Speech Evaluations

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Shorts, backwards, corner, name tag, feet

Check out the Dear Speakers post by James Duncan Davidson.  The article started as a series of tweets.  Some great wisdom from the audience point of view.  There’s also some amazing pictures of speakers.

The pointers, which are expanded on in the article and in the comments (definitely worth reading), are:

  • Please deliver your speech to the crowd, not the screen.
  • Pick a spot and stay.
  • Take off your name tag.
  • Stop walking  backwards.
  • Make eye contact with your audience.
  • The corner of the stage is darker than rest of stage.
  • If you are being videotaped, all of the above matters 10x more.
  • Dress like you mean it.
  • When on a panel, look at who’s talking.

Taking off your name tag was an interesting one for me.  Having a name tag in your photo doesn’t make you look so good.  You never know when you are going to have your picture taken, so it is good to get into the practice of taking the name tag off.

The comments shed a lot of light on moving around the stage.  A lot of people defending the practice.  James Duncan Davidson does not suggest that these are rules that MUST be obeyed.  They are pointers that most speakers could do better with.  Once you can do all of these naturally, then it is time to experiment by wearing shorts and a t-shirt, walking backwards towards the corner of the stage with your name tag on, all the time looking at your feet.

Posted under Public Speaking

This post was written by john on May 27, 2009

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LinkedIn Discussion on Evaluations

There is an excellent discussion on evaluations over on LinkedIn.

One of the contributors in particular, John Zimmer, took the time to provide 10 tips for evaluations.  He has won a District level evaluation contest (the highest you can win), so knows what he is talking about .  Here is a bullet list of the 10 tips.  For more information see the discussion on LinkedIn.

  1. Know the four criteria against which you will be judged.
  2. Sit near the front, slightly to the side.
  3. Gauge audience interest or reaction.
  4. Have an original opening.
  5. It is all about YOUR opinion.
  6. Practice, practice, practice.
  7. YouTube.
  8. Don’t forget the middle.
  9. Have a good ending.
  10. The little things make a big difference.

Ten excellent points that can really elevate your evaluations to a new level.

Posted under evaluations

This post was written by john on May 14, 2009

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Ignore sunk costs

Yet another post from Seth Godin related to speaking!  Maybe I should rename the blog to Seth Godin as applied to Speaking?!

In a recent post, Seth talks about Ignoring Sunk Costs.  Go take a minute and read his post.

How does that relate to speaking?  Glad you asked :-)

We are in the throes of contest time at Toastmasters.  There are many speakers vying to become the World Champion of Public Speaking.  They likely have a number of speeches from previous contests that they could consider using.

When considering which speech to choose, ignore the sunk costs.  Don’t consider the amount of time you put into a speech as a reason to use it.  Just because a speech has been evaluated more does not mean it is better than a fresh speech that only you have seen.  Go with the speech that energizes you.  Go with the speech that you can infuse with passion.

Posted under General

This post was written by john on May 13, 2009

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Stop wasting our time with your speech

Just read a blog posting from Seth Godin entitled “Mechanics vs. Intent.”  It follows on from my previous post on What is Your Intent.

Seth boils down the discussion into such a simple form.

…if you don’t go the extra mile and I end up not caring, all the tactics in the world won’t help.

Although Seth is not talking directly about giving a speech, his words are just as relevant.  No amount of vocal variety, movement, or gestures will help you if you don’t go the extra mile to share your message.

If there’s no passion behind your message, please stop wasting both our time.

No matter how scary the prospect is to put your passion into your speeches, you owe it to yourself to share it with the world.

It doesn’t have to be a speech about world hunger or curing cancer.  It can be as ordinary as a fishing trip, a kitchen disaster, or a trip to Costco.  I don’t care about your mechanics.  All I care about is that your eyes light up when you speak.

Update:

Just read a post entitled Passionately Speaking by Robert Killen.  Complementary to this post:

Passion is the one thing that will get your audience to sit up and take notice. Without it, all the best slides and statistics will inevitably fail to ignite them.

Posted under Public Speaking

This post was written by john on May 8, 2009

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Eyes and Ears

From a fortune cookie:

The eyes believe themselves, the ears believe other people.

Develop your listening skills to be as good as your observation skills.

Posted under Quote

This post was written by john on May 4, 2009

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7 Public Speaking Tools to Make Your Stories More Visual

The following is a fantastic article by Craig Valentine on making your stories visual:

Legendary speech coach, Patricia Fripp, once told me that audiences will not remember what you say as much as they will remember what they see in their minds when you say it. Fripp is absolutely correct and below are seven tools you can use to make your stories more visual for your audience.

  1. Put your audience members somewhere inside of the scenes you create. For example, I say, “I wish you were in the passenger’s seat as I drove up to the KFC.” In other words, I put you in the passenger’s seat inside of my scene.
  2. Check the VAKS (Visuals, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Smell). For example, I might say, “If you had been sitting beside my wife and me on our old beat up black leather sofa (visual and kinesthetic), with the chocolate chip cookies baking in the background (smell), you would have heard my wife say (auditory). Do this quickly as you set your scene so that all the different types of learners will be brought into it.
  3. Set your scene and remember where you mentally put everybody and everything on the stage. Do not be like the one guy we had in a bootcamp who buried his uncle on one part of the stage and then proceeded to have lunch on that very same spot during the same story.
  4. Create and walk your timeline. You should turn the stage into a timeline that the audience reads from left to right. That means, if the story is chronological, the first events take place on the your right side of the stage (the left side from your audience’s point of view) and then you can walk to your left as you relate the later events of that story. Remember you must be the aerobics instructor and do everything in the opposite direction so it is the correct direction for your audience.
  5. Give your characters a hint for how they look. For example, I might say, “This big burly guy in the front row yelled out to me.” Doing a visual gesture here to show is size also helps.
  6. Attach a visual to all of your verbal foundational phrases. For example, when I say, “Don’t get ready, stay ready,” I have a gesture I use with my arms at the same time I give the phrase. When I do this a few times during my speech, the visual begins to have the ability to stand on its own. When I give my 4 Rs to Remarkable Results speeches, I can give the four gestures (one for each point) without speaking and my audience will know exactly what I am saying.
  7. I have saved the best for last. Here it is. Show the visual before the verbal. This means, don’t just give the lines of dialog. Instead, give the lines and then show the visual reaction of the other character before that character gives the verbal response. For example, one character might say, “Craig, I admire you for having a dream but you can’t leave the organization.” At that point my other character (who happens to be me) shows the visual of confusion on my face before giving the verbal response of, “What do you mean I can’t leave?”

Too many speakers are simply delivering lines of dialog back and forth without showing the reactions. As the 2001 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren LaCroix, says, “Reactions tell the story.” Show the visual reaction before you give the verbal response.

Final Thoughts:

When you use these seven tools in your stories, not only will your speeches be more visual, but you as a speaker will become more visible. This is because great storytellers that have profound and practical points are always in high-demand.

Craig Valentine is the author of two books entitled World Class Speaking and The Nuts and Bolts of Public Speaking. He is the 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking and an internationally-known professional speaker. To get your FREE Masterful Speaking Toolkit, visit http://www.craigvalentine.com/

Posted under Guest Article

This post was written by john on May 3, 2009

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Being a Professional Speech Coach

Today is the final day of our interview with Rich Hopkins.

Question: How has Toastmasters and more specifically evaluations helped you with being a professional speech coach?

It has made me an active listener, taught me to critique on the fly, and exposed me to a large diversity of both speaking styles and audience needs. The broader one’s experience, the greater help they can be as a coach.

Question: What skills does a speech coach need to possess and why?

A coach must be able to discern what is inside the speaker, and be able to coach them to bring what’s inside out to an audience in the way the audience needs to hear, it, as opposed to how the speaker wants to say it. Coaching is a balancing act of ego and efficiency , listening and communicating, guiding and inspiring. Coaching is sales – your client must want to buy what you’re saying. Once you know how they like to buy, you can sell them all the way to the highest stages.

About Rich Hopkins

In addition to finishing 3rd in the 2006 WCPS, Rich has been a 5 time District Evaluation Contest Finalist, winning 3 of those 5 times.  He has been a Toastmaster for over 10 years and has expanded significantly on Toastmaster evaluation theory as a professional speaker and presentations coach.

Visit Rich’s blog to see his current progress towards making it a 3rd time to the WCPS and also follow Rich on Twitter.

Posted under Interview

This post was written by john on May 1, 2009

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