the topic of public speaking — Aristotle’s On Rhetoric – recognizes emotional appeals as one of the three primary forms of persuasion. Aristotle’s lessons have may have been skewed a bit, but they are not ignored.
Slow start
When I read a book for review, I mark the page whenever there’s a key insight or a golden quote. In the first 75 pages of this book, I only marked two pages. By contrast, I marked 15 in the final 150 pages. Those first 75 pages ran through a large number of politicians, business leaders, and celebrities, and labelled them as either old (bad) or new (good) communicators. The analysis isn’t superficial, but I still would have liked to see deeper analysis here to demonstrate the positive and negative communication traits. It’s difficult to do this, however, in print… perhaps this book needs a companion DVD?

About the Author – Bert Decker

Bert Decker is the CEO of Decker Communications, a communications training company that has worked with hundreds of thousands of executives, managers, and salespeople in the past 30 years.

Bert is the author of several books, including Creating Messages that Motivate and You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard.

And he writes a public speaking blog too.

What Others are Saying about You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard

Nancy Duarte:

This updated version of Bert’s book is fantastic.

Mark Sanborn:

This book is a classic bestseller that has been revised and updated … I recommend it.

Trent Hamm:

You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard is brilliant at helping you to become a better speaker mechanically by breaking down speaking into lots of little, practicable pieces.

If you’re involved with public speaking – or would like to be – You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard is a very worthwhile read.

Chris Spagnuolo:

The book concludes with a section on organizing your content to create a focused message… Bert’s proven Decker Grid System. … It’s a simple method, but one that I find to be extremely powerful in helping deliver targeted messages to the needs and wants of your audience. I’ve been using it for about three months now and I am amazed at the results.

Jeff Bailey:

This is THE book on presentation that you have been looking for: If you learn the contents it will literally improve your life. I don’t say that lightly and I am not exaggerating — I mean it!

Get Your Copy or Read Other Reviews

Title: You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard: The Complete Book of Speaking… in Business and in Life
Author: Bert Decker
ISBN: 0312374690
Get a copy from your local bookstore, or from these online sources (also with additional reviews):
- amazon.com
- amazon.ca
- amazon.co.uk
- amazon.de

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | One comment so far
Post tags: Bert Decker, fear, public speaking books

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-05-16]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 16 May 2009 07:04:06 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

recently released speaking books;
speaker’s checklist;
using quantifiable comparisons;
benefits of brevity;
impromptu speaking;
effective remote presentations;
laser pointers; and
audience culture.

Resources for Speakers – Recent Releases

First look!
Here’s some of the best public speaking books recently released:

The Wealthy Speaker: The Proven Formula for Building Your Successful Speaking Business by Jane Atkinson
So What?: How to Communicate What Really Matters to Your Audience by Mark Magnacca
The Inspirational Speaker's Resource: Tools for Reaching Your Audience Every Time by Stan Toler
Transformational Speaking by Gail Larsen
Speaker's Treasury of Quotations: Thoughts, Maxims, Witticisms and Quips for Speeches and Presentations by Michael C. Thomsett

Resources for Speakers

Nick Morgan supplies a speaker’s checklist of questions to ask meeting planners, covering the venue, audience, and speech.

A. The Venue

…
How many in the audience?
What time of day? How long should the speech be?
Will the audience be eating or have eaten?
What is the hall like?
Is there lighting?
What is the sound like?
The layout?
… (and many more)

Speechwriting

April Dunford praises the benefits of using quantifiable analogies when speaking about product features.

There are lots of ways that you can make your metrics more real in the mind of customers…

Use finite numbers vs. comparative numbers – A 2% increase in sales doesn’t sound all that impressive but if you tell me you sold 40,000 more units or increased revenue by $2M, that 2% sounds a whole lot more interesting.

Denise Graveline makes a case for brevity when speaking.

You’d think public speaking would be all about, well, the speaking. Yet the most powerful speakers know that silence, pauses and the all-too-underrated skill of brevity-can be their most important tools. Speakers who use them strategically get and keep my attention, and those who don’t tend to lose me in the torrent of words.

Gavin Meikle introduces two impromptu speaking techniques, including the PEP model.

Position – Start by stating your position on the topic – do you agree or disagree?

Explain – Now expand on that by explaining why you hold this view. How can you justify it? What evidence support it? What alternatives have you considered and why have you dismissed them?

Position – End by restating your position confidently and authoritatively. Some people are good at coming up with a powerful and clever closing quote but if inspiration escapes you try a simple “and so I believe …”

Delivery Techniques

Nancy Duarte discusses (in multimedia form) how to design and deliver a powerful remote presentation.

What’s worse than sitting through a really bad presentation? Sitting through a bad one delivered remotely! As travel budgets tighten, remote presentations have had a severe up-tick (which has also been known to cause facial ticks). Now you can discretely send your co-workers this link so they create content that holds your interest, removes distractions, increases professionalism and hopefully close that huge sale!

Visual Aids

Mike Pulsifer argues that laser pointers harm your presentation.

It seems, at least in my stomping grounds, that it’s just accepted that laser pointers, being presentation tools are wholly appropriate. …

It’s not malicious. They don’t know they’re harming their presentation. They think they’re being helpful. However, except for the extremely rare occasion, they’re not.

Troy Chollar suggests that text boxes are an improvement to bullets, because:

… a bulleted list was not a good option because it was just not dynamic enough.

Ed: Personally, I disagree. While a bullet-centric slide can be improved many ways, I do not think that scattered text boxes is an improvement. In this specific case, I think the readability of the slide was better in bullet form than the text boxes. (However, I do think the increased text size in the latter is an improvement.)

Speaker Habits

Lisa Braithwaite shares her experience in learning about the audience culture.

One thing you can ask about beforehand is the group culture. It helps to know if a group has a good sense of humor, if they’re quiet or boisterous, if they’re stodgy or laid-back. Meeting members of the group can help with this, but asking the question up front will give you a better answer.

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-05-09]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 09 May 2009 22:54:22 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

fundamental speechwriting techniques;
tips for valedictory or commencement speeches;
avoiding “waxy” words;
the benefits of speaking slower;
making public speaking fun;
a plethora of tips for designing better visuals;
logistics and preparation;
overcoming public speaking fear;
effective speech introductions; and
tips for professional speakers.

Speechwriting

Kathy Reiffenstein offers a three-part series (part 1, part 2, part 3) on fundamental speechwriting techniques such as alliteration, antithesis, and rhetorical questions.

Words are the primary mechanism we use to transmit ideas. Words encourage, challenge, persuade, teach and transform. Yet many business presenters speak without adequate knowledge of, or attention to, the tools that can hone their craft.

Vinca Lafleur and Jeff Nussbaum give 6 ways to make a great commencement speech. (Thanks to Ian Griffin for pointing to this.)

Be brief.

It’s the audience that matters.

Avoid an esoteric structure.

Remember this is a day of celebration. Don’t make the speech a downer.

If you see the humor in life, share that humor in your speech.

Share the perspective that is uniquely yours.

Joey Asher provides a valedictory speech template.

Good valedictory speeches reflect on high school years, tell stories, and mention lots of names.

Bronwyn Ritchie warns against the use of waxy, or superfluous, words.

Word wax my be defined as any phrase, any group of words, which is not an integral part of the thought you seek to express…

“This is absolutely and positively essential” vs. “This is essential”…

“What I’m trying to say is…”

“As I said before…”

“It seems to me that…”

Delivery Techniques

Tim Gordon has compiled an 11-part series (and growing) of articles for making public speaking fun. This series covers a wide array of techniques, including props, Q&A, humor, magic, role play, audience participation, door prizes, and much more.
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Part 3
- Part 4
- Part 5
- Part 6
- Part 7
- Part 8
- Part 9
- Part 10
- Part 11

Olivia Mitchell suggests how to prevent and recover from mind blanks.

Are you concerned that you might suffer a mind blank during a presentation? The fear of a mind blank can be a large part of the fear of public speaking for many people. It happened to Sally Field in her Emmy Acceptance speech in 2007…

Andrew Lightheart examines how speaking slower benefits you and your listeners.

You never run away at the mouth

You come across as more credible

In order to speak slower, you’re going to have to learn to relax

You begin to realize that there is plenty of time — time to notice what’s happening with the people you’re talking to

The slower you go, the more in control you are of making the message relevant

John Kinde analyzes how to be successful when topping a joke.

In this case the Joke, Topper, Topper sequence worked perfectly. Each subsequent addition to the humor progression received a stronger response than the previous. Ideally, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

Visual Aids

Jan Schultink shows how to improve a poorly-designed chart slide through a series of small design changes to colors, shapes, and usage of space.

The idea is to make the data as calm as possible. Also note that through consistent use of corporate colors there is no need for additional “house style” graphical elements on the pace.

Brent Dykes performs a slide makeover beginning with bullet points and ending with a visual buffet by following a five-point approach:

Admit your slide has a text problem,

Highlight key points within bullet points,

Remove all extraneous copy from bullet points,

Add an (relevant) image to increase slide appeal, OR

Replace bullet points with images

Mike Pulsifer demonstrates several visual options to the boring agenda slide.

Conversational style

Pie chart

Call-outs on a timeline

Blocks on a timeline

Olivia Mitchell outlines 7 techniques to improve your delivery of visual-enhanced material (that is, how to improve how you deliver when you have slides)

Make your point and then click on the slide to underline or reinforce what you’ve just said.

Let the slide speak for itself.

Let the animation on the slide can do all the talking.

Use visual signposting (letting your audience know where you are in your presentation, where you’re going and where you’ve been).

Setup a controversial statement

The touch-screen trick

Printout a copy of your slides (from Slide Sorter view) as a guide for yourself

Laura Bergells lightheartedly argues that your presentation is not equal to your PowerPoint slides.

“May I have a copy of your PowerPoint presentation?” asks an audience member.

“What for?” I ask.

“So that I can look at it later.”

“Is there something I said that isn’t clear? Do we need to go back?” I ask.

“No, no. Great presentation. I just want a hard copy.”

“Well, no,” I answer. “My PowerPoint slides are my props. They’re not my presentation.”

…

Would you go up to a juggler and ask, “Neat act! May I have your balls?”

Troy Chollar demonstrates how to create a dynamic entrance animation based on your corporate or organization logo. [Normally, I'm not too keen on messing with PowerPoint animations, but I think this type of animation adds a professional touch to the start of your slide deck.]

Speaker Habits

Lisa Braithwaite urges speakers to overcome chronic lack of preparation.

You need to make a change. You need to commit to thorough preparation. You need to give yourself enough time to think it all through, construct it well, practice it completely and really be ready when it’s time to present.

If you want to get to the next level and you’re always throwing together your presentations at the last minute, forget it. It’s not going to happen.

Ian Griffin argues that public speakers must pay attention to logistics.

I rely on a standard three-page logistics form. This includes data on location, date and time of the talk. It includes the speech length, other speakers on the Agenda, audience size and expectations. I also list press and PR contacts and both the event coordinator and A/V contact details. Having a standard template minimizes the chances that something will slip through the cracks.

Dr. Daniel K. Hall-Flavin offers a clinical perspective on how to overcome public speaking fear.

Don’t avoid it.

Know your topic inside and out.

Get organized.

Use audio and visual aids — for yourself, and for the audience.

Practice, and then practice some more

Practice in front of people you know.

Know your audience.

Double-check the room setup.

Relax.

Focus on your material, not your audience.

Trust your audience.

Don’t be afraid of a moment of silence.

Recognize your success.

Get support.

Jim Anderson examines the goals for an effective speech introduction.

A good introduction needs to contain three things:

Content: What are you going to be talking about? This is designed to grab your audience’s attention so that they will be eager to hear more.

Context: Just knowing WHAT you will be talking about is not enough, your audience needs to know WHY you will be talking about it and why they should care. Providing them with this information will start to build a bridge between you on stage and the audience even before you start to speak.

Credibility: Providing the audience with a reason why you are the best person to be talking to them about this topic is the final part of an introduction. All too often we put too much information here (we are, after all, proud of ourselves). In all honesty, one or two sentences does the trick.

Denise Graveline lists 5 tips for introducing a speaker.

Don’t put it together at the last minute.

Do ask the speaker for input.

Don’t read the bio.

Do add some perspective of your own.

Don’t skimp.

Professionally Speaking

Susan Trivers suggests several ways to embed your brand into your audience’s minds during a presentation.

Promotional products are an easy and inexpensive way to keep your company top of mind. A mug, a pen or a magnet is in view daily and you hope they cause your clients or prospects to call you.

But when you simply hand them out to anyone who crosses your path or sits in your audiences, you devalue them like so much scrap paper or waste…

Jane Atkinson encourages you to analyze your knowledge about aspects of the speaking business.

When it comes to running your speaking business, there are 3 types of speakers:

The Hopeful Speaker

The 2/3rds Speaker

The “Just Do It” speaker

A Personal Note

It’s been a while since I’ve been publishing on Six Minutes, but articles should appear regularly once again.

I’ve been busy teaching courses, reading some excellent public speaking books, and successfully running the Vancouver International Marathon (my first!)… all of which should provide wonderful Six Minute articles in the future.

Thanks to everyone who contacted me to see if everything was alright.

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-03-14]

Andrew Dlugan — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:57:10 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This week’s review features topics including:

scientific research on the importance of simplicity of your message;
Barack Obama’s storytelling style;
eye contact tips;
vocal variety when reading;
tips for conference speakers;
pie chart advice from Dilbert; and
4 listener styles.

Week in Review: Six Minutes

How to Improve Your Slides with the Rule of Thirds
Tutorial which explains what the Rule of Thirds is, and how you can apply it to improve the design of your visuals.
Book Review: Advanced Presentations by Design by Andrew Abela
A review of the strengths and weaknesses of Abela’s practical guide to speech preparation.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Speechwriting

Wray Herbert (in Scientific American) probes the connection between the simplicity of your message and the resulting motivation felt by your audience. Fascinating!

There are many ways to make something mentally palatable—or not. You can use clear, straightforward language or arcane vocabulary words; simple sentences or convoluted sentences with lots of clauses.

Mike Dorning (in the Chicago Tribune) investigates Barack Obama’s speaking style and his speechwriter, Jon Favreau.

Storytelling is at the core of Obama’s public speaking, overriding the modern obsession with the sound bite.

Favreau has explained their joint approach to friends simply: “Tell a story. That’s the most important part of every speech, more than any given line. Does it tell a story from beginning to end?”

Delivery Techniques

Denise Graveline outlines 5 eye contact tips for speakers.

So let me clear something up: Eye contact with the audience is essential for speakers, whether you’re in a small meeting or addressing a crowd of 1,000. Failing to use eye contact means you’re losing one of the most important tools you have to connect and convince your audience about your message. [...] Research shows that looking away from your audience signals avoidance, looking at them signals approach, and that audiences rate it highly. It’s important, however, to use eye contact as you would any other presentation tool: wisely and well.

Stephanie Chasteen reveals tricks and tips for keeping your voice interesting when reading. (Thanks to Denise Graveline for linking to Stephanie.) Her script writing trick bears strong resemblance to advice given in chapter 12, Power Reading in Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln (read the Six Minutes review).

You can stretch out a word to emphasize its importance, or you can hit it louder, or you can be more subtle. For instance, in a story on the shuttle, they were referring to the “delicate heat-shielding tiles.” It was more important that the tiles were delicate [...] So we wanted to hit “delicate” but you don’t want to hit it like “DELICATE”. [...] So, you hit it, well, delicately. Say it like it’s a piece of china you don’t want to break. Lightly on the tongue, with a bit of uplift.

Duncan Davidson provides a series of delivery tips for speakers (with insightful explanations) drawn from his observations as a conference photographer.

Please deliver your speech to the crowd, not the screen.

Please pick a spot and stay. Move deliberately to another. Don’t pace aimlessly. And please don’t turn all the way around.

Please take off your name tag.

If you find yourself walking backwards, you are probably pacing very vigorously. Stop. Breathe.

If you don’t make eye contact with your audience, you make it that much harder for them to connect to your message.

The corner of the stage that you like to use to feel closer to the crowd is darker than rest of stage. They can see you less there.

If you are being videotaped, all of what I’ve just said matters 10x more. Think of viewers watching a rapidly pacing speaker.

Rule of thumb for speaker clothing: Dress like you mean it. ~0 to 1 levels above mean “nice” for audience.

When on a panel, don’t look at your shoes. Try to look at who’s talking. Otherwise, you look bored, even if you’re not.

Visual Aids

Brent Dykes debates when clip art might be “good enough” compared with photographic images.

Unlike ad agencies, we’re not trying to win any Clio Awards. When the simple goal of a PowerPoint presenter is to effectively convey a key message to their audience, there is a big difference between visuals that are “good enough” (i.e., clip art) and “award-winning” (i.e., custom photography). Clip art can save you time and money in your “big bang” quest, and give you the flexibility to convey your big idea to your audience in the way that you envisioned it.

Mike Pulsifer shows how the same data can lead to many slides — some effective and others not so effective.

If you want to make your data really pop and help you drive your message home, consider and focus on your message. Display the data in a way that reinforces your message, yet maintains the integrity and fidelity of the data.

Dilbert shows us how not to use pie charts in presentations…

Speaker Habits

Seth Godin claims that there are two elements shared by great presenters.

Respect (from the audience)

Love (to the audience)

John Watkis shares 39 lessons about public speaking. There are many gems here. Just a few of my favorites include:

1. You’re never good enough not to practice.

13. Recording yourself on video is the best way to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses.

27. Knowing your subject is important. Explaining your subject in a way that’s easy to understand and memorable is more important.

31. When you tell a story, debrief it. Not everyone will interpret your story in the same way.

33. Always put statistics in context. Explain what the statistic means and why the audience should care.

Joan Curtis describes four styles of listening. Try reading this article from two perspectives: (1) yourself as a listener (2) yourself as a speaker trying to connect with the four types of listeners.

Compassionate Listener

Too Busy to Listen Listener

Trees for Forest Listener

The It’s Me Listener

How to Improve Your Slides with the Rule of Thirds

Andrew Dlugan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:40:06 +0000

Designing attractive slide visuals does not need to be a painful task. You don’t need to hire a design firm. You don’t need loads of expensive software.

You can design attractive visuals by following simple guidelines. One of these simple guidelines is the Rule of Thirds — a composition technique borrowed from photography and other visual arts that works wonderfully in PowerPoint.

In this article, you will learn:

What is the Rule of Thirds?
How do photographers use the Rule of Thirds?
How can you apply the Rule of Thirds to Your PowerPoint slides?

What is the Rule of Thirds?

The Rule of Thirds is a guideline for composition that suggests placing key graphic elements along lines which divide your image into thirds, or at the intersections of those lines.

What does that mean? I’m glad you asked.

Imagine your PowerPoint slide is divided both vertically and horizontally into thirds, like this:

PowerPoint Tip: You can use the guides feature to draw these four lines into your PowerPoint template. They will then appear on every slide to help you compose your slide.

The vertical lines divide your image into thirds.
The horizontal lines divide your image into thirds.
Together, they divide your image into 9 equal areas.
These lines intersect at four points — known as Power Points. (Seriously! They really are!)

How do Photographers Use the Rule of Thirds?

Rule #1 – Place Key Elements of Your Composition at Power Points

In this example, the key element is pretty obvious — the tree.

Rather than centering this element in the photograph, the artist has chosen to center it on over the top-left Power Point.

Even in an image with more elements (i.e. not just a “grass” background), the viewer’s eye is drawn to these Power Points. By placing key elements at one or more of these Power Points, you achieve maximum impact.

Rule #2 – Place Key Elements of Your Composition Along Horizontal Lines

Novice photographers are tempted to place the horizon in the middle of the frame. This is generally not the best approach.

In this example, the photograph has placed the horizon (and also the line formed by the tops of the horses) along the lower horizontal line.

Additionally, the upper horizontal line conveniently divides the upper dark blue sky from the lower cloud-covered sky.

The overall effect is balance between the three horizontal bands of color from top to bottom: dark blue, white, and brown.

Rule #3 – Place Key Elements of Your Composition Along Vertical Lines

This example shows the book cover of Nancy Duarte’s excellent slide:ology (previously reviewed by Six Minutes).

This isn’t a photograph, but the designer has (consciously or unconsciously) applied the rule of thirds.

Here, the white silhouette of the presenter is bisected by the left vertical dividing line.

Appropriately, Duarte writes this in slide:ology about the Rule of Thirds:

Composing your photos based on a simple grid of thirds is a trick used by movie producers, graphic designers, and professional photographers. Using the rule of thirds leads to aesthetically pleasing and professional-looking imagery.

Rule #4 – Place Key Elements of Your Composition at Power Points and simultaneously on Dividing Lines

In this example, the upper horizontal line lies across the horizon, separating the sky in the upper third from the water in the lower two thirds.

Simultaneously, the woman in this photograph is placed on the upper-right Power Point.

Furthermore, consider the line that is formed from the top of the woman’s head, down the middle of her back, and right through to the reflection on the water. Where is it? Centered on the right vertical dividing line.

So, this photograph blends elements one two of the four lines and one of the Power Points.

Does the Rule of Thirds Really Result in More Pleasing Compositions?

Are you skeptical?

I was. So, I decided to perform a simple test with the audiences of a PowerPoint seminar that I have given several times.

My test photograph is a landscape photo shown in the upper left of the four images below. By zooming this image slightly, and then moving it up and down on a slide, I created the three slides shown below (without the rule of thirds dividing lines that you see here, of course).

Slide A shows the tree line down the middle of the photograph.
Slide B has the tree line lying along the upper horizontal dividing line.
Slide C has the tree line lying along the lower horizontal dividing line.

Each time I give this seminar, I ask the audience a simple question: “Which of the three slides is most pleasing to you?”

The result?

Less than 5% of audience members choose Slide A. Some say “It’s boring.” Others remark that “I couldn’t decide what was important in the photo.”

Slides B and C were chosen roughly half of the time. Audience members found one or the other (or both) to be “pleasing” and “interesting.” Is it a coincidence that both of these slides use the Rule of Three, while slide A did not?

Which of the three do you like best?

How Can You Apply the Rule of Thirds to Your PowerPoint Slides?

Look for photographs which obey the Rule of Thirds
If you are using photographs which bleed right to the edges of your slides (a good way to achieve maximum impact), try to choose photographs which use the Rule of Thirds.
Scale, crop, or position photographs to follow the Rule of Thirds
When scanning photographs, use your mental viewfinder to find a small area within a larger photograph that you can use. For example, suppose the tree/grass example above were originally a much larger photograph with a tree in the middle. By cropping asymmetrically, you can create a more pleasing image using simple photo editing tools. This is easily done in Photoshop or any photo editing software.
Combine images with text so that one or both obey the Rule of Thirds
Two great ways to do this are to choose photographs with either:
- Large areas of uniform color on top of which you can place text with good contrast, OR
- A solid color background (white works best!) so that you can move the photograph around seamlessly on top of the slide background.

The example below is the title slide from one of my presentations. I used a stock photo which provides a visual metaphor for my topic (i.e. the blue piece stands out among all the yellow pieces). Since this photograph has a white background, I was able to place it off-center so that the blue piece landed on the upper-left Power Point. I then placed my slide text (in a matching color) centered on the lower horizontal line, anchored on the right vertical line.

Below are two more examples taken from my presentation design course.

On the left, I cropped a much larger photograph so that the stream of water falls along the right vertical line. Further, it hits the overflowing glass at exactly the lower horizontal line. Since the image background is out of focus, it provides good contrast for black text which I centered on the upper horizonal line.

On the right, I took a photograph of a trash bin and a white background and placed it on top of the lower-right Power Point. The white background of the photograph blends perfectly with the clean, white slide background. The text is positioned carefully with the most dramatic word — disaster — bolded and placed on the upper-left Power Point.

Will Using the Rule of Three Take More Time?

When you first become conscious of it during slide design, it may take you longer to choose and lay out your slides. However, it will save time and improve your visuals in the long run.

In Presentation Zen (previously reviewed on Six Minutes), Garr Reynolds writes about the Rule of Thirds:

You need to limit your choices so that you do not waste time adjusting every single design element to a new position. I recommend that you create some sort of clean, simple grid to build your visuals on. [...] Grids can save you time and ensure that your design elements fit more harmoniously on the display.

Book Review: Advanced Presentations by Design by Andrew Abela

Andrew Dlugan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:06:30 +0000

I wish all my colleagues would read this business communications book.

Advanced Presentations by Design: Creating Communication that Drives Action offers a comprehensive approach to planning and designing presentations focused on selling ideas and persuading your audience.

This article reviews the recently authored book from presentations expert Andrew Abela. It is the latest in a series of public speaking book reviews here on Six Minutes.

There is much to love about Advanced Presentations by Design. Here are a few of my favorite things about this book.

I Love… the Comprehensive Speech Preparation Framework

This book is quite broad in scope. It covers all aspects of presentation design, from audience analysis all the way through the creation of visuals.

It is well-structured, and follows a 10-step method which you can follow to prepare your presentation. In each step, the author guides you to answer the following questions.

Audience — Who is your (most important) audience?
Objectives — What is your objective for this presentation?
Problem / Solution — What business problem are you helping to provide a solution for?
Evidence — What evidence are you offering to support your solution?
Anecdotes — Which anecdotes illustrate your message?
Sequencing — In what sequence will you present your evidence?
Charts — Which charts will best convey your data?
Layouts — What layout will you use for each slide?
Stakeholders — Have you addressed the concerns of each stakeholder?
Measurement — How will you measure the success of your presentation?

The first six topics offer compelling arguments for devoting adequate time to clearly structuring your ideas and arguments before diving into the mechanics of slide design.

I Love… the Support Material (Diagrams, References)

Abela achieves a rare feat with this book. He manages to maintain quite a broad scope, while at the same time providing significant depth in exploring key topics.

This is accomplished through a variety of techniques:

Detailed descriptions with numerous examples and anecdotes;
Numerous diagrams to illustrate key concepts; and
Dozens of supplementary notes in the margins, backed by a full 9 pages of references in the appendix. Nearly every claim that Abela makes is supported by a corresponding reference to an authoritative text or academic paper in communications, marketing, or visual design.

“The challenges facing anyone making a presentation today are greater than they have ever been, just at the time when the need to present complex information effectively has become more important than ever.”

-- Andrew Abela

I Love… the Practical and Action-Oriented Style

This is not a boring, theoretical textbook.

This book owes its origins to presentation design workshops given by Abela for many years. The concepts and material evolved through each iteration, and are captured here in book form.

These origins are evident throughout the text. At times, it hardly seems like you are reading this book; instead, it seems you are following along in an interactive workshop. Practical examples are numerous. Worksheets are even provided for you to apply the concepts directly to your own presentation materials.

I’m sure it is no accident that the reader is driven to actively apply the techniques learned. Indeed, this reflects the subtitle of the book: Creating Communication That Drives Action.

I Love… the Innovative Concepts that I Look Forward to Applying

As I read through this book, several meaty concepts really jumped out at me. Three of the most memorable are the S.Co.R.E. method, the Squint Test, and the Ballroom vs Conference Room presentation style distinction.

S.Co.R.E. Method (Situation, Complication, Resolution, Example)
Abela offers this as a universally applicable storytelling structure upon which you can base your entire presentation. It is an iterative method — S.Co.R.E, Co.R.E, Co.R.E., Co.R.E., etc. — with the example from one iteration leading naturally into the next most important complication from your audience viewpoint.
Squint Test
Abela suggests that the best test for effective slide design is whether or not the slide conveys meaning when you squint at it (to blur it). Thus, if the shapes and layout of the slide convey meaning, you have a winning slide. This is an application of the Principal of Compatibility, as described in Kosslyn’s Clear and To the Point.
Ballroom Style vs. Conference Room Style
Abela asserts that presentations fall into one of two contexts, and this context should influence your choice of slide design considerably.
- Ballroom Presentations — colorful, vibrant, photograph-heavy slides, large audiences (e.g. the types of presentations addressed by Duarte’s slide:ology or Reynolds’ Presentation Zen)
- Conference Room Presentations — less flashy, more details, handouts rather than slides, smaller audiences

What Could be Improved?

The last two steps of the framework (Stakeholders and Measurement) receive minimal treatment. I would like to see more attention (and thus more pages) devoted to exploring these concepts, particularly because most speaking books do not address them adequately.
The Rhetoric section (the Anecdotes and Sequencing steps) addresses only macro-content: individual stories, as well as overall speech structure. I think this section could be enhanced by exploring some micro-content techniques such as repetition of key words or phrases, crafting of signature phrases, or the importance of precise words to promote action from the audience.
While the concept is thought-provoking, I don’t completely buy into his clear distinction between Ballroom and Conference Room presentations. Thinking of my own presentations, seminars, and courses, nearly all call for a combination of both methods. (Perhaps that is the key lesson to learn?)
This is nitpicking, but the cover needs a makeover. The simple design doesn’t grab me visually. More significantly, it fails the Squint Test, and the graphic elements seem gratuitous.

About the Author — Andrew Abela

Dr. Andrew Abela is an authority on marketing, persuasion, and presentation methods.

Dr. Abela is an associate professor of marketing at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was previously a brand manager with Proctor & Gamble and a management consultant with McKinsey and Company.

He authors the Extreme Presentation Method blog, an excellent blog which is often cited in the Six Minutes reviews.

What Others are Saying about Advanced Presentations by Design

Juice Analytics:

If you make presentations for a living or just as a hobby, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book. Abela does an impressive job of teaching his process and keeping it interesting.

ShockMD.com:

Advanced presentation has to my opinion the most appeal to scientist[s] also because the author has based his method on research studies, an evidence based approach to presentations.

Tracy Allison Altman:

But the book is more than a recap of scientific findings: He writes from the perspective of a marketer and business manager, offering practical, evidence-based advice about how to focus on a problem your audience has, and how to show them you can help solve it.

Juan Carlos Mendez-Garcia:

I have attended his seminars, and definitely recommend his method. For anyone interested in improving their presentation skills, and generating action out of their presentations, it is must-read.

Balanced Scorecard: (based on translation)

[...] well worth the investment of time and money [...] well worth reading [...]

Ellen Naylor:

“Advanced Presentations by Design” is a great book you might consider [...] His one-day workshop was one of the best I have attended [...]

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments so far
Post tags: Andrew Abela, audience analysis, public speaking books, storytelling, visuals

Best Public Speaking Tips and Techniques: Weekly Review [2009-03-07]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:36:14 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This week’s review features topics including:

recently released speaking books;
research tips for speechwriters;
tips for inspiring speeches;
benefits of humor in speeches;
voice and gestures tips;
PowerPoint advice; and
how to use speaking to improve your business.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Resources for Speakers – Recent Releases

Be the first to check out some of the best public speaking books recently released:

50 Ways to Teach Your Learner by Ed Rose
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive (Audio CD) by Goldstein, Martin, & Cialdini
Messages: The Communication Skills Book by Matthew McKay
The 45 Second Presentation that Will Change Your Life by Don Failla
How to Wow: Proven Strategies for Selling Your [Brilliant] Self in Any Situation by Frances Cole Jones

Speechwriting

Mike Long shares his best research tips for speechwriters. (Courtesy of Ian Griffin.)
If the video does not appear below, click here to view the video.

Bert Decker reveals 6 ways to open your presentation.

Start with a bang

Tell a story

Pause — Look — Move

Be short and sweet

Be focused

Think intrigue and interest

Ian Griffin gives 10 ideas for using stories and case studies in your speech.

Power opening

Embrace humor

Learn theatrical techniques

Make the audience the hero of the story

Develop a compelling plot

Develop case studies

Be authentic

Connect with the audience emotionally

Ground the story in the context of the moment

Use specific details

Max Atkinson reflects on the day Barack Obama discovered his powers of oratory and rhetoric.
[Note: Max references a story from Obama's Dreams of My Father.]

[...] his speaking from the heart and people wanting to hear more was an an early and accurate prediction of the effect he would have on national and international audiences more than two decades later.

Doug Stevenson gives tips for inspirational speeches.

Make your story their story

Reveal your inner struggle

Get emotional

Build a bridge

Hey you! Yeah you!

Talk to one person at a time

Tone it down

Just talk to me

Intimacy is the key to an inspiring speech

Chendil Kumar highlights benefits of using humor in speaking.

Connect better

Good for your health

Good for your business

Diffuses hostility

Improves attention

Reduces tension

Makes messages more memorable

Delivery Techniques

Kathy Reiffenstein reviews actor voice techniques that apply to speakers.

One of the actor’s most precious tools is his voice. [...] So the actor protects his voice by doing exercises to strengthen it, by warming it up before using it on stage and by learning breathing techniques to maximize its projection and tone.

As business presenters, we can benefit by taking a page from the actor’s script.

Frank Damelio gives 7 tips to using a microphone.

A hand-held mic has some advantages over headsets and lavalieres. You can have the audience comment into it, you can move it a bit closer or farther from your mouth for effect. The benefit to the headset or lavaliere is that you are hands free. Typically, a cheaper headset will still project, but a cheaper lavaliere may have trouble picking up your voice. Of course, the negative to a headset is that it blocks your face a bit.

Joey Asher argues that you can improve gestures by focusing on facial energy.

The face bone is connected to the wrist bone.

That’s right. Very often, when our clients are having trouble improving their hand gestures, we’ll focus on their facial energy. That’s because if you improve facial energy, the gestures will often improve.

Visual Aids

Nancy Duarte visually shares Leo Bley’s method for sketching out ideas for corporate PowerPoint slides.

[...] print out a blank corporate template slide as a handout (six slides per page), and use that as a drafting medium where it is easy to get the spacing right. I combined that idea with the grid slide from our corporate template AND a stack of blank index cards [...]

I add in a few pens in our corporate colors to try accenting something on a slide. I also keep a copy of our corporate color palette to simplify color selections when I finally transfer the draft into PowerPoint.

Brent Dykes argues that time is the root of all PowerPoint evil.

[...] I believe all ‘PowerPoint evil’ can be traced back to the simple issue of time — and how we manage it or choose to spend it.

Eric Albertson reflects on Bill Gates releasing mosquitos into his audience.

S.T.A.R. stands for “Something They’ll Always Remember” and S.T.A.R. Moments refer to the memorable moments in a presentation that stick in the minds of your audience long after the presentation is over. [...]

Bill Gates utilized a S.T.A.R. Moment to help his audience identify with people who suffer from the mosquito-spread disease Malaria.

Jan Schultink has an epiphany about when to use 3D in PowerPoint.

Many 3D effects are NOT useful. Three dimensional graphs make it harder to match the data to the value axes. Adding “random” bevels, reflections and shadows to a PowerPoint object does not make it an elegant graphical element. The fact that PowerPoint can do it, does not mean you have to use it.

Why don’t we use 3D for what it can do best: show distance

Connection between Speaking and Your Career

With the economy in peril, there is increased attention on how speaking and communication skills improve your career. I previously wrote about 10 ways your presentation skills will earn you a promotion. Here are several other articles connecting speaking skills to greater prosperity for you.

Stacey Shipman discusses 5 ways to use public speaking to grow your business.

Low cost marketing

Networking

Additional revenue

Keeps you up to date

Customer relationships

Olivia Mitchell examines how speaking up enhances your career and provides several tips for increasing your effectiveness when speaking up.

Let go of perfection

Have a goal for the number of times you speak up at a meeting

Experiment with speaking first

Voice your support for what other people say

Get used to interrupting people if you have to

Use a formula to help you structure your thoughts

James Feudo writes about how speaking skills help during bad economic times.

Public Speaking Skills are Transferable

Public Speaking Skills are Marketable

Public Speaking Skills Improve Your Confidence

Speaking can be an Additional Source of Income

Frank Damelio and Laura Briere discuss marketing yourself through public speaking in this video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Toastmasters: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Andrew Dlugan — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:07:09 +0000

I occasionally preach the benefits of Toastmasters. In response to questions from Six Minutes readers, I thought I would answer some of the most common questions that are asked about Toastmasters.

What is Toastmasters?
Who joins Toastmasters?
When did Toastmasters Start?
Where do Toastmasters Meet?
Why Should You Join Toastmasters?
How to Join Toastmasters?

Interested in Toastmasters? Read on…

Are you a member? Please share your story!

What is Toastmasters?

Toastmasters International is:

a nonprofit organization,
comprised of over 235,000 members in over 90 countries,
represented by over 11,000 clubs, and
dedicated to excellence in communication and leadership

Most Toastmasters clubs meet weekly for 1-2 hours, and follow a pretty basic agenda:

Prepared speeches – Members are given opportunities to prepare, rehearse, and then deliver presentations in front of their fellow members.
Speech evaluations – Whenever you speak in Toastmasters, you receive helpful and supportive evaluations from your peers.
Impromptu speaking – Members practice speaking “off the cuff” for one or two minutes by responding to general topics of interest (table topics).

For a more complete introduction to Toastmasters, watch the promotional video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Who Joins Toastmasters?

Anyone over the age of 18 can join Toastmasters, provided they have the desire to improve their communication and leadership skills.

Beyond that, Toastmasters members are a diverse group, spanning countries and cultures, and all socio-economic backgrounds.

The Toastmasters International website tells us that:

52% of members are female and 48% are male.

Average annual household income: $85,000-$99,000.

30% earn $100,000+ annually.

69% of members are between the ages of 35 and 49.

82% have a college degree.

36% have an advanced degree.

What industries employ Toastmasters?

20% Sales, Consulting, Self Employed

18% Management

15% Finance & Insurance

15% Government

12% Education

20% Other

When Did Toastmasters Start?

The first Toastmasters club was started by Ralph Smedley in Santa Ana, California in 1924 at a local YMCA to meet the need for speech and leadership training for young men. His initial “Ten Lessons in Public Speaking” still forms the core of the Toastmasters educational program as the 10 projects of the Competent Communicator manual. ( It has, of course, been updated and revised many times.)

The single club turned into a network of affiliated Toastmasters Clubs as the idea spread throughout southern California. When an affiliated club formed in British Columbia, Toastmasters International was born.

Where Do Toastmasters Meet?

Everywhere!

Well, not quite, but the network of clubs is growing:

11,000 Toastmasters clubs meet in over 90 countries.
Clubs meet within corporations, in community centers, on university and college campuses, in churches and temples, in restaurants, in libraries, in prisons, and many other places.
The majority of clubs are still in North America, but the organization is growing fastest outside of North America, particularly in Asia.
Most clubs meet weekly for 1-2 hours.

Why Should You Join Toastmasters?

Everyone has their own personal reasons for joining Toastmasters, but here are a few of the most common:

Become a Better Public Speaker
Members work through a series of educational programs (at their own pace) designed to improve their ability to write speeches, design presentations, and deliver them.
Overcome Public Speaking Fears
The most positive and supportive audience in the world is a Toastmasters club audience. Speaking regularly in front of a group helps you calm your nerves and communicate effectively.
“Practice” Presentations for Other Audiences
Everyone has different motivations for wanting to speak better. Maybe you want to hone your presentation skills for your career. Perhaps you want to be able to speak out in your volunteer organization. Maybe you want to complement your portfolio as an author, manager, or other professional with speaking gigs? Whatever the case, Toastmasters is a wonderful laboratory for you to practice your presentations and gain valuable feedback.
Gain the Confidence and Courage to Lead
Leadership and communication skills are intimately bound. Some might argue that leadership is nothing more than the ability to effectively communicate a vision. As your communication skills improve, your ability to lead will improve as well.
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Many Six Minutes readers are Toastmasters, so I’ll pass this question to you.
Why did you join?
What advice would you pass to someone considering joining?
Let us know in the comments.

View several testimonials on this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to Join Toastmasters?

Search the Toastmasters club database to find clubs where you live.
If you live in an urban area, you may have many options. Narrow the list down based on the time of day (morning, mid-day, evening) or day of the week (most clubs meet Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday) that works best for you.
Visit several clubs (if the options exist). Don’t settle for the first club you find. Every club has a unique club culture. Find the one that suits you the best.
Sign up. Toastmasters dues are inexpensive, particularly compared to other training options.
Commit yourself to excellence. Toastmasters is a program where you only get out in proportion to what you put in.

Any Other Questions?

If you are considering joining Toastmasters and have questions, drop a question into the comments, or contact me directly.

Best Public Speaking Articles: Weekly Review [2009-02-07]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:54:52 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This week’s review features topics including:

new public speaking books;
storytelling patterns;
errors when ending a presentation;
content vs. emotion;
engaging your audience with questions;
creating your own PowerPoint photos; and
slides for color blind audiences.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Resources for Speakers – Recent Releases

Be the first to check out some of the best public speaking books recently released:

Training From the Back of the Room!: 65 Ways to Step Aside and Let Them Learn by Sharon Bowman
Motivate Like a CEO: Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act! by Suzanne Bates
The Power Presenter: Technique, Style, and Strategy from America’s Top Speaking Coach by Jerry Weissman
Real Leaders Don’t Do PowerPoint: How to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas by Christopher Witt
Words of a Century: The Top 100 American Speeches, 1900-1999 by Stephen E. Lucas

Speechwriting

Jason Peck examines myth-based storytelling elements (taken from The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers).

Here are some of the key elements of the Hero’s Journey, which is also referred to as the Monomyth:

The Ordinary World – this is the part of the story that sets up the normal life of the main protagonist. Little Red Riding Hood skips around her mother’s house whilst her mum bakes. Luke Skywalker noodles around on his desert farm, that sort of thing.

The Call to Adventure

Refusal of Call

Crossing the First Threshold

Tests, Trials and Allies

The Ordeal

Refusal

Crossing the Return Threshold

Resurrection

Elixir

Bert Decker warns against these six errors to end your presentation.

Don’t step back.

Don’t look away.

Don’t move on the last word.

Don’t raise your hands.

Don’t rush to collect your papers.

Never blackball yourself.

Kathy Reiffenstein discusses the necessity to balance content and emotion.

At the end of the day, it’s not an either/or proposition between content and emotion. These two elements are like a dance…having all the technical steps down perfectly is merely the placing of the feet on the floor. It doesn’t become a “dance”, flowing and graceful, until the two partners put their heart into those steps.

Delivery Techniques

Olivia Mitchell covers engaging your audience with questions.

Warm up your audience first.

Don’t let them settle into a passive mode.

Move from easy to more challenging questions through your presentation.

Signal your question.

Frame your question so that people know exactly what you want.

Ask your question slowly and clearly.

Make it easy for people to answer.

Wait for answers.

Use the answers you get.

Do not humiliate anyone.

Visual Aids

Mike Pulsifer shows how to create slide “stock photography” by yourself.

Have you run into a situation where you need a photo for a slide and you either can’t find one that works and looks just right on services such as iStockPhoto or for a shot like this, you can’t justify paying for a photo of some Sharpies? [...]

I set up my white board on my driveway and arranged my subjects on the white board with the composition I was looking for and with the sun to my side.

Geetesh Bajaj explores how to design slides for color blind audiences.

Making sure that your PowerPoint slide content has enough contrast so that it can be effectively viewed by those who have visual disabilities is a very important area. Many studies have been done on this subject — however I’ll show you how you can quickly make sure that all the slide content you create is suitable for color blind audiences.

Jan Schultink points to scientific research about how colors influence behavior (think colors of PowerPoint slides)

Stressful colors like red might enhance effectiveness of getting things done. Blue “calm” colors are better for coming up with that brilliant idea.

Best Public Speaking Articles: Weekly Review [2009-01-31]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:10:09 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This week’s review features topics including:

marketing yourself as a speaker;
presentation lessons from storyboarding;
editing your presentation;
involving your audience;
challenging yourself;
the expectation of preparation; and
techniques to memorize your speech.

Week in Review: Six Minutes

Our series of book reviews continued with one more this week:

Make Money Speaking – Book Review: Rain Making (Ford Harding)
Review of practical marketing guide which shows professional speakers how to grow their client base, and all professionals how to use speaking to complement their marketing efforts.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Speechwriting

Garr Reynolds summarizes the key points from “The Art of Storyboarding”, many of which can be applied by skilled presenters.

Storyboarding is a great way to begin to visualize the story of your content. (In animation) storyboards are used to develop the story. A great storyboard artist is a great communicator. [...]

How can you visualize your presentation like a comic? [...] You can do this on a whiteboard, but one of the best analog ways is with sticky notes [...]

Click here to view the embedded video.

Olivia Mitchell lists 9 ways to edit your presentation.

Ensure your presentation has only one focus.

Cut anything from your presentation which does not relate to that core message.

Have no more than 3 main points in your presentation.

Chunk items together.

Restrict the number of items in a list.

Cut secondary stories or examples.

Tighten your explanations.

Rehearse your stories.

Create a handout.

Delivery Techniques

Ian Griffin lists 10 tips for involving an audience.

Engage the audience’s emotions.

Get physical.

Make the speech compelling.

Be aware of different learning styles.

Move beyond PowerPoint.

Make eye contact.

Avoid reading a verbatim script.

Listen to the audience.

Challenge the audience.

Use humor.

Visual Aids

Dave Paradi draws a parallel between slide presentations and movie DVDs with “special feature” deleted scenes:

Why don’t presenters do the editing that a movie director does and end up with a Deleted Slides special feature? I think it is due to two reasons. First, they don’t budget the time for editing. [...]

The second reason that presenters don’t edit their presentations is that they are under the mistaken belief that the audience wants to see and hear every small detail. Most audiences, especially decision-makers, don’t want every detail.

Speaker Habits

Nick R Thomas details key events in his 14 years as a public speaker which is, as in all of his posts, capped with an important lesson about challenging yourself:

However well you are progressing as a speaker, you need a constant flow of new challenges in terms of types of audiences, events and presentations if you are to keep developing your potential.

Lisa Braithwaite argues that you owe it to your audience to prepare your presentation.

Think about yourself and your own goals. Do you hope to advance in your career? Do you hope to make more money, get a better job, have the respect of your peers and supervisors?

Well, doing a half-ass job on your presentation isn’t going to help you in any of these areas. So now you’re letting the audience down, your co-workers, your boss and yourself.

Jason Peck outlines his memory method for learning a speech in 24 hours.

Get your speech written.

Record your speech.

Relax.

Sleep… then learn.

Wake up… then learn.

Make Money Speaking – Book Review: Rain Making (Ford Harding)

Andrew Dlugan — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:02:43 +0000

Maybe you are (or want to be) a professional speaker seeking to make more money by finding new clients?

Maybe you are a professional who would like to leverage your speaking skills to grow your business?

In either case, this book is for you.

This is a book review of Ford Harding’s book – Rain Making: Attract New Clients No Matter What Your Field — which offers abundant advice for marketing your skills through speaking, writing, and other pursuits.

What’s in Rain Making?

Rainmaking is divided into four main parts:

Marketing
Covers basic strategies for building your reputation and generating leads.
Networking
Describes the myriad ways to build your professional network and maintain it.
Sales Tactics
Uncovers selling and pricing fundamentals.
Strategy
Bringing it all together.

Rain Making is full of practical advice that you can apply immediately to improve your marketing efforts.

I particularly liked the numerous real-life stories and anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book, often to lead off chapters.

My only disappointment was the single chapter on web marketing which I felt could use a significant rewrite and more pages. (Perhaps a decade of experience in this field leaves me wondering how just 5 pages can cover such an important topic.)

Successful Marketing Is…

A core theme of Rain Making is that successful marketing and sales comes down to three variables:

Increasing your network size
Increasing the percentage of buyers (people in your network who hire you)
Increasing the revenue per client

The author points out that your strong communication skills are a key advantage to improving all three variables.

How Does Rainmaking relate to Public Speaking?

This book aims at two audiences among Six Minutes readers. Which group do you fall into?

Group 1 – You are (or want to be) a Professional Speaker…

Rain Making teaches you the fundamentals for many of the business aspects of public speaking such as:

How to use print or online media to market your speaking skills
Creating publicity for yourself
Building a network of people who might hire you, or recommend you
Landing that coveted (and lucrative) keynote gig
Pricing yourself
Knowing when to turn down low-paying speaking opportunities

Group 2 – You use (or want to use) your Speaking Skills to Complement Your Growing Career…

Rain Making is littered with tips and techniques that show you how to leverage your strong communication skills to give you an advantage over your competitors:

How to generate public speaking opportunities
How to organize seminars and conferences which allow you to network and build your credibility
How to use your one-on-one communication skills wisely
How to deliver presentations that impress your potential client

What Other Reviewers Have Said

Bob Potemski:

The ideas, concepts, and tactics are applicable to all training professionals who have to market their training functions, especially you independent training consultants whose livelihood depends on your marketing abilities to sell yourself to a new customer.

Emily Grandstaff-Rice:

Rain Making is a superb guide to obtaining work, and frankly, an easy how-to book on becoming a true professional.

Reg Nordman:

Buy it, read it, and keep it close.

Suzanne Lowe:

So, fear not, you potential readers who feel like you can’t clear the decks to read one more business book. I’ll bet this one can actually make an immediate improvement in your revenue results.

Aspiring Solo:

The author, Ford Harding, speaks with authority (the book cover points out that his books are required reading for certification with the Society for Marketing Professionals).

Many people shy away, even run, from the tasks entailed in selling one’s services. Harding walks his readers through the practical, logistical and psychological. He addresses the shyness factor and how to overcome it using reason and common sense. Introverts can do it, too, argues Harding.

Tim Klabunde:

Rain Making is a book for professionals who are interested in learning how to develop their career. Its easy to understand focus on marketing tactics and strategies makes it an excellent tool for developing successful marketing strategies for an individual or company.

Best Public Speaking Articles: Weekly Review [2009-01-24]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 07:05:57 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This week’s review features topics including:

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”;
Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech;
importance of simplicity and brevity;
personalizing your message for each crowd; and
careers as a speechwriter or ghostwriter.

Week in Review: Six Minutes

Three feature articles mirrored the buzz in a great week for communication in the news:

Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.
In honor of Martin Luther King Day earlier this week, I did a comprehensive review of the speechwriting magic exhibited King’s most famous speech.
Speech Analysis: Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech
What a week! Another comprehensive review of speechwriting lessons provided by a master communicator.
Experts Weigh In: Analysis and Opinions of Obama’s Inauguration Speech
A review of the 18 different inauguration opinions.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Speechwriting

Siegel+Gale conducted a study which demonstrates the power of simplicity in persuasive communications. Remember this when you are writing your next speech… simple language is better.

The survey asked how much of an impact jargon-free, plain-English explanations and disclosures would make on consumer interest in a number of categories. Consumers reported:

a 79% increased interest in investing in a financial product,

a 73% increased interest in selecting a broker or a financial advisor,

a 67% increased interest in purchasing a life insurance policy,

a 63% increased interest in taking out a loan, and

a 63% increased interest in applying for a credit card.

Lisa Braithwaite reminds us to edit wisely instead of trying to fit everything in.

You don’t have to share everything you know. Pick the most critical and valuable main points that your audience would want and need, and stick with those.

Delivery Techniques

Holly Buchanan praises President Obama’s ability to personalize his delivery style to each crowd, a speaking skill that is critical to connecting with any audience.

In the Neighborhood Ball, he talked about the importance of neighbors, and community, and his community organizer days.

In the Commander-In-Chief Ball – his whole demeanor changed as he joked with the troops on satellite, asking “Cubs or White Sox?” [...]

At the Youth Ball, he used language like “old school” when referring to this dancing style, and ended with “thank you guys” – a much more informal ending than some other balls.

Jason Peck concludes that it’s easy to read aloud (e.g. a poem or short story).

Whether you’re reading from a play or a novel make sure that you are really familiar with it so that you don’t need to refer to it. If you get lost then you know exactly where you are in the text and can carry on.

Speaker Habits

Dan Hodgson interviews Brian Jenner [podcast] about his career as a speechwriter.
I particularly like the comparison drawn between speechwriting and washing clothes a couple minutes in.
Marty Nemko provides a primer on a career as a ghostwriter. (The focus of the article is not speechwriting, but the basic principles apply.)

[T]o be a professional writer, you must write powerfully and quickly-those with writer’s block need not apply. Ghostwriters also must be excellent interviewers, able to unearth the factual and emotional nuggets that lie within your client. Too, you must be able to capture your client’s voice and, often, to gracefully accept their seemingly foolish edits.

James Feudo questions whether it’s okay to begin speaking with “thank you.”

I’ve heard [...] good speakers tell other people that they should never open their speech with “Thanks, it’s nice to be here” [...]. I’ve asked [...] why they feel so strongly about it and have yet to receive what I consider a satisfactory answer – a giveaway that I might have a myth on my hands.

Analysis and Opinions: Obama Inauguration Speech

Andrew Dlugan — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:44:07 +0000

Yesterday morning, I ran five miles on the treadmill. I greeted my waking wife and daughter with a hug. I enjoyed a delicious inauguration breakfast omelette. I checked email. And then I glued myself to the living room chair to watch what I believed would be the greatest speech of my life.

I wasn’t alone. All around the world, people were doing the same (well, except for the 5 mile run).

Many were expecting, hoping, and praying for the greatest speech of all time.

And was it? That is a question that is answered in the heart of each individual. It is the subject for endless water-cooler discussions. It is the topic for debate among thousands of journalists and public speaking experts.

Yesterday, I wrote about 5 speechwriting lessons we can all learn from President Obama’s speech (including the speech video and text).

Today, just as on election night and for the Republican and Democratic conventions, I’ve compiled a very small sample of the speech critiques, analysis, and opinions of Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech. May the debate continue.

Speech Experts Critique Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech

Bert Decker:

President Barack Obama gave a great Inaugural speech today. Yet it was not legendary. [...]

[E]xpectation was his enemy. The great majority loved his speech, yet so many expected so much from the great orator that some were disappointed.

Ian Griffin:

President Obama’s Inaugural Address was a measured speech, somber in places, hopeful in others. It was pragmatic and direct in addressing the current situation of the country he now leads. It was less ‘inspiring’ than many speeches he made during the campaign. He’s no longer auditioning for a role which now sits squarely on his shoulders.

Paul Begala along with several other CNN opinions:

When John F. Kennedy watched Martin Luther King give his “I have a dream” speech he said “He’s good. He’s damn good.” I suspect up in heaven, it’s what Kennedy and King are saying.”

Mark Whittington:

If the first inaugural address of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan had the soaring grandeur of a Beethoven symphony, Barack Obama’s inaugural address had the smallness of something pinked out on a tinny piano in a honky tonk.

There were attempts, to be sure, of grand rhetoric in Obama’s inaugural speech. They just didn’t work very well.

Thomas Defrank in the New York Daily News:

It was part sermon, part tutorial, part call to arms, well-packaged and elegantly delivered.

Yet for all the inspiring, hopeful flourishes of his 18-minute inaugural address, Obama also served up a stark, tough-love message.

Peter Wallsten and Peter Gosselin in the Hartford Courant:

But in his speech, Obama was surprisingly stern, making clear in statements directed at Americans and even people in countries around the world that he was offering a break not just from the past eight years but from decades of past leadership in Washington.

Bonnie Erbe in the U.S. News and World Report:

Baer, Mark Penn (a Democratic public relations professional), and others speculated that the Obama staff did not want to write a soaring speech at a time when it’s most vital for the new president to downplay expectations. [...] his biggest challenge now that he’s in office is proving that he can run the country. Part of doing that is getting his fans to realize he’s a man, not a god.

Michael Sebastian (in a review of several opinions):

“President Obama’s inaugural address was a flop,” former Reagan administration speechwriter Hal Gordon tells Ragan.com. [...]

“I thought the speech was incredibly moving, but not because Obama did anything new,” says Bob Lehrman, former speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore. “It worked because he, and his writers, stuck with the things they’ve done for the last five years.” [...]

“Given the author, I’m pretty sure that was deliberate,” says Askew. “Most of his soaring lines tended to be pretty long—not the sort of lines committed to memory, but majestic as you heard them.

Brian Jenner:

Obama’s fluency is amazing. He fulfilled every expectation. Because he comes from the charismatic preacher tradition, he can carry it off brilliantly. The result is very satisfying emotionally, but as Bill Clinton pointed out, “You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose.”

Nick Morgan:

Overall, the speech was very good, not great. When times are tough, you need to rally people to a cause. Did Obama do that? Yes, he did. But the archetypal story that he told was “stranger in a strange land” rather than a quest, and the quest story is better for enlisting your listeners in a cause.

John Watkis:

The speech won’t be remembered alongside FDR’s or JFK’s inaugurals as an all-time great. But the success of the speech will be measured by how hard the American people work in the coming weeks, months and years of Obama’s administration.

TJ Walker:

Obama’s speech lacked noticeable sound bites present from other past great inaugurals, i.e. Kennedy’s “ask not…” The problem for Obama is that today’s media culture fancies itself so sound bite savvy that it is harder for politicians to use them in a major address without sounding gimmicky.

Wow! Amazing visual representation by Brandy Agerbeck, http://www.loosetooth.com/Viscom/gf/obama.htm

Setting the Context – Speech Analysis Before Obama Inauguration Address

Christine Kent on ragan.com:

“It’s a speech to the world,” says Adams. “There will be people reading this speech via TV subtitles in Beijing.” And the reach of tomorrow’s speech is breathtaking to imagine, says Lehrman: “The Internet and YouTube have made an incredible difference in what the president needs to say.”

This global reach, Lehrman adds, means presidents shouldn’t do aggressive “Go USA” flag-waving. “We’re in a global crisis, and there will be millions of people listening to this speech with a lot of hostilities to the U.S.,” Lehrman says. “They need to see that there will be change ahead.”

Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle:

It will probably be the most widely watched address ever delivered, one that will draw millions of Americans and billions around the globe together – to savor the moment and the message of one man at one memorable turning point in American history.

Robert Schlesinger in U.S. News and World Report:

I suspect—beyond the obvious reasons—that the stars may be lining up Tuesday for a historic address.

The most memorable inaugural addresses [...] have three things in common: They are a meeting of man, message, and moment.

Robert Schlesinger (a 2nd article) in the U.S. News and World Report:

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address and John F. Kennedy’s inaugural are rightly remembered as among the best speeches presidents have given to commence their terms. FDR’s admonition that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and his confident, calming tone soothed the jangled national psyche at a critical moment. Kennedy’s singing imagery of a new generation of Americans coming to power with a spirit of self-sacrifice (”Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”) inspired the nation and set the tone for his administration.

New York Times: Full Text of Every Inaugural Speech from 1789 to the Present

5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech

Andrew Dlugan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:30:04 +0000

Some will argue that Barack Obama’s Inauguration speech was not his most electric speech, or that it failed to deliver on unreasonably high expectations.

Nonetheless, studying the speech provides five key speechwriting lessons that can help us all be better communicators.

This article is the latest in a series of video speech critiques which help you analyze and learn from excellent speeches.

Speech Video: Barack Obama delivers Inauguration Speech

I encourage you to:

Watch the video below (or listen to the audio);
Read the analysis in this speech critique;
Study the speech text in the complete transcript; and
Share your thoughts on this presentation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Speech Analysis – Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address

Note that numbers in square brackets (e.g. [14]) refer to paragraph numbers in the speech text at the end of this article.

Speechwriting Lesson #1: Start with a Strong, Simple Speech Outline

Speech analysis by media pundits often focuses exclusively on the soundbites — a few phrases here and there hole-punched out of a 17-minute speech. It is easy to forget that other words were used to stitch together those soundbites into (hopefully) a cohesive whole.

So, it is worthwhile to study and analyze the speech outline of Obama’s inauguration speech, because all speechwriters can learn from the strong, simple structure which helped convey his message coherently.

My own wishlist for his speech was that he would accomplish five tasks:

Be frank and honest about the realities of the economy and wars
Address the sagging morale and lack of confidence
Appear strong
Offer an olive branch to the world
Make a call-to-action for personal contributions (along the lines of “Ask not what your country can do…”)

I think Obama achieved all of these aims in his inauguration speech using a simple six-part structure:

Thank you [paragraphs 1-2]
Some will point to Obama’s mention of Bush as mere formality, but it’s more significant than that. Obama is preaching respect for the individual regardless of whether you agree with them. Thus, it is important he follows his own advice. To do otherwise would damage his credibility.
Honestly acknowledge the economic crisis [paragraphs 3-7]
Obama was blunt and direct, using phrases like “the challenges … are real. They are serious and they are many.” He didn’t promise solutions in this year or the next. He didn’t sugarcoat it, and I applaud him for that. As the economic issue is #1 in the minds of Americans, he was wise to address this first in his speech. Equally important, he showed great resolve and leadership with his powerful “But know this, America — they will be met.“
Americans have always faced crises and overcome them [paragraphs 8-17]
In this section of the speech, Obama stays consistent with his message of hope that won him the election. He is speaking directly to millions of Americans who feel the “sapping of confidence across our land” [paragraph 6]. He cites scripture [10], refers to the Declaration of Independence [10], and then reminds his audience of the struggles of the past which were overcome [paragraphs 12-15]. He concludes this section by reminding everyone that the core American strength still persists [paragraph 16].
Address cynics [paragraphs 18-20]
This brief interlude seems to be aimed at Congress and other political forces. In an attempt to persuade those who are skeptical of his plans, the key phrase here is “Their memories are short.”
Speak about and to the World [paragraphs 21-26]
This section was very, very strong. His words are strong, yet friendly. He charts a new foreign policy which is anchored on common, human ideals. I expect that this part of the speech will be received quite favorably around the world.
The solution lies within the determination of the people [paragraphs 27-35]
Obama transitions back to the American people with remarkable skill. Drawing a parallel between the armed forces and normal citizens in terms of embodying a spirit of service was masterful. This is the call-to-action which I was particularly looking for, and he delivered beyond expectations. The concluding story taken from the Revolutionary war was a great metaphor, and a fine way to conclude.

Speechwriting Lesson #2: Craft Impactful Lines

The message and outline are more important, but the soundbites are important too.

If there’s one weakness in Obama’s speech, it’s that there’s no clear, unmistakable phrase which people will be quoting years from now (although only time holds the definitive judgment).

There was no “Ask not what your country can do for you”.
There was no “I have a dream”.
There was no “This was their finest hour.”
There was no “Yes we can.”

But that’s not to say that this speech was lacking in wonderfully crafted and impactful lines. As I listened, several of these resonated strongly with me and I found myself thinking “Oh, what a line!”

“… begin again the work of remaking America.” [paragraph 16]
“Their memories are short.” [18] (I particularly loved the brevity of this line)
“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works” [19] (He busts open the debate by reframing the question.)
“[W]e reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” [21] (A particularly sharp indictment of Bush’s policies.)
“[W]e are ready to lead once more.” [21] (Simply stated, but this is exactly what America’s allies wanted to hear.)
“For the world has changed, and we must change with it.” [26]
“What is required now is a new era of responsibility” [29]

Finally, although it wasn’t a single line, I loved everything about how paragraphs 27 and 28 were crafted (which included “a moment that will define a generation“, even though it is a somewhat cliche statement).

Will any of these be quoted decades from now? It’s impossible to tell, but my money is on “the work of remaking America” or “a new era of responsibility.”

Speechwriting Lesson #3: Employ the Magical Rule of Three

Finding examples of the Rule of Three in speeches by great speakers is like finding smiling kids in a candy store. Examples abound!

But this does not lessen the importance of this speechwriting tactic. Quite the opposite! If all the Presidential speechwriters wield the Rule of Three, why don’t you do it more often?

Here are just some of the examples in the inauguration speech of varying length:

“humbled by the task before us,
grateful for the trust you have bestowed,
mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.” [paragraph 2]
“Homes have been lost;
jobs shed;
businesses shuttered.” [5]
“Our health care is too costly;
our schools fail too many;
and [...] energy [...] threaten our planet.” [5]
“all are equal,
all are free,
and all deserve [...] pursue [...] happiness.” [10]
“struggled and sacrificed and worked” [15]
“birth or wealth or faction” [15]
“we must pick ourselves up,
dust ourselves off,
and begin again the work of remaking America” [16]
“to spend wisely,
reform bad habits,
and do our business in the light of day” [19]
“the justness of our cause,
the force of our example,
the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.” [22]

Speechwriting Lesson #4: Amplify Words by Drawing Contrasts

As pointed out in the speech analysis of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”, sometimes the best way to highlight and sharpen concepts is to introduce contrast.

Here are a few examples from Obama’s Inauguration speech:

“rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace” versus “gathering clouds and raging storms” [paragraph 3]
“know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.” [25]
“we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist” [25]
“a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.” [32]

Speechwriting Lesson #5: Thread Your Theme Throughout Your Speech

If the core message of your speech is the plot of the story, then the theme of your speech is the setting and mood.

Stated another way, your message is the what you say– your theme is the how you say it.

Inauguration speeches are very naturally set with themes that emphasize the continuity and progress of a nation. Whatever the concerns of the era, they can be expressed relative to the past.

The theme for Obama’s inauguration speech could be expressed as “drawing strength from our common past“. (This is consistent with Obama’s intellect — he is well versed in the nation’s history through his studies of Lincoln and others.) This speech repeatedly drew examples from the past and even urged the people to return to old values near the end of the speech:

But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

All in all, there are numerous references to the past to set the theme for this speech:

“mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors” [paragraph 2]
“Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath” [3]
“faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents” [3]
“So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.” [4]
“passed on from generation to generation” [10]
“Our journey has never been …” [11]
“Concord and Gettysburg ; Normandy and Khe Sahn” [14] At seven words, this passage is wonderfully brief, yet manages to span four wars: Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War II, and Vietnam War, respectively.
“Their memories are short.” [18]
“Our Founding Fathers [...] expanded by the blood of generations.” [21]
“Recall that earlier generations…” [22]
“the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington” [27]
“But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.” [29]
“In the year of America’s birth…” [33]

Verbal snapshot: Barack Obama's Inauguation Speech (larger words used more often)

Barack Obama Inauguration Speech Prepared Text

[1] My fellow citizens:

[2] I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

[3] Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

[4] So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

[5] That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

[6] These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

[7] Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met.

[8] On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

[9] On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

[10] We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

[11] In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

[12] For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

[13] For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

[14] For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

[15] Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

[16] This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

[17] For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

[18] Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

[19] What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

[20] Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control – and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

[21] As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

[22] Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

[23] We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort – even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

[24] For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

[25] To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

[26] To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

[27] As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

[28] For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

[29] Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

[30] This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

[31] This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

[32] This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

[33] So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

[34] “Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

[35] America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

[36] Thank you. God bless you.

[37] And God bless the United States of America.

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | 15 comments so far
Post tags: Barack Obama, political speeches, rule of three, speech examples, speech outline

Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Andrew Dlugan — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:50:23 +0000

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most memorable speeches of all time.

It is worthy of lengthy study as we can all learn speechwriting skills from King’s historic masterpiece.

This article is the latest in a series of video speech critiques which help you analyze and learn from excellent speeches.

Speech Video: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream”

I encourage you to:

Watch the video;
Read the analysis in this speech critique;
Study the speech text in the complete transcript; and
Share your thoughts on this presentation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Speech Critique – I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Much of the greatness of this speech is tied to its historical context, a topic which goes beyond the scope of this article.

Instead, I’ll focus on five key lessons in speechwriting that we can extract from Martin Luther King’s most famous speech.

Emphasis phrases by repeating at the beginning of sentences
Repeat key “theme” words throughout your speech
Utilize appropriate quotations or allusions
Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments
Use metaphors to highlight contrasting concepts

Lesson #1: Emphasize Phrases by Repeating at the Beginning of Sentences

Anaphora (repeating words at the beginning of neighbouring clauses) is a commonly used rhetorical device. Repeating the words twice sets the pattern, and further repetitions emphasize the pattern and increase the rhetorical effect.

“I have a dream” is repeated in eight successive sentences, and is one of the most often cited examples of anaphora in modern rhetoric. But this is just one of eight occurrences of anaphora in this speech. By order of introduction, here are the key phrases:

“One hundred years later…” [paragraph 3]
“Now is the time…” [paragraph 6]
“We must…” [paragraph 8]
“We can never (cannot) be satisfied…” [paragraph 13]
“Go back to…” [paragraph 14]
“I Have a Dream…” [paragraphs 16 through 24]
“With this faith, …” [paragraph 26]
“Let freedom ring (from) …” [paragraphs 27 through 41]

Read those repeated phrases in sequence. Even in the absence of the remainder of the speech, these key phrases tell much of King’s story. Emphasis through repetition makes these phrases more memorable, and, by extension, make King’s story more memorable.

Lesson #2: Repeat Key “Theme” Words Throughout Your Speech

Repetition in forms like anaphora is quite obvious, but there are more subtle ways to use repetition as well. One way is to repeat key “theme” words throughout the body of your speech.

If you count the frequency of words used in King’s “I Have a Dream”, very interesting patterns emerge. The most commonly used noun is freedom, which is used twenty times in the speech. This makes sense, since freedom is one of the primary themes of the speech.

Other key themes? Consider these commonly repeated words:

freedom (20 times)
we (30 times), our (17 times), you (8 times)
nation (10 times), america (5 times), american (4 times)
justice (8 times) and injustice (3 times)
dream (11 times)

“I Have a Dream” can be summarized in the view below, which associates the size of the word with its frequency.

Lesson #3: Utilize Appropriate Quotations or Allusions

Evoking historic and literary references is a powerful speechwriting technique which can be executed explicitly (a direct quotation) or implicitly (allusion).

You can improve the credibility of your arguments by referring to the (appropriate) words of credible speakers/writers in your speech. Consider the allusions used by Martin Luther King Jr.:

“Five score years ago…” [paragraph 2] refers to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address speech which began “Four score and seven years ago…” This allusion is particularly poignant given that King was speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” [and the rest of paragraph 4] is a reference to the United States Declaration of Independence.
Numerous Biblical allusions provide the moral basis for King’s arguments:
- “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” [paragraph 2] alludes to Psalms 30:5 “For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.“
- “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” [paragraph 8] evokes Jeremiah 2:13 “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.“
- More biblical allusions from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech can be found here.

Lesson #4: Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments

Your speech is greatly improved when you provide specific examples which illustrate your logical (and perhaps theoretical) arguments.

One way that Martin Luther King Jr. accomplishes this is to make numerous geographic references throughout the speech:

Mississippi, New York [paragraph 13]
Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana [14]
Georgia [18]
Mississippi [19]
Alabama [22]
New Hampshire [32], New York [33], Pennsylvania [34], Colorado [35], California [36], Georgia [37], Tennessee [38], Mississippi [39]

Note that Mississippi is mentioned on four separate occasions. This is not accidental; mentioning Mississippi would evoke some of the strongest emotions and images for his audience.

Additionally, King uses relatively generic geographic references to make his message more inclusive:

“slums and ghettos of our northern cities” [paragraph 14]
“the South” [25]
“From every mountainside” [40]
“from every village and every hamlet” [41]

Lesson #5: Use Metaphors to Highlight Contrasting Concepts

Metaphors allow you to associate your speech concepts with concrete images and emotions.

To highlight the contrast between two abstract concepts, consider associating them with contrasting concrete metaphors. For example, to contrast segregation with racial justice, King evokes the contrasting metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of segregation) and sunlit path (of racial justice.)

“joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” [paragraph 2]
“the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” [3]
“rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice” [6]
“This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” [7]
“sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” [19]

How can you employ contrasting metaphors in your next speech?

Speech Transcript: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Note: The formatting has been added by me, not by MLK, to highlight words or phrases which are analyzed above.

[1] I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

[2] Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

[3] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

[4] In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

[5] But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

[6] We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

[7] It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

[8] But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

[9] The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

[10] We cannot walk alone.

[11] And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

[12] We cannot turn back.

[13] There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

[14] I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

[15] Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

[16] And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

[17]I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

[18] I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

[19] I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

[20] I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

[21] I have a dream today!

[22] I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

[23] I have a dream today!

[24] I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

[25] This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

[26] With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

[27] And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

[28] My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

[29] Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

[30] From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

[31] And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

[32] And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

[33] Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

[34] Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

[35] Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

[36] Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

[37] But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

[38] Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

[39] Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

[40] From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

[41] And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

[42] Free at last! Free at last!

[43] Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments so far
Post tags: Martin Luther King Jr., metaphors, political speeches, repetition, speech examples

Best Public Speaking Articles: Weekly Review [2009-01-17]

Andrew Dlugan — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:10:39 +0000

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This week’s review features topics including:

a plethora of PowerPoint opinions;
10 Commandments of Storytelling;
Will joining Toastmasters make you a better speaker?
Obama’s inaugural address preview; and
Caroline Kennedy’s speaking prowess.

Week in Review: Six Minutes

PowerPoint Design Wish List: 8 Modest Proposals
An open letter to the PowerPoint programming team with public speaking inspired ideas for new features.
This post has been hugely popular this week, and prompted numerous comments with further ideas. Please share your ideas too!

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

Speechwriting

Jill Martin summarizes Robert McKee’s 10 Commandments of Storytelling as applied to presentations.

Thou shalt not take the crisis or climax out of the protagonist’s hands

Thou shalt not make life easy for the protagonist (or, nothing progresses except through conflict)

Thou shalt not use false mystery or surprise

Thou shalt respect thine audience

Thou shalt have a god-like knowledge of your universe

Thou shalt use complexity rather than complication

Thou shalt take your characters to the end of the line

Thou shalt not write on-the-nose dialogue

Thou shalt dramatize thine exposition

Thou shalt rewrite

Visual Aids: The State of PowerPoint in 2009

I don’t often label articles in these weekly reviews as “must read”, but Olivia Mitchell has pulled together a set of articles which deserves this label.

Olivia poked 40 presentation experts to write about the state of PowerPoint Design in 2009, and is offering a guided tour through the issues raised:

Part 1 – Does Design Matter?
Part 2 – Develop visual thinking skills
Part 3 – Experts agree on… the 6 most recommended tips
Part 4 – Predictions for 2009 (to come)

A wide array of experts from around the globe have contributed ideas which are progressive, insightful, and represent a growing trend in presentation design. If you are committed to improving your use of slides in 2009, this is a must-read collection.

Speaker Habits

Rich Hopkins asserts that you must believe in yourself before you begin to speak.

As a speaker, it is crucial that you buy into yourself, and your right to speak. If the audience senses an incongruity between your words and your belief, your disconnect is transferred to the listener.

Lack of self- confidence is a significant aspect of the ‘Fear of Public Speaking’. “I’m nothing special. Why should they listen to me?” is dialog 99.99% of us have heard in our minds at one point or another, whether asking for a date, a raise in pay, or belief from our audience.

James Feudo reveals a myth – that simply joining Toastmasters will make you a better speaker.

In order for you to succeed in Toastmasters, you need three things. First, you need a club that has a helpful atmosphere and encourages growth. Second, you need to be committed to becoming an active member of that club. And finally, you need to commit to grow beyond Toastmasters – and that doesn’t mean joining an advanced club or joining other clubs.

Political Speeches

Harold Evans gives public speaking lessons for presidents.

How do you talk to a nation? How do you talk to a people beset by fear but beguiled by the impossible expectations a new leader arouses – as Abraham Lincoln had to do on the bloodiest battlefield of the Civil War, Franklin Roosevelt in the darkest gloom of the Great Depression and Winston Churchill when Britain was alone in 1940.

Nick Morgan gives three challenges for Obama’s inaugural address next week.

He needs to begin by clearly and honestly acknowledging the seriousness of the problems we face as a nation and a world.

Next, Obama needs to lay out a path forward that puts us on a quest together to find a better future.

Finally, Obama needs to close with a call to action.

Denise Graveline dissects Caroline Kennedy’s speaking skills:

[...] citizens have few other ways to evaluate political figures than to parse their speaking skills… and their opponents, particularly when faced with a political dynasty, may have few other chinks in the armor to attack.

Finally, if you haven’t seen them, you may be interested to see the final presidential address from George W. Bush.

Click here to view the embedded video.

PowerPoint Design Wish List: 8 Modest Proposals

Andrew Dlugan — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:05:05 +0000

An open letter to the PowerPoint programming team with public speaking inspired ideas for future PowerPoint features…

Dear PowerPoint Programmers:

Thank you for creating such a wonderful presentation aid. PowerPoint is like a Swiss Army knife in a presenter’s visual aid toolbox. It is a tool with tremendous power.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people cannot control this power. Hour after hour, dreaded presentation after dreaded presentation, I continue to be amazed at the horrible presentations that speakers are able to create with PowerPoint at the core.

I teach a course titled Powerful PowerPoint Presentations. You’ll be happy to know that this course is always oversubscribed. Everyone is eager to tap into the power of PowerPoint.

I wish these people were motivated to become great PowerPoint artisans because their peers were giving fantastic PowerPoint presentations. Unfortunately, they are quite happy to become “adequate” users, because they know that any skill at all will put them in the top echelon.

Are PowerPoint users all morons? No, I don’t think so.

Is the tool itself crappy? Certainly not!

Perhaps the power of PowerPoint is just too great for the majority of users to handle by themselves. Like a jackhammer in the hands of a child, perhaps.

So, please consider the following suggestions to help tame the power of future PowerPoint versions.

1. Eliminate Slide Transitions

The verdict is in… users cannot handle the responsibility. If I had a dime for every random gratuitous slide transition that I’ve seen, I would have been grossly underpaid for suffering through these presentations.

Speaking of dimes, if you cannot eliminate the slide transition feature, consider making a user pay 10 cents for every slide transition used beyond 2 (a clear sign they are being overused). Donate the money to kiva.org. Here’s your ad slogan:

Microtaxing for Microlending… by Microsoft

2. Rewrite Your Documentation

From PowerPoint 2007, I searched for help to change the font. To my horror, I was presented with instructions to change the font in Access, InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, Project, Publisher, and (hurray!) PowerPoint.

Why am I bombarded with all these non-relevant details? If this were a speech critique, I would be pointing out how reams of irrelevant details makes it more difficult for your message to reach your audience. But, I digress…

Instead of just spewing mechanical details, (e.g. “On the Home tab, in the Font box group, type or click a font in the Font group“), why not provide them with a virtual speech coach with useful advice like:

Using fonts consistently makes your slides look more professional.
When using different fonts on a slide, do so with purpose (e.g. one font for titles, one for labels), not to make things “look interesting”.

3. Partner with the Best

If you cannot rewrite your documentation, consider a marketing deal with Nancy Duarte to bundle a copy of Slide:ology with every license of PowerPoint. Seriously.

4. Prevent Suicide by PowerPoint

Atrocities are committed hourly with bullets, font choices, and colors, but you can’t exactly eliminate bullets, fonts, and colors from PowerPoint.

However, you can perform up-to-the-second analysis of the slide deck, and put up warnings when the user is making bad design decisions.

Some of these are trivial to implement:

Count the number of words on a slide, and display it in the status bar. As the count rises, put up progressively stern warnings. (“Red alert: 100 words is a great start to a novel, but a lousy visual aid”)
If the slide deck consists entirely of text, suggest that the user create a report in Word instead. (Better yet, just automatically launch Word after the 13th text-only slide.)
Count the number of font variants in use in a slide deck. Caution users that their colleagues will laugh at them if every slide is something new. Better yet, give us an automatic way to apply a consistent font face throughout an entire slide deck. This would be especially helpful when cobbling together a presentation from multiple sources using cut-and-paste.
Compute contrast ratios for all adjacent colors, and warn the user when something is hard to read. (”Pink text on yellow background may be hard for your audience to read.“)

5. Provide Better Support for Outlines

Presentations need to have a clear speech outline.

PowerPoint’s outlining support is awful. Both Outline Mode and Slide Sorter Mode give presenters only a one-dimensional stream view of their slides. The resulting slide deck is too often a sequence of individually designed slides that have no flow or macro-organization.

Make it possible to arrange groups of slides into units (e.g. these four slides are “background”, these eight are the “technical summary”).

Let us apply formatting to entire units (e.g. a different background color to each section of the presentation as a visual cue to the audience).
Let us create hierarchies among groups.
Provide support for doing more presentation-level design.

6. Remember the Room

Some PowerPoint slides are designed entirely to be viewed at a computer where 10 point font is acceptable, even if not recommended. However, presenters are often oblivious to how their slides will look in a larger room. This isn’t your fault, but…

When a new slide deck is created, ask the user to specify the presentation setting, in general terms (e.g. small meeting room, lecture hall, etc.) or approximate dimensions. Use this to provide guidance on readable font sizes, diagram detail, etc. For example, I recently took an audience survey in a room with only six rows of chairs. Users at the back could not comfortably read fonts below 28 point font.

7. Enable Users to Insert Good Visuals

Please, end the clip art insanity.

Instead, allow us to search through stock photography website catalogues from within PowerPoint. (You can even take a cut of any purchased photos!) Once images are selected, make it easy for us to crop, resize, and optimize these photos (within PowerPoint) for embedding into slides. Why do I need yet another application open to do this?

8. Help Users Manage Slide Libraries

Don’t make us use third-party tools to organize, catalog, and search through slide libraries built up over time (particularly in corporate contexts). Provide this functionality in PowerPoint itself.

Let me easily find all slides I’ve created with the words “Web 2.0″ in them, and then choose among them to insert into a new presentation.
Create a Super Slide Sorter that provides a slide desktop where I can sift through slides from dozens of presentations at a time, selecting what I need, and then easily combining them into a new presentation.

Sincerely,

Andrew Dlugan
Six Minutes Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Blog

p.s. Contact me if you’d like to discuss more ideas.

Your Wish List?

What features do you want the PowerPoint team to add/delete/change in future versions? Let me know in the comments.

© Andrew Dlugan for Six Minutes, 2009. | Permalink | 22 comments so far
Post tags: Nancy Duarte, PowerPoint, speech outline, Suicide by PowerPoint, visuals

Six Minutes: A Public Speaking and Presentation Skills blog

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