Audiences remember what they see and what you say. As you watch the following video of me coaching another speaker, you will pick up 7 Secrets that will help you…
- Breathe life into every story/speech
- Uncover organic humor
- Make your message memorable
7 Speaking Secrets
Secret #1: Don’t be the hero of your own story (figure out who influenced you)
Secret #2: Move with a purpose so that you don’t step all over your scenes. The main reason for moving on stage is to relate to the action in your story. The action in your story prompts your movement on stage. If your story is about being on an airplane, chances are there is not too much movement. If you do move anywhere, it would probably simulate walking up or down the airplane aisle but it wouldn’t likely be walking side to side. The key is to set up a scene and then bring us into it. If you’re not in it emotionally and physically (re-living it), we will not be in it either.
If you are not emotionally in your scene, we will not be in it either
Secret #3: Use inner dialogue. This helps to build the conflict and the conflict is the hook to your story. If you can let us know how the conflict is growing in your own mind, we will feel close to you and identify with your thoughts. Why? Because, chances are, we’ve had thoughts like those at times.
Secret #4: Never add humor to a speech. Uncover humor within it. Look into the lines of dialogue for the humor. And here’s a secret. It’s not always about the line. It’s often about the look before and after the line that makes it humorous or makes it heartfelt. As my good friend, Darren LaCroix says, “Reactions tell the story.” Where do you find the humor? You find it in the dialogue of your characters.
Secret #5: Don’t tell; ask. Audiences do not want to be told about themselves. For example, you don’t want to say, “We’re all overwhelmed…” Instead, ask, “Raise your hand if you feel overwhelmed.” And, actually, there’s a better question to ask. If you want a more inclusive question, don’t just ask about today. Ask about “ever.” For example, “Have you ever felt overwhelmed?” Or “Raise your hand if you have ever felt overwhelmed.” The word “ever” will get many more hands up because people might not feel overwhelmed today but they’ve most likely felt overwhelmed sometime in their lives. Use “ever” in your questions.
Secret #6: Speak to one but look to all (more on this in an upcoming week).
Secret #7: To be a great speaker, you need to be a great tease. Tease them before you tell them. Doesn’t food taste great when you’re hungry? Make your audience hungry for what’s to come and they’ll appreciate it more.
Your Turn
Which one of these secrets can you use immediately to help you transform your speech and your audiences?
great video and lesson..i love this format!
Also, on a side note, I liked how the critique was about not moving too much and crushing the scene that you set. I thought I’d mention how great it was that when Craig said “there’s not much movement you can do, Paul” and then followed that up with acting like he was sitting in a plane seat. The way Craig portrayed sitting in a seat was in itself “action”. He managed, without words, to remind us what it’s like to be on a plane and he did it with very little actual motion. Good job Paul and thanks for letting Craig share this.
Thanks Gary. Great insight!
Great coaching, and I like Gary’s comment about moving.
Thanks Rena.
All these secrets bring the speech to life. I would say the dialogue is the most important. It elicits vocal variety by giving the characters different voices and by expressing the emotion of the moment. The voice would have to naturally change as the emotion changes. As far as uncovering humor it looks like the speaker can dig down into the conversation and come up with a funny realization that he may not have voiced at the moment – e.g. “ Oh no I got to get 2 women to say yes to me in one day !” Looks like the speaker has some leeway here.
I evaluated an Icebreaker speech this week “Whatever happens, happens for the Best!” was the title. The speaker had read a story when she was in the 6th grade that became her life’s philosophy. She narrated the story at the beginning of her speech. I encouraged her to present the story more in dialogue – (she had used some ), there were 2 characters so there was room for 2 voices and the emotions would have come out more powerfully. I’ve been encouraging dialogue so much as an evaluator now that my club members know me as the “ dialogue” champion.
Fred, I love it. Being the “dialogue” champion is a good thing! Make sure you keep letting people know not to go back and forth too much (i.e. 4, 5, 6 times) between characters. Instead, they should pick out the most powerful lines and just go back maybe once or twice. That way the dialogue will stick.
Hey Craig!!
That is a great video learning!! Never thought there would be such a huge learning in such a short speaking. Thanks Paul, If I had been at your place, my performance would have been the same.
Now its gonna get from good to great!!
The most Important learnings were
1. Dont move without a purpose (dont crush your own scene)
2. Dont tell, ASK.
3. Use dialogues in your story!
Great going Craig!!
You’re welcome Tushar. Those are good takeaways. Keep up the great work.
Thanks, Craig.
You taught us how to effectively get the audience involved in the evaluation process… something we can definitely use in giving evaluations at Toastmasters. I’ll be watching this video over and over to see and hear how you masterfully engage your audience.
Also, thank you for sharing your Seven Speaking Secrets. You are the best, Craig!
Hi Craig
FANTASTIC idea to use a coaching video to demonstrate your advice (I hope you can put up some more in the future!). It really makes the important points hit home, and seeing an imperfect speech being improved (rather than watching you delivering your pretty-much-perfect speeches – please take that as a compliment!!) is a great way to learn from mistakes that we all make ourselves.
I was happy to find myself guessing which areas you’d pick up on, and how to fix them, even before you said it – which of course comes from listening to all of your tips many times over!!
Thanks again for everything!
Thanks Kathryn. That is great feedback and I will continue to put some more of these up in various formats. Thanks a bunch!