By Arlen Busenitz, on March 5th, 2010%
Three days ago, I heard the great speech coach Patricia Fripp share a speaking tip to make our presentations deliver more punch.
Presentation Tip #5: Put the most important word or phrase at the end of the sentence.
Compare these two sentences.
Persistence is the secret to reaching your goals.
The secret to reaching your goals is persistence.
The second sentence puts persistence, the power word, at the end. This gives more punch to the sentence. Subtle but effective.
For your next speech consider Patricia Fripp’s advice. Skim through your speech, rearrange sentences, and put the most important word or phrase last.
By Arlen Busenitz, on January 5th, 2010%
I was suffering from public speaking embarrassment. For 20 minutes I had walked around the room greeting people. I smiled, made small talk, and burned off some nervous energy.
Seven minutes before Showtime, I was slammed with an embarrassing realization.
My zipper was wide open. Have you been there? My mind raced back to the ten plus people I had talked to. How many had noticed? Why had no one said anything? Friends don’t let friends walk around with unknown wardrobe malfunctions!
If I had gone on stage with the blinds open, that could have been embarrassing. Thankfully, I caught it before I went up on stage. However, as speakers it’s very important to check our zippers, our buttons, and anything else that could be a distraction.
Not only will a wardrobe malfunction distract the audience but it can throw us off once we realize it. Every speaker has to recover from this, so don’t feel too bad.
What’s the solution? Do a full body mirror check before you walk into the room. Is your hair fine? Food on the face?
Next, as you are waiting your turn to speak make sure your zipper and buttons are OK. Tuck the shirt in. Consciously do this, so you don’t have to do this on stage. It is hard to speak and be checking your wardrobe at the same time.
What if you are speaking and notice something is wrong? If you can discreetly fix it, do so. If the audience is well aware of it, make a joke out and keep on going. You could say, “My worst nightmare has come true. (pause for laughter)” Fix the problem and try and work it into your content.
Don’t be caught with your zipper down. Check your wardrobe before you go on stage and you’ll prevent public speaking embarrassment.
(C) Arlen Busenitz – Speakinginfo.com
By Arlen Busenitz, on October 7th, 2009%
In part one I showed you how Joe should prepare as if only one person was in the room. This same concept should apply when speaking.
Speak to one person at a time.
Craig Valentine says, “Speak to one, but look to all.”
You and I should be having 5-10 second conversations with people in the room. We’ll deliver a couple sentences or one thought to the dark haired individual in the front row. Then we deliver the next few lines to the individual in the back row. We keep to doing this with audience members around the room.
What will happen? Members of the audience will feel like we are speaking right to them. Every speaking book and course hammers home the idea of making eye contact for around 5 seconds.
This tip goes well beyond that. You are not just making eye contact, you are having a conversation with that individual.
Do this and you and I will connect with the audience and stand out from most speakers. A lot of speakers will just talk to the room. Have you seen it? They speak to one side of the room and then the other, but their eyes never lock on an individual.
You can be different. Speak to one person at a time and you will connect and create a positive audience experience.
(C) Arlen Busenitz
Three days ago, I heard the great speech coach Patricia Fripp share a speaking tip to make our presentations deliver more punch.
