The following mistakes will keep you from making the impact you should have and from being the speaker you should be. Be honest in evaluating whether you make the mistakes or not. Then, and only then, can you change them.
1. Don’t use too much set-up before you get into your story. This is a very common mistake I see most speakers make. Let the story be part of the set up and hook us in from the very beginning with a strong conflict.
2. Don’t say unnecessary words such as, “I thought to myself…” Well, who else can you think to?! Just say, “I thought…”
Another one I heard recently was, “I shared the stage with him before he passed away.” I think we’ll know it was before he passed away. The bad news is, guess when I heard this? It was when I listened to one of my own speeches. That’s right, I’m guilty. I said it. The lesson is to listen to your recorded speeches and see what extraneous words and phrases can be pulled.
3. Don’t leave a point in your speech without teasing for what’s coming next. This is especially important in training sessions when you have 10-15 minutes breaks. If you don’t sufficiently tease for what’s coming up after the break, some of your audience members might not return. Whether you’re giving a speech or a training session, always tease for what’s coming next.
4. Don’t give a speech without having one exact next step for your audience to take after the speech. This next step should have something to do with you. For example, I have given various speeches wherein the next step was to…
- Beccome 3 times the speaker you are today by visiting www.52SpeakingTips.com
- Keep your audience hooked by investing in my Storytelling Home-Study Course for speakers
- Earn an extra income by visiting www.certifiedspeakingcoach.com (the next class is not until 2012 so I wouldn’t have this as a next step until a few months before it began)
- See the books that changed my business and my life at www.CraigsBookshelf.com
- Sharpen your speaking skills with my free e-book at www.thebookonspeaking.com
- Friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, connect with my on LinkedIn, visit me on YouTube, etc.
Even if the next step is simply to visit your main website, make sure they have a good reason for doing so. The key is to limit your next step to one per speech. Offering several next steps confuses your audience and…
A confused mind says no but a clear mind says go
Keep it simple and clear.
My Bad Mistake – Just this weekend I had a speech to 500 salespeople at a national conference. At the last minute, my time was cut from 1 hour to 45 minutes. This is fine because I know how to easily adapt my keynote for the allotted time. The problem was I neglected to give my exact next step of visiting 52Speakingtips.com. Therefore, even though I had a good connection, I didn’t give them the chance to learn more from me. I left 500 potential new leads on the table with my mistake.
Lesson? No matter how much your time is cut, never cut the important next step you have for them. After all, it’s one of the reasons you gave the speech in the first place.
5. Don’t schedule the length of your speech to fit the allotted time. For example, if you are called to speak for 45 minutes, do not plan for 45 minutes. Instead, plan for between 35 and 38 minutes. Why? Because someone will have to introduce you and that takes a few minutes. In addition, it usually takes a few minutes for your audience to settle in before the program begins. Finally, it’s absolutely okay (even advantageous) to finish a bit early. Why? Because you will leave them wanting more instead of wishing they heard less. You want your audience to say, “I could listen to you all day,” rather than, “I feel like I listened to you all day.”
Plus, many event coordinators underestimate how much time is needed to go from one segment of the event to the other. Finishing a couple of minutes early is helpful for them to keep the meeting back on track.
6. Don’t speak to your wants but to their needs. For example, I have a speech coming up very soon and I want to use a couple of my favorite stories. However, those are not what they need to hear. As a result, I am cutting my favorites and going with the best fit. This might seem obvious to do but, believe me, when you develop stories that hit home-runs with certain audiences, it’s very tempting to use those with other audiences even if it has to stretch to fit. Don’t.
A great story that doesn’t fit is worse than a good story that does
7. Don’t forget that speaking involves a series of scenes. If you find yourself speaking for several minutes and you have not brought your audience into another scene, chances are your content is becoming loose and your audience is becoming lost. Why? Because your audience does not just want to listen to you, they want to experience you. Stories provide that experience as long as your audience feels like part of the scene.
Great points. The last three poins about; declaring the audiences next step, remember their needs in the speech and not your wants, and lastly remember to keep the speech moving and interesting by changing scenes. You do a very good job of reminding us of the points that will make our speeches shine.
Beca Harris
Thank you Beca! That’s the thing about speaking, so often we just need reminders to keep us on the right track.
I would like to add a few,
Don’t say ‘uhhh..’ or ‘hang on a minute’ when something is wrong, when you just pause for a few seconds nobody will notice the delay.
Don’t stand clumsy – stand proud, enthusiastic and brimming with energy. I’ve seen countless of people standing wrong on stage, which in turn influences their actual energy when speaking.
Don’t forget to introduce yourself properly. Unless you are a fantastic speaker and people will listen anyway, it is nice for people to know whom they are listening to and if the ideas he/she tells hold any credibility. Note, it doesn’t have to be told immediately at the start.
Don’t speak continuously in general ideas or motives, go from clear examples or stories to a broader idea. If you tell people your grand idea, without telling the story behind it (why they should follow it) they just won’t follow it.
Don’t downgrade a team effort. Countless of times I’ve seen an individual presenting a group work, and often when they are criticized, he or she admits it could have been better, which is terrible for the group. The presenter should be a great advocate of the group’s work, and even when pitched in a corner by certain questions, refrain back to the group’s idea. In the worst case, one should announce to delay the question until the group has a time to discuss it, instead of the individual presenter admitting a mistake in public.
Overall, I like the tips and your other blogs very much. I hope I can improve my storytelling more, which I still find difficult when speaking. For the rest, the ‘Next Step’ part is very important (even in some common conversations) in order to make real progress.
Harm, thank you very much for adding value to this post. Your ideas are very meaningful and will be effective for any presenter.
I especially like the one about introducing yourself properly but not having to do it all at once. One of the ideas I learned as a trainer doing 2-day long sessions was to spread those credibility pieces out throughout the program rather than doing it all at the beginning. For example, I after the first couple of hours, I might say, “What you’re about to pick up now is the main reason for me becoming the 3-Time Salesperson of the Year…” This way it’s not a list of credentials up front. Instead, it’s sprinked throughout and only stated when it’s relevant to the next point I am about to make.
Great thoughts!
Craig
You’re still my hero, buddy 🙂 And you’re the most recommended speaker /teacher I have. Thanks for the continued tips. Glad I met you at that Toastmaster Fall Conference in 2008. Hope it won’t be the last time because you, sir, were instrumental in changing my life. Have an awesome day.
Thanks Kelvin. I still remember that day very well and I appreciate the fact that we’ve stayed in touch for the past few years. I hope the photography is going well and I wish you the best with your speeches.
Craig
Number 5 is a tough one, Craig. The hardest part I have in writing and delivering a speech is editing down to fit the time slot. In a year and a half of TM, I have hit my time assignment once… Part of the problem is that I speak a little slower pace than most people. Either I need to reduce the content or learn to pick the tempo a bit. You are correct that it is an important point, but one that I struggle with.
I also agree with Number 6. Many times I will come up with a clever or well written phrase, that I really want to use. Sometimes, I know it has to go because it doesn’t quite fit the message, but it is a little painful to give it up. Everything is subordinate to the core message.
Thanks for the article.
Thanks Mark for sharing that struggle. The problem with a lot of speakers is they tend to say too much before the story or after the story. If the story is well told, the point should be easy to get across quickly and the set-up to the story shouldn’t really be needed. This cuts time significantly.
The first time I ever listened to any of the Toastmasters World Champions’ winning speeches I was astonished first of all by how much they seemed to pack into the 5 – to – 7 minute format. It wassn’t just that I was profoundly moved by their content but they delivered it with such multi-sided, overlapping effectiveness. They each applied a kind of ruthlessness to the selection of detail – only the right words, the right raise of an eyebrow, the right pause, the correct inflection made it through to the final version. Like making a world-class movie, tons got left on the cutting room floor.
Craig, you just showed a little of how the cutting happens. The steps you offer are doable by anybody with the patience, the persistence to get it done.
What jumped out of that list was step 6. If nothing else, it takes guts to pass up the seductive temptation of a good story that almost is great because it is almost appropriate.
Greatness demands ruthlessness!
Arnold Kunst
Thank you Arnold. I appreciate it. TI is a great place to see these tools at work!
Hello Craig
Its my honour to write to you, am just 14 years old and I entered the international toast masters trainning programme in SriLanka and I have been selected to enter the toast master contest next year(2012), please would’nt you mind if you could give me a few tips or examples of a few phrases with humour in it.
regards
From Rakbo
Congratulations Rakbo for starting with speaking so early in life. That’s great! If you go to 52Speakingtips.com, you will get one tip per week. They will help you reach the next level.