Need a new idea to make the wedding or big event special? Here is one I just did and it worked better than I even hoped. Instead of having one person make a few minute toast to the whole room, to be inspiring, funny and more, say this. “I need each table to give it’s own 30 second toast but with one rule– everyone has to be involved. Your toast can be inspiring or funny, serious or silly. It can be a little poem where you changed the words or a song. It can be spoken and acted out (always cool). Have fun, keep it short and you have a few minutes to figure out what your table’s toast will be. Go!” Then watch what happens. Everyone will jump in with some excitement, nervousness and fun and if everyone at the table didnt know each other already, this really gets them to in a fun way. Then the MC passes the microphone around, table by table so each can give their table toast. Make sure to video, as it will be memorable and special.
Whenever you introduce a new character, it helps to give at least two brief sentences, one with physical unique traits and one with personality traits. You are successful when the audience can form a picture in their mind of the character.
If I talk about my daughter, I have not yet told you enough to form a picture in your mind. If I say my daughter Anna is 5, a little tossle-haired moptop, who runs, even around the house with pure abandon and a smile that won’t stop. She doesn’t hug, she launches. Her energy is nonstop until it stops and she occasionally falls asleep right in the middle of a task.
When you read a good writer, whether it’s a book or article, and they introduce a new character, they give that brief description, just enough so you can form that picture in your mind.
Pick someone in your immediate family. If you had to describe them in 2 sentences and the rest of us could then form a picture of them in our mind, what would the sentences be?
There are several techniques you can use, if you are very nervous speaking in public. The best method I have found is simply letting go of whether you matter and focusing on the audience. Throw yourself into your content and your audience and let go of self.
But if nervousness does occur, what do you do? Let’s breakdown what causes it. Nervousness, at its root, is fear. We are afraid of looking like a fool. Fear is an emotion. Imagine it’s like a cloud in your mind. There are a few emotions that are stronger than fear, that blow it out of the way. Love, Anger, Laughter are all stronger. If you think of something that makes you feel tremendous love, or makes you really angry, or makes you laugh—those pictures/emotions drive the fear out like a wisp of wind.
Let’s approach from the opposite angle first. When a speaker doesn’t make eye contact with the audience, the audience generally doesn’t like that, why? In part because it feels like we are not the focus, we are not important. The speaker is into themselves and we may not even have to be there. So what does eye contact do? It shows you matter. That you are here, matters. And this communication is between us both. If you are in the audience or sitting in the meeting and the speaker makes eye contact with you, it is virtually impossible for you not to lower your filter because eyes convey both picture and emotions. When you present, make eye contact. When you speak to a large group, make eye contact with people on the right, the left, the back, the front and the middle, and it will be felt by the whole audience.
Lynne Budnovitch
What causes a thunderstorm? Nothing more than a rapid change in temperature and pressure systems. The crackling energy of your presentations comes from rapid changes as well. A change in tone. A change in speed. A different location. Ask yourself, what can you change this time? If you started your last meeting with a quote, start this time with a question. As yourself in each presentation or meeting, what can I do different?
“Answer the questions the audience does NOT ask. In the order they do NOT ask them.”
Posted under Tips by Blue Planet, no comments 13 DecThat’s a little zen for starting a blog, isn’t it? What does it mean?
When you put your focus on the audience instead of yourself, you become attuned to what they are thinking. You are reading them while you are speaking. Keep asking yourself, if I was them listening to me, what would I be thinking?
When you can answer the questions that are popping up in their mind, you look smart and it lowers their filters.
For example, you were supposed to break for lunch at 12:00 noon and it’s 10 minutes after and you are still presenting. What question would the audience not ask?
Exactly. “Geez, when are we going to finish?” Even when they like you and the topic, their filter is up high and not much of what you say will be heard or remembered. If you don’t anticipate and answer the question, you look out of sync.
You can turn more to your favor by saying “I know we are over, give me 5 more minutes and let’s wrap up this module and we can take the full hour for lunch, is that ok with everyone?” This will allow people to have their question answered, and drop their filters back down.
And when you think about the order, keep the audience ever in mind. If you want to cover A, B, C first… and the audience wants to know X, Y and Z, it works against you. Even if you are going to cover that later, you want to answer as many of the audience’s questions first because it keeps their filter down for the content you want to address.