Speaking Info

I was suffering from public speaking embarrassment. For 20 minutes I had walked around the room greeting people. I smiled, made small talk, and burned off some nervous energy.

Seven minutes before Showtime, I was slammed with an embarrassing realization.

My zipper was wide open. Have you been there? My mind raced back to the ten plus people I had talked to. How many had noticed? Why had no one said anything? Friends don’t let friends walk around with unknown wardrobe malfunctions!

If I had gone on stage with the blinds open, that could have been embarrassing. Thankfully, I caught it before I went up on stage. However, as speakers it’s very important to check our zippers, our buttons, and anything else that could be a distraction.

Not only will a wardrobe malfunction distract the audience but it can throw us off once we realize it. Every speaker has to recover from this, so don’t feel too bad.

What’s the solution? Do a full body mirror check before you walk into the room. Is your hair fine? Food on the face?

Next, as you are waiting your turn to speak make sure your zipper and buttons are OK. Tuck the shirt in. Consciously do this, so you don’t have to do this on stage. It is hard to speak and be checking your wardrobe at the same time.  

What if you are speaking and notice something is wrong? If you can discreetly fix it, do so. If the audience is well aware of it, make a joke out and keep on going. You could say, “My worst nightmare has come true. (pause for laughter)” Fix the problem and try and work it into your content.

Don’t be caught with your zipper down. Check your wardrobe before you go on stage and you’ll prevent public speaking embarrassment.

(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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12 Months ago, I learned about a technique which has forever changed the way I start my presentations. I use this powerful speech technique when I am addressing a few in a meeting or speaking to 325 individuals.

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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A speaker can prepare and deliver a great presentation. However, if people can’t hear the message, it’s like having a table full of pizza and no one able to eat it. The microphone is every speakers friend or worst enemy.

Have you noticed how most people have microphone phobia? They stand too far back or don’t speak directly into it. Do you do this? Unfortunately this can hinder the audience from hearing us adequately.

Here are three public speaking tips for using a microphone properly.

Microphone Tip #1: Test right before the event

Several weeks ago I spoke at an event where the microphone was working 20 minutes before hand, but then was shut off in the back of the room prior to my speech kickoff. To make matters worse, there was no sound person in sight!

What did I do? I spoke a little louder for a few minutes, until the sound person returned. Now, I like to check the microphone 20 minutes before a presentation and again right before the presentation.

Get on the same page with the sound person and run through a live check for volume, etc. This is especially important with hand held microphones as we need to find out how far to hold it from our mouth.

Microphone Tip #2: Stand close to the microphone

Many microphones have limited pick up distance. You almost have to eat the microphone. Have you heard the squealing feedback that sometimes comes across a sound system? That actually means you are too far away from the microphone. Move closer so the sound guy can turn down the microphone and reduce the feedback.

Microphone Tip #3: Turn it on

I love lapel mikes. They free up my hands and give me freedom of movement. However, they have two drawbacks:

First, I have to remember to turn them on.

Second, it can make for some interesting and embarrassing moments if we forget to turn them off.

At college their was a professor who forget to shut off the lapel mike when he went to take a restroom break. Imagine his surprise when he walked back in the room and wondered why everyone was snickering and trying to act normal!

The microphone is a speakers best friend. It helps save our voice and helps the audience listen to our message. Apply these tips and we can make the microphone our friend.

(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™

More Posts - Website

Joe, a dark haired college student, came up to me and asked, “What is one of the best best public speaking tips you can give me?”

• What problems does Chris have?
• What would keep Chris’s attention?
• What info will help Chris?

• Select someone you know who represents the audience.
• Ask yourself, “What would I say if it was just this individual in the room?”
• Tailor the speech so it appeals to and impacts the diversity of people in the room.
• Prepare for one, but appeal to all

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™

More Posts - Website

Do you know how to how to make your story come alive?

Last time, we discussed putting the audience in the story. I used the analogy of a 52” HDTV with surround sound.

Continuing with that analogy, you want your audience to be submersed in the story and experience what you are describing

How? Simple.

Story Telling Technique #2: Bring your stories alive by use the 6 senses

Yes, I said six senses. Let me explain.

Back to my opening line:

Come with me to my parents warm family room. A scent of Christmas is in the air. In the corner (I point) is the glowing Christmas tree. The stereo is softly playing "Joy to the World”.

How many senses did I connect with? Three. Smell, sight, and sound. Here is one more example.

Nervously, I walked to the podium. My hands gripped rough edges as I tried prepared to speak from a dry mouth. Tension hung like a heavy fog.

I used touch (gripped the rough edges) and hinted at tastes (dry mouth). Then I used the sixth sense, which I call the “Mood of the Room or the Character”.

What was the mood of the room / character?

Tense!

Your audience can better experience the story when you bring up the feelings/mood of the room or character.

Here are some more examples:

• The air was filled with anticipation.
• Sam cheerfully walked up to me.
• Tension filled the room.
• I felt discouraged.

Every story you and I tell should connect with the 6 senses. Now, every little story does not need to hit all six. But we should bring them in.

How to connect with all 6 Senses

You and I can ask these questions as we prepare our stories and speeches:

• What are the characters hearing?
• What are they smelling?
• What are they touching?
• What are they tasting?
• What are they seeing?
• What are they feeling or what is the mood of the room?

Remember, you can bring your audience in my saying, “If you had been there, you would have smelled…”

You have heard about how some people are mainly auditory, kinesthetic, and visual? This means that some people really connect with you as you talk about the sounds in your stories. Others connect when you brilliantly paint a picture of the scene. Finally kinesthetics love it when you describe what the characters are doing!

By using all six sense, every person in the room will connect with your story.

Caution! Don’t over due it. Use a couple words to describe the scene and connect wit the 6 senses, but don’t be too detailed. You don’t have to hit all six with every paragraph. More on that later.

In conclusion, you bring your audience into the story with what we learned in Part 1. Next, we use our effective story telling technique #2 and include details which connect with the six sense and create a home theater type experience.

(C)Arlen Busenitz 2009
 

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™

More Posts - Website

What is one of the most important skills a public speaker can master?

Storytelling.

A good story will grab attention, connect you with the audience, and make your point hit home. As speakers it smart for us to learn and use effective story telling techniques.

However, this has been traditionally been one of my weaknesses. Sure, in the past I used stories, but they were like black and white TV with poor signal. The audience heard the facts, but were not drawn in.
 

That’s  not what I want!

We want our stories to be like a 52" HDTV with surround sound. Our audience should be sucked into the story and feel like they are in the scene. Do this and our stories will connect, the audience will be entertained, and our message will stick.

How do we tell great stories?

Over the next few posts, you’ll be learning effective storytelling techniques that will help you and I be a great story teller. Here is the first technique: 

Story Telling Technique #1: Put the audience into the speech.
 

Last night at my Toastmaster club, I started with this line:

Come with me to my parents warm family room. A scent of Christmas is in the air. In the corner (I point) is the glowing Christmas tree. The stereo is softly playing "Joy to the World.

Did you picture the scene? Did you feel you were in it? I knew it was a success, when my evaluator said, "We felt like we were there."

Notice how I started? "Come with me…" This invited the audience into my scene.

I learned this technique from Darren Lacroix and Craig Valentine. Both World Champions of public speaking. It is very powerful and effective.

Use these "Invite statements" to draw your audience into the story.

Here are a few other ways to bring the audience into your speech:

- If you had been there…

"If you had been there, you would have seen me dashing out the door."

- Come with me

- Imagine…

"Imagine a spring day…."

- Think about…

Get the picture?

Try this effective story technique and bring the audience in. Have more ideas? Feel free to share them below.

Go to part 2.

(C) Arlen Busenitz 2009

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™

More Posts - Website