Avoid wasting your money until you are ready. Let me explain…
You’ve decided that you have some communication issues that you would like to improve upon and a coach is the solution to help you achieve your goals. Resolving to make change is a wonderful goal but too often, people with best intentions are unable to achieve their goals. Too often, we have unrealistic goals and don’t realize how difficult change can be.
Are you trying to persuade someone (or a group) to see your point of view but your
message seems to allude them? Working with many clients over the year, there are speaking habits that are detractors and ultimately (but unintentionally) affect the speaker’s credibility. The speaker may be totally oblivious to the distraction, too, unless they have sought out the feedback or someone has boldly spoken up. Most people don’t give their opinion though as they feel unqualified to do so or they are afraid of offending the person needing the feedback. Since a lot of distractions occur without knowledge that they exist in the first place, here’s a crash course to help you identify potential issues. This checklist of common distractions are easy to fix with self-awareness and self-monitoring. Remember that any behavior that causes your audience to think about something else (and not you, the speaker) will take away from your message. As soon as that happens, your credibility suffers.
Diane, a new executive director, was given new responsibilities at her organization that included standing before the board to talk about current company projects. Her presentation skills, however, were not at that level. She knew she was in trouble because she feared public speaking so much that it nearly immobilized her. Not being able to speak in front of groups is real career stopper and nearly became a career stopper for Diane. As much as Diane wanted to be a credible, and an influential authority on her topic…
Do you love watching Ted Talks to learn something new from industry and topic experts? After I found this site many years ago, I now share specific talks with many of my clients so that they can learn and see from the experts on how to master specific communication skills that they are working on. Here are some questions that may help you listen differently if you are interested in sharpening your own presentation and delivery skills:
1. How does the speaker make the presentation interesting with his voice? Think about pitch and loudness changes that you hear.
2. Pay attention to rhythm and pacing. Is the speed fast or slow? Does the presentation sound choppy or conversational (smooth and natural like the speaker is having a conversation with you?)
With the upcoming American presidential election in November of 2020, you’ll be hearing more and more ads, speeches and debates from both presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It is fascinating to me, of course, that voters often consciously or subconsciously vote based on the way that the candidates sound. For example, years ago before the age of social media and television, voters would listen to the candidates on the radio. Back in the 1960’s, research predicted Nixon’s win based on his sound. But when people saw the two candidates side-by-side, the winner was Kennedy.
Do you get nervous before you present? Did you know that stress often creates vocal symptoms? The most common voice symptoms associated with stress include: tight voice, voice breaks, weak voice, and a shrill, high pitch. If you experience these symptoms (or any others) in stressful situations try the following exercises before speaking:
Are you fast talker? If you are, you may be losing the most important person in the room: the listener! A good rate of speech ranges between 140 -160 words per minute (wpm). A rate higher than 160 words per minute can be difficult for the listener to absorb the material. There may be some areas of the country that speak at faster rates but a slower rate is preferable. Too slow of a rate may give the listener the perception of slow thinking, incompetence and being uneducated. If you have a foreign accent though, speaking slowly is crucial since pronunciation may be a challenge for the listener. Use a speed that is closer to 140 words per minute.
Great professional speakers deliver speeches that are engaging to listen to and that also draw in their audiences visually. They keep their gestures to a minimum and use them purposefully to emphasize the content of the message. They make eye contact with each audience member as though they are the only people in the room. They express sincerity through a smile and appear to be relaxed.
Even if you aren’t a professional speaker, paying attention to your “visual presentation” in conversation is important! Do you make eye contact with the listener? Do you use your eyes, eyebrows and mouth to express your meaning? Or do you have more of a deadpan expression? Are your hands close to your sides, wide open or constantly moving out of nervous habit?
If you are giving a speech in the near future, I’d like to challenge you to try something new… Your task is to pick a topic that you love to talk about and create 10 different possible openings for your presentation on that topic. Your dynamic opening is going to help your listeners decide if they want to listen to you and they will decide in 30 seconds or less. Making a strong positive and interesting opening will help you make a great first impression and help them to decide if you are credible.
Here is an example of what I’d like you to try. I frequently talk about executive speech and voice branding because I want to create an awareness about how you can control the way you sound to your desired perception. Here are 10 different ways to start my presentation using 10 different styles:
With the upcoming American presidential election in November of 2020, you’ll be hearing more and more ads, speeches and debates from both presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It is fascinating to me, of course, that voters often consciously or subconsciously vote based on the way that the candidates sound. For example, years ago before the age of social media and television, voters would listen to the candidates on the radio. Back in the 1960’s, research predicted Nixon’s win based on his sound. But when people saw the 
