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By Arlen Busenitz, on May 4th, 2010%
Study the famous speakers of the past and present and you'll find most use an important public speaking tip. They speak with enthusiasm and passion. Great speakers care about their topic and influencing the audience. We can learn from them and put some fire and passion into our presentation.
Here are three ways to help us speak with passion and enthusiasm
1. Choose topics you care about.
2. Think about how your message will impact the audience.
3. Act enthusiastic. Control your body and the feelings will follow.
You captivate the audience when you deliver your speech. Use this important public speaking tip and speak with passion and enthusiasm.
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 27th, 2010%
Reading and practice will help you take your public speaking skills to a new level. However, don't forget to use a very powerful public speaking tip:
Public Speaking Improvement Tip #27: Watch master Communicators in action.
I'll never forget seeing Zig Ziglar in person. One thing that jumped out at me was his enthusiasm. Whenever I want to update my enthusiasm, I think of Zig. Just watching him helps me improve.
Do you watch the masters of public speaking?
With the age of Youtube, it is now very easy to see master speakers in action. Below are several videos. As you watch them, ask these three questions.
What is the speaker doing very well? What can I learn from the speaker? What could the speaker improve on?
You may think this last question is a little odd. Every speaker can improve and watching with a critical eye will help you improve your skills.
. . . → Read More: Tip #27: Watch the Master Public Speakers
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 26th, 2010%
The phone rang.
"Hello, this is Arlen."
"Hi Arlen. This is John. We are looking for a speaker on August 12 in the evening."
"What can you tell me about the event?"
"………"
"Yes, John. My calendar is open. I do have some questions for you."
"Sure Arlen, go ahead."
Speech Research Tip #26: Be a Detective and Research your Audience.
Knowing your audience is essential before preparing and delivering the presentation. This knowledge will enable you to connect with the audience and tailor a presentation that hits home.
I may have the same keynote I give to various audiences, but I tweak it depending on if I am talking to Junior highers or retired seniors.
Back to the phone conversation. I asked John a series of questions to get a grasp on exactly who I would be speaking to. This helped me to create a "Chris" and focus my presentation.
What is . . . → Read More: Tip #26: Being a Detective–Not Just a Speaker
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 25th, 2010%
Five days ago I watched as Tom took first place in the Toastmasters International Speech Contest. He practiced a technique that only a few out of one hundred speakers use.
Speech Delivery Tip #25: Act out your Presentation
During his Speech Tom used several phrases:
"Men took off their suite coats and threw them down."
"Audience rushed out."
"The Speaker pointed at the audience"
Good action sentences. However, Tom acted out every single one. He woound up and pretend to spike a suite coat. He rushed to one side of the stage to give us a visual of the audience rushing out. When he talked about the speaker pointing at the audience, he pointed at us also.
The result? His speech came alive, the audience's attention was held throughout the speech, and it was very memorable.
How can you act out your next presentation? Look through your speech and see what you . . . → Read More: Tip #25: Make Your Presentation Come Alive
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 24th, 2010%
When you are preparing a speech, what is your first step? Do you brainstorm a topic, make an outline, or research? Consider this next speaking tip:
Speech Preparation Tip #24: Find your Chris and Prepare the Speech for Chris.
Several months ago I spoke to about 50 energetic jr. highers. As I was preparing, I selected another jr higher in the area whom I’ll call Chris. He was a good representative of the audience I was speaking to. I prepared speech as if I was giving it to Chris. I asked myself several questions. What problems does Chris have? What would keep Chris’s attention? What info will help Chris? I kept asking these questions and prepared a customized keynote for Chris. Yes, audiences are diverse and I did seek to add material to target the whole room because of the various backgrounds of the audience. However, by focusing on one . . . → Read More: Tip #24: The First Step in Writing or Preparing your Speech
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 23rd, 2010%
Ug! That's what I thought after hearing myself on tape. I had just recorded a presentation and was listening to it. Every "um", awkward pause, and misspoken word flew out off the mp3 and smacked me.
Listening or watching yourself on tape can be painful. That's why many speakers never record themselves. But wait! If the audience had to sit through it, so should we!
Speaking Tip #23: Improve your Speaking Skills fast by recording and listening to every presentation–twice.
What are the benefits of recording and listening/watching yourself?
What get's evaluated get's improved. Just by listening to ourself we will improve automatically. Our errors will jump out at us and we can fix them. Minor adjustments will become clear.
When I started videotaping, I noticed I would often lick my lips and even wrinkled my forehead in an almost glaring way. The video camera gave me the brutal truth.
You can grab a . . . → Read More: Tip #23: Why Recording your Speech will Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 22nd, 2010%
Are you familiar with Toastmasters? It is an international organization with local clubs in nearly every major city and many smaller cities. They exist for the purpose of helping people improve their public speaking and leadership skills .
Often individuals give 5-7 minute speeches. Many Toastmasters use what Daren Lacroix calls a very weak opening.
Speech Intro Tip #22: Consider not opening with Mr. (or Madam) Toastmaster, Fellow Toastmasters, and guests.
If you have visited a club, you'll notice that it is very customary to say, "Mr. Toastmasters, fellow Toastmasters, and guests." Consider listening to Daren Lacroix and following this advice. Instead, first grab attention and then 10-40 seconds into the presentation you can use this opening (which is good to use).
Think of this line as being like the credits and title scene on your favorite TV show. Do they show those first? No. First, they launched into an action scene . . . → Read More: Tip #22: A Speech Opening to Avoid
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 19th, 2010%
Your speech intro is one of the most critical parts of your presentation.
During these essential few minutes, you want to do three things:
- Grab Attention
- Preview the speech
- Share compelling reasons why the audience should listen to you.
Over the next couple days, we'll be tackle each one of these.
Good Speech Intro Tip #19: Grab their attention with a question, a story, or a startling statement.
Any one of these will get the audience involved and ready to pay attention.
Starting with a Question
Do you remember a time when your were very discouraged or disappointed?
Would this question grab the audience's attention? Definitely, I've used it several times with great success. Three points to remember when asking questions.
First, ask it to one person. Look at one person and ask the question. Second, phrase the question so it is "you" focused. Third, pause after the question to . . . → Read More: Tip #19: How to Write a Good Speech Intro – Part 1
By Arlen Busenitz, on March 18th, 2010%
On a warm summer day, I was out riding the lawn mower around the yard. As you know mowing the lawn can be a low concentration task leaving plenty time for daydreaming and/or speech rehearsal.
If you had been standing there, you would have seen my lips move as I worked around the yard. I was applying this next speech preparation tip:
Tip #18: Practice your speech while distracted.
If you and I rehearse a presentation in our living room or office, we can be maybe 90-95% focused on the speech. However, practicing the speech while distracted and suddenly your concentration may drop to 50% or lower.
This makes it more difficult for us to rehearse the speech and thus prepares us for the presentation.
How can you practice your next presentation while distracted.
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