Monthly Archives: April 2011

Let Me Summarize…

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Horseracing at Keeneland near Lexington, Kentucky, brings great excitement to the region. An important part of every race is a summary of how each horse placed. At the end of a race, people wait to see the replay or summary of the race. The board will show the unofficial results, and then soon after the official ones. If the race is close, the finish will be replayed in slow motion so observers can see how close their horse came to winning, or that he won by a hair. Between races there may be a replay or summary of the race several times.

The summary is important in many areas of life. Certainly a fan in most sports will look for a summary of the games or races the day after the event. April, for example, brings to the daily sports section of a newspaper the box scores of all the baseball games played the previous day.

To summarize your life in daily increments is a good way to keep track of what you have done and seen. For example, I keep up-to-date a summary of books read and movies seen for the year. This habit helps me pay attention to what I have already read or seen so I won't mistakenly start to read the same book a couple of years later, for example. Whatever your career, from teaching to driving a truck, summarizing is a helpful tool to do your job well. Contact me from my website for a copy of “Reflect and Improve: Instructional Development Through a Teaching Journal,” by Josh Boyd and me.

Take a moment each evening to summarize your day. This may motivate you to keep track of dates and events you want to remember. If you are not sure when something happened, you might look through your summaries of those days. If your work includes meeting with clients regularly, in order to pay careful attention to each, take a moment after a meeting to summarize the appointment and when you need to contact him or her again.

An important part of any presentation is to summarize near the end. When you say, "In conclusion…,” the audience will pay closer attention, listening for you to replay your main points and remembering key ideas from the speech.

When I know I am going to write it down at the end of the day, I pay better attention to my daily activities. What are some techniques you use to remember the important events of each day? 

Is Yours a Tape Measure Homerun?

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Mickey Mantle is my all time favorite athlete. Each time he went to bat, we had the same feeling Reds fans have today when Aroldis Chapman comes in to pitch. Now we think, "How many pitches will top a 100 miles an hour?" With Mantle we thought, "Can Mantle hit another ‘tape measure homerun?’”

The term "tape measure homerun” comes from a homerun Mickey Mantle hit on April 17, 1953, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D. C. A public relations person for the New York Yankees, Red Patterson measured and found that the ball traveled 585 feet. He then called it a "tape measure homerun.” The term stuck for any long homerun. Mantle later said that the only reason people remember that homerun over the other homeruns he hit was because "Red Patterson attached a number to it," as told in The Last Boy by Jane Leavy.

A point from this story is that people remember specifics; specifics give people direction and focus. Whether delivering a speech or talking to a person over coffee, be specific.  When giving instructions to an employee or a child for a task deadline, don't say, "Do it soon," or “Clean your room.” Say "I want this to be in by 4:30 tomorrow afternoon," or, “Put away all your clothes and books that are on the floor and bed.” When someone asks for directions, don't just give the address; say, "This building is next to Frisch's on Central Parkway a few blocks from the entrance to I-74 West." 

Specifics are important in most actions in life. For example, always know how long you can speak before delivering your presentation. Whether I’m giving “High Bid,” or “Be Present When You are Present,” or a presentation skills workshop, I make a point to end 2-3 minutes before the end of my allotted time. Regard for what I am saying wanes quickly if I run overtime, but ending a bit early leaves everyone on a high note.

Also, keep track of the time when you are meeting someone to discuss a matter. That person may have planned on a brief lunch and not have time for a leisurely afternoon discussion. Be specific when making such plans.

You can immediately improve the quality of your communication in a speech or conversation by adding specificity. So instead of saying, "I'll have another blog entry soon."  I'm going to end with "Look for my next blog entry by the afternoon of Monday, April 18.”

Comedians Can Write, Too!

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I typically think of Tina Fey in connection with "30 Rock" or "Saturday Night Live."  I would not expect her literary skills to show up in an article in the March 14  The New Yorker, but it's there, titled "Lessons From Late Night."

When looking for material for your next presentation, read what comedians write. For example, she begins the article with, "In 1997, I realized one of my childhood dreams. (Not the one where I'm being chased by Count Chocula.)”  That is a good example of how to start a speech—a startling statement that prompts both interest and laughter.

Later in the article she refers to lessons she learned from her boss, Lorne Michaels, at “Saturday Night Live.” One principle she learned was, "The show doesn't go on because it's ready; it goes on because it's eleven-thirty."  Wow! I wish I'd thought of that when illustrating how important deadlines are in being present when you are present. Well, it doesn’t have to be original with me for me to use it. I just give credit for the source and quote her. Another important presentation principle: quote others who say it better than you can! 

That is just one example from her fascinating article. She can write funny as well as be funny—two skills that don’t always go together. And her book just released this week, Bossypants, is destined to be a hit whether or not you agree with her opinions or attitude.

We can also get material from reading funny authors and columnists. Dave Barry often deals with current events and family matters in a humorous way. We don't usually think of Alan Alda first as a comedian, but his writings have a huge amount of humor. One of the funniest stories I have ever read is his description of having the family dog stuffed after its death. Thus the title story from his book, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, in which the story appears. He describes what Rhapsody looked like when they brought him home from the taxidermist. "The dog had a totally unrecognizable expression on his face. Nobody in our family knew who this was. He sat on his blue velvet board, looking up at us like something with rabies. We were kind of afraid of him…it became difficult to walk into the room without feeling that a wild animal was going to spring at you." What vivid description! You need this vividness in a speech when describing what you want the audience to do or how you want them to feel.

Comedians have a sense of audience that we can learn from to improve our speaking. They know what an audience will respond to, whether it is standup comedy or the reader getting hooked on an essay or a book they have written. They are experts at timing as they speak or write. They know just how to place the "punch line" where you will get the greatest response, and this shows in their writing.

One of my all-time favorite comedians was Red Skelton. His thoughts were both funny and thought-provoking, such as "I left home because I was hungry." And for speakers considering the importance of delivery: "It is not what you say that is funny, but it is how you say it."

Stephen D. Boyd, Ph.D., CSP, is Professor of Speech Communication, College of Informatics, Northern Kentucky University, near Cincinnati. He presents keynotes and seminars to corporations and associations whose people want to speak and listen effectively. Visit his site to read other valuable articles on effective speaking and listening.

Snakes in the House!

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I feel safer now. After six days of searching, the Bronx Zoo staff found the escapee, a deadly Egyptian Cobra, less than 100 feet away from its cage home.

That seems to me to take not paying attention to a new level—or low level, depending how you want to view the event. What were they thinking? To allow a potentially lethal weapon to escape unnoticed. Wow!  How about a training course in "Don't take your eyes off the snake when its door is open," or "Keys to giving attention to deadly snakes." 

But this incident (not tragedy, thankfully) demonstrates how we are often oblivious even to dangerous objects. We don't pay attention; we don't seem to focus; we overlook the obvious, as I stress in my after-dinner speech,  "Be Present When You Are Present."  

According to James Gleick in his book Faster, we spend sixteen minutes a day (roughly one year of our lives) looking for lost possessions. The old hymn by William Augustine Ogden, “Seeking the Lost,” takes on new meaning in today's fast-paced multi-tasking world. I would rather spend my time looking for lost souls than looking for lost cobras.