By Arlen Busenitz, on July 16th, 2010%
My friend Rex, a pro speaker, said, Make them laugh, make them cry, leave them on a high.
Unfortunately, many speakers will instead:
Make them laugh, make them cry, leave them with a question/answer session.
What is wrong with this?
First, The last part of your presentation stands out to the audience. An off topic question may stick out and not your main point. Second, your presentation ends on a low note. Question and answers sessions tend to be low energy, not high energy. Third, people may be less likely to buy your products. They may be all pumped up by your closing, but after 15 minutes of questions and answers they are ready to leave.
What's the solution?
Best way handle Q & A in Your Presentation
Let's say I am giving a 45 minute talk with questions and answers. I may structure it this way.
30 Minutes Speech – 90% of speech
. . . → Read More: Best Way to Handle Questions and Answers
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 21st, 2010%
You've grabbed attention with a great opening. The audience now has a brief idea of what to expect. It's time to share why they should listen.
Public Speaking Tip #21: Share compelling reasons to listen.
If you are a big name celebrity or have accomplished something newsworthy, people will readily listen to you. However, for the rest of us, we need to give the audience compelling reasons to listen. Here are a couple ways.
Promise
When you leave here today, you will know a five minute method for setting goals which will propel you up the ladder of success.
Give a couple promises up front. Don't forget to follow through on them.
Benefits
What is the difference between benefits & features?
Features describe the car.
Benefits are the improvements in your life because you bought the car.
Feature: You will learn a goal setting method.
Benefit: After today, You'll be able to reach your . . . → Read More: Tip #21: How to Write a Good Speech Intro – Part 3
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 20th, 2010%
You've grabbed the audience's attention and are connecting with the audience. What next?
Speaking Tip #20: Preview the Speech
Give the audience a brief overview of what you will be saying.
You will learn how to set goals in three simple steps.
You will learn why drunk driving is such a problem and what we can do to help.
Consider phrasing the overview in "You" terms. Not "I will share", but "You will learn."
Previewing the speech will help your audience remember it and keep their attention.
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 16th, 2010%
Update: My draft was accidently posted this morning. Here is the final version.
A couple months ago, I was giving a 7 minute speech presentation at my local Toastmaster Club. If you had been there listening, you would have seen and heard me lose my place 3 minutes into the speech. Awkwardly, I struggled to get back into the speech.
Eventually I did, but long pauses and losing my place are not acceptable in speeches. Why did this happen?
(The rough draft was accidently posted this morning. Here is the final version.)
I had failed to properly practice and internalize the speech. There is a difference between a memorized speech and an internalized speech. When your speech is memorized, you know it word for word. You can rattle it off. Problem is that sometimes it may sound memorized. Also, if you forget just one sentence or get distracted, you may find yourself in my . . . → Read More: Tip #16: How to Practice & Internalize Your Speech Presentation – Part 1 (Updated)
By Arlen Busenitz, on January 6th, 2010%
Here is a good speech writing tip that will easily make your speeches and presentations higher quality. Your audience will likely notice a difference immediately.
Most people do not use this speaking tip and thus miss out on the power.
Here it is:
Be ready to give your speech 4 days before the actual date.
In other words if you are speaking on Saturday, you want to be ready to give it on Tuesday. Have your notes ready and speech practiced. Will it take lots of self-discipline? Sure, but don’t overlook the power of this good speech writing technique.
Do you just ignore the speech during those four days? No glance through it a couple times and even do some editing. You’ll have some amazing tweeks come to mind during those four days. Your presentation will be more apt to captivate the crowd.
There are several benefits:
We rarely . . . → Read More: Good Speech Writing Tip: Best Way to Write a Speech
