Saturday, January 8th, 2011 at 12:14 PM
Recently we brought home a fresh made pizza. All we had to do was bake it in the oven, slice it, and delight our taste buds. I tossed the pizza in the preheated oven, set the timer for the recommended minutes, and waited till the buzzer rang.
Five minutes later the pizza was sliced and we took our first bite. Ugh. Instead of fluffy crust, we bit into raw dough. The perimeter was cooked, but the middle doughy.
Two public speaking lessons stand out:
1. Just as there is no exact cooking minutes for pizza that work on every oven, every speech takes different preparation time. A 30 minute presentation on a topic I’m familiar with may take less prep time than a 7 minute speech on an unknown topic.
2. Don’t underestimate the value of extra cooking time. Just 5 more minutes would have turned pizza headed for the garbage into a delicious meal. The difference between an average presentation and a great presentation is often just a little more prep time.
I was able to cook the pizza for another 6 minutes and salvage the meal. We can’t prepare for a presentation after the fact. Put the time in ahead of time and you will serve an excellent presentation.
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 5:31 PM
When you are preparing a speech, what is your first step? Do you brainstorm a topic, make an outline, or research? Consider this next speaking tip:
Speech Preparation Tip #24: Find your Chris and Prepare the Speech for Chris.
Several months ago I spoke to about 50 energetic jr. highers. As I was preparing, I selected another jr higher in the area whom I’ll call Chris. He was a good representative of the audience I was speaking to. I prepared speech as if I was giving it to Chris.
I asked myself several questions.
- What problems does Chris have?
- What would keep Chris’s attention?
- What info will help Chris?
I kept asking these questions and prepared a customized keynote for Chris. Yes, audiences are diverse and I did seek to add material to target the whole room because of the various backgrounds of the audience.
However, by focusing on one person it allowed me give a specific speech tailored for that audience. The result? Great interaction and a keynote that hit home.
Simple principle but very powerful.
Here are a few public speaking tips on preparing to speak to one person:
- 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
