No Greatness Without Goodness --Randy Lewis So this past Wednesday (December 3, 2014) I attended a breakfast event at Easter Seals House hosted by the Coalition for Persons With Disabilities, COD-NL, where I had the tremendous pleasure of witnessing Randy Lewis, former Walgreens executive, give a speech. Randy has a son with Autism and was a driving force behind the Walgreens policy of actively hiring persons with disabilities. To say his speech was touching and inspiring would not be doing it justice. It was incredible! For the purposes of this post, however, and in keeping with my own policy of offering public speaking tips, I will focus on the elements of Mr. Lewis presentation that captured the fundamentals of great public speaking. I have eight points to review. 1) Preparation: This was clearly not the first time Mr. Lewis delivered this speech. He walked to the podium without any notes in his hand and did not refer to any notes during his speech. He did have visual cues in the pictures that he presented throughout the talk but no paper. This says that he was speaking about something he had intimate knowledge of and for which he has a genuine passion. I am sure he had delivered that talk many times in many different venues in many places around the world. I am not saying that you should be able or willing to go through an entire speech without notes but I am saying you should practice over and over again. The more you do the better you will become. And when you think about it, each time you give a speech you are practicing for the next time you give that speech. You can review each occasion and adjust as needed. 2) Localize: Mr. Lewis spoke of his experience in Newfoundland up to that point and made comparisons to his origins. This endears your audience to you by creating the sense that you took the time to learn something about them and that you are interested in who they are and not just pontificating your own point of view. We relate better to people when we know something about them and we feel they understand us as well. Commonalities and even differences can be used to draw you closer to your audience. 3) Technology: Computers, power point presentations, and an infrared mouse are all great tools when they work properly. The key is not to panic when they dont. Randy Lewis had technical difficulties at the outset of his presentation when the hand held clicker would not click. He was planning to use it to move from slide to slide as he advanced through his speech. He remained very calm and just spoke to the technical person off to the side of the room and arranged for that person to move slides on his command. From that point on it just became part of the presentation. Mr. Lewis did not allow it to become a distraction and did not mention it after. Technology is not always our friend. Even if it works for you in practice it sometimes quits in the actual presentation. So its important to have a back up plan and, this is where point one is useful, be prepared by knowing your presentation inside and out. You may need to speak with out the aid of your slides from time to time. Be ready. 4) Real life examples: What made Mr. Lewis speech so engaging was the fact that he had stories to tell that illustrated his theme, that emphasized his point, and that evoked an emotional response from the audience. Where possible tell your story and relate your experiences to the point of your presentation. It makes it real. 5) Humour: I laughed out loud several times during Randy Lewis speech on Wednesday. He told stories that were funny about his work. Sometimes the humour came through in short quips or one liners that surprised and kept the audience interested. Humour is a great tool to incorporate into your speech. Timing and placement is important. It is also imperative not to belabor the point or drag out the joke. Short stories or statements work best. 6) Direct audience attention: When giving a speech its easy to let the audience get a head of you or become distracted. Mr. Lewis held the audiences attention in several ways but one that stood out was the way he placed blank slides between the picture slides. He set up his stories and transitions by showing the audience a picture but when he elaborated or switched gears again he moved to a blank slide so there was nothing on the screen to compete for attention. You need to keep your audience with you by designing the map to follow. Set up your presentation so that the audience cannot get to a conclusion before you need them to be there. 7) Repetition: Often when Mr. Lewis said something that was particular poignant, he would say it again. He would say it again! Second time was always a little slower and a little more emphatic. This signaled the audience that what he just said was important. Repeating it made it feel more emotional, more raw, and more intense. Repetition is a wonderful tool to emphasize any point you are trying to make and to make it more impactful and memorable. It also allows a moment to breathe as naturally you pause after you repeat yourself to allow the words to settle. There are other ways to be repetitious too other than simple repeating the exact same phrase. You should find ways to make the same point throughout your talk by using different examples but always bringing back to a central theme. Repeat yourself. Repeat yourself over and over. 8) Adhere to time limit: Many of the people at Easter Seals House on Wednesday were business people with busy agendas who had a finite amount of time to dedicate to this event. Mr. Lewis stayed within that time limit. It showed respect for the audience. It showed respect for the organizers and I believe everyone left with a positive feeling for the event. The truth is I left wanting more. By staying in the set amount of time, Mr. Lewis could keep his point concise and did not over stay his welcome. You want your audience to walk away with a positive impression. If you like this post, please feel free to share. Foe group or individual consultation please contact me at [email protected].
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 11:43:51 +0000
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