Month: July 2010

They work for me

(WORLD) I’m one of those weird people who loves to get up on stage to speak in front of hundreds of people.

My career only spans 4 years but in that time I’ve delivered talks on four continents and to thousands of individuals at cross-sector events, conferences and in-house sessions.

Along the way I’ve learned a few things and thought it time to share the wisdom. So without further ado, here’s ‘My Top Ten Speaking Tips’ (not in priority order) based on personal experience:

1. Finish the presentation the night before—it stays fresher in your brain than if you completed it a few weeks previous. This is important for my industry as stuff moves so quick but it also offers the opportunity to add in references from earlier talks (if it’s more than a one day event) plus ensures you can omit things which have already been covered. Most importantly though it doesn’t give you a chance to practice…

2. Don’t practice—a great talk is like a conversation (and no conversation goes the way you planned, no matter how many times you practice it in your head). Sure, run through it once to check the timings plus transitions etc but this is more an exercise of knowing what you want to convey rather than rehearsing exactly what to say verbatim.

3. Don’t do lecterns—it forms a physical barrier between you and your audience. Less is definitely more in this instance and before you say, “where do I put my script…?”

4. Never use a script—if you know your stuff you don’t need it written down. This method means: head down, losing intonation / connection with your audience / professionalism. We don’t talk the same way we write and it just doesn’t work. If you’re an organiser of any events / conferences, ban podiums and scripts. It will scare a lot away but I guarantee you’ll be left with fantastic speakers who simply know their stuff.

5. Let your client dictate the topic not the content—I once had a very needy client who heavily dictated the content of a presentation I was giving at their event to the point of even signing it off. It’s the ONLY time the organisers didn’t think I delivered (even though three quarters of the audience thought I was good/very good). Coincidence maybe, but experience tells me otherwise.

6. Move—the best speakers are passionate and passion means movement. Move around the stage / floor. Move your arms, your face, your eyebrows. Communicate with your body not just your words / slides.

7. Look at your audience—engage them through eye contact. Don’t pick a spot at the back of the room / hall and drift off. Sometimes this is hard if you’re speaking on a lit stage but you can still make people out. After a while you can have some fun with this: I like to pick out those yet to be convinced (you’ll spot them through body language—the ones with their arms crossed and sitting back in their seat—once you have them coming forward and sitting on the edge of their chairs and nodding their heads you know you’re onto a winner).

8. Bullets kill people—well maybe in this case it’s attention. People can read faster in their heads than you can read it out loud. The only words I use in my presentations are the titles for each slide. This directs my talk. They act as cues for the topics or a point I want to convey. The underline comes from the images/video plus the story weaved around it.

9. Fool your nerves—those damn butterflies can turn into courage-eating moths which can eat you from the inside out. Trick them. The emotional and physiological response to fear is exactly the same as when you’re excited. Tell yourself it’s not nerves but positive anticipation and after a while you will create an ingrained learned response.

10. Enjoy it—if you don’t have fun speaking then don’t do it. There are other ways to promote yourself or spread your message.

As stated, all of the above work for me—they might not work for you. Then again they could.

Do they help or hinder? Agree / disagree?

MediaSnackers Speaking/Masterclass

Bloggers and brands

(NED) The MediaSnackers podcast focusses on individuals, organisations or companies who are simply impressing us and which are crying out for more discussion.

Nalden runs the extremely popular blog Nalden.net out of Amsterdam is also the founder of We Transfer.

0.00—0.28 intro
0.29—1.30 Nalden.net
1.31—3.00 the background and development of the blog
3.01—4.05 what brands and organisations can leanr from bloggers
4.06—5.25 examples of brands Nalden has worked with
5.26—7.05 how to ensure authenticity
7.06—8.00 video interview with Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman
8.01—9.47 brands Nalden wouldn’t work with
9.48—10.44 how can brands and organisations use / partner with bloggers?
10.45—11.17 future
11.18—11.27 outro

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Want to suggest someone or put your virtual hand-up to be interviewed? Then get in touch here.

Devour our other podcasts.

Continue reading MS Podcast#153

Arts | Learning | Technology

(GBR) More than humbled to be opening the second day of the fantastic Shift Happens : ALT Shift conference here in Pilot Theatre, York (the exact same thing I did last year).

This year my aim to explore power, engagement and play in the context of social media use.

DK is an inspirational speaker, his presentations are always geared to his audience, and he knows how to generate a real buzz in the room. Most of all he knows his stuff, presents it brilliantly and is able to convey thoughts, ideas to enable true understanding. He has delivered keynotes at our last 2 shift happens events and he totally rocked the crowd. Thanks DK I have learned a lot from you and your presentations.

Marcus Romer, Artistic Director, Pilot Theatre

Here’s a Wordle created from all the responses, quotes and tweets from my talk:

Grab the full text of quotes and tweets here: ShifthappensTwitQuotes (.rtf file) to create your own on Wordle.net

Here’s also a quick AudioBoo with Bec from Pilot Theatre:

Plus here’s another interview from KhaozMediaYork—listen here.

UPDATE—check out the video of the keynote here.

MediaSnackers Speaking/Masterclass

Related post: Shift Happens 2.0 2009