Here's something about Jezra Kaye's upcoming public speaking workshop; lots of good food for thought—and speaking. If you would like to communicate with POWER, AUTHENTICITY and EASE, join her for an evening of hands-on activities that will lift your speaking skills to the next level. I took a 3-hour workshop and enjoyed it very much and picked up some very useful ideas and tips.
For weeks, I’ve been shuffling through
the same stack of papers, articles, notes, biz cards, invitations, old socks and photos waiting to be scanned.
If you want to de-clutter your public speaking
(and that means everything you say that's not private), here are some simple ways to start:
1. ADD SOME
SPACE
Those of you who live (and talk!) in New York will be glad to hear that adding space does not
mean s p e a k i n g r e a l l y s l o w l y.
And those
of you who went to college will be glad to hear that it doesn't require
you to give up those erudite-sounding, run-on sentences, so rich in
subordinate clauses and clever little asides that allow you to keep
talking
about the topic at hand, which is probably quite delightful, until
you've exhausted everything that one could imagine saying about it and
then
you add something else because…
No, "adding space" means pausing—briefly, fractionally—between one phrase and the next so that people can
hear your entire thought.
And if you want to slow down further, add some emphasis.
Now you're pausing… briefly, fractionally… between one phrase and the next… so that people can hear your entire
thought.
You can practice this
trick in your "private" speech (i.e., when you're talking to family or friends):
Add some space!
You'll sound calmer… and
smarter… and people will have time to
take in your words!
2.
SIMPLIFY
Now that you've slowed down enough to hear yourself think, you can start to edit.
Most of us say much more than we need to:
-
We repeat ourselves.
-
We pile on the arguments.
-
We make point after point. After point.
Unfortunately, people don't remember large chunks or subtle nuances unless they've studied a
topic at length.
In normal conversation, as in public speech, they're likely to recall just ONE
THING that you said. So what's it going to be?
To find the answer, ask yourself:
-
What ONE IDEA do you want them to retain? and
-
WHY THEY SHOULD CARE?
When you can answer those questions, you've got the simple, elegant core of what you want to
say.
Concentrate on stating it as clearly… cleanly… and authentically
as possible.
And leave some space to let it sink it!
3. CALL A
“SPEECH-ALIST”
An experienced Speaker Coach can help you develop these (and other) tips into
a powerful and authentic speaking style.
Would you like to begin right away?
Contact me about private
coaching, or come to…
Presentations that
Persuade Workshop
Next Thursday, January 15th, 2009, 6:30-9:00PM