Craigstrachan.com – Keep talking!

We have already had a look at your subject, so by this stage you should have an idea what you actually going to be speaking about. The next step in the SPEAK process is the preparation of our speech.

• Subject
• Preparation
• Energy
• Attitude
• Know your Audience

There are three steps to preparation, which we will go through:

• Research
• Outline
• Practice

Before focusing on any of these components, let?s take a quick look at the reasons why you are giving a speech. In general, there are four key reasons for speaking:

1. To entertain
2. To inform
3. To persuade
4. To inspire

When researching your speech, decide what your purpose is (it could be more than one), and keep that in mind throughout your preparation. For example if you are presenting an entertaining speech, you will be looking for entertaining stories that you can use. If you are looking to inspire, you will need inspiring stories etc.

Research

Nowadays most research is done on the Internet. This is fine, but be careful what websites you use to source your information. There are plenty of other places to do research as well, such as newspapers, magazines, libraries, and interviewing experts in the topic.

When I research a topic, I put all of my ideas into a mindmap, with no structure at all, or just enough structure to focus on the main aspects that I would like to put across. When I feel that I have enough ideas to bring my purpose across, I move onto the next phase, and that is structuring the research into a logical outline.

Outline

Now that we have decided what we are speaking on, let?s put the ideas into a logical structure.

Which aspects of your topic you are going to speak about, and more importantly which you are going to leave out? Most topics contain enough information for a whole series of presentations, so unless you are speaking about a very specific topic, you are going to need to do some pruning.

I use mind-mapping to research and create my presentations. I usually start by writing down all of the aspects of a topic, and then slowly structuring them into the key points that I would like to bring across, and deciding which points I will discard.
I use a fairly simply outline as follows:

Introduction

• Intruduction
• Body
  • Point 1
  • Point 2
  • Point 3
• Conclusion

The introduction introduces your topic, the three points address the three main points of the topic, and the conclusion wraps up the speech. This can be used for a five minute speech, or for a thirty minute speech. In a longer speech, simply split each main point into sub points.

Some people like to take their outline and then write the entire speech out word for word based on the outline, but personally I use it as a q-card, and practice my speech based on the outline. Experiment and see what works for you.

Practice

This is the point where too many speakers fall over. They spend hours researching and structuring the presentation, and never get around to standing up and practicing the presentation! This is a vital step ? it helps you to get comfortable with the presentation, and helps to iron out any problems and fine tune the content and structure.

It also helps you to REALLY feel how the structure of you speech works, and to do some fine-tuning. If possible, record your speech on audio or video and listen to it afterwards. Don?t be over-critical – it can be quite scary watching your own speech, but see how effective your speech really is.

I have often given speeches where I have felt that I could have make a good presentation a great presentation with more practice, but I have never felt that I have over-practiced a presentation.

So, remember, research, outline and practice.

In the next session, we will speak about using energy in your presentation.

(Here is the Mind Manager source file for the speech outline if you would like it.)

In the last newsletter, we gave a brief summary of how to SPEAK your way to an effective presentation. The five steps are:

• Subject
• Preparation
• Energy
• Attitude
• Know your Audience

Over the next five posts, we will discuss each of these topics in more detail. So, let?s get busy with the subject.

Subject

In general when speaking at a function, you have either been asked to speak on a particular subject, or you can choose the subject yourself. In either case, the same question applies: What do I want to leave the audience with?

The point is that your speech should have a purpose, and you need to clearly define for yourself what that purpose is before you begin crafting your presentation. Most subjects cover a huge volume of information, so it is almost impossible to cover everything in a single presentation. You must decide what to include in your speech, and what to leave out (this can be the difficult part ? don?t try to cram everything in)!

So for example if you are speaking about compound interest, your purpose might not be for the audience to have a detailed understanding of how compound interest works. It may simply be for them to understand how powerful it can be. Alternatively, if you are speaking to a knowledgeable audience, you may wish for them to have that detailed understanding.

As Stephen Covey says in the 7 Habits of Highly effective people ? (when preparing a presentation) begin with the end in mind. So, what do you want to leave your audience with?

In the next post, we will discuss the preparation of your speech.

Craig

Note: to avoid email overload, I have changed the delivery schedule of the email blog updates to one digest per week. You can change it using the link at the bottom of your email.

I have just finished reading a remarkable book – The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – by John Maxwell.

This is really quite an amazing book. It is written in 21 chapters, each of which discusses a different aspect of leadership. The laws that he describes are simple, understandable and easy to apply.

In Toastmasters, we often say that "facts tell while stories sell." This book is a perfect example of that expression. It is filled with stories taken from all over the world which illustrate the laws of leadership. Amongst others, he draws on his own life, American history, sport, Churchill, Napoleon and even our own Nelson Mandela!

Just three of the laws are:

• The law of process – leadership develops daily, not in a day
• The law of connection – leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand
• The law of empowerment – only secure leaders give power to others

The book is very easy reading, yet filled with powerful lessons. If you have not read it, I highly recommend that you find a copy and read it. It will help in your business, friendships and relationships.

Craig

This week I received two voicemails which I were unable to answer. One was because there was too much background noise for me to make out the message, and the other was because I had no idea who had left the message, it sounded like:

"Hi Craig, this is Carwfhsa, and my number is 08dkasldkasd, bye"

This got me to thinking about how voicemail can often be a barrier to effective communication, and not an aid. This is because of the poor quality of messages that we leave.

There are two types of really annoying messages. The first is the long and convoluted message, and the second is the short and garbled message.

So, here is the BCD to leave an effective voicemail, and to get away from those annoying messages.

1. Be brief. A simple headline as to the purpose of the call is enough. When the call is returned, you can discuss the details. With a long message, I have probably forgotten most of the message by the time you get to the end anyway!
2. Be clear. Speak slowly and clearly. Telephone quality is not that great, so make it easy. Please don?t leave a message when you are in a noisy place ? understanding the message is just that much more difficult.
3. Leave your details. Unless you are leaving a message for a personal friend or family member that you are certain has your number, please leave your number. Repeat it if necessary.

For example, this is fine (some people prefer to leave the date & time as well ? also not a bad idea):

?Hi this is Craig, I would like to discuss the proposal you sent me, please call me on 082 xxx xxxx?

Finally, please don’t wait until the beep to start leaving a message until you hang up – blank messages are really annoying.

So remember, be brief, clear & leave your details.

And yes, I am far from perfect, but I am working on it!

Craig

Speech presented by Lois in November, 2007. A humorous speech based on the story about the boat and the lighthouse.

Download the podcast.

When you are giving a presentation, whether it is a keynote speech or seminar, the venue and facilities can have a huge impact on the success or failure of your presentation, so here are three tips to make your presentation successful.

Small is more

A few years ago, my band was offered a headline gig in one of the live music venues in Cape Town. The problem is that while our band could draw a crown of about 50-100 people, the venue held over 700 people We reluctantly turned down the gig and instead asked to play in their smaller venue downstairs that only held 80 people. The downstairs gig was great – it was full, crowded and had a great vibe – we would have needed at least 500 people upstairs to get the energy we had downstairs.

The same happens when we speak. Sometimes we think "let’s rather book a bigger room – just in case," but in general, the small yet full room has far more energy than the large and empty room. Resist the temptation to book the larger room. You can always bring in extra chairs at the last minute if necessary.

Arrive Early

What has been promised by the venue, and what they actually provide are not always the same thing. If you arrive early you have plenty of time to make last minute changes to the room setup. If possible, check it out a day or two before so that you have time to see the room and make adjustments adhead of time.

Get to know the AV Guy

The AV (audio-visual) guy is the person that (usually) works for the venue, and he is responsible for all of the audio visual equipment. They are the people who know where the hidden button is that lowers the projector screen, or where to get an extra extension cable at the last minute etc. If you are speaking at a large conference, you might have a dedicated AV guy, but if it is a smaller function, the venue might have one person responsible for the entire conference setup.

This person can make or break your presentation. Befriend him and he will be willing to assist. Antagonize him, and he might not be able to find that extra adapter that you left at home!

(I say AV guy – but in all honesty I have never met an AV gal!)

I hope the tips help – good luck with you next presentation!

Today, I went for a cycle from my house in Muizenberg to Cape Point and back. Just as you cycle into Simon Town you can see across False Bay to my house – a distance of about 20km.

My first thought was "oh no, look how far I still have to go." Then I thought "hang on, I have an opportunity to cycle another 20km of some of the of the most beautiful coastline in the world." I had a fantastic cycle back. Imagine how my cycle back would have been if I had gone with the first attitude!

What attitude was you going to take into this week? Are you going to look forward to the opportunities the week will present to you, or are you going to negatively approach the week, and desperately hope to survive until Friday? The choice is yours.

Remember, as Zig Ziglar said "Positive thinking won’t let you do anything but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will."

Have a great week!

There is a so-called rule in public speaking, which is that

• 55% of what you say comes from your body language.
• 38% comes from your tone of voice.
• And only 7% are the actual words you use.

I have seen this rule in many books, and spoken about by many speakers. Well, in fact the rule actually does not exist at all. The "rule" is the result of research done by Albert Mehrabian in the 1960′s, and it was never meant to be generalized.

He was simply trying to draw a correlation between facial expressions, spoken word and interpretation, and he never intended his results to be applied to normal conversation.

So folks, please stop using the rule – what you say is as important as how you say it!

There is a very interesting article about the whole story here . http://www.hodu.com/rule.shtml (from the Jan 2006 Toastmasters mag).

Here is a great little book that I discovered – Make a name for yourself. 55 Strategies to Fast-Track Your Professional Prowess, by Scott Ginsberg.

The author, Scott Ginsberg is quite a remarkable person. He has been wearing a name badge for the last 7 years, and this has resulted in several books, and how is now a professional speaker, author and trainer.

Scott describes himself as "that guy who wears a nametag 24-7 to make people friendlier". It started as an experiment over 7 years ago, and he has been doing so ever since. He has turned his idea of wearing a nametag all the time into a business, whereby he helps people to connect and to achieve professional success.

The book is very simply written, and it provides some wonderful ideas on how to understand who you are, and how to make the best use of your resource to achieve success.

"In 2002, unsure of how to approach starting my own company, I sought out as many success resources as possible. From reading books to scouring the Internet to interviewing  successful people, I was determined to learn the patterns that enabled so many others to make a name for themselves."

I have no doubt that by following his ideas, you will make a difference to yourself. Some of his ideas are:

• Get up an hour earlier
• Keep daily appointments with yourself
• More books, less TV
• It?s not what you know
• Speak up or get shut down

And my personal favorite – the Best Swimmers are always in the Pool. In this chapter, he speaks about learning by doing, and best of all – It was given to him by a Toastmaster (thanks for the punt)!

I was very interested to see that while he is selling the book, you can also get it for free. I would love to see what the response to this approach it (and yes, I have download the book and I am going to buy it, it really is a gem)

You can get the book in three ways:
1) buy it from Amazon
2) buy it from his website
3) download it for free from his website!

Enjoy!

?Why do I need to practice speaking off the cuff??, you may ask. The answer is simple, ?because we do it all the time?. Impromptu Speaking is one of the most important yet least practiced skill of verbal communicating. A few situations in which we speak in an impromptu manner are:

• Speaking in a meeting at work
• Speaking on the telephone
• Introducing yourself to a new acquaintance
• Being asked for your opinion on a topic
• Unexpectedly being asked to ?say a few words? at a dinner

Here are a few simple strategies that can be used to help you to speak off the cuff in an intelligent and informative manner. These strategies (or variations of them) can be used in most impromptu situations.

Past, present and future

In past, present and future, you tell it how it was, how it is now, and how it will be in the future. Not only does it give you three main points to speak about, but it helps you to structure what you are saying into a coherent and logical manner. Eg: When speaking at a wedding:

            ?I first met John and Sue about 10 years ago?..? (the past)

            ?Today, they look great together?.? (the present)

            ?I am sure they are going to have many good years ahead?? (the future)

Express an opinion

State an opinion and then justify with supporting facts. Eg:

            ?I believe this?and this is why.?

Address cause and effect

State the situation; discuss the causes and the eventual consequences. This is a strategy that politicians are extremely good at using. Eg:

            ?The lack of ability of the opposition to perform is delaying the decision making process…?

Break the Topic into components

Break the topic into a few simple components and discuss them individually. This approach can be a combination of the above approaches. So you could speak about something that happened in the past, discuss the implications for the present, and express an opinion as to the best strategy in the future.

A few tips when speaking off the cuff:

• Listen to what the other person said. If you are unsure, ask them to repeat.
• Pause before answering. This gives your time to formulate and structure your answer.
• Say what you want to say, and nothing else.
• Stop talking when you are finished. You don?t need to ramble on and on.

During the table topics session at a Toastmasters meeting, members of the club are called to the lectern by the ?topics master?, and are asked to speak for between 1-2 minutes on an unprepared topic. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice impromptu meetings, and to listen to how others do it.

The best way to improve your impromptu speaking is to practice. Seize every opportunity to do so, practice. and listen to yourself become a more effective communicator.