I’ve never believed in the old saw, “never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to” unless you are in a court of law. After all, how else would you ever learn anything? But at some point, it is futile to ask questions when you know the answer is extremely negative. On a taxi cab ride today from an airport in Los Angeles I was subjected to extreme heat (90 degrees plus) with no air-conditioning in the back seat. The driver had air conditioning, but he informed me that he didn’t want to have any contact with passengers in the back to protect his safety, thus the glass protection separating the air-conditioned front seat from the sweltering back seat. To make matters worse, the cab was filled with signs asking passengers not to talk to the driver, as he did not wish to be disturbed. After nearly passing out from the heat, I rolled down the back window, even though the driver admonished me for doing so. At the end of the trip, the driver turned to me and asked,”Sir, was your trip satisfactory?”

Some questions don’t need to be asked when the answser is glaringly obvious and the questioner doesn’t seem to be sincere.

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.

Should I give a PowerPoint presentation?

Your Corporate Communications Department: “Yes, use the PowerPoint so that we can maintain a consistency of message. This way everyone will be seeing the same thing and we can maintain control.”

You: “Yes, I should use a PowerPoint. This will make it really easy for me to give the speech. This way, I don’t have to remember anything or practice, because all my points will be in front of me.”

***

Your Audience: “If you are going to give a Powerpoint the way most people do, i.e., do a boring data dump of bullet points, then please, for the love of God, please, please spare us! But if you are going to use interesting visuals, pictures, or graphs that are genuinely interesting and relevant, then, by all means, use a PowerPoint.”

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.

Should I make this a formal or informal presentation?

Your boss: “These are important client prospects–this had better be your best formal presentation!”

Your marketing department: “We’ve already written and approved the PowerPoint slides, and they’ve gone through legal. So make this a formal presentation.”

You: “Wow, this is scary. I don’t know half of the people in this audience. I better make this a formal presentation so that I can give myself some cover in case anything goes wrong.”

***

Your Audience: “Formal? Informal? We don’t care! As audience members, we are only aware of two kinds of speeches, good and bad. We don’t car if you are sitting in jeans or standing in a tuxedo–just make sure that what you have to say is interesting and relevant to us. You can be formal or informal, but if you wast our time or bore us, we will tune you out in 3 seconds flat and start reading email on our Blackberrys.” 

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”

How will I know what my audience will remember?

Your Marketing Officer: “Just give them as much information as possible. That way if they don’t remember anything in particular, they are at least likely to leave with the impression that you are smart and competent.”

Your College Speech Coach: “They will remember anything, as long as you tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.”

You: “It just depends on luck and the whims of the audience that day. This is completely beyond my control!”

Your Audience: “We audiences are pretty predictable. We remember interesting and relevant stories, examples and anecdotes. If you can make your points with an occasional surprise, unpredictability or humor, then we will be retelling your message to others for the next 5 years. The one thing we can absolutely guarantee you is that we will not remember a straightforward data dump.”

From TJ Walker’s upcoming book, “The Wisdom of your Audience.”

Should I tell my audience that I am very happy to be speaking to them today?

Your Speech Writer: “It is important to set the mood of you being gracious, so tell people you are happy to be there.”

You: “I want to be sincere and real, so I want to tell people that I am genuinely happy to have the honor of speaking to them today.”

***

Your Audience: “Boring! We don’t care if you are happy. Why don’t you spend your time making us happy by actually telling us something interesting? We are especially unimpressed when you read from a script with your head down and tell us that you are happy to be speaking to us in a wooden tone of voice. First tings first–tell us interesting stuff, create a shared experience for all of us, then we can all be happy together.”

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience” (The best advice always comes from your speaking audience)

What is the best way to begin my speech?

Your Director of Communications: “Start by thanking your hosts or order of rank.”

Your Marketing Director: “Be sure to weave in our branding slogan in the first 30 seconds. Then tell people about all of our locations.”

Your director of new business: “Tell people about all of our locations and branches.”

Your mother, “Tell people how humbled you are by the nice introduction you received.”

Your inner voice: “Good morning. As you heard, my name is ___ and my title is ___. I’m happy to be here today. Thank you for that lovely introduction. Before I begin today, let me tell you about the incredibly boring history of my company starting back to its founding in 1923. Next, I’d like to tell you about all of the cities we are in (that you couldn’t possibly care about, because you aren’t in those cities.)

*****

Your Audience: “Stop boring us to death! We don’t care if you are happy to be here; we don’t know you well enough to care yet. We already know your name and title; the person introducing you told us–we aren’t stupid!!! Stop talking about you, you, you. We don’t care about you at this stage of our relationship. Instead, tell us something interesting and relevant to us. We care about ourselves. If you address our needs, we’ll be more likely to pay attention to the rest of your speech!”

Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kansas) made the Democratic response to George Bush’s State of the Union Address last night. Sebelius looked professional, smooth, competent, and knowledgeable.

But…

She read from a Teleprompter, and the truth is, it’s darned hard to read form a Teleprompter without putting people to sleep. Why? Because when non=professionals read form a Teleprompter, they tend to speak at the same speed, the same tone, the same volume throughout. The result? Sameness, which means boredom.

I happened to be watching Sebuelius’ speech with people who supported her politics and agenda. But after five minutes, everyone in the room was complaining about how boring and how long the speech was.

If you are going to use a Teleprompter, just realize that it is harder to do than working from notes. It is crucial that you get comfortable not only with the words, but with where you will change your speed, volume, tempo and where you will insert pauses. If you don’t prepare and rehearse these, you will bore your audience to death.

I’m not weighing in on the politics of the day regarding Bill Clinton’s involvement with his wife’s presidential campaign. However, I am interested in his thought process regarding public speaking. I take as a given that no serious person doubts Bill Clinton’s prowess as a public speaker.

In today’s New York Times, we get a glimpse of exactly why:

“When former President Bill Clinton took to the podium on Friday at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, he told the audience a story. He said he had just inadvertently walked into the adjacent auditorium and was mortified to see that all the seats were empty. Then, he recounted, he saw a ‘tech guy’ in the back of the room and said to himself, ‘well, I’ll give my best speech to one guy.’ He pounded his fist. ‘I’ll give my best speech if it’s the last thing I do today.’”

There reeally are no small speaking audiences, just small speakers. Bill Clinton may be many things to many people, but he is never an unenthusiastic speaker.

Sentence for Drug Overdose Death: Jail and Public Speaking
WBAY - Green Bay,WI,USA
During Danen’s two years in jail, Judge Atkinson is requiring him to take public speaking classes and do anything Falck requests to prepare for their …

Toastmasters celebrate anniversary
New Richmond News - New Richmond,WI,USA
There have been surveys citing public speaking as the biggest fear people have – acing out flying and death. It’s this line of thinking that led Hooey to …
 

Who is the hero of a speech?
By Nick Morgan
So make the smartest move of your public speaking life and allow the audience to shine. Allow that sea of faces out there to become the hero. It will change how you think about public speaking, for the better. …
Public Words - http://publicwords.typepad.com/nickmorgan/

The first rule of public speaking: Always remember your audience
By James Hart
From the MO Highway Patrol: On Sunday, January 13, 2008, at approximately 3:30 pm, a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol arrested Bartel D. Talton, 24, of Monroe City, Missouri, for making a terrorist threat. …
Crime Scene KC - http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/

Public Speaking Tips
By Jeremy Jacobs
Add ‘Public Speaking Tips’ to Del.icio.us Add ‘Public Speaking Tips’ to digg Add ‘Public Speaking Tips’ to FURL Add ‘Public Speaking Tips’ to blinklist Add ‘Public Speaking Tips’ to reddit Add ‘Public Speaking Tips’ to Feed Me Links Add …
JeremyJacobs.com - http://www.jeremyjacobs.com

Public Speaking
By marykaylady
It’s not just public speaking. I don’t like to go out in public either. Just the thought of being out frightens me. I go out but not any more then I have to. I feel more comfortable at home. I have no idea what to do. …
Running the circus one monkey at a time! - http://theringleader.wordpress.com

Whatever-you-call-it-phobic
By Mel N Ello P
(OK, perhaps the irrational break-down fear of public speaking makes more-and-more sense). Because of the latter-mentioned phobia, many people judge and criticize to call this “laziness.” As in, “You’re so lazy because” Choose one: a) …
Life, Liberty and Pursuit of… - http://lifelibertypursuit.blogs.com/life_liberty_and_pursuit_/