Venus Explains the Atom in terms the kid can understand

Enjoy this video clip from WKRP in Cincinnati. Powerful example of explaining a complex subject in simple terms. Talk in a way that your listener understands. Use their perspective.




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Danger of a Single Story - TED talk video - passionate speaker

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Tell your boring message in an entertaining way

You can tell a boring message in a creative and exciting way.


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SP Tip # 79: Distance yourself from a bad idea...

Distance Yourself From a Bad Idea

Bad ideas in the past

There might be times when you want to persuade your audience to change. You can use logic, stories, charts and success stories to move them. Here is a subtle technique that can help you.
You physically position the good from the bad.

How do you do that?
You move from left to right. Be sure to move left to right as your audience sees it - not your left to right. You will have to rehearse this to get it right.

Good ideas in the future

Why does this work?
European based languages, including English, reads from left to right. Therefore we have been conditioned since we first started to read to assume that progress moves from left to right.
We read text from left to right to discover more, to learn what happens next and are rewarded with the answers to our questions. Hence the simple act of moving our eyes from left to right tends to build our expectations of progress and good things.

When presenting, you can use this to your advantage by placing bad ideas, the status quo or the past on your right side. That is the left side for the audience.

You can also do this by holding your right hand out or taking a step to your right when you talk about the bad ideas. That visually places the bad idea in the past to acknowledge it while guiding the audience to move on to better things.

Then you show progress by taking a step to your left or holding out your left hand when you talk about good ideas. You place the idea you are selling in the future to encourage acceptance.
You can use this technique to place objections, past failings or criticism's on your right (the audience's left) and hence in the position of bad ideas.

You can use this technique to position a question or idea as bad or good just by your physical movement without saying a word.

Of course, when you speak in the Middle East you need to remember that they read from right to left.

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SP Tip # 78: Four Ways to Transform Your Presentation into a Conversation

 

Four Ways to Transform your Presentation into a Conversation

 



Which feels more inviting to you - "Let's talk" or "I'm going to deliver a speech"?

Most of us don't want to hear another lecture or a pitch. But we are more inclined to participate in a conversation.

Deliver your presentation like a conversation and your audience will feel more engaged and less like prisoners. Hence they will trust you more and listen better. Therefore they are more likely to remember and act on your message.

What are the critical elements of a good conversation that you can use in your presentation?

Language
Imagine that you are talking to one person. Use the word "you" which is both singular and plural. Use "you" more often than the word "I" so your message is about them not you.
Avoid these phrases: "Welcome everyone", "Does anybody have a question?" and "You guys". Those mob words distance you from the audience by placing a barrier between you and them. You wouldn't use those words when talking to one person. Talk to one person.

Eye contact
Look at a single person when you speak. Move your glance from one person to another so that you are almost always talking to a single individual. You might need to glance at your notes, but don't waste time staring at the back wall, the floor or your slides. Talk to people. That individual eye contact will make them feel like they are part of an intimate conversation.

Questions
A good conversation includes good questions. Ask good questions of your audience and listen to their answers. Don't annoy them by repeatedly asking them to raise their hands. Invite questions from the audience and address their concerns. Be sure to pose rhetorical questions for the concerns that they might have - then answer them. That feels conversational.

Pause
A good conversation contains moments of silence. Allow the audience to absorb your message in silence. That demonstrates respect and allows them to internalize your message. Sprinkle pauses throughout your presentation.

The best experience for people in your audience is when they felt "the speaker was talking directly to me".

Don't deliver a lecture - engage in a conversation with each individual in your audience.

George Torok

 ps: 

Call to arrange for me to speak at your conference, corporate event or sales meeting.  
905-335-1997 

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Superior Presentations Tip #77: What’s the purpose of your presentation?

What’s the purpose of your presentation?

Presentations fail when the presenter doesn’t understand the real purpose.

Presenters have told me that their plan was to speak for 30 minutes, cover all the material or represent their company. Some confessed that their goal was to deliver their message, prove their point or receive a standing ovation. Executives and managers said that they needed to report the latest numbers, update the board or bring everyone up to date.

Each of those is a poor description of the presentation purpose. Why? Because those are speaker focused. And if you define success based on the speaker and not the audience the presentation will almost always fail.

You must define your presentation success in terms of the audience. The only valid reason to speak – especially in business – is to move your audience. Every presentation is a step in advancing the group.

Here is the critical question you must ask yourself before every presentation:

What do you want people to think, feel or do after your presentation?

Design, deliver and evaluate your presentation on the answer to that question.

The real purpose of speaking is to move people. If you moved them in the direction you intended your presentation was successful. The level of success is determined by how many moved and how far they moved.

If all you did was cover the material, the presentation was for you and not the audience. That makes it a failure.

Perhaps you want:

Front line staff to adopt a different approach with customers

Association members to volunteer for committees
Investors to contribute more funds
Shoppers to buy
Voters to support you

Be clear about your purpose and be able to state it clearly so everything you do contributes to your success.

The purpose of speaking is not to speak; it’s to move people.

Design, deliver and measure the success of your presentation based on what you want people to think, feel or do.

 

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Superior Presentations 74: Tell Colorful Stories Because...

Tell Colorful Stories

Stories in your presentation can paint pictures in the minds of your audience and connect emotionally.

Notice the visuals in this story and feel the emotional connection.

At the age of seven my son, Chris, started playing mini soccer. The field was tiny to accommodate the youngsters' short legs, stamina and attention span. The goal posts were fluorescent orange pylons set about five feet apart. The kids hadn't grasped teamwork so they clustered around the ball like bees around a flower as the ball rolled aimlessly around the field. You almost never saw the ball but you knew it was inside that moving cluster.

At one game you can imagine my pride and excitement when I noticed my son, Chris standing downfield in position to shoot on goal. Incredibly the ball escaped the cluster and rolled lazily towards Chris. I excitedly jumped up and down on the sidelines yelling, "Chris, get the ball! Chris, shoot the ball!" He moved awkwardly towards the ball then stopped. He ignored the ball and my sideline antics. Instead he stared up in the sky in a catatonic state. Incredibly, every player on the field also stopped running and did the same. My curiosity overcame my frustration and I looked up along with every parent on the sidelines. I half expected to see the alien mother ship hovering over the field. Instead there was the most perfect rainbow I've ever seen. It curved from one horizon to the other. The bands were vibrant in all their colors from red through to violet.

The referee knew when to admit a losing battle. He blew his whistle and announced, "Time out. One minute to look at the rainbow." A minute later he blew the whistle again and called, "Play on." The game resumed. I don't remember if Chris scored a goal that game or who won. That seemed unimportant after the rainbow.

What did you see while reading that story? Notice how the words in the story can plant vivid images in your mind.

Did you see the rainbow?

Did you see me jumping on the sidelines?

Did you see the cluster of children following the soccer ball?

You don't need slides to convey images. You can do it with colorful stories.

What did you feel?

Did you feel both my excitement and frustration as a parent?

Did you feel the beauty of the rainbow moment?

Did you feel as if you were there?

An effective story conveys images and emotion. Those are the two most important senses to reach your audience. They also make it easier for people to remember your message.

Inject more color and emotion to your stories.

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Bill Gates - still not a confident public speaker

Just because you are rich doesn't make you a good public speaker.

Bill Gates is one of the richest guys in the world. He is successful. He is a brilliant thinker. Yet he isn't a good public speaker. 

The reason I tell you that is because none of those things gurantee public speaking brilliance. That means that the lack of financial success need not limit your public speaking success.

I watched Bill Gates speak at an event in Toronto about ten years ago. He was cleary uncomfortable about being on stage. He was accompanied by two others on stage while he talked. They all sat on stools. Bill didn't allow any humor about himselt - only about the competion and Windows.

In this video, as Bill Gates speaks to Harvard graduates, he pokes fun at himself. But he reads his speech, which is suprising, because he's telling his personal story. He doesn't need to read it because he lived it. He does demonstrate good pacing and pausing to allow for the laughter.

Bill Gates still isn't comfortable speaking in public but he's getting better.







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Superior Presentations 71: How many times should you repeat...

 Repeat your key message

If you want your audience to remember your key message, you’ll need to say it at least three times during your presentation.

Your key message is likely summed up in about three to ten words. Average speaking speed is between 110 and 150 words per minute. That means in a five minute presentation about 500 to 700 words were spoken but only ten were critical. Your key message could be lost in that sea of words.

If you only stated your key message once and all your words were equally weighed, there would be at best a 2 percent chance of anyone remembering your key message.

Yes, there are other techniques to emphasize your key message which you should also use. Repeating your key words is the simplest way.

By repeating your key message at least once, you’ve doubled the emphasis and increased the memorability. State your key message three to five times and people will tend to hear it and remember it.

Most of us need to hear a phrase, message or name several times before we remember it. Perhaps you’ve met someone at a meeting and then forgotten their name before the end of the meeting. When you want to commit important information to memory you should probably repeat it several times.

Marketers know this principle. That’s why a 30-second radio or TV ad will mention the product or company name a few times. That’s also why one promotion never seems enough.

You probably remember the key phrase from the famous speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. – I have a dream. It would be difficult to forget because he stated it 11 times during that speech.

Here are three ways for you to use this technique:

Repeat your key message like a refrain, as in “I have a dream”.

Capture the key message within a rhetorical question and then answer using the key words, e.g. why is it important to exercise? It’s important to exercise because…

Use slight variations in the wording so the phrase doesn’t appear overdone. e.g. In this tip,  message, words and phrase have been interchanged.

If there’s one thing for you to remember from this tip, it is: “repeat your key message”.

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Tell a Personal Story and Tell it Well - opportunities will rush up to you

Richard Turere, a 12-year-old Masai boy from Kenya invented a simple yet effective device to keep the lions from eating the family herd of cows that he was charged to watch.

Because of the success of that device he was asked to conquer a bigger fear - to speak in public at a TED event. He was a shy 12-year-old boy asked to speak in front of hundreds of people. English wasn't his first langauge and he was travelling to a distant land for the first time in his life.

Watch this TED video to hear his story and more importantly learn from the story telling techniques that he used very well. You probably need to watch this video more than once because it will be difficult to notice techniques while you are entranced by his story.




What did you notice?

He employed a conversational tone - no preaching or bragging.
He spoke without notes. That's one benefit of telling a personal story. You lived it. You simply need to replay the memories.
He spoke slowy.
He set up the problem and importance quickly.
This was a life and death issue.
He allowed his emotions to show.
He revealed his thoughts, struggles and joy.
He used only a few images that aided his story.
He paused when the audience laughed. 
He smilled.


You can read the story behind this TED talk as told by Chris Anderson, Curator of TED in this article How to Give a Killer Presentation on Havard Business Review.

The article also provides excellent tips on giving a TED talk or business presentation.



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Superior Presentations 69: Don't Speak at the Audience, Instead...

Speak to One Person at a Time

 

 

If you want to connect with the people in your audience you need to talk to each person one at a time. Each person needs to feel, "The speaker is talking to me!"

How do you accomplish that?

With direct eye contact and the right language.

 

Eye Contact

 

Imagine having lunch with a colleague who is sitting directly across the table from you. Throughout the 45-minute lunch that person never looks at you - not while you are talking or even while that person is talking to you. That person looks at the meal, out the window or at other people in the restaurant. Apparently you don't deserve even a sideways glance. How would you feel?

Now imagine how your audience might feel if you don't look at them. It's not enough to look at them as a group. Instead you must look a person directly in the eyes. As you deliver your presentation don't deliver a speech to the crowd. Instead make it appear that you are having many one-on-one conversations. Deliver a sentence or phrase to one person then connect with another, then another - until each person in the room feels that "The speaker spoke to me." You can enhance the feeling by occasionally smiling at an individual.

You might need to check your notes or your slides occasionally but make it a point to be looking at an individual 80% of the time.

 

Conversational Language

Use language that talks to an individual.

The most important word that helps you establish the one-to-one connection is the word "you". Say, "I'm happy to see you today." "Here's how this will help you." "You might be wondering how this works."

Don't say "you guys". That's trailer trash talk. It's okay when chatting with buddies at the bar but not for a business presentation. In addition it's treating your audience as a mob not individuals.

Construct and deliver every sentence as if you were talking to one person. When you look at a person, imagine that person is the only one you are talking to.

Avoid using these mob words: anybody, everybody and crowd.

How is everybody today? That's bad for two reasons. It lumps the people into a mob. It's also a dumb question because no one can speak for everybody.

Does anybody have a question? That's similar to everybody. It's a mob word and it's a dumb question.

What might you say instead? How are you today? Do you have a question?

Notice the difference.

Don't deliver a speech at your audience. Instead connect with each person by engaging in many one-on-one conversations.

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Superior Presentations 65: Omit Your Hard Luck Story

From George Torok

The audience doesn't care about your hard luck story - unless it's funny. Even if it is funny, don't tell a story unless it makes a point that supports your message.

The speaker began his presentation by telling us that he had crossed three time zones to speak to us this morning. I'm not sure if he was bragging or complaining. There seemed no point to his tale. It didn't relate to his topic. Perhaps he was explaining why his presentation might be substandard. Perhaps he simply wanted a little sympathy.

Curious, he was there to sell his product and he seemed to be groveling.

He continued to relate his travel story by admitting that he instructed the taxi to take him to the wrong hotel. Clearly he had not checked and confirmed details.

There was no point to this story so why did he tell it. Did he believe that this was a good opening? Did he think that he was establishing rapport with this story that illustrated his ineptitude?

It wasn't funny. Instead, it lowered his credibility while boring us right from the start.

Fortunately for him his product was way more interesting than he or his presentation. Yes, sometimes the audience is astute enough to see past the ineptitude of the presenter. But you can never count on that luck.

Recently I experienced my own travel frustrations on the way to a morning presentation. I planned to take the commuter train and arrive about 45 minutes before the start of my presentation.

Because of Murphy (what can go wrong will go wrong) my train was taken out of service and the next train was delayed by a medical emergency. I walked into the packed meeting room as the MC started to read my introduction and began my presentation at the scheduled time.

The audience didn't need to know about my journey. That wasn't why they were there. So I didn't mention the delay to them. I quietly talked with the organizer to dispel his anxiety.

The presentation went well. Part of the reason was that I focused on the audience and my intended message and not on the frustrations of the morning journey.

Sometimes a story from your journey might help your presentation but be sure it does before you tell it.

George Torok

PS: This incident also served as a reminder to have the phone number and email of the contact in my BlackBerry.

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How to Start Your Sales Presentation

An effective way to start your sales presentation is with a success story. That story should be a true account of how your solution helped a past client. Keep the story as short as possible. Include the obstacle, your solution and the results. Numbers solidify the story. For example I often use the story about how I helped my client close a $10 Million deal.

Yes you should have the permission of the successful client to tell their story. For the sake of privacy, you might not mention the client’s name. Instead you might mention the type of business.

Your audience should be able to relate to your client and see themselves in your story. A story about what you did for Apple might not connect with members of a farm co-operative.

After relating the success story talk about this prospect’s situation and how you might be able to help them.

At this point your listeners will either be keenly interested or not at all. In either case you will know what to do next. If they are not interested, pack up and leave. Don’t waste time continuing the rest of your prepared presentation. If they are interested, it might be time for some question and answer.

Notice those simple yet effective two steps to open your sales presentation.

Don’t take the winding yet well-worn path that many sales presentations blindly stumble along.

They start talking about their company, the president, the founder’s story, their mission statement and their personal history with the company.

None of those things are important to your prospects.

Yet many sales presentations are designed that way.

There is likely only one person who might like to hear that nonsense – the president of your company. Too many sales presentations are designed to placate the president and not to capture the attention of the prospect.

Another benefit of leading with your success story is that your presentation can be much shorter and still succeed. The client whom I helped win the $10 Million deal was allotted 60 minutes by the prospect. But my client delivered a 12-minute deal-closing presentation.

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Five Habits of Highly Effective Public Speakers

You can consistently deliver more effective presentations if you develop the habits of highly effective speakers. Success is a matter of habit.

Clear Purpose

Start your presentation with the end in mind. The only reason to speak is to move people. So start preparing by thinking about this question. What do you want people to think, feel or do after you speak? Keep that purpose top of mind as you prepare and deliver your presentation.

Prepare

Don’t wing your presentation or hope to think on your feet. That’s a formula for disaster. Instead consider the mind set of your audience. Design your presentation. Rehearse it. Arrive early to check out the room. Be prepared to cut it short or deal with interruptions. Rehearse dealing with difficult questions.

Open & Close

There are three parts of your presentation – the opening, the body and the close. They are not equal in time but each is important. Many speakers make the mistake of only focusing on the body. The opening of your presentation needs to grab the attention of your audience, establish rapport and set the direction. The close is the last thing you say and hence might be the strongest thing they remember. Ensure that it reinforces your message and what you want them to do next.

Pause

Nervous and novice speakers are afraid of silence. Yet, silence is your friend. You don’t persuade anyone by speaking constantly, rapidly and louder. You persuade them by saying something poignant then pausing while they absorb and consider your words. The more often and longer that you pause the more confident you will appear and the more comfortable they will feel with your ideas.

Conversation

The most important point is that your presentation should not feel like a pitch or a lecture. If you come across that way people will tune you out and resent you. So, how do you make your presentation feel more like a conversation? Do the things that you enjoy in a friendly conversation. That will include some of the techniques above – telling stories, pausing and making friendly eye contact. Here’s one more technique to have the conversation – ask questions of the group and listen without judging. Also punctuate your presentation with rhetorical questions to repeatedly engage their minds.

We are creatures of habit. You can be more successful when presenting by following these habits of highly effective speakers.

© George Torok is The Speech Coach for Executives and the author of the Superior Presentations program. He coaches executives and trains business professionals to deliver million dollar presentations. Discover free tips and presentation resources at www.SpeechCoachforExecutives.com Arrange for personal speech coaching or a training program by calling 905-335-1997 Find more presentation ideas at the blog www.Speechcoach.ca

 

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Superior Presentations 64: How to Handle Questions about Your Flaws

Handle Questions About Your Flaws

Let's admit the truth. None of us is perfect. There are no perfect products. No system is perfect. No organization is perfect.

So don't pretend to be perfect or try to project an image of perfection to your clients, colleagues or the public. I didn't say that you need to reveal all your flaws. Just don't defend when someone points out a mistake. Admit the error and move on.

If you are not perfect this means that you made some mistakes along the way. And someone will point out that past failure, complain about poor performance or challenge you on a flaw.

You might have heard the analogy that an airplane is off course 80% of the time. The pilot or autopilot needs to keep adjusting to get to the destination. As long as you arrive safely at the destination you probably don't care how many course corrections were made.

Consider these three scenarios:

You are speaking to a group of clients to launch a new product or promote a program. A person in the audience loudly grumbles about defective product in the last shipment.

You are training staff how to use a new technology. An individual points out that this is inferior technology and your competition has already upgraded.

You are reporting the status of a project to a management committee. An astute manager reminds the group about past failed promises and questions your capability as a project leader.

How can you handle these unfriendly questions?

The first thing is to focus on your destination not on the errors or course corrections.

If you focus on the flaw, the danger is that you might trap your thinking into defending the flaw. If you do that, you will appear guilty.

Instead, break the question or challenge into at least two parts.

Step One - Admit the truth

Say, "I hear two questions there. The first question is 'Is our system perfect? The answer is no. We have experienced an X percent defect rate. That is better than the industry average but we still want to improve. That's why we invested Y dollars in process improvement over the past five years."

Acknowledge the flaw and explain what you are doing to address it.

Step two - Accentuate the positive

The second question I heard is "Does our warranty program continue to be the best in the industry? The answer is yes. If you haven't yet reported this issue then I'm happy to help you resolve this setback."

Sometimes there might be a third question.

The third question is "How can you help our team successfully complete this project?" Then you tell the committee exactly what you want from them.

Most reasonable people simply expect you to acknowledge the truth and tell them what you are doing to fix things.

George Torok

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Superior Presentations 63: Why Tell Stories?

Superior Presentations 63: Why Tell Stories?

Have you noticed that the best presenters tell stories?

You can improve the power of your presentations by including more stories.

Three reasons to tell more stories when you present.

It's Easier for You

Notice how easy it is for you to tell a story when chatting with a friend. You didn't need to memorize it and you didn't need notes - because you lived it. It's a simple matter of replaying the memory recording within your brain.

Your natural passion will often be revealed when relating a personal story. It's easier to describe your own accomplishments by expressing them within a story. It won't feel like you are bragging.

If you feel nervous about public speaking include more stories in your presentation to feel more confident.

It's Easier for Your Audience

Most of us would rather hear more stories. Just ask kids what they want to hear - a story or a lecture? The entertainment industry is so prosperous because people love stories. Even the news is delivered in story format. The easiest and most powerful way to engage your audience is with stories because that engages their imagination.

Use stories to teach; it helps clarify the lesson and makes it easier to remember.

If you use stories to sell or persuade it won't feel offensive to your listeners. Listeners who bought your product, or were convinced by your message, are likely to repeat your stories to others.

Listeners perceive stories as entertaining and non-threatening.

It's Your Personal Brand

Your personal brand is based on the stories that people tell about you. They might repeat the stories that you told. They might also tell stories about the things that you did.

If you want to build and reinforce your personal brand tell colorful stories and do things that people can talk about.

You know that your message was effective when you hear people re-telling your stories.

George Torok




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Superior Presentations 62: Recover from a Presentation Brownout

How to Recover from a Brownout

Perhaps this has happened to you. Every speaker faces this problem at some point during a presentation. You can prepare yourself to handle the brownout and recover masterfully.

What is a Brownout?

While you are speaking - you suddenly forget what you intended to say next. Your brain didn't totally blackout. It simply browned out and you felt terrible. You might even feel embarrassed, foolish and anxious.

What can you do?

Ignore the over-powering impulse to drop your jaw and let this annoying sound escape from your mouth: "ahhhhhhhhh."

Don't look sheepish and confess, "I forgot what comes next".

Don't frown and search the ceiling for your words.

Instead, pause and smile while looking at your audience.

You won't feel like doing that, but that is exactly what you should do. Why? Because if you pause and frown the audience knows that you are in trouble. When you pause and smile they believe that you are in complete control. They might assume that you are pausing for effect.

Your audience doesn't need to know that you have experienced a brownout. You want to convey the image that you are in control of your presentation.

When you pause and smile you accomplish two things. First you show the audience that you are confident, and secondly the pause and smile might be calming enough to get your brain back on track.

What if that doesn't help you remember?

Another recovery technique is to repeat the last word or phrase that you said. The effect can be like rewinding the tape in your brain. You need to back up a bit to renew your forward momentum.

If that doesn't work then pose a rhetorical question, "Where do we go from here?" The question will trigger your brain to work on answering the question. The audience will believe that you are posing the question for emphasis.

If you still can't remember and don't answer the question people in your audience are likely to offer answers to your question. If they were listening closely they will probably be right and you simply carry on with your presentation as if nothing ever went wrong.

Remember to keep smiling.

George Torok

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