Presentations & Speeches: They're Not About You

Presentations and Speeches. They're not about you.
Really. No one cares about you.
Unless you're a celebrity.
It's all about what the audience takes away from your message. So, when preparing your presentation or speech, keep this in mind, "How can my message help my listeners?" 
If you want to engage, entertain and educate your audience, then try and relate your story and your message to your listeners lives.

Book List: Which of these have You Read?

"Never judge a book by it's price!" - Chloe Sha

I've kept a track of all the books that I've read in the last year, because I'm a book-aholic. I find it very difficult to walk into a book-store and walk out without a new book under my arms. I find it even more difficult to stay out of book-stores!

After reading an article by Rory Vaden (here), I decided to share the list of books that I've read over the past year. I have underlined the most influential books that I've read this year: 

1. Secrets of Superstar Speakers - Lily Walters

2. Say it like Obama and Win -  Shel Leanne

3. Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln - James C. Humes

4. Confessions of a Public Speaker - Scott Berkun

5. Speak for a Living - Anne Bruce

6. Writing Comedy - John Byrne

7. World Class Speaking - Craig Valentine

8. The Craft of Comedy Writing - Sol Saks

9. YES - 50 Scientifically Proven Strategies for Persuasion - Dr.Cialdini

10. So What? - How to Communicate What Really Matters to Your Audience

11. Life is a Series of Presentations: 8 Ways to Punch Up Your People Skills at Work, at Home, Anytime, Anywhere - Tony Jeary

12. The Success Principles - Jack Canfield

13. FISH - Stephen C. Lundin

14. Who Moved My Cheese? - Ken Blanchard

15. Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story - Jerry Weissman

16. Upselling Techniques: (That Really Work!) - Stephan Schiffman

17. Getting to YES

18. Presentations that Persuade and Motivate - HBS Press

19. Stand and Deliver: The Fine Art of Presentation - Ralph Kliem

20. DAMN! Why Didn't I Write That? - Marc McCutcheeon

21. The Speed Reading Book - Tony Buzan

22. The 7 Principles of Public Speaking - Richard Zeoli

23. Present Like A Pro - Cyndi Maxey, CSP

24. What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 - Tina Seelig

25. The Reagan Persuasion - James C Humes

26. Present Your Way to the Top - David J Dempsey

27. Give Your Speech, Change the World - Nick Morgan

28. What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell

29. Mitch Murray's One Liners for Business

30. The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

31. Made to Stick - Chip and Dan Heath

32. Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely

33. Sway: The Irresistable Pull of Irrational Behavior - Ori & Rom Brafman

34. The Happiness Hypothesis - Johnathan Haidt

35. One Week Job - Sean Aiken

36. Enchantment - Guy Kawasaki

37. Click - Ori and Ron Brafman

38. For One More Day - Mitch Albom

39. Have a Little Faith - Mitch Albom

40. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom

42. Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard - Chip and Dan Heath

43. The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom

44. Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

45. Influence: Science and Practice - Dr. Cialdini

46. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell

47. Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell

48. How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie

49. The Definitive Book of Body Language - Allan & Barbara Pease

50. Nudge - Thaler & Sunstein


51. Getting Things Done - David Allen

52. Psycho-Cybernetics - Maxwell Maltz, M.D.


53. Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert

54. My Point is - and I Do Have One - Ellen DeGeneres 


55. Leading with My Chin - Jay Leno


56. Life's Golden Ticket - Brendon Burchard


57. Mindset - Carol S. Dweck, PhD


58. The Heart of Buddha's Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh 


59. Million Dollar Speaking - Alan Weiss


60. The Zen of Social Media Marketing - Shama Kabani

61. Covert Persuasion - Kevin Hogan


62. The King's Speech - Mark Logue


63. Purple Cow - Seth Godin


64. The Dip - Seth Godin


65. Change Your Life in 7 Days - Paul McKenna


66. Instant Influence - Michale Pantalon


67. Instant Confidence - Paul McKenna


68. Millionaire Messenger - Brendon Burchard 

Currently Reading:

69. Make Your Life Great - Richard Bandler


70. Telling to Win - Peter Guber


71. Social Intelligence - Daniel Goleman


72. The Monk who Sold his Ferrari - Robin Sharma


73. Difficult Conversations - Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen

Which of these have you read? Any other recommendations? Drop me an email on akash.speaker@gmail.com

3 Staging Strategies to Help Your Audience Really SEE Your Speech

3 Staging Strategies to Help Your Audience Really SEE Your Speech
by Craig Valentine
http://www.craigvalentine.com/blog/

1. Let the action prompt your movements

The action in your story prompts your movement on stage. Let the action drive. If you’re telling a story about standing in line, guess what? You shouldn’t move much. In the video,  I let the action drive. When I said, “You should have been with my wife and me 7 years ago as we took our 6 month old daughter Tori to her doctor’s appointment,” you saw me physically walking into the doctor’s office. When I talked about me walking over the scale to step on it, you saw me physically walk over the where the scale was represented on stage and you saw me stand on it. It’s not enough to say it, I also had to show it.

2. Let Time Prompt your Movement on Stage

All stories involve the element of time, which means you can use the imaginary timeline on stage for greater impact. In North America we read a timeline from the left to the right. Therefore, imagine how I might move when giving this part of my speech:

Now fast-forward 10 years to today…2010. My re-hire rate has now reached above 93%.

When I say the phrase “Fast forward 10 years to today,” I physically walk from my audience’s left up the timeline to my audience’s right to symbolize the difference between the year 2000 and the year 2010. Why is this important? Two reasons:
1. It makes the scene more clear for my audience
2. It allows me to eventually do a visual AND verbal call back to places on the timeline.
For example, later in this message I say, “I’ll tell you what made the difference between my failure in 2000 and my success today. [I walk back down the timeline to my audience’s left where the year 2000 is represented]. After my embarrassment in the year 2000, I re-dedicated myself to the art of public speaking…” Then, as I explain what I did in between 2000 and 2010 (i.e. coaching, re-dedication, etc.), I slowly and subtly walk back up the timeline until I get to 2010. Make sense?
This call back is visual, verbal, emotional, and clear for my audience members all because I set the stage up as a timeline and walked it.

3. Remember where you placed everybody and everything on stage

In the video, it’s clear where my wife is represented on stage and where the scale is represented on stage. You should plan this all out ahead of time. Otherwise, you might have a situation I witnessed years ago.
Darren LaCroix (2001 World Champion of Public Speaking) and I were giving a speaking bootcamp in Vegas and we had one of our attendees rise up to make a speech. His story was very emotional and, in it, his uncle passed away. They held the funeral and had the casket on a particular spot on the stage. Later on in the story, this speaker went to that same exact spot on the stage to have lunch!  Darren and I looked at him and said, “Do you realize you’re having lunch on your uncle?!” Please know ahead of time where everything will be represented on your stage.

4. Step up to your point

After I gave my story about the scale, you saw me step forward slightly and look directly at my audience as I started asking questions and driving home my point. This subtle step forward (and the direct eye-contact with my audience) lets my audience know I’m now out of my story and into a conversation with them. Occassionally step forward to make your point. Sometimes it even helps to step out into the audience.

Final thoughts on Staging

Does staging really make that much of a difference in your speech? Yes. Here are three reasons why:

1. Good staging provides clarity to your story and your message. For example, when I have 3 points in my keynote speech, many times I’ll have each point be represented by a section on the stage. Then I can do visual/verbal call backs.
2. If you use staging correctly (i.e. visually and verbally calling back to spots and situations on the stage) it can bring forth emotions from your audience because they’ll still be able to remember what happened earlier in those spaces and scenes
3. Patricia Fripp told me (I’m paraphrasing here) that people won’t remember what you say as much as they’ll remember what they see when you say it. In other words, you have to make your speech very visual. Staging helps with this in a tremendously impactful way.

 Oh, one last thought. Everything you do staging-wise should be subtle. It should look natural and not forced. But keep this in mind, looking natural is on the far side of preparation…not the near side. When you prepare effectively, you won’t have to think about what you’re doing. It will become second-nature. In other words, it will be natural.

 Everything in speaking is about subtlety. If you’re being obvious about what you’re doing, it will break your connection with your audience. Therefore, when you move, make it subtle. I’ve seen some speakers move the entire length of the stage for their timeline. That’s not necessary. A few steps in one direction should suffice when moving to the future or back to the past. The same goes for characters in dialogue. Don’t travel so far between characters. A subtle head turn should suffice to allow us audience members to know which character is talking. Be subtle.

Stand Completely Still when Delivering Your MOST Important Phrases

However, when you get to your most important phrase (often your Foundational Phrase) it creates quite an impact when you stand  completely still, look directly at one individual in your audience, and hold his/her gaze for your entire Foundational Phrase.
For example, I scan the audience until I get to the phrase where I say, “Your dream is not for sale” and that’s when I look at one person and hold his/her gaze. Then, once I finish the phrase, I go back to scanning the room and moving if appropriate.  In other words, hold their gaze for your entire phrase.

Laugh and Inspire: The Perfect Example

Check out this amazing speech from J.K.Rowling, author of the mega-successful 'Harry Potter' books. She starts off strong (getting several laughs and a huge round of applause within the first 60 seconds!) and goes on to give a very inspirational speech. Just check out the first 60 seconds, and I assure you that you,like everyone else, will end up watching the entire video...


J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

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How Can You Use the 'Enter and Knock' Technique to Achieve Your Dreams?

How Can You Use the 'ENTER AND KNOCK' technique to Achieve Your Dreams?

 Do you have a brilliant business plan, but you "just don't know anyone who will give you enough funding to get started"?

Which organization or company do you want to work for, but "can't" because you "just don't know anyone who works there?"

What ideas and plans are you holding back because you don't have the right contacts and connections?

While you think about those three questions, come with me on a little journey and you will learn how to use the 'Enter and Knock' technique that may help you overcome these barriers so that you can get started on your dreams:

*****

If you were with me two years ago when I'd just graduated from high school, you would have seen me very excitedly talking to a bunch of friends about a "brilliant business idea" that could potentially make me several hundred thousand dollars in profit. 

While I won't go into the details of the plan, my idea was to export a very popular product from Kenya and into Tanzania (where it wasn't available on the market at that time). Figuring the popularity of the (newly-launched) product in Kenya, I believed that the product would prove equally popular in Tanzania. I had all the proposals written out and a thorough strategy in place, but I never did carry out the plan.

Why? 

Because a little negative voice inside my head said: "You don't have any connections...you don't know anyone who would fund your business plan!" Is there a negative voice inside your head is telling you that you can't succeed because you don't know the right people?

The positive person inside of me answered: "I believe that if you search hard enough, if you're dedicated enough, you'll surely find several organizations who'll be willing to adopt your plan and give you a shot."

Immediately, the negative voice retorted:  "Oh yes, sure, there may be  a few organizations who might be interested in the proposal, but how can you possibly convince any of the big-shots to even listen to you, let alone accept your plan?"

Sadly, the negative voice triumphed, and I lost. As I write this, there is another organization in Kenya that is exporting the very same product to Tanzania  - and they're making a fortune out of it. I let a great money-making idea slip out of my hands because I felt that I didn't have the 'right connections to get started'. When have you ever talked yourself out of your hopes and dreams because you "didn't know the right person?"

Last week, I had another great idea that, had I let slip, would have cost me HK $130,000. Fortunately, this time, when the negative voice inside my head started speaking  ("You don't know the right people!"), I acknowledged that it was correct. It was true that I didn't know the 'right people'. However, "not knowing the right people" or not having the "right network" can not be treated as a valid excuse for you to not carry out your plans. Instead, like I successfully did this time around, you can use the Enter and Knock technique to achieve success.

Before I expound on what the Enter and Knock technique is, think of this: Have you ever seen a person (or maybe it was you) who entered a room, and then, upon entering....realized that they forgot to knock? It happens all the time! 

What happens in this sort of situation? For example, say that you (in a bit of your hurry), enter your boss's office before realizing that you forgot to knock. Most of the time, your boss will just let it slip and you can sit down and start talking. At the end of the meeting, he may add with a smile, "And next time, please don't forget to knock". Not much harm done.


Now, to illustrate this Knock and Enter technique for Success in your career, let me show you how I effectively used it to gain a significant amount of benefits worth HK$130,000.

Imagine that you were with me in Hong Kong on Friday, 13 August 2010 at 2.03 p.m. on the elevator to the thirteenth floor. On the elevator, you would have seen me inhaling and exhaling deeply in an effort to calm myself down because I was heading over to a company called 'Active Communications Limited' (a firm that specializes in providing presentation skills, leadership and managerial training for top executives in Asia). I knew no one at Active Communications, and I had made no prior appointment...All I had was a good idea that I believed they would be interested in. 

When the elevator doors opened, you would have seen me confidently walk out of the elevator and into the offices of Active Communications, where I politely asked the receptionist if I could see the General Manager. Several minutes later, I was sent into the General Manager's Office where I introduced myself before giving a five minute overview of my business plan. [This is the ENTER stage, where you're still seen as a stranger by the organization you've barged into...but at least you've entered, which is better than being a stranger outside the organization]

After talking for 10 more minutes, you would have seen the General Manager stand up, reach across the table, shake my hand and give me his personal business card so that we could talk more about my proposal the following day [This is the KNOCK, when you get invited back by the organization. In the coming article, I will show you how to make sure that once you've ENTERED, you get invited back for a chance to KNOCK]. The following day, the General Manager and I went over my business plan and I was able to secure benefits worth HK $30,000.

Later that very same Tuesday after talking to the General Manager of Active Communications Ltd, I ENTERED the offices of another company, was invited back (the KNOCK stage) and was able to secure additional benefits worth HK $100,000+.


When you don't know the right people and you don't have any polite way to 'knock and enter' the offices of an organization (whether you're trying to get a job there or get funding from them), try the 'Enter and Knock' technique instead. It is not ideal, but it still works a lot of the times. 

Sometimes, you may have to ENTER more than once in order to get an opportunity to KNOCK [For example, I have spent the last month barging into the offices of J.P.Morgan, but I still haven't been invited back. Once I enter enough times, eventually they'll let me knock :).

Don't just take my word for it. Check out Les Brown (a world-renowned motivational speaker) and look at how he used of the ENTER and KNOCK technique:   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXS4tWHtItY&feature=related%20
To see the Les Brown's use of the ENTER, ENTER, ENTER and KNOCK technique (sometimes it takes more than one Enter to get invited back for the Knock), click on the YouTube link and forward to 4 minutes 18 seconds.


The ENTER and KNOCK technique may not be ideal, but it works a lot of the times. As with walking into your boss's office without knocking, your boss will forgive you and you will get the job done [if you know how to get invited back for the KNOCK - an issue we will cover in the next article]. Don't lose out on a brilliant idea like I did just because you don't have the right connections!

Do you have a brilliant business plan, but you "just don't know anyone who will give you enough funding to get started"? ENTER and KNOCK


Which organization or company do you want to work for, but "can't" because you "just don't know anyone who works there?" ENTER and KNOCK
****

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Live Passionately,


Akash P Karia
http://public-speaking-hong-kong.blogspot.com/

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