The Successful Speaker

November 2008

Contents This Month

· FYU, not FYI

· Spell Cheek Doesn’t Catch Them Awl

· Why We Don’t Rehearse

· Quotations

· Update Your Email Address

· Refer Madness

FYU, not FYI

Presentations shouldn’t be FYIs. An email or a quick phone call can be FYIs, but not presentations. At a minimum, make your presentations “For Your Use” and not “For Your Information.”

As a presenter, your job is to do more than share information. If you are only going to share information, you should consider writing it in a memo or a white paper. Your job is to share the information and get the audience to use it.

Even status reports can be persuasive in nature. If you are working on a project that is valuable to your organization, then you should be persuading your management team to continue supporting it with budget and staffing. If you think the project isn’t valuable, it’s your duty to present the case that it’s wasting valuable time and money. If you are presenting this latter case, make sure you do this with statistical evidence and an analytical eye.

FYI presentations tend to be yawners for the audience and the presenter. Don’t fall into that trap. Deliver FYU presentations instead.

Spell Cheek Doesn’t Catch Them Awl

Are ewe relying on spell cheek to catch awl of you’re errors? I hope not. Their were fore of them in thee first sentence alone and plenty more too come.

Will a grammar miss steak or wrong word loose you the sail? Probably not. Notice I said “probably.” What I dew no is know won ever lost a sail because they choose the write word and spelling.

Have someone else look at your slides and reed them allowed before you present. Yule thank yore self fore it.

Why We Don’t Rehearse

One of the primary reasons many presenters don’t rehearse is that they feel odd doing it. Maybe that’s because we were told that only “crazy people talk to themselves” and we’re afraid we’ll get “caught.” Maybe it’s because we think we already know the content well enough.

I’m not going to argue with you if you believe the “crazy” point. Maybe it is a little crazy to talk to yourself. However, I do know that it’s even crazier to stand up and give a presentation without ever having rehearsed. Not rehearsing is why we tend to stumble for words, struggle with how to stand and what to do with our hands. Those are all things that are ameliorated by rehearsing and not simply reading through your notes.

If you think you already know the content well enough – great! That will make your rehearsal even more productive. But you still need to do the physical rehearsal. For example, I know a lot about the golf swing, but producing a good one on demand takes practice. Don’t con yourself into believing that knowing the content and being able to deliver it in a presentation are the same thing. How many professors have you had who knew the content but you’d rather not listen to them deliver it?

Rehearse for your presentations. Your audience will thank you for it and so will you.

Quotations

“The weak are more likely to make the strong weak than the strong are likely to make the weak strong.” – Marlene Dietrich (German-American actress)

“What the orators lack in depth, they give you in length.” – Charles Montesquieu (French lawyer, philosopher)

Update Your Email Address

Don’t miss an issue of The Successful Speaker. If your email address is going to change, let me know about it.

Refer Madness

If you had a good experience in my workshop/seminar, share it with someone you know. If you provide me with a lead that generates new business for me, I’ll pay you (or your favorite charity) $250 (less if it is less than a full-fee engagement).

If you belong to a professional organization that needs a speaker or If you know any business or non-profit organization (including your own), that could benefit from my workshops, presentations, coaching, or needs a facilitator:

1. Tell your contact about me.

2. Tell me about your contact. Call me at 972-378-0937 or write me at dgunby@mindimensions.com

3. Wait for your check (if I get your contact’s business)

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