 Accepting and Learning from Criticism
- Listen to all criticism, but don't buy it all.
- You should always probe audience members for what they remember in your speech.
- When you receive praise from audience members immediately after you speak, here is what you should do if you are looking for meaningful feedback: Say, “Thank you. What part of the speech stood out to you?” or “What part of the speech was most helpful?”
- If the person complimenting you says something like, “Oh, everything about your speech was great,” then you can assume your speech was a disaster and the person complimenting you is just giving you praise for other reasons, perhaps sympathy.
- Great speakers are often great because they use every speech as an opportunity to get a free focus group on how to improve.
- Abstract feedback on your speech like “you were great,” is almost worthless except that it can help build your confidence for the next speech.
Learning From Others To Better Further Interviews
- The conservative master communicator will watch Bill Clinton speak for hours whenever the opportunity presents itself, reveling in his mastery of eye contact, ability to project warmth and empathy, and his dazzling articulateness.
- The conservative communicator pro doesn’t tune out Clinton just because of distaste for his personality.
- If you want to become a great communicator, you must develop the practice of using both of your ears at the same time for different purposes.
- When you go to the video store, occasionally rent videos of famous historical interviews.
- Watch the great interviewee give the same interview over and over and over again.
- During different viewings you will notice how he or she pauses, the story construction, change in pacing, repetition of certain rhetorical and comedic devices.
- If you want to be a great speaker, study every speaker you can find - watch CSPAN.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED !
TJ Walker & Jess Todtfeld along with The Speaking Channel team wants your questions about speaking to audiences, presenting, or
speaking to the media. Have a burning question?
We want to answer it.
Send questions to: jess @ speakingchannel.tv |
BY TJ Walker
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Speakers and presenters who are men, especially men in finance, like to say the following:
- “We hit a homerun.”
- “We were third and long.”
- “That was the third strike.”
- “We killed the competitors.”
- “We blew our competitors off the face of the earth.”
- “We buried our competitors.”
- “Our new titanium screws were a grand slam success for us.”
- “It was a hole in one.”
- “Let’s nuke ‘em back to the stone ages.”
- “He’s a major league salesman.”
I have to confess, I sometimes use these sports and war metaphors too. Here’s the problem: a disproportionate percentage of women don’t like war and sports references.
I’m not suggesting that I buy into the stereotype that women don’t care about sports or security issues. But baseball, football and golf are not typically the sports women played the most when they were growing up. Therefore references to these sports fall flat on female ears, even when the understanding is clear.
When it comes to war and battle analogies, most businessmen have never actually faced combat, so the references don’t come from personal experience. But in my experience, many women find war analogies distasteful or at least distracting.
Great speakers can, do and must use analogies, metaphors and even clichés from time to time. But great speakers, men and women, learn to mix it up a bit. It’s OK to use an occasional sports or military reference, but make sure you even things out by also referencing literature, movies, nature, the home, and other forms of entertainment.
Great speakers can communicate well in front of any audience, regardless of the demographics; because they make sure that there reference points are varied and suitable for all.
More insights from TJ Walker
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The following comes from TJ Walker & Jess Todtfeld’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.
What are the best colors for charts and graphs?
Bad Advice:
Your Marketing Specialist: “Studies have shown that yellow on black will jump off the screen the best. Yellow on black is a good choice.”
Your boss: “Green is my favorite color. It's the color of money. Use lots of green!”
Your Meeting Coordinator: “Everyone gets 10 slides. I don't care what color you use, cram in as much as you can. You ONLY get 10 slides.”
You: “I don't care what colors are used. As long as it has plenty of information, I'll have plenty to read to my audience “
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Good Advice:
Audience: “We have never walked away from a presentation thinking ‘What great graph colors.’ You know what we do want? We want to actually be able to read graphs and charts. Most of the time it's so small we have to take your word for what we're looking at. Here's an idea: Why don't you give charts and graphs as a handout. This way we can actually read it! In fact, we can now take the information with us. And if you absolutely need to put a chart on screen, please please please use just one! Make the words large, and convey one idea at a time. The color is the least of our problems.”
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