Here’s some food for thought. Whenever you give a speech or a presentation, do you deliver value to your audience? Value could come in the form of tips or solutions that your audience can take home and use immediately, be it to solve a problem or to become more effective. In other words, your speech or presentation must contain substance!

Patricia Fripp, a well respected speaker in the industry defined substance as “what makes an audience’s business and personal life better if they act on it”. It could come in the form of a three step strategy, a recommended book to read or tips to solve a problem.

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A friend of mine, Nancy Tierney has recently revamped her website titled Unconditional Confidence. If you are looking for ways to increase your confidence and heighten your charisma on stage, I would recommend you to check out her blog. Her entries are well written and well thought out. So go bookmarked it! Oh, and read them of course.

Bookmarked it: Unconditional Confidence

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This marks my maiden post after two weeks of hiatus. (grins) Yes I am back in Singapore for good, at least for another year or so! Notice that there is still a regular influx of visitors (albeit lesser) even though I have not posted for quite a while. Really appreciate your support! Now that I am back, do expect more regular posts.

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Here’s another article I came across earlier this morning from here. I have quite a bit to say about persuasion techniques which I have learnt while preparing for a coaching program in China. Take a look at this article first to have a sense of how persuasion is handled in a speech and I will share with you more when I get back (which is soon!) Can’t wait…

Why are some speeches more persuasive than others? Are the speakers simply more convincing, or do they know secrets to giving a speech that the rest of us don’t?

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It is a challenge to find a computer with internet access in China! I’m serious. And so my apologies for not being able to post more articles for the past one week. I will be in China (Qingtao) for another one more week before I return to sunny Singapore so please be patient with me. Nonetheless, in order to break the silence, here’s an article titled Silence Speaks (pun intended!) by Craig Valentine, 1990 World Champion Speaker. In this article, you will learn a couple of valuable and insightful pointers on how to increasing your effectiveness as a speaker. You may have know some of them but it would serve as a good reminder. I have learnt a lot here in China and I am looking forward to share more with you when I return. See you in a week’s time!

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Saw this movie trailer last month - All the King’s Men. This movie charts the spectacular rise and fall of a charismatic Southern politician, Boss Willie Stark (Sean Penn). Jude Law co-stars as Jack Burden, the once idealistic, now embittered ex-reporter who unwittingly fuels Stark’s corrupt political ambitions. I have already made a mental note to catch it, not because of the movie per say but because of the charisma and power Sean Penn exude in the movie. His character (Boss Willie Stark) speaks from the heart! Go watch the trailer and you will know what I mean.

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Last month, I suggested and tested three ways to reduce your nervousness before giving a speech. Shortly, I found an audio tutorial by a well-respected speaker, Jim Key, that shared another five more ways to reduce your nervousness!!! Here’s a summary of what has covered. If I were you, I would apply all eight immediately to my next speech.

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I recently posted a question to the world champion speakers of Toastmasters in our monthly phone conference. I asked them for some strategies that newbie speakers can adopt to identify their own speaking style. And they gave three. Thought I should share them with you.

1. Stage time, Stage time, Stage time!

It is difficult to have your own speaking style until you are comfortable in front of your audience. And the only way you can be comfortable is by getting as much stage time as possible. In fact 95% of your growth takes place when you are out with your audience. One excellent platform for you to get maximum speaking exposure is by joining the Toastmasters International. Visit their website and locate the nearest club to your home. It is worth it!

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I recently heard this audio tutorial by Ed Tate, entitled “How to be Twice as Good in 70 days”. The principle he shared was really simple to apply and in my opinion, very effective. Let me give you a short recap.

In his tutorial, he briefly mentioned a MIT research that confirmed the math - it formulates that if we improve 1% everyday, we will be twice as good in 70 days (~2 months). Pretty neat isn’t it! So how exactly do we improve 1% everyday?

By conducting daily debriefs!

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I have been a regular reader and fan of Garr Reynold’s presentation blog at www.presentationzen.com. His entries on presentation slide designs and presentation deliveries are well written and insightful. Go bookmarked it! Here’s one of his recent entries that I would recommend you to read.

More Gore, More Guy: In this entry, he introduced more videos of Al Gore and Guy Kawasaki’s presentations. And I think it is worth watching. Like I said before, one of the most effective ways to hone your presentation skills is to watch others speak. So enjoy the video presentation. As you are watching their presentation, see if you can identify some good speaking practices. Then in your next presentation, incorporate them! And while you are at it, remember to have fun!

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