"The heart of a presentation is story; the heart of a story is dialogue." Let's hear the exact words of the character in your story. Balance narration with dialogue.
"Don't put you, the person on a pedestal; put the process on the pedestal! Don't make yourself special, the hero of the story, make the formula, process, lesson... the source of wisdom. Make yourself similar to your audience and you will endear yourself to them.
"Share your 4 F's...your flaws, frustrations, failures, firsts." This will connect you to your audience as you will appear similar to them
"Don't talk and tell,; show and share!" Your body speaks volumes; use it well
"If they don't reflect, you don't connect or affect." They don't want to hear just your voice; they need to hear their own inner voices when you ask questions. Best ones are the 5 W question: Who, What, Where, When, Why...and How!
"Pause is the technique; silence is the message." Give them thinking space; don't step on their thoughts.
"When people laugh, they relax, when they relax, they learn, when they learn... they remember." Find opportunities to uncover humour in your speeches.
"Facts only tell, but superb stories sell!" People identify with characters, event, struggles and successes within stories.
"Emotion is the fast lane to the brain." Tell stories as people make decisions based on both intellect and emotion.
"The phrase determines what stays." "When in doubt, leave it out." Ever wonder what shall I include in my speech or what shall I exclude? Take heed to the above quotations.
Every time you speak, you are selling something: a product, service, idea, yourself. Therefore, you need to prepare and present top notch speeches that encompass the components below.
"A great speech makes an audience TALL (Think, Act, Laugh, Learn)
- Craig Valentine 1999 WCPS
"A great speech appeals to 4 H's: Head, Heart, Humor and has a Heavy duty message."
- Ed Tate 2000 WCPS
