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TOP TEN THINGS TO DO TO HELP GUARANTEE A SUCCESSFUL SPEECH

RESEARCH YOUR AUDIENCE
It amazes us here at the Santini-International, Celebrity Solutions speaking coach team divsion... how some speakers will show up for a speaking
engagement and really not know anything about the audience they are speaking to. Many speakers just get lazy and feel that their message is so important that anyone would want to hear it. They
couldn't be more wrong.

Your core message may be about the same
for everyone, but knowing your audience will allow you to slant
the information so that the audience feels it was prepared just
for them. They will relate much better to the information and
think much more highly of you for creating something specifically
for them. Of course, in many cases you were only slanting your
information, but I won't tell if you won't.

PRACTICE
The only way to look polished while speaking is to practice. This
is one skill you cannot delegate to anyone else. It is you that
is on stage with the microphone and it is you who will look
either great or terrible. You are sadly mistaken and egotistical
if you think the Powerpoint slides that either you or someone
else created will make you a dynamic speaker. There are specific
techniques used to practice that don't take much time and make
you look extremely polished. One of these techniques is called
bits. You practice a short piece of material over and over again.
You don't practice it word for word, but just talk your way
through it. This way you won't blank out when a distraction
happens while you are on stage.

TAKE CARE OF HECKLERS
This is our famous asterisk technique to make sure hecklers
don't interrupt presentations. We get people in the group to
identify potential trouble makers BEFORE we get to the event. We
phone these people and interview them to give them the attention
they are craving. We then mention their names during the speech.
This virtually eliminates the chance they will give us a hard
time because we are praising one of their opinions. This works
really well but don't mention their names exclusively or the rest
of the audience that knows these people are trouble may think
that you are just as bad. Mention a wide variety of people in the
audience. Just make sure the bad ones are included which normally
keeps them at bay.

USE EMOTIONAL LANGUAGE
Boring old facts rarely move people to action. Learning to use
words that evoke emotions in people will make a much greater
impact when you speak. There are many emotions you can trigger in
the audience just by your choice of words. Happiness, anger,
sadness, nostalgia are just a few. Knowing your purpose for being
in front of the group helps you to pick which emotions you want
to tap. When your purpose is known, choosing words to get the
desired emotional response is much easier. For instance, if you
wanted to take someone back to a childhood experience you might
say, "Do you remember when someone did something bad at school and
the teaher smacked the yardstick on her desk?" The word Phrase
"smacked the yardstick" would evoke an emotional response that
many adults can relate to. A younger group may not related to
this phrase since corporal punishment has all but disappeared
from schools. You must pick the words that would mean something to
your audience.

REVEAL YOURSELF
Some people have trouble implementing this idea because they like
to remain aloof and private. This will hurt their chances of
making a good connection with people in the audience. You
certainly don't have to reveal your deepest darkest secrets when
on stage, but you certainly could tell someone how much you like
horses, or how you love to cook . . .anything that will give them
a glimpse into the real you will give you a better chance of
connecting with them and getting them to listen to you.

USE PROPS
A prop is worth a thousand words. People can really anchor a
thought in their minds when it is connected to an object that
relates to the point you are trying to make. You could use large,
small, funny or serious props. Always relate the prop to the
point you are trying to make and make sure the audience can see
it. Sometimes you'll want to hide the prop so people don't wonder
what it is until you are ready to present it.

USE HUMOR
Even Shakespeare used humor in the middle of the tragedies he
wrote. Humor is a powerful and effective tool that gives the
audience's mind a chance to breath in the face of heavy material.
It also makes you more likable and fun to listen to. Humor is
also much more likely to make your information more memorable.
You don't have to be a stand up comedian to use humor in speeches
and presentations, and you don't have to tell jokes either. There
are many ways to add humor that don't require any skill at all.
You can show funny visuals, tell stories, or read from books or
periodicals . Just like with props, make sue your humor relates
to the point you are trying to make and you will be much more
successful.

MOVE 'EM TO ACTION
If you are going to bother taking up people's time to speak to
them, don't you think it would be a good idea to get them to do
something positive because of your presentation? Even if they do
something negative, it's still better than doing nothing because
they will at least get a chance to learn something from their
mistake. Regardless of the size of your ego, the reality is that
you are there for them, not the other way around. . . . I'm all
for you building up your reputation, but if you go into your
speech thinking it's all for you, it will show and you probably
won't do as well as you would have had you concentrated on the
needs of the audience more.

BRING SOLUTIONS
One of the best ways to make sure the audience loves you is to
bring solutions to their problems. If you have done a thorough
job of researching your audience, you already know what their
problems are. It's your job to bring ideas for them to try. In
modern day thinking this is what motivational speaking is all
about. No longer is it good enough to get people all fired up
where they are bouncing off the walls still having no plan to
what they will do with this new found excitement and motivation.
Modern professional motivational speakers bring solutions and a
plan of action which is in itself motivating to people.

PAY ATTENTION TO LOGISTICS
All the best preparation, practice and audience research could be
ruined if you forget to pay attention to all the details
surrounding a presentation. You want to know what is happening
before you speak, and what is happening after you speak. How are
the people seated? Are they at round tables where half of them
are facing away from you, or are there no tables at all? What
kind of microphone is appropriate? How big is the screen in the
room? Will the people be drinking alcohol? What is the lighting
like? All these items and many more effect the overall
effectiveness of a presentation. The same exact words delivered
with significantly different logistics could be received in
entirely different ways. You could even go from a fantastic
evaluation to a bomb just because of the way people are seated.
It's up to you to know the differences and how they effect a
presentation.

Subtle steps you take in speech preparation and at the podium can help you minimize the appearance of reading from printed text:
Print your speech in the largest type size necessary to read without reading glasses. Use a serif typeface, such as Times New Roman. Don't use all caps.

End each page with a complete sentence. Even if you leave a third of the page blank, you won't be caught in the middle of a sentence when you move to the next page or be stranded if your pages get out of order.

Keep two pages in front of you at all times. Start with page one to the left of your pile of pages. As you finish page one, discreetly slide page two to the left as you speak. Continue sliding -- not turning -- each sheet to the left.

Slide a finger down the text just beneath the line you are speaking. That way, when you lift your head to speak to the audience, you can immediately return to your place on the page.

Place a small Post-it note at the place in your text where you plan to ad-lib a few remarks. This frees your hands and brings you back to the script when you're ready.

Memorize your opening and closing. Deliver both with energy and conviction.
Some of these techniques may seem to be common sense, but they have quite an impact before an audience. Consider the transformation of the top sports agent and CEO. Within several weeks, he delivered an important company address. Afterward, audience members talked about his great speech and the confidence he inspired.

Although every presentation comes with a number of objectives, it's important to identify the primary reason you are in front of the audience. Are you attempting to persuade, inspire or merely inform your listeners? Maybe you have been commissioned to alleviate stress or boost morale. Pin down that central purpose and write it in a single statement. Now go one step further and write down what will be different when the goal has been achieved.

A specific goal and outcome will not only aid in measuring your presentation's effectiveness but will give you a target to aim for and ultimately will help you decide on the best approach and materials to use.

As a regular speaker, I know how important it is to keep an audience informed, riveted and influenced by what you are saying.

I like to do this with stories. I have found that the ability to touch listeners' hearts and minds with stories is one of the most powerful ways to present. It becomes a strength that can be worked into any topic. Storytelling not only brings relevance to the content but also makes it more memorable. The following examples show how I use my storytelling abilities to highlight points within my presentations.

Although many presenters know stories, few consider the power of parables. For instance, one of my favorite parables goes like this:
Once upon a time, there was an ancient Far East community with a unique practice. When the elderly folks were about to die, others picked them up and carried them to the top of a hill surrounded by a thick forest. There, the elders passed on in peace and tranquillity.

In the community lived a young man who was an only child. One day, he noticed that his elderly mother was failing in health, so he prepared to carry her to the top of the hill.

So they began the journey. As he carried her along, he occasionally felt something pulling him back. After a while, he looked behind to find out what it was. He was surprised beyond comprehension.

His mother was pulling branches off trees and leaving them along the path. He could not understand what this meant. Was it a customary practice he did not know?

He asked his mother why she was leaving branches along the path. She replied with a faint voice, "Son, when you leave me on top of the hill, I won't need directions any more. You, however, will need to find your way home. I have left those branches to help you find the path."

With that he finished the rest of the journey, said his farewell and left his mother atop the hill. He sorrowfully walked home, guided by the broken branches in the path.
After completing this story, the audience is rapt with attention (and few eyes are dry). From that moment, I build on the point I am trying to make -- namely how each of us needs to discover the branches that will help us live a fulfilling life. In addition, I have the segue I need to raise issues of identity, relationships, overcoming obstacles and dealing with life changes. I can also return to the branches metaphor as needed throughout my discussion, continually relating back to the story.

Another source for stories are your own life experiences. These don't have to be extended tales like the branches parable. Rather, they can be short snippets that can illustrate a point more beautifully than a bullet point or chart. In one of my talks, for example, I need to illustrate the importance of change. To do so, I often tell a story about when I bought a new car a few years ago. Right away I noticed a button marked "A/C," but for years, I never pressed it because I had learned in Africa that A/C means alternating current. One day a friend convinced me to push the button and my whole perception changed.

Such a short anecdote is very effective. I reinforce that story by relating it to my point -- the need for audience members to identify their own unpressed buttons in their professional and personal lives.

Sometimes a way to find a story is simply by noticing and remembering little details that we can all relate to and work those observations into your presentations. An example of this is what I like to call the "dash on the stone" story.

To begin, I ask my audience whether they know the birth or death date of a famous person such as George Washington. The room is usually quiet, as people rarely know such dates. After a moment, I tell them that I do not know either. Then I say that a dash only connects birth and death dates on grave markers, but what happens between the dates is what is important. Gravestones are something we've all seen but have probably not given much thought to before. When I paint this mental image, participants leave the room contemplating how they can enrich their own dashes.

By using these and other stories, I find keeping my audience's attention is easy. When you carefully weave the main parts of a good story around your main speaking points, your audiences will come to consider your presentations interesting, informative and not soon forgotten.

Want to discover and find out more?
Please check out our Celebrity Speaking Presenter section on the menu.