The Rule of 72 states:

Divide 72 by your interest rate and that will tell you how many years it takes for your money to double.

72 / 6% = Your money will double every 12 years

I know this is a speaking blog, but hang with me.

If you an I improve in an area of our life by just 2.5% a day, we will be twice as good in 29 days. (72 / 2.5% = 29)

Today, could you be:

• 2.5% more positive?
• 2.5% more efficient?
• 2.5% more loving?
• 2.5% more disciplined?
• Watch 2.5% less TV?
• Spend 2.5% more time with your family?

Sure you can. Grow by 2.5% every day and in 29 days you will have improved by 100%

Same applies to public speaking.

With every speech if we are just:

• 5% better with our vocal variety
• 5% better with our pauses
• 5% better with making eye contact
• etc…

Then after 15 speaking engagements we will be twice as good as we are now. We will have improved our public speaking skills by 100%

Have some fun with the rule of 72.

Small changes done consistently over time create massive results. Learn more about this concept in  The Compound Effect (aff Link)

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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In literally hours an old, dull depressing room and will look alive and even feel homey with one coat of paint.

Can a person transform their public speaking skills this fast? Yes! I would argue that in just 90 seconds you can significantly upgrade your public speaking skills. Does it take longer to hone the craft and skill of public speaking? Yes. However, here are 3 ways to liven up your presentations right now.

Speaking Tip #1: Smile

Too many speaker speak with either no expression, a frown,  or a bored look on their face. Forcing yourself to smile will do three thing:

1. Make your voice sound warm and friendly.

2. Make you more likeable. A likable speaker connects with the audience.

3. Make you feel more comfortable and at ease. I read about a study which showed that just smiling will put you in a good mood.

Try it and see the difference. It will brighten your presentation.

Speaking Tip #2: Plant your feet & lean forward slightly

Two mistakes speakers often make are shifting/moving too much and leaning back on their heals. Shifting distracts the audience and leaning back takes energy out of the presentation.

I train people to lean forward slightly so their weight is on the front of their feet. The heals are still on the floor, but the weight has been shifted forward. It is surprising how much energy this will give to your presentation. Videos of speakers before this and after show a remark difference.

Speaking tip #3: Act enthused/interested in your presentation

A speech without enthusiasm or passion is like a limp puppet without a human arm to move it. By acting enthusiastic and being interested in what you are saying, you will bring new energy into your speech. Plus, enthusiasm is contagious. It will spread to the audience and they will be more interested in your presentation.

Give your presentation skills a fresh coat of paint by applying these tips.

(C) Arlen Busenitz – Speakinginfo.com

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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Public Speaking Improvement Tip #27: Watch master Communicators in action.

I'll never forget seeing Zig Ziglar in person. One thing that jumped out at me was his enthusiasm. Whenever I want to update my enthusiasm, I think of Zig. Just watching him helps me improve.

Do you watch the masters of public speaking?

With the age of Youtube, it is now very easy to see master speakers in action. Below are several videos. As you watch them, ask these three questions.

• What is the speaker doing very well?
• What can I learn from the speaker?
• What could the speaker improve on?

You may think this last question is a little odd. Every speaker can improve and watching with a critical eye will help you improve your skills.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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Presentation Tip #13: Improve 9% with every Presentation Could you have 9% more vocal variety on your next speech compared to your last speech?

What about:

• 9% more humor (6 laughs instead of 5)
• 9% more eye contact (look at just a few more people)
• 9% more pauses (Pause just 1 second longer than you do now)
• 9% more passion
• 9% improvement in stage presence (Move 9% less if you hop around the stage or 9% more if you are like a stone statue.)
• Etc.

Sure you could. It's not that hard. Improving just 9% with every presentation means you would double your current skill level in just 9 presentations! Focus on improving in just a couple areas for your next presentation. With these small steps, you will quickly improve your presentation skills.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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Grow as a person. In other words Grow for Success™

When you grow or gain more:

• Self-discipline
• Focus
• Self-control
• Kind actions
• Organizations
• Etc,

You will automatically improve and become more successful in that area of your life.

Take finances a moment. Most financial issues are caused by a lack of discipline in spending or being unorganized about tracking what we spend. Late payments, etc are a sign of lack of discipline. Grow in our self control and organization and we will experience success.

Think about speaking for a moment. Anyone will become a better speaker if they just practice there speech an extra 3 times. This takes self-discipline. Grow in your self-discipline and you will become a better speaker. That’s what Grow 4 Success™ means.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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It was 20 minutes into the presentation and boredom hung like heavy smoke. Some individuals fought to stay awake. Others sought to stay polite and not walk out.

Mr. Boredom continue to drone on and on. His message took off like a plane from the podium, crashed and burned before it reached the front row. A few sentences that made it to the audience floated right past the audience’s ear and bit the dust.

Though I felt like sleeping, I tried to stay awake to analyze why Mr. Boredom was having this negative, hypnotic experience on the room. Unfortunately, it reminded me of how I have also been boring at times because I have made three public speaking mistakes.

Here are three mistakes he was making and ones we should avoid as speakers.

Public Speaking Mistake #1: He was reading 90% of the time

Think of our eye contact as being like a curtain between the speaker and the audience. When the speaker is looking at the audience, the curtain is open. When their eyes are glued to the notes, the curtain is closed and connection is being lost with the audience.

A few second glances now and then are acceptable, but if that curtain is closed at least 30% of the time, your audience may lose attention.

However, great eye contact does not negate the need for compelling content.  I have seen speakers make 100% eye contact, but they bored the audience because they rambled and had weak content.

Compelling content will hold the audience’s attention. Lack of eye contact can hurt it, but compelling content is key.

Know your speech and have a a detailed outline to jog your memory.

Mistake #2: He was bored with the material

If the speaker is bored,  the audience will be also. Fascinating fact, isn’t it. We must choose topics that we can get excited about. What if we don’t like our topic? Act excited anyways. That enthusiasm will transfer to the audience.

Mistake #3: He had a monotone message, voice, and body language

Think of a great piece of classical music. The music speeds up and slows down. The volume is high and low. That variation keeps our attention. Our message should vary also. Sometimes, we tell facts and other times stories. Our voice should be fast and sometimes slow.

When it comes to body language, change it up. Step out of the podium box on certain points. Raise the hands. Step forward or maybe step back at times. As Patricia Fripp said, “Sameness is the enemy of the speaker.”

Being a boring speaker can be suicide to a speaking career and hinder our career advancement. Don’t make these mistakes and you can keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

(C) Arlen Busenitz. All Rights Reserved

http://www.SpeakingInfo.com

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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To my daughter the voice from the video was a like gentle ocean waves verbally rocking her to sleep.

After 30 minutes I decided to grab a drink of water. Careful to not wake the sleeping princess, I pushed pause on the laptop.

My daughter awoke with a start. She looked around and gave a nice three point speech as to why she did not enjoy being awakened.

The pause or silence startled her and she awoke. That is the power of the pause and the end of a quiet evening.

You can use the pause to keep your audience wake and to wake them out of a glassy eye, speaker induced coma.

Patricia Fripp said,

Perfect your pause. Deliver your punch word and then pause…and pause…and pause. Give your listeners time to digest what you’ve just said. Get comfortable with silence, and don’t be tempted to rush on or fill it with “um’s.”

Good speech coaches recommend and use the power of the pause. Insert many pauses into your presentation. Not only do they help your content sink home, but they are much appreciated mini breaks to the sound of our droning voice.

A moment of silence woke the baby up. Public speaking pauses will help you keep your audience awake.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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As you know junior-highers have a short attention span. A distraction or three sentences of boring content can cause the attention to be diverted away from the speaker.

The great thing about kids this age is that we know if we have have attention and if we have lost it. Adults may be polite and still pretend to listen, but kids often let you know through body language when they are no longer paying attention.

To make this situation more challenging, I spoke in an open air building with a roof and open sides. Bugs buzzing, heat simmering, and tired campers all led to a greater challenge to hold attention.

To keep attention with this kind of audience and any audience, I seek to use the 7 speaking tips below.

Tip #1: Tell a Story, Make a Point

Have you noticed the following.  A speaker is droning on and on, but then says, “5 years ago I was walking behind my house…” Attention gets snapped back.

Stories, even poorly told stories, hold attention and quickly grab attention.

In addition to giving a healthy dose of stories, I keep some in reserve. I may need to tap into them when attention wanes.

Keep the stories coming and the attention will stay glued to you.

Tip #2: Tell a Story, Make a Point

I heard one speaker mesmerize the audience with dozens of personal stories. Later, I turned to my brother-in-law and asked, “What was the point?”

Where was the life changing content? Where were the tips or truth that we could hang our hat on and improve our life?

There were none.

Have a main point with every story. You may make the point and then tell the story. Or you may tell the story and then make the point. Just have a point.

A couple examples from this week:

- Story about nearly failing 7′th grade in school.

- Point: Stop blaming, start changing.

- Story about starting my rock business and nearly quitting.’

- Point: Keep on Driving

Tell stories and add points.

Tip #3: Tell a Story, Make a Point

Outlines. Our English teachers railed on the importance of having an outline. Speech coaches do the same.

I push the Speech Tree™ in Become a Better Speaker in One Evening.  It allows people to quickly create speeches.

However, just throwing main points out is like tossing  your coat against the wall and expecting it to stay there. It won’t. It’ll slide right down and the points will zip past the audience with next to zero retention.

If we package the point with a story, that story acts like a hook. The points are retained and remembered.

Tip #4: Tell a Story, Make a Point

Great speakers use this formula.

Jesus used it with his parables. Mark Twaine used it. Bill Gove, the father of Professional Speaking, popularized the the phrase.

My father always told me, “Find out what works and do it.” This formula works. Use it.

Tip #5: Tell a Story, Make a Point

Do these stories have to be complex? Nope.

Patricia Fripp said, “It is better to tell a simple story well, than a complex story poorly.”

Write down a past experience from your life every day for a month. Now you have 30 stories.

Tip #6: Tell a Story, Make a Point

Many speakers bury their head in their notes and rarely come up for air. By telling stories, especially personal ones, you can easily tell them from memory.

On your little note card just list:

Story:
Point:
Link:
Story:
Point:
Link:

You can look like a pro and use minimal notes.

Tip #7: Tell a Story, Make a Point

Stories stick in our minds like a glue trap to cats fur (I know from experience). If the point is properly attached to the story, the point will stick also.

I still remember stories speakers shared from ten years ago. Many of the points are still stuck in my mind.

You can become a speaker who holds attention and has a sticky message. Learn more by reading Made to Stick.

Lets wrap this up.

Many audiences have short attention spans. You can hold attention and communicate effective by using these 7 tips and telling a story  and making a point.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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The essence of public speaking summed up in six words.

This advice came from a international speaker who gave thousands of presentations across the U.S. and around the world. He spoke with confidence, delivered with enthusiasm, and was a popular speaker.

Amateurs apply two or four of these words. Amazing speakers use all six.

Stand Up

75+ percent of people fear public speaking. 3 out of 4 people listen to fear and would rather sit in the chair than speak to an audience.  The solution? Stand up.

Public speaking is like leaping into a cold pool  of water on a hot day. When you first step in, there is a shock to the system. Keep floundering around (if you don’t know how to swim) and within a couple minutes it will feel better.

Choose action and refuse to listen to fearful thinking and feelings.

In my public speaking classes and in Speak with Confidence, I teach how to stand up with confidence. When a person has great posture and does three other things, they will instantly reduce their fear and speak with confidence.

Many people have a story or a message that can influence and help many people. Fear is keeping them entrapped. Are you of them?

Take the first step. Stand up. Deliver your message.

 Speak Up

When I heard this phrase, I thought of  my 89 year old great-aunt with $5,000 hearing aids. Those hearing aids seemed to work like ear plugs.  Wonderful aunt but technology seemed to fail her as we still had to shout.

That’s not entirely what this international speaker ment.

It means to speak with enthusiasm. Put fire into your presentation. Speak with energy.

Too many speakers are like a lethargic team of overpaid sports players on a losing team with nothing to play for.

Act enthusiastic and you will feel enthusiastic. Put energy into your voice and body language and you will create energy in the room.

Enthusiasm is contagious. Your audience will get the fever and respond.

Here is one simple tip. Lean forward slightly when you speak. You’ll be amazed at how this subtle change will impact the energy level.

This is covered more in depth in Become a Better Speaker in One Evening.

Sit Down

“End early and leave your audience begging for more.”

Its better to end 5 minutes too early than 5 minutes too late.

People despise planes that circle the airport for extra time waiting to land. Speakers who go overtime are similarly irritating.

Unless you are very popular, have tremendous content, or are paying your audience by the minute, your audience will not appreciate you going over time.

Here are a few tips:

• Speak 10% shorter than you are asked. If you are to give a 10 minute presentation, speak 9 minutes. (Unless you have to keep a meeting on schedule.)

• Open hot, close hotter. Have an excellent conclusion to wrap up the speech. Leave them on a high.

• Be prepared to cut content from your speech. It is inevitable that others will refuse to sit down and your time will be cut short. Reward the audience and cut your time down. They’ll thank you for it.

• Watch the audience. They will tell you when they are bored. Change things up or cut content if need be.

One of my mentors told me, “Arlen, if you want to be successful, get back to the basics and do them well.” In public speaking these include:

Stand Up, Speak Up, Sit Down.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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