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January 2011 |
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Communication Skills
Tips from My Winter Vacation. |
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Joey Asher
President's
Perspective |
This winter vacation, my family spent two days in
Sedona, AZ, two days at the Grand Canyon, and two days
in Las Vegas. Every stop taught us something about
communication.
Lesson 1. Money motivates.
When I walked through the casino at our hotel in Las
Vegas, I speculated that I could pay for the entire trip
with a lucky streak. Filled with hope, I put a five
dollar bill in the slot machine. My money was gone so
fast that I was certain the machine had malfunctioned.
“No darling,” said the women with the oxygen tubes in
her nose sitting next to me. “You just lost it all.”
Thus ended my gambling career. But I was the
exception. The casinos were packed 24/7. Money
motivates. If you want people to buy into your idea,
tell them how it will grow revenues, reduce costs or
otherwise make them rich.
Lesson 2. Inspiration also motivates.
The main attraction in Sedona isn’t the gorgeous desert
scenery. It’s the New Age “vortices” in the area. A
couple in our bed and breakfast traveled from Japan to
experience the energy and inspiration from one
particular vortex.
So if you can’t show your listeners how your idea will
make them rich, show how it will bring personal
fulfillment and connection with the universe.
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Garrison Keillor on Public Speaking: Don't Read Notes.
Just "Trust Yourself". |
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When
radio personality and writer Garrison Keillor delivers his weekly
15-minute monologue “News from Lake Wobegone”, he speaks without
notes.
How
does he do it? He says it’s a combination of trusting himself and
always knowing where his message is headed.
When
interviewed recently about how he speaks note-free, he said, “I
think if you have an ending in mind, if you have a beginning and an
ending in mind, you’re pretty much there.”
Keillor has been the host of the popular radio program “A Prairie
Home Companion” since 1974. His note-free monologues are delivered
to 4 million weekly listeners.
Speaking to a reporter at
“Worthwhile” magazine,
Keillor explained “As long as you start here and you’re going to go
there, you really find some interesting ways of getting there. If I
blank, which I do often, I can always find something back there in
my memory to kind of tide me over. You learn this art of circular
talking and holding pattern and just go around in circles. Then you
remember where you’re going to go.”
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“No No's” To Avoid at the Beginning of
Your Speech. |
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You’re standing in front of a group of fifty people.
Your heart is pounding. Your palms are sweating. You’re
about to begin your big presentation. What you say next
can put you on the path to success or set you off on a
downward spiral that will make you and your audience
miserable.
How can you ensure that you don’t start off badly?
At Speechworks, we tell our clients a few don’ts:
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Don’t apologize.
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Don’t tell a joke.
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Don’t beat around the bush.
Don’t apologize
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to start by telling you
that I’m not really a very good speaker. And I’m really
nervous. So I hope that you’ll bear with me.”
That’s the absolute worst way to begin. You never want
to start with an apology for your own anxiety or even
worse, lack of preparation (“I’m sorry I’m a little
disorganized this morning but I just got word that I was
supposed to speak yesterday.”) Apologies put the
audience on the defensive. Your audience thinks, “This
is going to be another bad speech that I have to
endure.” You’ve now made it more difficult to connect
with your audience.
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Three Things Needed to be an Effective Speaker. |
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Many
presentation skills books and workshops will give you dozens of
“tips” to help you be a better presenter. You can get advice on how
to hold your hands, how to make your voice more interesting, how to
tell a story, how to stand, how to walk, etc.
But
all those tips can obscure the more important point, which is that
presenting is about “connection, not perfection.” We think there are
only three things you need to focus on.
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Learn to Speak Like Winston Churchill. |
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"If
Churchill had a speechwriter in 1940, Britain would be speaking
German today.”
When
Churchill scholar James C. Humes, wrote those words, he meant that
by writing his own speeches, Churchill became more emotionally
invested than if the words were written for him.
At
Speechworks, we couldn’t agree more. The key to giving a great
speech is delivering it with passion. It’s hard to do that when
you’re just mouthing someone else’s words. That’s why our workshops
don’t just focus on how to deliver a presentation. We also teach how
to create great messages.
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