Ep 27 How to Keep a Speech from Going Stale, Plus PowerPoint Resources from Ellenfinkelstein.com

So how do you keep an old speech fresh?

Speaking the show about effective speaking in public to the media at work.

So this is a common problem. I'm often asked this question about, you know, T.J. i've got to give the same old speech. I'm kind of tired with it. I'm kind of bored with it. How do I keep this thing fresh? Well, there's nothing worse than watching a speaker who appears to be bored. Because if the speaker is bored at a subconscious level, the audience is thinking, well, this guy or this woman, they're pretty smart. If they think this is boring stuff, they must be right. So let me ignore them and check my email. That's what's going on in the minds of most audience members. So if you critical that you don't let that boredom seep into your voice, your tone, your style, your mannerisms. For starters, let's start off with some fundamentals before you even open your mouth.

Body language.

Your body language says a lot. If you sort of go up to the lectern, put your notes down, and just seem a little too comfortable and familiar, that's a problem. One thing I would recommend is start off from a different part of the room. I do that frequently. Even if it's not the same old speech. Start in the back if people are used to you. Starting from the front, start from the back, start from the side. It's just a little bit of a difference. Can freshen it up. Now, here's the thing to remember about a speech you've given before. The ideas you have in the speech, presumably, are important. You've thought about them. You've thought, the audience really needs to know this and they need to understand it and they need to remember it. But it does not mean you should stay wedded to word for word, the same thing or even the same stories or the same examples. You can mix it up. So, for example, quite often I'm asked to give keynote speeches on effective public speaking, as you could imagine. And I have a lot of key points that are always the same. I want to stress the importance that anyone can be a great speaker, that you need to limit your points to a handful, that you need to illustrate each point with a story, and that you need to practice on video until you like what you see. Those are the most important points. But I don't just get up there and dump it out like that in a straightforward, boring way. So I try to mix it up and make each presentation seem fresh. And you can in fact, freshen it up. So one of the techniques I use, even though I'm giving the same core message and the same speech, is I always get to the venue early. And whether I'm training six people and giving an introductory speech for a day of training or I'm speaking to a thousand people and it's a very set 45 minute speech, I do the same thing. I get there early, introduce myself to people, and I will say, so Jane, tell me, where are you most comfortable speaking and giving presentations and where are you least comfortable? Bill, tell me and I'll ask the same thing. I'll go around and have four or five conversations with people, maybe even more so. Now I have new material for my presentation. So I may start off with, so why are we here? A lot of you are good presenters. Jane, you mentioned you're really comfortable and confident speaking to your colleagues and you enjoy it, but you get a little nervous speaking at the CES convention in front of 3,000 people. I'm going to give you tips on how to appear to be more comfortable and confident in that situation. Jim, you mentioned you never really know where to look when you're giving a presentation. I'm going to demonstrate exactly what to do. So I'll go around and reference. It's never anything embarrassing and I may even ask the people if they mind if I mention the conversation, but I reference actual conversations. And it's just a way of really saying the same old thing, which is all of us have concerns about how to look comfortable, confident, relaxed. All of us are nervous in certain situations. There are ways of getting over that nerve. It's basic concepts, but it sounds completely fresh, it sounds completely new because I'm referencing real people in the audience, I'm referencing real conversations. So that sends a clear cut message to people that I'm not just giving a stale, boring, same old, same old speech, even though frankly a huge percentage of it is core content that I've given many times. So it puts a new, fresh package on it. You know, there's the expression, don't put old wine in a new wine skin. But in fact, you can when it comes to a speech, if the packaging keeps it fresh and engages people. Because when you mention people in the audience specifically by name, they're really paying attention. Hey, he's talking about me. Believe me, they are not focused on their cell phone at that point. They're not daydreaming. And that's the beauty of that technique. Plus anyone else you did talk to, even said hello to, they're now paying much closer attention because they're thinking, oh, he's referencing conversations he had in this speech in front of all my colleagues. So I better pay attention in case he references me. And that's, that's an important, important element to keeping your speech fresh. I'm going to give you more techniques in just a moment.

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So I'm going to give you some more good techniques of what to do. But first I do have to address probably the biggest problem for most people and I understand why they do it. It's because they're getting some, let's just say, less than great advice.

For a free, no obligation online public speaking or media training. Bad advice.

Folks. Let me practice what I preach there. I do practice that when you are giving a presentation, don't fall apart and panic if you hit the wrong slide or your PowerPoint slide doesn't go perfect. You don't get a do over when you're giving a presentation. Just make the best of it and go on. Now normally I'd recommend don't comment on it, but I want to make this a learning moment, this show. As those of you who've been with us from the beginning know, there's no editing in this show. I do that in part because if you're giving a speech or a presentation, there's no editing. You're up there. If you make a mistake, the whole world sees it. So I want to be just as exposed and as vulnerable to you and without a net here in this environment as you are when you're giving speeches. I just clicked the wrong button so that ad popped up again. That wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to hit the one for the bad advice segue. So that's just sort of a look behind the curtain. Again, I would recommend most of the time if you hit the wrong slide or your slide projector has the wrong thing coming, just don't comment on it. Just quietly get the right thing up, keep going and no one will even remember. Now onto the bad advice that I hear many people get. There are a lot of so called presentation experts that actually recommend that speakers memorize portions of their, maybe even all their speech or portions of or the beginning and the end. The problem with memorization is that can make you feel canned. It can make the whole thing seem stifled. Unless you are a fantastic Broadway caliber actor, it's really hard to memorize something say it and it not sound like you memorized it. That's the problem with memorization. So I don't recommend ever memorizing anything. I do recommend that you focus on what you're trying to accomplish, that you focus on an idea and that you have stories for your ideas to bring it alive. Part of the beauty of telling stories, and this is good advice you get from a lot of speaking experts, it's certainly nothing unique. To me, part of the beauty of telling a story is you don't have to memorize it. You simply relive it and share that experience you had with your audience. And it's going to be interesting every time, even though you might say it a little bit differently each time. As long as you have the elements of the people, the problem, the setting, the dialogue, the conflict, how you felt, how it was resolved, you have those elements. You can tell a story differently each time. And you don't have to worry about memorization because memorization is really hard, folks. I'm not good at it. Some people say, well, T.J. you must have a great memory. You do a 15, 20 minute speech essentially every day with your online audio podcast and your video show and those watching on video, you can tell I'm not reading any of this, I'm simply speaking with you. But it's not because I have a great memory. It's because I have. And for those of you listening, forgive me, I'm holding up a single sheet of notes and that's what I use for all of my podcasts and videos. And it's also what I use for my speeches. A simple outline. Now, the beauty of that, as it relates to this problem of freshness, is I can then adapt it and make quick changes on the fly when I'm giving a speech, or for that matter, if I'm doing a podcast or creating a video. It allows me to think and have elements of spontaneity. And yet I don't go down a rabbit hole because I have a clear cut structure and I know where I want to go so I don't ever have to worry about getting too lost. The final big thing I really want you to think about when it comes to being fresh is to sometimes change up your stories, change up your examples. You may have a good story that really drives your point home nicely for your speech, but you just can't stand saying it anymore. Hey, you're not Bruce Springsteen. You're not going to have people screaming and upset if you don't perform Born to Run. Born to Run. So cut yourself a little bit of slack. You don't have to give the same stories every single time. Focus on the message first for your audience. So if you are a division bank manager and you have to speak to all the branch banks in an eight state area and you got to give 60 speeches that all cover the same message and after the first 25 you're just sick of one of your examples. That's okay. Switch the example, switch the story. Just make sure that you don't eliminate that whole point. If it's an important point, stick to the point, but use a different example, a different case study to flesh it out. Do that and you'll still be an effective speaker and you won't sound bored to your audience. And more important, you won't be bored if you're not bored. It's a lot easier to not sound bored to your audience. Now you've heard me attack others. Some of my colleagues in industry. I do want to point out some good advice and some sources of good advice on all aspects of speaking.

Good advice from around the web.

I want to point you to a resource that I go to frequently that I rely on and some of you are familiar with her. Ellen Finkelstein. She has a fantastic website, Ellen finkelstein.com I will link to it in the show Notes as well. But I want to direct you specifically to her store because she has resources that I think are invaluable. Now she is one of the most renowned experts in the world on PowerPoint PowerPoint slides and she is extraordinarily generous with materials that she shares by going to her site and signing up for her newsletter. Folks, I would not be recommending that if I didn't do it myself. I do recommend that you sign up and subscribe for her newsletter. She has a fantastic membership program that really helps people get better and better at all aspects of their presentation creation. And she has I just want to go through a couple of things. She has a high persuasion PowerPoint presentation program. You can learn more about that in the online program. By the way, full disclosure folks. I'm not getting affiliate fees. I don't deal with that. I'm simply sharing this with you because I think it's a useful resource. And creating PowerPoint slides is not my forte. That's not what I'm best at. Although I do use PowerPoint. I'm not anti PowerPoint. She has a number of great books for you. I'd urge you to check out Slide Design for non designers. She has a book, 12 Steps to Become a Charismatic speaker that deals with a lot of the specifics on PowerPoint. She has another great PDF booklet called 101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know. And she also has one PowerPoint for teachers. So she goes really, really deep into PowerPoint. Now I have several areas of expertise. I'm really deep into media training. So I have, you know, media training just for politicians, for example. I have some specialties, you know, just for kids. So I'm specialized in what I do. She's very specialized in what she does on PowerPoint. So if you're trying to boost your PowerPoint library, I would urge you go to Ellen finkelstein.com and that's three W's E L L E N F I N K E L S t e I n.com and then just click at the top Books courses and that will take you directly to her store. So I think that would be. I don't think I know. That would be an excellent resource for you, those of you who are trying to boost your PowerPoint capabilities. I'm TJ Walker. Thanks so much for joining me for another episode. Hope you're having fun with this. We're closing out on our first full month of speaking with TJ Walker and I have to say I've been very excited by the response and the downloads all over the world. As always, may all of your speaking opportunities in life be a huge success.

Speaking with TJ Walker is the number one rated daily streaming TV and radio show devoted to all aspects of speaking and communication. If you received value from this show, then please subscribe to it@mediatrainingworldwide.com Please review the show, leave comments, and share it with your friends and colleagues. Today.