One of the fastest ways to grow your list of contacts and
leads is to give a speech with an audience brimming full of
people in your market niche.
How many speeches did you attend in the last year? How many
of them do you remember? How many of the presenters' names
do you recall? Hmmm...thought so...not that many. Let's fix
this problem so you will not be amongst the "forgettable".
I'm sure you are already familiar with some of the more
common speaking tips about how to get over your fear of
public speaking, how to "tell them what you're going to
tell them," "tell them," etc.
In this article, I am going to share with you four uncommon
speaking tips that I use to create my speeches, that have
garnered comments like, "The instructor rocks!" from
attendees, which is more desirable than alternative
comments might be!
Use these tips or steps, and you will turn your speeches
from mediocre into extraordinary, which will attract much
more business to you when you conduct speaking
presentations and seminars.
The Four Steps
Imagine you are speaking to an audience of fifty people,
and they begin shouting out these four emotional outbursts
as you give your talk:
1. "Ho hum!"
2. "Why bring that up!"
3. "For instance?"
4. "So what?"
I'm sure the thought of this has you feeling like a mass of
quivering jelly. Nevertheless, thinking about this
experience will teach you some valuable lessons about
giving a successful speech.
Let's address each of these four emotional outbursts
individually, and I'll give you some tips about how to
avoid these from being shouted at you while doing a
presentation; literally or figuratively.
1. "Blast through the "Ho-Hum" Barrier!"
Have you ever attended a speech or seminar where the
presenter started like this?
"Today we are going to talk about 5 strategies to reduce
the high school dropout rate"...
Ho-Hum!
How much more interesting it would be to start your speech
with,
"50% of high school students drop out of our largest
cities' high schools each year."
The most critical principle of giving an effective speech
is your opening must electrify your audience, shake them
awake, and crash the ho-hum barrier. Otherwise, you've lost
their attention before you've even gave them one piece of
useful information.
Get their attention, make a startling statement, and
provide an interesting fact. Next time you are creating an
opening line for a speech, put it to the "Ho-Hum" test. If
it doesn't pass, rework your opening line until it's a
zinger!
2. "Why Bring that Up?"
Okay, you've crafted your opening line. The next thing to
do is imagine your entire audience SHOUTS at you:
"Why bring that up?"
This is your invitation to expand upon your
attention-getting opener. Tell them why they need to know
the information you're sharing with them, how it will
benefit them in a direct way.
Emotionally connect with them, because if you don't, again,
they won't listen to you. The three most powerful drivers
that generate emotional responses have to do with:
* Money
* Love
* Health
Tie in what you are saying to one of these three topics,
and you've got them hooked.
3. "Examples, Please."
Next, the class shouts, "For instance?"
With this statement, they are demanding at least one
specific, persuasive example of the point you're making. A
powerful way to communicate this is through telling
stories. Use stories and examples to bring your points to
life. Flesh them out, let the audience "see" what you are
telling them. Facts and figures may be forgotten, but
stories are retold. Make yourself memorable; master the art
of storytelling
4. "So what?"
Finally, the class screams, "So what?" ---what do you
recommend we do about this? Give them action steps they can
take to solve the problem, and address the issue.
Give them information that is so useful, influential and
effective, it can resolve even a seemingly enormous
problem, and provide light in darkness to show them the
best way out.
Remember, the most traveled road of common speech writing
tips is the one that delivers us to the land of mediocrity.
Use these four tips to put your speeches to the
"mediocrity" test. Doing so will teach you how to develop
powerful, influential speeches that people will listen to,
and remember.
Copyright 2008, Bonita L. Richter
----------------------------------------------------
Bonita L. Richter, MBA, founder of Profit Strategies,
teaches entrepreneurs and business owners how to start and
grow businesses, attract more clients, and market their
businesses to increase sales, business success, and
generate wealth. Find out more about how to market your
business and boost sales with her popular FREE eBooks at
===> http://www.Profit-Strategies.biz
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