Greetings from, Bigenglishclasses I HOPE ALL THIS MATERIAL WOULD HELP ALL IN HERE. bigenglishclasses BELOW IS A SMALL ARTICLE ON GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILL A Good Speech is Like Good Relationship 20 Tips for Presentation Success! Mostly, youve got to care about your subject and care about the audience Contrary to what many people think, a speech is not a performance. Rather, its a relationship -- ideally a meaningful one -- that you create with a group of people. Like any good relationship, a speech requires caring, trust, openness, accessibility, and two-way communication. If you already know how to be a good friend, thats a great start. Here are 20 tips to help you transfer your people skills to the platform: 1. Clarify the expectations. Who asked you to speak? What does that person expect? Ask direct questions beforehand, such as, What do you hope Ill talk about? What problems or concerns might I address? 2. Speak from the heart -- and the head. Choose a topic that you a) care about and b) know about. If you cant establish expertise, they wont believe you. If you dont care about the topic, they wont care either. 3. Plan before you speak. Practice the speech, using an outline, to get a sense of timing and phrasing - and to help you feel prepared, which will do wonders for stage fright. Take the outline to the platform with you, if you want (I do this as a security blanket, even when I dont need it) but do not memorize or read the speech word for word. People want you to relate to them, not read or recite from memory. 4. Dress appropriately. Wear an outfit that is slightly nicer than what you expect the audience to be wearing; youre the guest of honor. But keep it simple; dont distract them with sequins or swooping scarves or noisy jewelry. 5. Be prompt. When giving a speech, arrive early and stay late is a good motto. (I learned that from professional speaker Lynne Waylon.) By arriving early, youll have a chance to check out the microphone, seating, lighting, heating, and stage before the audience enters, and deal with any problems (there usually are some). By staying late, youll make yourself available to audience members who want to talk with you afterward. 6. be gracious and friendly. Greet at least some of the audience members when they walk in the door, as if youre hosting a party. Shake hands. Make them feel welcome. Not only do audience members appreciate it (Oh, youre the speaker! Wow!), it can make you feel more relaxed. 7. Take the time to get to know your audience. Some of this can happen in advance, by asking the meeting planner about the attendees. You can also interview audience members informally when socializing before the speech, and you can poll them once you take the platform. (How many of you have been to Alaska?) Dont ask obvious questions (How many of you would like to be successful?); use your questions to learn relevant information about them, and listen to the answers. Later, you can refer back to this information: As all of you zookeepers/swimmers/Madonna fans know...). Theyll feel listened to and understood. 8. Put them at ease, literally. Straight rows of chairs are deadly. When an audience member has to turn her head to see the speaker, shell feel neck strain and eventually even get angry. Request curved seating ahead of time, but move chairs yourself if you must. Or, if that wont work, ask audience members to stand and move their chairs themselves. Tell them you want them to be comfortable. Theyll appreciate it. 9. Communicate clearly. Choose one main point. Professional speaker Vanna Novak calls this a key overriding message. Have you noticed how many speeches lack this essential structural umbrella -- and leave listeners feeling lost and frustrated? No matter how much time is allotted, there will not be enough time to share all your ideas, insights, wisdom, experience, and humor, so you have to decide: What, exactly, do you want people to remember? Share your key overriding message at the beginning, middle, and end of the speech. 10. Be organized. Choose 3 to 5 minor points that support your key overriding message. Avoid the temptation to make this a list of 12 or 17. People cant remember everything you say, and will appreciate you for limiting your speech to three to five main points, each one illustrated with stories, facts, humor, and audience involvement. 11. Speak intentionally. Speak a little more slowly than you normally do. Emphasize certain words. Pause when appropriate. A conversational tone is good, but vocal variety -- volume, pacing -- is also good. 12. Gesture naturally. Or, if its a big room, gesture a little bigger than you naturally would. 13. be original. Do not tell jokes from joke books or the internet. Do not use other speakers material. The audience wants to develop a relationship with YOU: based on your unique experience, insight, wisdom. 14. Involve the audience. Refer to a few audience members by name. Or invite someone up on stage to demonstrate a point. (During my speeches about goal-setting And success, I ask someone to come on stage and share a recent victory.) Ask them their opinion. Find simple, non-threatening ways to get them to get them involved. Ask them to think, imagine, remember, raise their hands, look at each other, or take notes. The more involved they are, the more likely they are to enjoy your presentation -- and feel connected to you. 15. Make eye contact. Maintain eye contact with one person for a whole sentence at a time, before moving on. 16. Get personal. Tell relevant personal stories that illustrate your message -- and reveal something of your humanity. As in any relationship, self-disclosure will build trust. 17. Get close. Walk out from behind the lectern. This one action will make a tremendous impression, since it will bring you physically closer, dispense with the lectern shield, and differentiate you from most speakers. Retreating to the lectern periodically to look at notes is fine, but youll notice a remarkable increase in the audiences interest level the moment you leave the lectern behind. Walk all the way into the audience if you want, but dont stay there long, since you dont want to lose eye contact with the people in the first rows. 18. be light hearted. Even if youre not spontaneously witty, you can add humor to a speech by planning ahead to share stories (relevant, inoffensive ones) that youve practiced on friends. Humor will relax the audience and make you popular; everyone loves to laugh. Deliver the punch line deliberately, to one person who has laughed before or seems ready to laugh. Since laughter is contagious, their laughter will encourage others to do the same. If no one laughs, dont worry about it; just move on. 19. Send thank-you notes. When you speak, youre not only creating a relationship with your audience, youre creating a relationship with the person who invited you to speak. Sending a thank-you note will be appreciated -- and will increase your chances of being invited back. 20. Learn from the experience. Like any relationship, a relationship with an audience can teach you a lot about yourself: your strengths, weaknesses, hopes, dreams. Did the experience challenge and excite you? Thats a good sign; you might want to attend meetings of your local chapter of the National Speakers Association (Nsaspeaker.org) to learn more. Did you make mistakes? Fine. Perfection is impossible. Take a few notes on the process afterward, continue to practice your people/speaking skills, and youll create increasingly rewarding relationships with your audiences over time. WISH YOU ALL THE BEST bigenglishclasses, info@bigenglishclasses ph: 9912881000
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 12:23:33 +0000
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