Elizabeth worked very hard on this speech, and she executed it flawlessly. Notice the ease with which she moves, how she takes her time with the language, how she tells stories to illuminate her point, and, finally, her dynamic call to action. Excellent stuff.
Posts Tagged ‘presentation coach’
Speak Clear Client Elizabeth Schofield’s TED Speech
Thursday, October 13th, 2011Time Stress and Presentations
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Let’s face it, there’s never enough time. In work, or in relationships, we often find ourselves harried, either consumed by the various minutia that is a part of staying afloat in modern society, bills to pay, jury summons to satisfy, etc., or swamped by work requirements, clients to please, dinners to attend, paperwork to finish, etc.
Of course, this often leads us with little time for our presentations. So how do we know how much time to spend on our presentations? And more importantly perhaps, what do we do if we feel we are too busy to prepare?
I recently had a young woman come to me requesting help with a TED speech that she was to give in Bali in two weeks’ time. I was thrilled to get the call. An invitation to speak at TED is close to the pinnacle of success in the world of public speaking. The greatest thinkers in the world are invited to speak there. What’s more, you are allowed to have a call to action with this speech, to inspire, to push for change, to encourage transformation. All of the speeches given at TED go out over the internet, and are widely viewed. For twenty minutes, the world would be this young woman’s stage.
But she had no time. The irony of her success was that she was now inundated with offers for freelance work, and she didn’t have time to adequately prepare for the speech of her life. Luckily we were able to work with the confines created by her new-found success, and carve out a dynamic speech.
I would recommend asking yourself a few questions if you feel that you are short on time:
1) How important is the speech, or presentation? In an ideal world, we would be adequately prepared for every speaking engagement; however, the reality is that sometimes we simply are not. That being said, if the speech or presentation presents an unparalleled opportunity for you, or may be important for your career, you must find a way to carve out time even if it means telling your immediate supervisor you need the day off, or your spouse you have to cut dinner short.
2) Are you really that busy? Ask yourself tough questions. Are you busy, or scared? It’s fine to be nervous about public speaking, it’s perfectly natural, but it’s not good when you start avoiding the hard work it takes to pull off a great speech. If you feel that you are avoiding your speech, talk to a trusted advisor or colleague. Share your feelings. Then put together a plan of action and break through your block.
3) Can I re-arrange? If there is simply no time, or the time allotted to you for preparation is not adequate, it’s fair to ask to re-schedule.
If all else fails? Just be in the moment. Time stress happens to the best of us, and when we run behind, there is no point in beating ourselves up. If your speaking day has arrived, remind yourself you’ve done the best you can, and step up to the podium with as much courage as you can muster. You never know, you might still knock it out of the park!
Click here for my May “Language of Leadership” seminar co-hosted with Colleen Culley from Move into Greatness!
Video Analysis of One of the World’s Best Public Speakers
Friday, February 4th, 2011Sir Ken Robinson is hands down one of the world’s greatest speakers. I defy you not to be immensely entertained and enlightened by this twenty minute speech.
Almost every moment here is a gem. Let’s start with his body language. Notice how still he is. Of course, one should feel free to move throughout a speech, there are no hard and fast rules about body language, but few among us have the tolerance to explore stillness while speaking the way Sir Robinson does.
Now let’s take a look at his language…every word is articulated clearly, and he uses an abundance of inflection and pitch. He hits his content words, and makes every point clear, yet never over-articulates. Because he is physically relaxed, we are not distracted by his gestures from the most important component of his speech, his ideas.
He uses his wit to wonderful effect in this speech, eliciting a laugh a minute. Every trick in the public speaking book is used here, analogies, stories, quotes (including a gem from Abraham Lincoln), one-liners…. the speech is crammed with interest. It’s no wonder his last TED speech was downloaded over 10 million times!
Notice the structure of the beginning of his speech; an attention getter at the top that elicits a big laugh, then a clear thesis statement outlying his topic, than a wonderful analogy is made playing off of the public’s fascination with “resources”. Now we are hooked, and we know where we are going. The discussion section of the speech is a series of short, pithy stories. The story he tells about the child who wants to be a fireman, and is humiliated for not wanting to go to college, is one of the best, most appropriate, and powerfully told stories I have ever heard. Watch when he polls the audience as to who is wearing wristwatches… he manages to make a point, and leave everybody in stitches at the same time.
I could go on, and on. Each brilliantly told story weaves effortlessly into his main point: education is in need of reform. He culminates with a lovely quote from W.B Yeats.
A colleague of mine once said to me; “You know a standing ovation is authentic if the audience stands as one unit, immediately after the speech has finished”. Sir Robinson’s authentic ovation here was well deserved.
Colbert’s Congressional Tesimony
Sunday, September 26th, 2010
Since I seem to be big into blogging about Steven Colbert lately, I thought we would take a look at his congressional testimony from last week. The big question batting around the internet in regard to this speech is whether the tone is appropriate or not. Mr. Colbert was invited to speak in front of the House of Representatives in regard to illegal farm workers and the issue of immigration. Apparently someone had the brilliant idea of sending Mr. Colbert into a field to pick fruit for a few hours, and then testify before the House of Representatives on his experience. Of course, Mr. Colbert was completely outlandish, stayed in character, and, on occasion, mocked the very work he was presumed to defend.
From a public speaking standpoint, you could say that Colbert was tone-deaf, didn’t analyze the occasion thoroughly enough, and was inappropriate, but I think there is a larger question here begging to be asked, namely… what are these Representatives thinking!? 
And what is up with all the moralizing by politicians and the media regarding this speech? What did they think would happen? Mr. Colbert is a COMEDIAN. Why is he being invited to weigh in and give a speech before a sovereign governmental body on a topic of monumental national importance? It’s absurd. Personally, I think Mr. Colbert’s speech was perfectly appropriate. Satirists satirize. That is what they do. If the House of Representatives wanted an expert, they should have invited one. They invited a satirist, and the invitee turned the whole absurdity-pie around, and launched it into the face of those deserving, the House of Representatives.
What do you think? Bad taste or brilliant speech?
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is a public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City.
Making a Point with a Light Touch
Friday, September 17th, 2010Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.
Many speeches have a serious tone…but is it possible to drive a point home with a light touch? I think so. Seth Goldin gives a funny, and informative speech here on the concept of “broken”. The speech is hilarious, he uses visuals brilliantly, but what I think is most interesting is the sly way Mr. Goldin makes the listener contemplate what is “broken” and what is not.
Mr. Golden starts with a great attention getter, he has recently received a series of rebate cards, four of them to be exact, worth $30 a piece. Of course, he can’t use any of them effectively. He makes the choice to bring the cards on stage, and uses them as a type of prop, flipping through them as he tells his story, and then, bang, he throws them at the audience and states: “broken”.
The word “broken” is used repetitively; he riffs off of it, showing slides of ridiculous ad campaigns, and useless signage in order to make his point. With each slide Mr. Golden gets a laugh, and then uses this laugh as cover for some more serious questions: Why are useless ad campaigns designed? What are the reasons for ineptitude? What is “broken” and what is not?
If I had to quible a bit with this speech, I would say that Mr. Golden apologises a bit too much. There is never a reason to state “I am winging it” in a speech. Luckily he has charisma to burn, and pulls this off…but I would not try it at home.
So what do you think? Can you make a great speech, and keep it light?
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is a public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in Manhattan.
Roger Clemens and Non Verbal Communication
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
I’m always telling my clients that 80 percent of our impression of a speaker is non-verbal (that’s right, that speech you’re sweating over right now means much less than the quality of your voice, your posture, and how you gesture), so what do you think of this photo of Roger Clemens testifying before Congress? As many of you know, Roger Clemens, the former Yankee, and former shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, is going to be indicted for lying to Congress about his use of performance enhancing drugs.
I think this image is a powerful reminder that our bodies rarely lie. No matter what we say, our true feelings will be revealed by our facial expressions, our posture, and our tone of voice. This image just reeks of duplicity; the cocked head, the sideways glance, the backward-moving energy. Throw the jerk in jail.
Here is Harry Markopolos testifying before Congress. Harry is the guy who tried to blow the whistle on Bernie Madoff to the SEC to no avail. What do we see here? Definace, a steady gaze, forward-moving energy, confident gestures.
What do you think?
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is a public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City.
Passion and Public Speaking
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010Laurie Santos, head of the Comparative Cognition Lab at Yale University, gives a great speech here on the roots of human irrationality. The study itself is inspired and creative (she compares human economic behavior to monkey behavior), so a lot of the work for the speech has been done before she steps on stage. That being said, I think Ms. Santos excels at conveying passion and enthusiasm for her subject. I can hear you now: “But Jeff, that can’t be taught”. Au Contraire, yes it can. It’s quite simple if you follow an important guideline: Only speak about topics you enjoy speaking about, and add interest to a speech (quotes, stories, comparisons, contrasts) when your subject is boring you. Ambivalence about your topic is to be avoided at all costs. In this speech, Ms. Santos uses a great quote from Hamlet to humorous effect, and adds interest to an already engrossing topic.
There are two other things Ms. Santos does well; she does not over rely on her Power Point presentation, and she ends her speech on a positive note. Going negative is the cardinal sin of public speaking technique, and she avoids it well, coming to a nice, definitive conclusion.
If I were to quibble a bit with her technique, I would suggest that she could slow down, and breathe more. There are moments when she appears to be a little out of breath. Slowing down, and deliberately breathing more will help her calm her nerves, and will allow the audience to catch up with her ideas.
Overall, however, I consider this a job well done.
Your thoughts?
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is an executive public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City. (more…)
Language and Corporate Truth-Telling
Friday, August 13th, 2010In today’s Huffington Post, there is a great article about the verbal cues that give away an executive who is lying. According to a study done by Stanford University, executives who use general phrases like “the team” or “our corporation” tend to lie more often than executives who use more personal pronouns like “we” and “I”. In addition, exaggeration tends to be a key linguistic component of lying. According to the study, the former CFO of Lehman Brothers used the word “great” 14 times and “strong” 24 times while describing the firm’s performance during a conference call. The firm collapsed months later.
What type of language do you use when presenting? Do you keep it personal and use “I” statements? How have you seen language erode or increase credibility?
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is an executive public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City.
Analysis of TED’s WikiLeaks Q and A
Monday, July 26th, 2010Let’s take a look at TED’s WikiLeaks Q and A from a public speaking standpoint. What steps are necessary in order to successfully navigate a Q and A session? Listening to the question is essential, as is defining terms, giving your opinion when asked, backing up your opinion with facts, and acknowledging what you don’t know. Given that 80% of our impression of a speaker has to do with their non-verbal communication, open gestures, alignment, and a resonant voice matter a great deal too.
With these points in mind, how successful was this Q and A? My first thought was “My God what is up with the cell phones?!” Julian Assange’s phone goes off at 1:53, in the middle of the Q and A, and he has to turn it off in front of the audience. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not a good start to a Q and A. Uttering “God Damn” afterward did not help his case. The interviewer did a nice job of staying in the moment, and makes a quip which helps alleviate the situation. So no biggie, things happen in a speech.
But wait a minute, hold on, is that the interviewer holding a cell phone and using it like a conductor would a baton throughout the interview?? Why, yes it is! It seems that both interviewer and interviewee are so obsessed with their electronic gadgets that they can’t part with them for any reason, even when they are on television.
Non-verbal analysis aside, the content of the Q and A fares better. Mr. Assange defends Wiki Leaks in a cogent manner, and has details and facts to back himself up. The interviewer does a fair job of asking the tough questions of this controversial guest, when he’s not waving his cell phone around in the air.
I think Mr. Assange’s most impressive moment comes at the end of the Q and A when he is asked about what motivates his work. He says: “Capable, generous men do not create victims, they nurture victims”. Obviously Mr. Assagne had anticipated he might be asked this question, and he prepared an answer, one that is thoughtful and illuminating.
What do you think of the Q and A?
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is an executive public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City.
Listening and Public Speaking
Monday, July 19th, 2010A great speaker doesn’t speak at an audience, but rather listens to the audience, and responds to the audience. What exactly is good listening on a public speaking level? Is it about simply mirroring the body language of the person (or persons) you are speaking to, as some communication coaches suggest? Or is it deeper than that? I would argue that good listening on the public speaking level is the same as good listening on the personal level; it is the ability to understand the meaning of a question or comment, not just the delivery. On the micro level, this means repeating questions that are posed by your audience, and asking directly if you are understanding them correctly. It means paying attention to the context of the question, and picking up important non-verbal clues.
On the macro level, listening to your audience means understanding what they are expecting of the speech, and what they want, even need, to hear. Do you make sports analogies at a film industry convention with an audience made of movie buffs? Start out an awards ceremony with edgy humor when the audience yearns for sincerity? Perhaps you aren’t listening. Try imagining what you would want to hear if you were in the audience… this is the first step to becoming a speaker who is truly attuned to the audience.
In your opinion, what great speakers listen well?
Click here for a great article on listening @ Huffington Post
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is an executive public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City.