Archive for July, 2006

In the interim…

Still catching up from the National Speakers Association convention, where there is much to be gleaned on effective communications. And some not so effective. But while catching up, here’s a place to go for many weekly tips if you are interested in being at the top level of communicating – professionally or not. (Actually, we are all professional speakers if we manage, lead, sell, and otherwise earn a living.)

Subscribe to Speakernet News, put out by great people Rebecca Morgan and Ken Braly. You’ll find a nugget or two in each email issue. Here you go:http://www.speakernetnews.com/subscribe.html

Third and final day here at the National Speakers Association in Orlando. Can you imagine how noisy the rooms are with 1,700 professional speakers running around. All with a forward lean…

And the great thing about blogging is you find new resources – just an hour ago I found another blogger who is covering each speaker in detail – visit Ian Griffin, who has taken the pressure off. Now I can cover the highlights and lowlights and you can go to Ian for the chronology. (Please keep up the pace Ian.)

There is enough material for many posts in the next few weeks on the presention styles and content – let me mention two great workshops from today, and one big DON’T that all speakers – professionals included – should heed.

Doug Stevenson did a great job on developing Your Signature Story. This is not just for professionals, but most emphatically for business communicators. The big idea that we all should take to heart is that "Safe is a dangerous place to be." Doug demonstrates how to let it all out in your story – physical and emotional. A powerful concept is to not just narrate your story, but to be "in" the story. Act it out in the present. About 99% of storytellers just narrate – Doug says to maybe narrate 70% and be in the story with dialogue, movement, gestures and animation – acting it out – 30% of the time. Great concept. You can’t do that and be safe. Now for those business communicators – where 99% hide behind the numbers, or PowerPoints laden with text, or monotone concepts. Not effective, and not what you have to do. Let it out. "Safe is a dangerous place to be" if you want to make an impact.

And of course Doug was a great presenter – an accomplished speaker and actor in his past life, maybe we might expect that.

Kim Snider on the other hand is not what we expected. She is a very successful businesswoman and the founder of an investment firm and The Snider Investment Method. Yet when she presented she was not a boring, monotone business investment speaker. In her workshop she created an experience – one of poise, confidence, energy, control and great effectiveness. Naturally her movement, gestures, smile and dress were all on target. That was impressive!

But what topped it off was her content – she spoke on BLOGGING – who would have thought. Here is an expert in business, talking on another subject so expertly, and speaking like the professional speaker she is. Go to her blog now for a sample of one of three blogs, and a very good website. No wonder she’s so successful. You might email her for her blog tips in the very effective handouts at http://themethod.kimsnider.com/. You might even do business with her.

A Speaking Tip

In the next weeks there will be so many good things coming on what to do right as a speaker – communicating a communication experience, that I wanted to give at least one counterpoint of what NOT to do.

Don’t Hold The Clicker! I have been amazed that the great majority of speakers – all professionals – hold the clicker when they are using PowerPoints. Only one used a clicker and put it down when they weren’t clicking. The rest held it in hand, like so many business presenters, inhibiting gestures and basically using it like an unnecessary crutch. Not effective.

The first thing I’d recommend is having your laptop on the stage with you, and barring that if you have to use a remote, have the clicker taped down so you can walk to it when you want to move to the next image. If you’re disciplined, as most of these folks should have been and only one was, you can pick up and put down the clicker when you need to use it, but not clutch it eternally.

The most unprofessional behavior in this group of great professionals was "clicker clutch," and it does not have to be. (I’ll have a comment on the surprising rise of the "hand clultch" in a later post.

More to come…

My intention is to give daily posts on the exciting speakers here at the National Speakers Association in Orlando. And the lessons to be learned as well.

The relentless pace is getting the better of me, as I’ll keep my promise, but the posts will not be as meaty while it is going on for the next two days. But there is a lot of fodder for following posts.

Martha Williamson – who is one of the few here who is NOT a professional speaker, happened to give a classic speech. Actually, it was an experience, as any great speech will be. Martha was the creator and Executive Producer of the hit CBS TV Show Touched By An Angel, and she had the entire audience leap to a standing ovation. In tears. She was authentic, while being skilled. She stood out among professionals, and she doesn’t do it for a living. I’ll review her in detail later, as she was not only a master storyteller, but departed from her script to relate her personal story to the needs and interests of the audience. Very moving.

Two professionals who do speak for a living, and do a lot more as well, were highlights of today. If you ever get a chance to hear either Charlie "Tremendous" Jones or Nido Qubein – run, don’t walk to a seat in their audience. I am inspired by the spirit and soul of Charlie, and could sit at the feet of Nido and listen and learn.

More later.