Missoula-Public-Speaking-Tips: March 2011

10 Tips for Professional Speakers

Reason To Join A Missoula Toastmasters Club -

There a literally millions of people all around the world that have benefited from a membership in a Toastmasters club, and we trust that you will also consider visiting our club and joining. Visit our site at Shootin The Bull

You will find that Toastmasters is a wonderful place to not just learn to speak but to also make friends and meet new people. As one of the top Networking Organizations in the world it is a great place to meet other professionals and local people that want to become better speakers. Also you will find that Toastmasters supportive atmosphere assists even further in making new friends easily. I have met many people through Toastmasters, including many people I might not have otherwise had the chance to meet.

Join Us any Tuesday at Noon -Lunch Time for a 1 hour get together at the Elk Foundation on Grant Creek. Shootin' The Bull Toastmasters Club
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Put your best foot forward every time! One of the reasons that many people fear taking the podium is because they are afraid of being the focal point of everyone's attention and they don't want to make a fool of themselves. There are several things you can do to "fool-proof" your speaking event so that you present well every single time!

1. Take the time to prepare well for your presentation. Preparation enhances your confidence and it's also an opportunity to refine any weak areas in your presentation.

2. Begin and end your presentation on time. Arriving late to your presentation is simply unprofessional; not to mention that it won't win you any points with your crowd. Also speaking over time shows your audience that you don't value their time.

3. Know your audience. The only way you can really relate your audience is if you know who they are. Profile your audience. Are they male or female? What income bracket are they in? Why would they attend your presentation?

4. Dress appropriately for your audience. Not all speaking engagements require a business suit! There are many places where business casual attire has become the norm. Before your audience even hears your message, they are already sizing you up and this is impacting whether or not they are hearing what you have to say!

5. Have a backup plan for visual aids used in your presentation. You've selected to use visual aids because you thought they would be helpful in getting your message across. What happens when laptops fail or the room cannot accommodate presentation equipment? Create a plan on how you would handle a situation like that.

6. Tone down information overload. Yes, you can overload your audience with too much information and if you're not careful, you'll lose them. They'll mentally check out. As a speaker, you'll want to present enough information that hooks them into getting more information from you!

7. Don't use inappropriate humor. Humor can be a tricky thing working for you or against you. You will really have to know your audience in order to use jokes or humor appropriately.

8. Vary your speech tones. The monotonous speaker will lose their audience within the first 15 minutes. It's okay to be animated during your presentation and in fact, doing so will transmit flair and passion that keeps people engaged in your message.

9. Relate your topic back to your audience. Basically, stop talking about yourself! Your audience might want to hear a testimony or two, but mostly, they'll want to hear about them and how your presentation can help them!

10. Solidify your message. Support your ideas with data and evidence and build a solid case for your viewpoints. You can use statistics, testimonies, demonstrations, pictures and more!

Your presentation can be fool proof if you take the time to minimize mistakes. By going through these key points, you can assure yourself that you are well prepared for any challenge that might come your way and you will experience the success you've always dreamed of!

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Join Us any Tuesday at Noon -Lunch Time for a 1 hour get together at the Elk Foundation on Grant Creek. We are the Lunchtime Missoula Toastmasters Club

How to Tell a Story in Your Professional Speaking Presentation

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Telling stories is a fun way to humanize your topic. The story brings the "real-life" element into your topic making it more relatable to your audience. Telling stories are also a great way to change the pace of your presentation. Here are some tips to help you incorporate story telling into your presentations.

- Stories serve many purposes in your presentation. They can by used to highlight and clarify a specific point you want to address in your presentation. Stories can also reemphasize those points in your message to stress their importance.

- Stories should be relevant to your topic. The stories should also match the audience's needs and wants in terms of intelligence levels, experiences, and other demographic data such as age and occupation. The stories should be relatable to your audience and easy to understand.

- Telling a story can change the pace of your message. Stories can serve as a mental break for your audience so they can process the information they've been given.

- Humorous stories are great presentation openers and can set the tone of your message. Tell about problems and errors that you've made. Audiences like self-effacing humor because they can see themselves making the same mistakes or having the same issues.

- Get rid of unnecessary details of your story in your presentation. You can potentially lose your audience with all those details and if they serve no purpose, then get rid of them.

- Use short humorous stories in your presentation. If your story is too long or you take too long in getting to the punch line, your audience could tune you out.

- Tell where your story happened. Give your audience concrete information to think about and draw their own mental image in their mind.

- Use things that your audience is well associated with in your story. Your audience should be familiar with all the details of your story to they can remain hooked into it, however, only be as detailed as is common knowledge. Specific knowledge or "insider information" will not be relatable to most people since only a few people know about it.

- Let your words work for you. Emphasize adjectives and verbs so that they are more interesting to your audience.

- Rehearse your story telling. Every word counts and leaving out details can impact whether the story relates to your audience or not.

- Get the emotions involved in your storytelling. Hook your audience into your story by playing on their emotions.

Storytelling is not a difficult element to add to your professional speaking presentation. By practicing, you will be able to add more stories to your presentation to liven it up and change the pace. You will find that your audience will become more engaged in what you're saying because they can mentally relate better to your information. As you tell your stories, they will have mental images playing in their minds. They will also see themselves in the stories you tell and have it relate better to them. Start by adding one short story and then grow your story telling abilities from there.

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Join Us any Tuesday at Noon -Lunch Time for a 1 hour get together at the Elk Foundation on Grant Creek. We are the Lunchtime Missoula Toastmasters Club

Do You Have the Ability to Draw People as a Professional Speaker?

Reason To Join A Missoula Toastmasters Club -

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A speaker's ability to motivate is the hidden treasure in any presentation. Without it, many presentations fail no matter how good they might be. Lackluster speaking skills and unpolished scripts can still be presented well when motivation and passion shines through in the delivery! How do you measure up? 95% of your speaking engagement requires engaging an audience who may or may not want to be there and it is up to you to draw them into your presentation.

Engaging your audience requires the professional speaker to make solid connections with every single person in the room. While addressing the masses, the speaker is able to relate individually to each person and speak into their hearts and minds. A real change is made in the audience as they receive the information they have been given.

External influences impact the success of engaging your audience in your presentation. Your tone of voice should clearly communicate your passion and excitement about the topic you're speaking on. Your attire should communicate a relatable degree of professionalism. Additionally, it should also establish you as a leader or subject matter expert. Your body language should not contradict your excitement, but should exude confidence and power as you address your audience.

People are drawn in to your message when you add the personal touch to your presentation. Here are some things you can do to add the personal touch to your presentation.

1. Appeal to the emotional aspect of the problem you present. What drives someone to feel that they have to attend your speaking engagement? Address the fear, the fulfillment of reaching dreams and goals and also the pain that comes when setbacks occur.

2. Get your audience to talk about themselves. Have them talk about their experiences. Have them share the way they feel about problems and issues they have concerning your topic.

3. Talk about real life experiences. Talk about what you or others went through in dealing with your subject (i.e. - the chaotic experiences of managing lifestyle, problems faced when dealing with implementing your solutions, etc.)

4. Make eye contact with as many audience members as possible. Your audience needs to feel like you're speaking directly to them. Eye contact is one of those subtle one-on-one connections that cannot be bypassed.

5. Be a resource for your audience. Don't be afraid to give more information than your presentation allows. Answer all questions that are asked. Ensure that the solutions you present are simple to implement in anyone's lifestyle.

Drawing people into your presentation will ensure that you are able to connect with your audience. By making your audience a part of your presentation, they will be more attentive to what you have to say and will be more likely to take action on what you've discussed. Motivation comes as a result of making an individual connection with your audience. Not only will your information pass to your audience, but so will your passion for the topic you're speaking pass on as well. You can be a powerful speaker that gets results! Start today to practice drawing people into your presentation!

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Join Us any Tuesday at Noon -Lunch Time for a 1 hour get together at the Elk Foundation on Grant Creek. We are the Lunchtime Missoula Toastmasters Club

9 Tips for Handling Public Speaking Questions

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Join Us any Tuesday at Noon -Lunch Time for a 1 hour get together at the Elk Foundation on Grant Creek. Shootin' The Bull Toastmasters Club
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How you handle questions from an audience can often be the deciding factor as to how your presentation is received. If you're pitching for business, then it's absolutely vital to handle questions well.

1. Be prepared for questions - When you write your presentation, think about what you're likely to be asked and what your answer is going to be. Maybe you won't want to answer a particular question there and then, so think about what you'll say to satisfy the questioner.

2. Make it clear at the start - You may decide to take questions as you go or at the end of your presentation. Whatever you decide, make it clear at the start and don't change your mind. I would suggest questions at the end in a short presentation; if you take questions as you go, then your timing will get knocked out. And always remember, an audience won't forgive you for taking half an hour when you were only scheduled to speak for fifteen minutes.

3. Never finish with questions - Far better to ask for questions five or ten minutes before the end, deal with the questions and then summarise for a strong finish. Too many presentations finish on questions and the whole thing goes a bit flat - particularly if you don't get any.

4. Listen - When asked a question, listen and look like your listening. It may be something you've heard a million times before. Treat the questioner with respect and don't trivialise their point.

5. Thank the questioner - It's only polite, it shows respect and it gives you a bit more time to consider your answer.

6. Repeat the essence of the question - Some people may not have heard the question so your answer may not make any sense to them. It can also be irritating for them not to hear the question. Again, it gives you more time to think of the answer and it makes you look so clever and in control.

7. Answer to everyone - Don't fall into the trap of only answering the questioner. If they happen to be near the front then you could end up having a conversation with them and exclude everyone else.

8. Keep it simple - Many speakers, when it comes to questions, have become more relaxed and the fact that someone is interested enough to ask them a question, leads them to go on too long with the answer - DON'T.

9. Don't bluff or bluster - If you don't know the answer to a question, say so and find out. Suggest to the questioner that you'll 'phone them or come and see them with the answer. It can even be a good way to make further contact after the presentation.

As we all know, it's possible that you may not be asked any questions and you then have that awkward silence. People may be thinking about what you've just said and may need more time to ask. They may also be a bit shy and may take a few minutes to speak out. Why not have a question of your own prepared and say something like. "You may be asking yourself.........?" If you still fail to get any questions then go straight into your summary and closing statement.

Handling a question and answer session well, demonstrates your professionalism and reflects on your message.

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Join Us any Tuesday at Noon -Lunch Time for a 1 hour get together at the Elk Foundation on Grant Creek. We are the Lunchtime Missoula Toastmasters Club