The differences between good and great speakers: 1. Practice

Whenever I am asked about the best way to practice public speaking I inevitably suggest join a Toastmasters club. Go to the Toastmasters International website to find a club near you.


But how well does the confidence gained in Toastmasters translate into confidence speaking before other groups. Toastmasters speak before (mostly) the same people every week and you know everyone is there to help you along.

To answer this question let’s look at how we learn something new. Before we learn we are often an Unconscious Incompetent (we don't know that we don't know how to do it).

For some reason or other we become aware that we could learn. Maybe it's an invitation to speak at a friend’s wedding, maybe it is recognizing that the people who can speak well are advancing faster at work. There are a thousand ways that we may become aware, everyone's story is different.

Even though we are aware, we may not choose to do anything about it - or we may even choose not to do anything. Nevertheless, we are now a Conscious Incompetent. We know that we do not know.

If we make a decision to do something, the first few times we try may be quite uncomfortable. But we stay focussed and we concentrate and we get by. This is the phase of Conscious Competence. We are able to do it, but we have to concentrate.

With practice, and some motivation and support, with knowledge gained from the program we will gradually feel more comfortable, and eventually we will wonder what all the fuss was about. We will become Unconscious Competents. We do it out of habit.

Let me take an extreme example - if you pull your left ear when you are nervous, you may not know it. Someone may draw it to your attention - hopefully quietly and sensitively - and you will become aware. Now you are more likely to notice yourself doing it. Someone may suggest a positive alternative behaviour to help you avoid it - always keep your hands in your pockets. Doesn't look good, I know, but much better than the ear pulling. When you feel yourself about to reach for your ear, whamm hand into pocket. A conscious act. Eventually the habit will disappear and be replaced by another annoying one - hands in pockets - but this is less distracting and easier to change to meaningful gestures.

So back to your original question: the habits that you develop in front of your comfortable group will stay with you. The habit of making eye contact, the importance of a catchy opening, always leaving with a memorable close - they are readily translated.

The other side - being uncomfortable in front of a group of strangers will partly disappear, because you have more confidence as a result of your catchy opening, your eye contact and the fact that your hands are in your pockets, not pulling your ear. But the self belief that this group of people are interested in what you have to say may only come from speaking to several different groups and Toastmasters offers that opportunity, too with over 10,000 clubs in almost 100 countries.

Here is a story that I often use to make this point:

I recently had a conversation with the leader of a band who practices in a garage not very far from my place. Suspecting that he couldn't afford a watch I rang him and told him what time it was. To extend the conversation I politely, although politeness at 3 am is not the same as politeness at midday, asked him "WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THAT MUSIC IN THAT GARAGE ANYWAY?"

He explained to me that they would not let him play at the Sydney Opera House until he got it right. In the garage he could practice the same song over and over in the hope that the nuances that he applied to the music would meld.

He also explained that he received some interesting feedback from my neighbors that was enabling him to adjust the material to suit a wider audience.

He admitted that some of the feedback was not useful (some was physically very difficult) but every now and then he obtained some evaluation that he could use.

Grateful that I had been able to add to his total knowledge, rather than going to sleep (an impossibility, anyway) I compared his method to my participation in Toastmasters.

The Toastmasters club is like a garage. I can try new things before an audience that will give me valuable feedback. Some I choose to ignore, some I modify before include it, some I accept totally.

In return I am asked to provide applause and feedback to my fellow members.

When I get it right in this low risk setting then I will be ready to take it to the real world.

Provide takeaways

I was once told that the hallmark of a great seminar is a good lunch and an impressive manual. I didn't believe it then or now, although there is a smidgin of truth in it.
How many manuals have you collected and stored in a bookshelf somewhere, never to be consulted again? I am certain that some participants expect that the information contained in them will somehow penetrate our consciousness through osmosis - provided, of course, that they are stored exactly the right distance from our head.

On the other hand, a well designed handout can serve as a valuable prompt to help participants take the message home.

I generally use interactive handouts - ones which the participants complete during the presentation. This has the additional advantage of involving the sense of touch during the seminar or speech.

Ways that handouts can be made interactive include:

• Providing outlines of diagrams used in slide presentations - leave in the graphics, but leave out the words;

• Printing the first letters of an acronym which is the framework on the presentation;

• Using a 'Good Ideas Doggy Bag." This is a handout that I have developed which I ask participants to write out the one idea from the presentation that they intend to use first. I ask them to seal it in an envelope that I provide and then I promise to send it to them one month later.

The advantage of this process is that when they do return home, other more pressing issues may dilute the impact of the seminar.

By delivering a reminder, in their own words and hand-writing, when their recollection may be faltering, I reinforce the commitment that they made to themselves.

· Another form of takeaway is a prompt that can be displayed on their desk. I use index card size summaries that fold into a tent. I also give away good quality pens with my name and contact details on them. I find a far better call back rate from these than from business cards.

Fridge magnets are not a good idea, as if these are brought into contact with recording media, such as tapes or computer disks, including the hard drive on a computer, the information on the tape or disc is erased.

Never distribute copies of your speech to be read by the audience as you deliver it. Do you really want them to get ahead of you? Do you really want them to know that you skipped a paragraph because of time constraints? The only person in the room who should know what you are going to say next is you.

Some conferences ask for a paper to be submitted in advance and this is then circulated to the participants. Fine. What I say in the paper is consistent with what I say from the platform, but I speak to the paper, rather than read it.

I have three speeches on any subject: The one I intend to give - which is printed in the papers, the one I do give, which is often available on cassette and the one I wish I had given, which is available to those who ring me afterwards to discuss a point that I made.

As a handout, I prefer to give an outline of the main points, and often include some of the anecdotes under the heading "Tales Trainers Tell."

At other times I restrict handouts to a single point, and give them out one page at a time. This has increased flexibility if the level of knowledge is not what I had expected. I can withhold some notes, and give out others to suit the reaction that I am getting.

The quality of the handouts is important. Clear photocopies are no more expensive than shoddy ones. Plenty of white space improves readability immensely. I always have contact details on each page so that people can follow through if they wish to.

Build Your Knowledge

• What statistics support your message?

•  What anecdotes can you use to add to what you have to say?
•  How can you represent your message visually?
•  Ask questions

Gather resources
Apart from your own personal experiences, there is a great deal of material available to provide support. For the computer literate, the internet is a marvellous resource.
There are a large number of sites dedicated to jokes, clip art, statistics and quotations. It is impractical to provide addresses here, as the net changes so rapidly that by the time you finish reading this chapter the list will have changed.
Be warned: when you use a search engine for quotations, you will find what you are looking for mixed in with thousands of other references for investment strategies, second hand cars and home improvements. By looking for "quote" and "speak" and "research" and "health" and "life expectancy" you greatly reduce the number of alternatives. Read through the search engine tips for advice on how to combine several queries into one.
If the last paragraph is apparently in some foreign language, then I have some good news and some bad news: the good news is that the internet is very easy to use, and with libraries, cafes and kiosks offering cheap short term internet access is easy to access without investing in your own computer. The bad news is that if you are not internet literate, then a large part of your audience will attribute a lack of intelligence to your efforts. Perhaps that is unfair, but that does not make it untrue.
Please look at the copyright conditions associated with the material that you use. Most sites permit their material to be used, provided that acknowledgment is given. Others ask that you seek permission or provide feedback. While the chances of prosecution may be slight, some sites do aggressively protect their copyright, and so they should. The best reason for complying with the conditions that they impose on your using their material is simply that it demonstrates your integrity. Add to that the impact on your credibility: When you trot out your statistic, some in the audience will challenge (hopefully silently) its accuracy. If you are able to report that it came from the latest census, via the government statistics web site, you are demonstrating that you point is supported, and that you have done your homework.


Build a database
The acquisition and selection of material is essential for the preparation of a great presentation.
I still find Readers Digest a great source. Aside from jokes, there are personal experience, quotes and examples of "picturesque speech" throughout every issue. Most of the material is timeless, so while the current issue may contain material that is currently doing the rounds of bistros, bars and bus stops, past issues contain a great deal of material that is still quite useful.
Television shows, comedy stand up routines and comic strips in daily newspapers are further examples of places to look for a humorous view of life.
The Internet is a mine of jokes, it is simply a matter of knowing where to look. Because the world wide web is developing at such a rapid pace it is impractical to give addresses in a book like this, but search engines and links are two terms that any good speaker has to become familiar with in today's world. Ask any computer literate colleague to explain them to you, or preferably show you how they work.
The greatest source of material, however is your daily life. If you look for examples, you will find them. The challenge is to look.
Having found the material, it is time to store it.
I use a computer data base file now, but for many years relied on the low tech equivalent, index cards. I still carry a supply of blank cards with me. To record incidents as they happen, but as soon as possible I transfer it to my data base.
Rather than just cross reference a page and issue of Readers Digest or a joke book I always rewrite the material to suit my style. I am not in the habit of copying other people's material word for word, but rather emulating the way that they provide the surprise twist.
By personalising it, I find it easier to remember, too.
By and large, preparation is largely about collecting, sorting and deciding on application. Then it is time to practice your material.

Using pauses and vocal variation

Notice the difference that these two presentations of the same words make:

Dear John,

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours?

Trish

Or to put it another way:

Dear John.

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,

Trish

Punctuation is important to the spoken word, too.
When I learned to read in primary school, Sister Mary Brutus taught me to count 1 at a comma and three at a full stop. She also taught me to raise my voice at a comma and lower it at the end of a sentence.

These habits have stayed with me and I now follow them intuitively when I speak.

From discussions with people educated more recently than I was, it appears that this has disappeared from the curriculum. It is a shame, at least if no alternative has replaced them.

I also recommend that you write your speeches out with a natural break at the end of each line.

Keep it to about six words per line.

Tape yourself reading this next paragraph:

I don't read my speeches. If I did, however, I would set them out in lines of six words or less in a large type with one phrase or idea per line.
I would place a double space between sentences and never carry a sentence over the page.

This is how I advise those who need to read to speeches to set out their script:

I don't read my speeches.

If I did,

however,

I would set them out

in lines of six words or less

in a large type

with one phrase or idea per line.

I would place a double space

between sentences

and never carry a sentence

over the page.

Now retape yourself reading the larger text, and see how it affects the way that you sound.