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”

How should I ask to be introduced to my audience?

What the experts say:

Your in-house communications expert: “Just print your standard 2-page bio and let your introducer read it.”

Your PR Representative: “Be sure to remind people of every media appearance you have made in the last 5 years.”

You: “I’m feeling a little insecure, so I better convince them of my credibility with credentials. Of course they will want to know that I made the honor society all four years in high school and they need to know about every single career accomplishment. Otherwise they won’t listen to me.”

*******

Your Audience: “For crying out loud, don’t let your introduction go longer than 30-45 seconds. Tell us the one or two things that make you an expert on the subject you are about to address. Tell us what you have donet that directly has an impact on what we do. We really don’t care about where you went to school, your children, your dog or where you like to vacation. Please be selective in what you have your introducer tell us about you. We know you wrote your own intro, so don’t make the it longer than your speech.”

Here is an excellent tutorial on how to place YouTube video into your PowerPoint Presentations. Personally, I use a lot of video in my presentations. However, I caution most people against this–There are numerous technical problems associated with video, even after you have figured out how to get it into your presentation.  Also, make sure you don’t use copyrighted material from YouTube in your presentation. YouTube has the billion dollar resources of the Google legal department to defend it; chances are that you don’t.

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.

At the risk of having people think I am insane, if I give President George Bush an honest appraisal of his speaking skills as demonstrated in the 2008 State of the Union Address, I have to give him a sold B+. Bush used to rush, squint his eyes, freeze his body, speak in a monotone fashion and look scared. He no longer commits those blunders. Bush is now pausing, changing his speed and tempo, moving his body, and gesturing. Judge for yourself.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080128-13.wm.v.html

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.

and I’d like suggestions on the most common questions speakers ask themselves when preparing to speak. The theme for the book is how your audience can always give you the best answers to all of your questions. Please take a look and add your comments on other questions to add.  TJ

Wisdom of Your Audience

Improving Your Speech

Preparing You Speech

1. How should I ask to be introduced? *

Beginning Your Speech
2. What is the best way to begin my speech? *
3. Should I tell my audience that I am very happy to be speaking to them today?*
4. How many Points should I cover in my speech?*
5. Should I make this a formal or informal presentation?*

Using PowerPoint
6. Should I give a PowerPoint presentation?*
7. How many bullet points should I use per slide? *
8. How many slides should I use? *
9. Is it OK to read from my PowerPoint slides?*
10. Should I read my speech in order to not make any mistakes?
11. Should I use a teleprompter?
12. Is it OK to use notes when I speak?
13. Should I play it safe by avoiding humor?
14. How can I best establish my credibility with my audience?
15. How can I best establish the credibility of my company?
16. Should I stand behind the lectern?
17. What should I do with my hands?
18. Should I walk around when I speak?
19. What should I edit out of my speech?
20. What should I add to my speech?
21. Should I use stories in my presentation?
22. Should I be more concise?
23. How big a problem are my “ums” and “uhs?”
24. How can I show how serious I am about my speech topic?
Delivering Your Speech

25. Won’t I lose credibility if I talk about my failures?
26. How long should my speech be?
27. Should I tell ‘em what I’m gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em, and then tell ‘em what I told them?
28. How big of a disaster is it if I can’t answer a question during a Q and A period?
29. What is the most likely speaking disaster I could encounter while presenting?
30. How should I end my speech?
31. When should I thank my host, introducer and audience?
32. What points from my speech will stick with my audience?
33. How will I know if my speech “worked?”
34. Is it OK to use handouts?
35. Will I steal my own thunder if I email my PowerPoint presentation to people in advance of giving my speech?
36. How do I get my audience to think I’m smart?
37. Should I use special effects in my PowerPoint?
38. Should I use the jargon of my audience?
39. Should I rehearse and for how long?
40. What if there is no time to rehearse?
41. I’m not a technical person, is it OK if I don’t use the slides the right way?
42. Who/what should I look at when speaking?
43. Should I sit or stand when presenting?
44. Who should be my role model for speaking?
45. How should I use modern technology to enhance my speech?
46. Is drawing on white boards and charts too old fashion for modern audiences?
47. Should I use a microphone when speaking to an audience?
48. How can I make better transitions?
49. Are you looking at my hair/makeup/teeth?
50. Will I seem more professional by keeping my body still and planting my feet?
51. Is it a danger to use more than one example?
52. Is it wrong to use more than one story to make a point?
53. Is it bad to be redundant?
54. Is it bad to be redundant?
55. Does my speech flow?
56. If my allotted time is cut, what should I eliminate from my speech?
57. Is it OK to speak faster if I am running short on time?
58. What do I do if I feel I am losing my audience?
59. What’s the worst thing that can happen during my speech?
60. Should I tell jokes at the beginning of the speech to loosen up the audience?
61. If I’m more comfortable holding a pen in my hands while I speak, is that OK?
62. What happens if I make a mistake and say the wrong thing?
63. What If I forget where I am going in my speech?
64. How can I recover from a major blunder in my speech?
65. How can I get a standing ovation?
66. Will I sound more credible if I speak with a lower voice?
67. Will I sound more credible if I speak with an even tone to my voice?
68. Is it OK to use props?
69. Should I tell my audience that I am sick/my plane was late/I didn’t get a full night’s sleep?
70. How can I get invited back to speak again to this group?
71. How can I increase my sales to the group I am speaking to?
72. How can I get my audience to rush up to me after my speech?
73. Is it OK to have a drink before I speak to calm my nerves?
74. Should I show my audience that I am well-organized by telling them at the beginning the outline of my whole speech?
75. Will reinforcing my key points in text on PowerPoint make my audience retain the points more easily?
76. Should I interact with my audience at the beginning by saying “good morning” and then saying “I can’t hear you” to get them to try again with more energy and enthusiasm?
77. Is it OK to drink water during a presentation?
78. Should I take questions during my presentation, or ask people to hold them until the end?
79. Is it safer to weed out the bad questions by asking people to submit their questions in written format?
80. Is it OK to ask questions of audience members?
81. How long do I need to stay around after my speech?
82. Should I show passion by speaking LOUDLY?
83. Should I maintain my professionalism by avoiding all personal observations out of the speech?
84. What bugs you the audience the most?
85. Do I need to memorize my speech?
86. How do I know what messages and topics will be most interesting to my audience?
87. How do I know which messages and topics resonated with the audience the most after the speech?
88. Don’t great speakers have to be taller, older, richer, deep voiced than I am?

89. How will I know what my audience will remember? *

Here is a recent podcast I did with PowerUp English, an Asian public speaking blog. The focus is on making presentations more memorable.

http://www.powerupenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=7

I feel for former President Bill Clinton. He is, by all accounts, an indefatigable campaigner, often getting by with less than four hours sleep. Well, apparently even Clinton gets tired. Below is a video clip of Clinton snoozing and attempting in vain to stay awake while on the stage behind a speaker. My cheap easy advice is for everyone to get at least 8 hours of sleep, not only on days when you are speaking, but also when you are going to be near any0one else who is speaking and might have a video camera pointed at him or her. If you need motivation to get a good night’s sleep, then you need to watch this.

http://www.nypost.com/video/?vxSiteId=0db7b365-a288-4708-857b-8bdb545cbd0f&vxChannel=NY%20Post&vxClipId=1458_227094&vxBitrate=700