Speaking tips blog
Communication matters. What are you saying?
Make it easy
Just sat down to pay my property taxes, which is seldom a pleasant experience. As I filled in the little form, wrote the check, and stuffed it all back into the envelope with the little window, I noted that the three-fold sheet they sent me was folded in a size such...
Be like the best
This year I've passionately tried to observe as many speakers as I can, noting what works and what doesn't for each. I'm constantly trying to cull this down into what works for me, just as ever speaker should tailor their strengths and abilities to their message. As...
Not like me
I shared my Christmas dinner and most of the day with a fascinating person. Demographics and logic would say our paths would never cross.She is a 94-year-old black woman, widowed for the last few years, now recovering from a broken hip. While her body is weakening,...
Whatcha got there?
Probably one of the most common delivery mistakes I see in newbies and experienced presenters alike is the urge to carry something with them on the podium. Mark this rule down -- if we hold something in our hands while we talk, WE WILL play with it. And IT WILL be...
That’s not what you’re saying
"I want this to be informal." That statement was near the end of the stated logistics of a manager to about 200 troops in a meeting. The forum was a large auditorium, and the manager was on an elevated stage, with a backdrop of a two-story A/V screen showing...
Visuals support the point, not the other way around
Watched a speaker host a meeting and then ask an invited guest to open the business end of a large forum after the holiday pleasantries were exchanged. This second speaker, known to the entire audience as a position of authority, then got up to give a casual...
This could be a bit misleading
Was walking through an online product demo (as a customer) in a web conference today when the demo guy said, "Let me explain this screen -- it can be a bit misleading." I about busted out laughing. As a customer, I wondered why a company would demo a product screen...
Being pushed
My 5-year-old son watched his cousin play in a basketball game. She was the largest and most athletic girl on the court, scored 22 of her team's 26, and led them to an emphatic victory. His comments revealed the impression it made on him, especially in light of his...
Information delivery is not necessarily a message
David Ferrabee blogs today about how information and technology is commonly confused with communication. He is spot on.Communication defined involves interchange or transmission of ideas. So often when I talk to folks about what they want to say, they start with...
Make it easy to participate
In church this past week, we were leading up to the GATE (Great American Tryptophan Extravaganza, sometimes called Thanksgiving) and singing songs that were a) appropriate to the theme, and b) known to most of the audience. The second option is a trick these days, as...
They like me, they like me not
Talking with a friend the other day about the importance of an audience liking the presenter. In many cases, there is no context for whether to like the presenter or not (they may not know him until he comes up to speak, for instance). But in so many cases, there is...
Inane Acronyms
I love acronyms. They allow shorter typing and talking. I like to make them up (my favorite all-time is my acronym BCS = Big Computer in the Sky, which has nothing to do with college football and can be used to describe any application where data goes into the ether)....
