Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
New Site announcement
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
How to speed up your learning curve.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Mastering the Pieces of Public Speaking
An article from my favourite speaker coach Craig Valentine.
If you want to create a masterpiece, you first have to master each piece. The three major pieces of public speaking are structure, content, and delivery. Mastering one means nothing if you do not master the other two. That is why it is critical to not just study speaking as a whole, but also to dive a mile deep into each piece. In this lesson, you will pick up one tool from each of the three pieces of public speaking. Then, just as a bonus, you will get one very substantial idea if you plan on using speaking to grow your income.
Three Tools (plus one) to Help you Create a Masterpiece
A Structure Tool – To be a masterful speaker you must become a masterful tease. It is imperative to become skilled at teasing your audience to want to know more. Legendary Motivational Speaker Lou Heckler once said, "Don't tell them; take them." In other words, don't just tell them what happened in your story, take them into it by establishing a scene, using dialog, etc. Here is one of my foundational phrases that I keep in mind when structuring a speech: "If you can't tease them, you can't take them." Here are three examples of teasing your audience to want to know more:
"If you understand this next point, you will find yourself moving towards your goals, dreams, and aspirations, even while you are asleep. The providence, serendipity, and grace will all be on your side pushing you toward the life you have imagined. The wildly successful people in life use this tool and it is yours for the taking." "What do you think is the number 1 thing that stands between most people and their goals? [wait for answers]. Those are all great answers and they're all wrong. [laughter]. Actually, they are not wrong, but they are not the number 1 thing that stands in the way. The number 1 thing is not what you think." "Have you ever worked with a StatusQuoaholic? You know these people, right? They are averse to change and they say things like, 'This is the way we've always done things around here. Why change. I wish for the good old days again.' What do these people do to your team? [wait for answers and the build up of frustration]. What if you had a way to turn even the biggest StatusQuoaholics into positive forces for your team? Well, you can, but only if you implement the following tool. "
Do you see how these statements tease the audience into wanting to hear more? When you pick up a newspaper, what makes you decide whether or not to read an article? Chances are it is the headline. That is exactly what these tease-based statements do. They act as headlines and are designed solely to get your audience to want to hear what is coming next. When you become a great tease, you generate interest with ease.
Once you establish the conflict, escalate it! Look at your conflict like the water rising on the Titanic. If the water never rose on the Titanic, we would have thought it was a terrible movie. Once you establish your conflict, it is critical to ask yourself, "How can I escalate this conflict to a point of desperation? How can I raise the water on my Titanic?" When you establish and then escalate your conflict, your story keeps your audience members riveted to see how it turns out.
A Delivery Tool – Establish a story space and a conversation space on your stage as you speak. The story space is where you tell your stories and the conversation space is where you physically step out of your story and speak directly to your audience. My story space is usually a step back from my conversation space because I like to step up to make my point.
In your story space, you can be as wild and crazy as the story takes you because, after all, you are reliving what happened. However, when you step up and out of your story into the conversation space, it should be just that; a conversation with your audience members. This conversational style should be similar to the one on one conversations you have with people and it should not sound preachy, forced, or sound like you are still in your story. The story creates the emotion but the conversation keeps the connection. Having physical spaces for each helps clarify for your audience whether you are still in your story or you are now addressing them.
A Business Tool – One of the most important marketing strategies we can ever use is to give our recipients a specific next step to take and make sure we are part of that next step. Here are some examples based on various marketing tools I use:
When people visit my website, the next step is to sign up for my FREE Masterful Speaking Toolkit.
When I speak to speakers, their next step is often to invest in a certain product or service.
When meeting planners visit the Motivation side of my website, their next step (after reviewing my Meeting Planner section) is to download a special report and/or fill out the Request Craig form.
When I speak to managers, their next step is often to bring me in for Part 2 or Part 3 of that program.
Whatever your next step is, just make sure you have one. Also, do not give several options. It is best to give one specific next step for each audience (or recipient) and design your entire speech (from your very first word) or marketing piece to drive them towards that next step. A confused mind says, "No", but a clear mind says "Go."
The art of balancing your life
Monday, March 30, 2009
Top 10 Quotes on Failure
Banana leaf anyone?
Dare to fail
" ? It is an inspiring book about the importance of changing the way you look at failure.It first captured my attention many year ago as I just completed reading the book "Dare to Succeed". Though a total opposite of it's title, it still has a powerful message. 
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Debt Free?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
10 top quotes on Leadership
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.
FAYE WATTLETON:
HENRIK IBSEN:The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.
A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.
JOHN GARDNER:
Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts.
RALPH NADER:
I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON:
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.
ROSALYNN CARTER:
A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.
STEPHEN COVEY:
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.
WALTER LIPPMAN:
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.
Making the most of my time
10 Ways to Improve your Speech Delivery
Another Amazing and insighful article about public speaking from my favourite speaker Craig Valentine
10 Ways to Improve your Speech Delivery
Below are some well-known and some not-so-well-known tips for delivering your speech. The key is not whether you know these tips; it's whether you put them into practice.
1. Don’t forget about your face. Your facial expressions are more important than all your arm and hand movements combined. The eyes are indeed the windows to the soul. What you do with them can make or break your entire speech.
2. Use your character’s gestures. Keep in mind that speaking involves utilizing captivating stories to make your unforgettable points. Each story has its own characters and each character probably has his or her own way of gesturing. When you take on the role and persona of that character, you should use his or her gestures. While rehearsing your speech, consistently ask yourself, "How would this character say this?"
3. Let the emotions drive. The emotions in your story and in your point will drive your movements. If you are intoxicated with your emotions while telling your story or making your point, the appropriate gestures will come. It will be effortless. When you’re really angry at someone or something, do you have to think about what gestures to use? No, they come automatically. If you build the emotion, the gestures will come.
4. Gesture 360 Degrees. Many speakers gesture in front of them and on the side. World Class Speakers realize there is an entire area around them and they utilize it. Feel free to gesture down for the lower dimension. For example, when I speak about a swamp tour my wife and I took, I talk about the alligators that surrounded the boat. At that point I gesture downwards with the open hand. Then I describe the trees that were hanging down as if they were trying to grab onto us. At that point I gesture upwards to the upper dimension using my hands to emulate how the trees hung and swayed. At times I point behind me to the back of the stage or in front of me out into the audience. I might point to my right to signify the past and point to my left to signify the future as I use the stage as a timeline. The key is to go up, down, back, forth, and side to side in order to paint a whole (surround-sense) scene for your audience in order to invite them into it.
5. Don’t use the same gesture over and over again. This is evidence of a habit and most likely distracts from your presentation.
6. Watch out for your resting position. This is the position your hands fall to when you’re not using a gesture. For example, my hands used to fall together in front of me with my fingers interlocking. It was distracting.
7. Don’t move all the time. If you are always moving then no movement will be meaningful. Your audience will never know what’s most important. Move with a purpose. When there is no reason to move, don’t.
8. Use an open hand. It’s better to point to your audience with an open hand rather than an index finger. It’s less threatening and more inviting. The open hand is also effective when calling back to spots on the floor as you revisit the points, characters, and stories you previously used.
10. Smile.
Monday, March 23, 2009
5 part formula on how to make a content rich speech
If you want to be known as a content-rich speaker, you will want to follow my PARTS Formula.
P = Phrase
Have you ever seen a story or speech that was all over the place? Have you ever given one? Chances are this is because the speaker did not start creating the speech in the right place. You should start creating each story (or other anchor) by writing out your Foundational Phrase. This is the phrase upon which that entire story is built.
For example, I tell a story about a boss who tried to keep me with the company by offering me more money. The Foundational Phrase to that story is “Your Dream is not for sale.” This is the point my audience walks away remembering. If you want your audience to remember your point, then leave them with powerful Foundational Phrases for each anchor you use. Make sure these phrases are fewer than 10 words.
A – Anchor
Every point you make should be anchored by an illustration of some kind. I use 4 kinds of anchors in almost every speech I give. I call these my “4 As for For Anchors.” They are
1. Anecdote (a story)
2. Activity
3. Analogy
4. Acronym
You probably already know that the essence of public speaking is to “tell a story and make a point (i.e. Bill Gove).” However, in longer speeches, you should mix up your anchors and use activities, analogies, and acronyms along with your anecdotes. Just make sure every single point you make is illustrated with an anchor. When your audience remembers the anchor, they will not forget the point, especially if the point is made using a strong Foundational Phrase.
R = Reflection
It’s not good enough for our audience to listen to us. Our job is to get them to listen to themselves. Through our speech, they should think and realize how they will use the tools (processes, formulas, recipes, steps, etc.) to improve their own lives. To do this, we must get them to reflect rather than just listen. You can do this by asking questions before, during, and after your anchor. For example:
Before getting into the story I mentioned above, I ask, “What do you think is the number one thing that stands between most people and their dreams.”
During the story, I talk about how we sometimes let the good get in the way of the best. I then turn to my audience and ask, “When it comes to your goals and dreams, are you too good to be great?”
After the story, I ask my initial question again by stating, “So let me ask you now, what is the number one thing that stands between most people and their dreams?” Hopefully they have changed their perspective a bit because of the anchor.
Another example I use is in regards to imagination as I explain how I stepped on the world championship stage at least 1000 times in my mind before I ever got their physically. To get them to reflect on their lives, I ask my audiences, “What stage are you stepping on mentally at least 1000 times?” The key is to allow enough silence for them to be able to answer (in their own minds of course).
How are you currently getting your audiences to go beyond listening and to start reflecting?
T = Technique
If you want to have a long-lasting impact on your audience, then it is not enough to just give them theory. You must give them a way to turn that theory into a practice. For example, when I extol the benefits of using your imagination, I cannot simply just stop there. I must give them a technique for doing so. So I say to my audiences, “Write down your perfect day. Use all your senses, etc.” This gives them a way to turn the theory of imagination into something they can actually do.
When I talk to managers about innovation, I give them a process for using a WIP (Weekly Improvement Plan). Whenever the managers use the WIP, or my other audience members write down their perfect day, guess what? I am still speaking to them! What techniques (processes, tangible things to do) are you giving to your audiences?
S =Sale
Finally, it’s important to understand that when you are in speaking, you are in sales. We must learn to sell our messages and a great way to do this is to use “If…then” statements. For example, you might use the following:
“If you write down your perfect day, then you will find yourself moving towards your goals, dreams, and aspirations, even while you are sleeping.” [Opportunity for gain]
“If you don’t embrace this change, you will put your entire team at risk.” [Fear of loss]
Show them what they can get when they take an action, and show what they might end up with when they don’t.
Final thoughts:
This is the tip of the iceberg to the PARTS Formula. There are many dos and don’ts that go under each of these 5 keys. However, if you start reflecting on them now, then you will see areas you can immediately improve with your very next speech.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Have you check your spare tire?
It happen on one Sunday morning, my plan was to go to the market early morning to look for something interesting to cook. Lo and behold, I got a flat tyre. How interesting can that be?
Isn't it interesting to note that we often forget what is truly important until the moment arise that you need them. When you require them, it may not be helpful at all because we have neglected to care for them all this while.
During my defensive driving training , the instructor advice us to pump in extra air into the spare tyre as it will loses its air pressure over a long period. How's your spare tyre?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The art of communication
- If I was to summarise the message in one sentence on a name card, what would it be?
- What is the most impactful opening and relevant to the audience that I can use for the speech?
- How do I create an instant connection with my audience?
- How do I make my speech easy to be remembered?
- What stories can I use to further illustrate my points?
- What actions do I want my audience to follow through after listening to me?