Do Your Research

This doesn’t mean research your content, we think that’s a given – you’re not likely to want to talk for an hour or so on something you don’t know about. What we do mean is research your audience. Before you start writing your speech – reach out and talk to some of the potential members of that audience. Pick up the phone, call them and ask them a few questions about your topic – find out what they know and how they think. This can be a great way to deliver a genuinely bespoke piece that really grabs attention from the outset.

If you can garner a little inside information for a few (non-offensive) quips or stories that you can work into your speech – all the better.

Have A One Line Summary

If you can’t sum up your speech in a single line, it’s unlikely that an hour will make your points any clearer. You don’t need to deliver this as the first line you speak – but it’s a great idea to use it in your introduction, and come back it to again in your conclusion. Then everyone knows what to expect and your speech is all about illustrating that point.

Practice a Lot

Most professionals agree that you want to run through your finished speech at least 6 times before you deliver it in public. There’s something about this level of practice that moves your content from being “read” to being embodied. It’s when you know the material well enough to quickly recover from a minor mistake and move on – without impairing the audience’s experience.

It’s surprising how effective this is and many speakers who feel they lack talent – don’t. What they lack is practice – if the top speakers are practicing their speeches at least 6 times. If you’re not it’s likely that you’re going to find it hard going.

Look for Feedback

Asking others how you come across and what you did right (and as importantly what you did wrong) is a powerful way to improve quickly. It’s great if this can be a formal process with professional coaches or monitors giving formal evaluations. However, in most instances you’ll be looking to members of the audience for your feedback. Don’t be afraid to ask for it, and most importantly don’t forget to thank people for it either.

Become a Movie Star

Well, not quite. But it is a great idea to get hold of a camera and video tape your speeches. We may be our own worst critics but seeing ourselves on screen can help us quickly pinpoint minor weaknesses. And of course if your performance was a resounding success – you can always use it to enhance your CV by releasing the material on You Tube.

Ask for Ideas

To really grow and improve, even to gain new and fresh ideas to keep your presentations interesting and fresh, one feedback is not enough. You need continual feedback. At the end of every event, ask your participants for feedback. Ask them what they liked and what they didn’t like about the presentation. A key to designing future presentations and workshops is to get feedback and ideas from those that attended. Ask them on which topics would they like more information. Ask them for ideas.

The best time to ask is at the end of the event. This is when people are usually networking and socializing with each other building business contacts. It is also a time when they debrief with each other and dissect the seminar. This gives you the perfect opportunity to begin establishing your speaking business. All business is dependent firstly on relationships. Take the time to interact with your audience and test your market by asking them what they want to hear and learn. You should not ignore this step as it will increase the value of your speaking career. Greet them, express your pleasure at seeing them there and ask them what they loved best about the seminar, and what they would like to hear more of in the future.

Self Confidence First

Now it takes courage to ask for constructive criticism, however this feedback will really help you grow and improve your product. However, it takes self-confidence. You have to get yourself out of the way and focus on the benefits to your audience. When you have their best interest at heart, and truly desire to help them improve their lives by sharing your expertise, asking this next question will be easy. “Please tell me if there was anything that you didn’t like.” If you consistently get the same feedback that there was a certain gesture or a certain topic they did not enjoy, then it may convince you to stop doing that in the future.

However, be sure you can take the criticism without reacting. Even if it was something you thought was your strongest point, and the feedback smarts, simply smile and thank them for the valuable feedback. You can fix your bruised ego later, but that feedback may help you make significant changes to your presentation, which will boost your audience attendance, and therefore increase your business. Being open to this kind of feedback allows you to continually build your business to the next level. As you improve, your product improves and promotion will take care of itself, because people talk, and word of mouth referrals will help promote your speaking more than anything else.

In Conclusion

If you take these ten keys and apply them to your speaking skills, the results will speak for themselves. You will give a killer presentation that people remember and talk about to others. You will change lives, you will grow, and you will stand out from the majority who could not be bothered to put in the effort to improve.

In the end, it will yield tremendous results.

The eighth key to creating a killer presentation builds upon the previous seven. Now that your audience is participating with you, you are communicating effectively and with confidence, and you have their attention, you need to maintain the environment in the room.

Be Aware of Distractions

Environment plays a key role in facilitating a successful experience for all. Distractions can occur in all kinds of forms and spoil the impact of your presentation. In fact, a bad environment can undermine all the work you have invested in applying the previous eight keys. Remember that the information gathered from the five senses has the strongest impact on people and this especially applies to the environment where you hold your event. Environment includes the look, the smell, even the auditory environment and location of the seminar room.

Smell

What does the room smell like? Does it smell of new carpet, creating that business atmosphere, or does it smell of stale shrimp or nicotine? People are going to associate the smell of that room with your presentation. You might need to get steam cleaners in to shampoo the carpet before your presentation. Maybe you need to open windows and doors beforehand to air the room and remove any odors. Lighting some scented candles before people arrive or arranging for fresh flowers to be in the room can be a good strategy to creating the atmosphere you want your attendees to experience.

Visual

The décor of the room is another area to consider. Is the paint in good condition or is it peeling? How is the lighting in the room? Lighting can completely change the atmosphere, as most people are aware of when it comes to creating romance. Do you want dimmed spotlights on the audience? Do you want bright lights that will keep them awake? Are there distracting statues or posters in the room, or could you hang inspirational posters pertaining to your presentation?

Auditory

Sound or the audio environment can make or break your presentation. You can alter the entire mood of your speech dramatically with the right use of music. Playing some soft jazz when people are arriving can put your audience at ease. A bold musical background while you walk on stage to begin can give an extra boost of confidence and impact for the start of your presentation. Including a clip from a popular or humorous song, can help emphasize an important point. Think of well-known themes like jaws or star wars. Music can inspire, increase the energy in the room, or even encourage deep thinking, as has been proved with certain classical pieces of music.

Create Energy–Stir Emotions

In the end, you want to create energy in your audience. You want to get people involved and engaged throughout the duration of your workshop and most importantly, you want to stir their emotions. Tapping into people’s emotions is the only way you really influence them and help bring positive change to their lives because people change based on emotions. If they feel this is right for them, and sense this is the direction they need to move in, and they feel the energy you are communicating, they are going to be motivated to apply what you are teaching to their own lives.

Stop and think of the smell memories you have. Can you recall your grandma’s fresh baked apple pie or the smell of a cinnamon candle burning at Christmas time? Can you remember the smell of salt water at the beach? Those smell memories are probably linked with other strong memories, times in your life that had an emotional impact on you.

These are the experiences people remember, not the words spoken, but the environment and the atmosphere surrounding it, and how it made them feel and how it appealed to their senses. If you want to give a killer presentation, do not forget to tailor your environment for success.

There is a method of teaching called super learning or accelerated learning, which encourages the participants or students to get involved with their own learning. This participation is a key ingredient to helping people remember and retain the knowledge you are trying to impart to them, but how do you get people involved and then keep them involved for the duration of your workshop or presentation?

People remember how they felt

In general, people do not remember most of the information given in a public talk. They might remember a few of the main points, but what they certainly will remember is the impact you had on them. How did they feel when you spoke? Did you stir their emotions? What pictures did you paint for them? Which of their senses where stimulated during your talk? What did you look like while you were talking? What emotions, what personal image did you convey to your audience? The wilder, crazier, and more imaginative you get, the more your audience will remember.

Your workshop or presentation should be an experience for people. Get them involved by allowing them to run the workshops. You can act as the facilitator or supervisor while encouraging them to apply practically what you have just taught them.

Ask Questions

What are some of the other ways you can get them involved? Asking questions is one of the most effective ways to encourage participation. Even when you read, it is normal to answer the questions you read in your own mind. It is a simple way of engaging people in your topic. If this entire article were filled with questions, it would probably be impossible for you not to be thinking of answers as you read. So you see, by asking questions during your presentation, you get the listener to participate. Whether they are agreeing or disagreeing with you is irrelevant. The questions get them involved and keeps their attention. Does this
make sense?

Get them to Write

Creating homework or even assignments to be completed during the course of your presentation is another simple way to keep your audience engaged. Encourage your audience to make notes as you go or to write down specific phrases you want highlighted. For example if your workshop was on the subject of five things you need to do to make a new friend, you can ask them to keep track of the five points you are going to make by writing it down for themselves. This way, they are more personally invested in what you are sharing with them, and it makes it a more valuable learning experience.

Let’s face it: the majority of people had negative school experiences and you do not want to trigger those bad memories. Keep it fresh, entertaining and interesting and you will make an impact every single time. Incorporating games or fun activities that get your audience up on their feet, out of their chairs, and interacting with each other is a great way to ensure your presentation will be remembered.

At the end of the day people remember what was fun. They will come back for more if you get them involved and offer a presentation that is fun, well communicated and carries a strong emotional impact. Get them involved in their own learning and growth. By incorporating some of these simple ideas, you will dramatically increase the impact of your presentations.

The final aspect of effective communication is the visual component. In other words, the body language you use to express yourself while you are talking. All of the actions and little gestures you make with your hands and your face, the expressions you use while you talk, contribute to 55% of the overall impact you make on your audience. That is a significant component of the total message you are communicating to your audience.

If you think about it further, a hearing-impaired person in your audience would not need to worry excessively about the words you were speaking. He could focus on the 55% of the message you communicate through your body language and facial expressions. However, if a visually impaired was in the audience, he or she would be more impaired in understanding your message as they would miss receiving 55% of your presentation. he would be completely reliant on the other aspects of communication already discussed. Thinking of it this way can help highlight which areas of communication you should focus on improving.

Appealing to the Five Senses

However, in all cases, when communicating your message you need to appeal to people’s senses. The five senses are vital for communicating, as they are the five main ways we receive information from the world around us. The words you speak, the intonation and pitch or your voice–they are all received through the sense of hearing. How you present yourself visually, including your personal image and how you dress, along with the body language with which you communicate is all received through the sense of sight. In fact the input or information received through these two senses, sight and hearing, have a stronger impact on people that what they are simply thinking.

So let us look at both the verbal and visual aspects of communication. Clearly, the visual components are mainly comprised of your body language. But this is a broad area, including many different aspects. Your facial expressions speak volumesand clearly convey your emotions. Whether you are sad, or happy, glad to be there or reluctant, these emotions will show on your face and this can be used to your advantage in your presentation.

Deliberate Expression

If you want to emphasis a point, for example something distasteful, you can add extra emphasis by wrinkling your nose as if there was a bad smell in the air. This kind of acting and deliberate expression will engage people’s attention in an effective way because you will be appealing to their other senses, such as smell and taste, even if that reference is simply encouraging imagination. Indeed, painting word pictures for people that includes strong references to the five senses of touch, sight, smell, sound and taste is an effective way of helping them remember important information from your presentation.

Using your hands to gesture is also an effective part of body language, although it should be deliberate action, so as not to distract the audience with excessive movement. The only way you can truly know if you are over gesturing is to video record yourself and watch it back. Also, ask friends and family that you trust for their feedback. If there is a particular gesture you keep repeating, which is distracting, you can be certain they will let you know.

Nevertheless, used correctly, body language can be a great aid in your presentation. Do not be afraid to act out certain points. Movement catches people’s attention and helps keep the presentation moving along at a good pace. Acting out some of your points helps lighten the mood in the room, and people will be more receptive to what you are saying because you are engaging with them. Ask yourself which speaker you would prefer to hear. The one who stands rock still in one spot, talking in a monotone voice for the entire presentation or one who is dynamic to listen to and watch? I think I know what your answer would be…

One of the most important aspects of communication is the tone of voice used. This can encompass the volume at which you speak and the pace and pitch of the voice. Pace and pitch can communicate excitement, caution, or other emotions. For example, a higher pitch communicates excitement and happiness, a lower pitch communicates sadness. Pregnant pauses are also an effective way of highlighting a point and grabbing the audience’s attention. In fact, knowing how to use pregnant pauses effectively is perhaps even more important than the words chosen because of the impact they can have on the listeners.

Variety is the Key

When assessing your tone of voice and looking for ways to improve it while speaking, remember variety is the key. Mixing it up and varying all the different factors play a vital role in your communication. That is, the pace at which you speak, the pitch of your voice, and effectively using pregnant pauses. Imagine listening to someone who talks in monotone. It gets boring very quickly. If you want to keep your audience’s attention, you should vary your volume. Talk softly at times and loud at others. In fact, when you want to emphasize a point, sometimes speaking softly with a pregnant pause as a contrast can be a more effective way of driving home your point and making more of an impact on your listener.

The pace or speed at which you talk also plays an important role in your public speaking. An unfortunate side effect of nervousness can be that the speaker will speak at a very fast pace to try to get the presentation finished quickly. However, this is very uncomfortable to listen to and ineffective for communicating anything of substance, as the audience will miss the main points in the presentation. If you are feeling nervous, take a pregnant pause instead, and let them wait expectantly for your next point. This allows you a moment to gather your wits and refocus without the audience having any idea that you are nervous.

Getting Feedback

Unfortunately, many people do not have an honest picture of the level of emotion they actually communicate. You may think you are a passionate, high-energy speaker, but the only way to know for sure is to test it out. If you are nervous to speak in front of friends and family and to receive their feedback, then try recording yourself. A simple audio recording is a great way to assess the different variables of your voice intonation without your appearance or body language distracting you. In this current age of technology, it is relatively inexpensive to record into a computer with a simple microphone and to play it back. Do not be afraid to practice the same presentation multiple times until you feel you have found the best mix of variables in your voice for the greatest impact.

Once you are confident in your own ability, test your presentation or workshop on some people you know. They will give you honest feedback and you will probably be surprised and encouraged at people’s willingness to encourage you and give some constructive criticism. In the long run, it will help you improve and deliver the best possible presentations. The end results will be greater profit both to your listener and to your business.

When it comes to the delivery of your message, one of the most important points to bear in mind about getting your message out there is to forget your message. Stop worrying about your message, as it is not nearly that important. Of course, it is natural that you think your message is important. If you did not think that, you would not be giving your presentation in the first place.

Communication

However, when looking at interpersonal communication between people, communication is a broader topic than simply what you say. Visual communication- body language, your personal image and so forth- makes up 55% of your communication. Vocal communication- the pace at which you talk, the tone of voice you use, and the speed at which you talk- makes up 35% of your message. That leaves only 7% of your message being made up of verbal communication- the actual words that you speak.

If you consider all the effort you put into writing your presentation, the sum total of all the life experience you have gained, the hours of reading, study and education you have invested in your learning, mastering the practical application of those skills and choosing the best words to convey your message, all of that effort only contributes to 7% of your communication.

No one would blame you for wondering at this point why you should even bother putting a presentation together. However, the fact that words are only 7% of your message does not mean your words are not important. In fact, the message you share and the words you choose to convey your message are a powerful and influential tool on the hearts of your listeners. However, always remember that words are not the most important aspect of communicating your message.

Focus on the more important Aspects

One of the greatest contributors to stage fright is becoming overly concerned about saying exactly the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, and searching for the exact right words to perfect your message. However, that’s really not so important. How you present your message, how you stand, the body language and gestures you use while talking, making eye contact with your audience, expressing emotion in your body language, and so on- these are the more important aspects of communicating.

There are tools you can use to help you with the verbal aspect. We covered how using notes or a skeleton of main points you want to cover in your presentation is a wise idea to give you added confidence as well as flexibility to move around the stage more and connect with your audience. You can use software such as PowerPoint including pictures and written phrases that you can read straight from the screen. Perhaps you have a written script that you can read out. Alternatively, you might prefer to ad lib referring only to your main points as you talk.

Whichever method you choose, just remember it is only worth 7% of your total message. If you keep this in mind, it will help you keep it in perspective while choosing your words and remind you to focus more on what really counts: the delivery.