Monthly Archives: February 2013

Other Sources from Steve Boyd

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As some of you have noticed, I write other blog posts between the articles for Steve Boyd’s Communication Newsletter. Last week, for example, I wrote articles on the three main types of speeches: manuscript, impromptu, and extemporaneous, with tips for making each type a successful speech.

I also post on my Speaker Stories blog stories you can use in your speeches or that might trigger a memory of an experience of your own that you can apply. You can find all these helpful posts by going to www.sboyd.com/blog any time.

And always feel free to contact me with questions about your upcoming speech!

The Extemporaneous Presentation: When and How

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The extemporaneous presentation is one that is carefully prepared, but not memorized. You organize the speech but do not write it out word for word. Instead you use key words and key phrases to trigger the next thought. Note cards or sheets of paper encased in plastic covers are the most efficient methods of delivering this presentation.

This mode of presentation is the one where you can make the best contact with your audience. You can also adjust your length and even content of the presentation as you speak. Even though you are carefully prepared, you should not sound memorized or that you are reading your notes to the audience.

Here are some steps you can take to assure you that you are preparing an extemporaneous presentation.

Begin by spending time in thinking about what you want to say. Don’t write things down yet because once you have an idea on paper, other ideas are less likely to be considered. Talk about the topic to a friend. Google the topic and see what you can find.

Once you have spent a few days pondering the topic, write notes down on paper. Don’t worry about organization at this point and don’t write in complete sentences for this will tempt you to write out your speech.

As in a jigsaw puzzle, begin to fit the pieces of thoughts and words together in a rough outline. Based on your thoughts, consider what will make up the key points and the support for each one. Which part would be the best way to start and where are you going to place the strongest argument?

Then you are ready to practice the speech. Don’t worry about word choice or even how the ideas fit. Talking through your speech will give you ideas on the best transitions, wording of your main points, and use of nonverbal cues.

Practice aloud at least three times and one of the times should be with someone as your “audience” listening to give you feedback. Practice with the notes you plan to use in the actual speech. On the day you speak, look through your notes and practice some small portion of the talk, such as one of your stories (you will, of course, have good stories!) and the opening two minutes. This will increase your comfort level and build confidence.

This speech style should be the one most speakers choose to incorporate in their presentations. You will appear most natural, most attentive to your audience, and more at ease than in either of the two types—manuscript and impromptu—we have discussed earlier.

One of my favorite definitions of public speaking is conversation with a purpose. Extemporaneous speaking best exemplifies this definition.

The Impromptu Speech: When and How

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The impromptu speech is one without any preparation. I trust that during your career the impromptu is not your most common speaking context. A few situations do occur when an impromptu speech is very important.

Most job interviews involve answering questions. Each answer might be considered an impromptu presentation.

You attend a meeting and an issue comes before the group about which you have a definite position or a vested interest. Although you were not expected to contribute, you speak to the issue.

The boss may ask you unexpectedly to give a report about your department or a recent conference.

Here is a simple formula for delivering the impromptu presentation. Begin with a positive approach. As you start, smile, look confident, and begin with an assertion. Many impromptu speeches begin with the deer-in-the-headlight look and stumbling over the first words instead of speaking with confidence. With the assertion, provide a story or example from your experiences. An assumption is that you would not offer to speak or be asked to speak unless you have experienced and/or researched the topic.

Keep the length under a couple of minutes. Otherwise, you may exhaust your knowledge and start repeating yourself or making comments that you would later regret. End by repeating a version of your opening assertion.

Most important, however, is never to deliver an impromptu speech when you are expected to deliver a prepared speech!

The Manuscript Presentation: When and How

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Most speakers should avoid the manuscript presentation at all cost. A manuscript speech usually promotes no eye contact, a monotone voice, and few gestures. The audience understands that the speaker is reading to them and may be thinking, “Why didn’t she just email it to me to read on my own?”

However there are exceptions. If you are eulogizing someone, if you offer information that could be misquoted or misunderstood, or if you are too busy to prepare the speech and need to use a speechwriter, use a manuscript.

When you deliver a manuscript speech, these techniques will help you avoid the problems listed above. Use a font size which is easy for you to see and double or triple space. Print only on the top two thirds of each page to avoid the audience seeing only the top of your head by the time you get to the end of the page. Eye contact is much easier when you use these methods.

Include symbols above words where you want to make eye contact, use a gesture, take a step, or speed up or slow down. Don’t use words to remind you or you may accidentally speak the reminder words. Be creative with your drawings. For example, you might draw a waving hand, a megaphone, or a pair of eyes. I give more suggestions in From Dull to Dynamic.

Underline words which you want to emphasize. With difficult words to pronounce, write the way it is pronounced phonetically above the word. Read through the script, and if you stumble over certain words or phrases, include a synonym instead or find another way of saying the same point.

Practice a minimum of three times. Never deliver the manuscript without practicing aloud and in front of someone to give you feedback. The more you practice, the more you will achieve your own voice and the less you will put your audience to sleep by reading in a monotone.

A speech writer who did not like the politician for whom he wrote knew the speaker never read the script before he delivered it. On one occasion when he stood to speak the speechwriter had as the last sentence on page one, “These three points I am about to give you are the most important ideas I will speak to you today. “ As he turned the page, it was blank except for these words, “You are on your own. I quit.”

If you have a speechwriter, treat him or her well, and use a manuscript only under special conditions.

From Better to Best

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Many of you who read this blog are experienced speakers. When someone is pretty good in front of an audience, there is a tendency to become complacent and not to continue working to improve the craft. Here are some ideas to keep that from happening.

Change one sentence in each presentation even when you are delivering the same presentation you have delivered many times before. You might use a different quotation to make the same point.

For example, many of my speeches address motivation and improvement in paying attention wherever you are or whatever you are doing. Here is a quotation I heard recently that I believe would be different and possibly improve my point about sustaining attention on a continual basis. Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers said, “I really believe that you earn your paycheck during the season. And then the postseason is all about creating your own legacy.”

Consistently seek better ways to word your main points to make the greatest impact on your audience. For example, in my “High Bid” speech, I discuss the traits that will enhance your worth in the market place. One point is to have a sense of humor. I used that wording for several years. But one time I changed the wording to say, “Have some fun each day.” The audience responded really well to that wording and I have been using that phrasing in most of my speeches since.

Change the way you deliver your opening or your ending. Since people remember best what you say first and last, seeking to improve either can make a difference in how your message is received.

I typically begin my speech on paying attention by responding to part of my introduction, which mentions that I spent much of my career working with students in the university environment. I will say, “Students have a special problem paying attention. For example, my son who teaches at Purdue had a student walk into his classroom wearing a t-shirt that read, ‘You can never relive a party but you can always retake a class.’ I’m not sure you can depend on that student to pay good attention in class.”

Recently I changed that opening to “How many of you drive to work the same way each day and have done so for several years?” Usually a large number of hands go up. My next question is, “Have you ever gotten to work and not remembered how you got there?” Most hands go up again, and then I say, “Here you are driving 75 miles an hour down the interstate and don’t remember. We all have trouble paying attention.” I believe both beginnings are effective. But the benefit of the second opening is that I get the audience involved immediately and instantly they see how the topic relates to them.

Some of my most successful speaker clients are those who were already effective public speakers. They simply wanted a tip or technique that would set them apart from their competition. They used me to give them feedback on those small but significant ways to improve. You can always make your next speech the best one.

Stories Produce Feelings

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Krista Ramsey, in a recent Cincinnati Enquirer article, discussed the power of stories as they relate to the Notre Dame star linebacker, Manti Te’o, and his fictional dying girlfriend narrative.

Krista Ramsey

The reason, she said, is not “…to make us believe something. It’s that they make us feel something.” Later she writes, “Facts may convince us; stories make us notice and remember.”

This article expresses a major reason why I write several Speaker Stories a month for speakers. You may have all the facts to convince someone of your position, but making a listener feel something is the trigger that will move him or her to action.

Stories are simply narratives about a connected series of events. Thus they are easier for the speaker to remember and for the listener to pay attention to. If the story is from personal experience you will feel more confident in delivering it.

I’ve often talked to people who were in my audience years ago, and they will mention one of the stories I used in the speech they heard me deliver. They may not remember the point, but the story stuck in their minds.

We can still recall the children’s stories we listened to as preschoolers, and even as adults we love it when a speaker begins her or her version of “Once upon a time….”