Archive for February, 2007

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Great Speakers Speak Often

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

With so many statistics floating around the internet these days, it’s hard to find one that truly boggles the mind. Well, I found one.

In professional speaking circles, people who speak 50-60 speeches a year are considered active, busy and successful. Speakers who give keynotes 70-90 times a year are considered to be at full capacity. Then there are the extreme workaholics who speak in the 100-120 times a year category. These are the people who have only a passing familiarity with heir children’s names and their spouse’s birthdays.

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Speaking Concisely

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

Clients often tell me, “TJ, I want to be more concise. How can you make me less long-winded?”

Generally, I think this goal is misplaced. For most people, the real need is not to be more concise, but to be more interesting, relevant and memorable to their audience.

But, of course, there are times when you have to give a presentation and you’ve already made sure that you are interesting and memorable and you still need to be more concise. Here is the best technique I know for making a speech concise.

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Rating the 2007 Academy Award Acceptance Speeches

Monday, February 26th, 2007

So how were the acceptance speeches at this year’s Oscars?

Forest Whitaker C-
Whitaker did a better job than his embarrassment of a speech at the Golden Globe Awards, but he still gave a weak performance (odd, since he is supposed to be the best male performer of the year). Whitaker starts off slow, fumbles for a script, and looks and sounds scared. Sighing and heavy breathing don’t help him either. He also commits the cardinal sin of talking about his speech rather than just speaking. He gets minor points for talking about his childhood briefly in an inspirational way, but was otherwise a bore.

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Digital Images: Marketing Strategy for Television Appearances

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

You are about to be a star! You’ve just received the call from a major morning network or Cable TV news show. You’re going to be an on-air guest to promote your latest book or product for a three minute segment.

You can hardly wait. Of course you are going to bring your book or product case to promote, right?

Wait!

This might not be your best strategy. I have found that producers really don’t like the clutter of more books in the studios. Hosts don’t want the hassle of remembering to hold up your book or product during an interview segment and they really don’t appreciate you doing it either.

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Powerpoint Tips for Video Clips

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

Video is increasingly popular and easy to use in presentations and speeches. You can simply load video clips onto a DVD and then play the clips using a remote and a DVD player connected to a TV. The advantage to this method is that most of us are very familiar and comfortable using a DVD remote because of years of practice at home. The disadvantages to using a DVD during a speech are that you might not stop your video in the right spot; it might run on too long. Additionally, if you hit the wrong button, you might go all the way back to your first video clip and now you have a hard time getting to the middle of your presentation on, say, clip 12.

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Q and A Sessions: Incorporating Substance and Humor

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

During the question and answer session that many presenters face after their speech, a dilemma often occurs. Do I try to be as substantive as possible and answer the question thoroughly and specifically? Or do I go for laughs and keep it light and short?

Great presenters try to bring in both elements in every answer. Yes, you need to deliver the substance, but don’t go on for so long that you crowd out other questions or bore the audience. Yes, you need to bring a sense of humor to your answers as well. Humor is often easier during a question and answer session because your audience gives you credit for being spontaneous. Since they are asking the questions, they assume you don’t have prepared material. So anything you say during Q&A time seems fresher, more interesting, and more spontaneous, even if it isn’t.

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Being Politically Correct with Your Target Audience

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

In 2007, there is nothing more politically correct than for one to proclaim to be “Politically Incorrect.” The problem is that the standards are changing everyday regarding what is considered candid and refreshing versus what is obnoxious and hateful.

NBA star Tim Hardaway made headlines February 15th 2007 when he proclaimed on a talk radio show “I hate gay people.” Not much ambiguity there.

The reaction to Hardaway has been swift—The NBA has essentially disowned him—they don’t want him to represent them at anymore All-Star functions. Coaches and other commentators have denounced him.

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Don’t Experiment Before Public Appearances

Friday, February 16th, 2007

It’s good to be adventurous and try new things, just not on the day of a big speech or media opportunity. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got new contact lenses right before George Bush’s 2007 State of the Union address. As Speaker, she was seated directly behind the President and in full view of the TV audience for the entire address. Everything about Pelosi’s image looked great, except for one thing: she was blinking about 29 times per minute. She was a blinking machine.

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Prepare for Insightful Speeches, Not Q and A’s

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

I’m often asked by groups I speak before, “TJ what do you do if you are asked a question and you don’t know the answer?” As if that were a horrible crime!

In my experience, a great many people fret over this possibility. Of course, no one wants to seem like a blithering idiot. But I do not believe that failing to answer questions from an audience is the top problem of a speaker, or even one of the top 100 problems that face a speaker.

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Preparation for Video Powerpoint Presentations

Wednesday, February 14th, 2007

Yes, video is becoming ubiquitous. YouTube, cell phone video, digital camcorders… the possibilities are endless for creating and sharing video with people. So it only makes sense that people are getting more interested in incorporating video into their speeches and PowerPoint Presentations.

But please beware: everything is more complicated once you decide to deal with video.

For starters, before you put video into a presentation, ask yourself “why am I doing this? Does the video really add to the meaning and experience for my audience? Or am I doing this just because I can? Or because I think it will be cute? Or because I think it will deflect attention away from me having to speak?”

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