More to Do

Also heard this week from the Talking Toastmasters club in District 31. They’re putting out what seems to be a high-powered podcast with speakers like Kristen Johnson, who wrote an article, “Planting a Shill in the Audience” in the November 2007 issue of The Toastmaster magazine, world champion Dana Lamon, and Bo Bennet, the brains behind FreeToastHost.

What are you going to do after you eat the turkey

and before our meeting Saturday? If you’re not napping or watching a game, you might want to head over to the Public Speaking Blog and see if you find anything useful. Lifehacker (just added to out blogroll because their links to speaking tips are mentioned so often here) made note of a recent post that lists 250 Things You Wish You Know That Will Guarantee Your Speaking Success. Bon Appetit.

Member Update

President Jim Wilson writes

All, Margaret’s father, Dick Vartanian, had a heart attack late Monday afternoon and did not recover. A Viewing is planned for Saturday, November 17th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Money and King Funeral Home, 171 W. Maple Ave., Vienna, VA. A Memorial Service will follow the Viewing.

I have sent a Sympathy Card to Margaret from all her friends at Brinker TM Club. Jim Wilson

and, District Governor Heath Suddleson writes

If you were at our District Conference on November 10, you heard that Ralph Sierra was in the hospital after having bypass surgery to correct complications from a previous operation. Most of the attendees signed a card for him.

I am happy to report that Ralph is home and recovering well. He has family in town to help him out while he gets his strength back.

If you would like to send him a note, please do so by e-mail because it is easier for him to read than it is for him to speak for extended periods of time. His e-mail is rsierrajr@gmail.com

All the best,

Heath Suddleson, DTM
District 27 Governor
Ideas, Enthusiasm…ACTION !!!

How to Cut Crutch Words When Giving a Speech

From lifehack this time.

“…um…” “…you know…” “…like…” “…ah…”

You’ve all seen it before. What would otherwise be a great presentation becomes one interrupted jumble of syllables. Instead of taking those key pauses to let the audience digest, every moment of hesitation is filled with a crutch word. Maybe it happens to you.

Eliminating crutch words is one of the fastest ways to improve yourself as a speaker. Not only does it display confidence to your audience, but you become easier to understand as your message gets across. It isn’t easy to do, but if you can nuke those um’s and ah’s you are one step closer to winning over the crowd.

Don’t Fear the Silence

Um’s and ah’s come because as a speaker you naturally want to avoid silence. You’ve been conditioned for two-way conversations. When you pause, you get feedback from the other person and the conversation continues. On the stage, it is only you talking and the silence can be terrifying.

The first way to combat crutch words is to realize silence is a good thing. Few speakers talk too slowly with too many pauses. Pauses help emphasize points and give listeners time to understand what you are talking about. Remember, although you may be an international expert and have a memorized speech, the audience needs more time to interpret what you plan to say.

How to Combat the Crutch

Here are some suggestions for becoming a pause artist and eliminating crutch words from your presentations:

• Practice, practice, practice! – You should know your presentation backwards and forwards before giving it. If you spend all your time thinking of what to say next, you can’t put emphasis on avoiding crutch words. Once you eliminate crutch words you can deliver unprepared speeches more effectively, but it is hard to cut the um’s if you aren’t prepared.
• Breathe In, Not Out – When you feel the temptation to ummm your way through a point, breathe in. This may add a pause to your presentation, but it will be far better than an ugly crutch word which blurs sentences together.
• Avoid them in Conversation – You speak all the time. Watch your crutch words when chatting with friends and family. If it helps on stage it will help in a conversation. Plus you`ll get far more practice.
• Get a Counter – If your giving an important speech, get a friend to count the amount of times you utter an um or ah. Keeping numbers makes you highly aware of when your using these speech-killers.

  Comma = 1 pause – Make a note whenever you are doing a presentation that every comma you encounter should have a pause attached. You might want to run through a list of ten items as if they were one thought. But force yourself to give a short count in between each item. Your audience will thank you for the added emphasis and clarity.

  Period = 2 pauses – The end of a sentence requires twice as much pause. There is a time-delay between hearing your words and registering their meaning. Don`t cut over this step by blurring together your sentences.

  Double Underline – Underline key words and phrases and double underline especially important ones. This is a technique I learned from a former radio broadcaster. It helps you understand where to slow down and emphasize an individual word. When you slow down to emphasize words, this reduces the temptation to inject crutch words in between.

• If You’re Lost, Don`t Panic! – Um`s come in when you don`t have your next sentence ready. Your mind is still constructing what you want to say next, so you feel throwing a few um`s will fill the space until your ready. Don`t do this! Instead take a quick pause before moving on. The audience won`t notice and it will make your presentation smooth.
• Enthusiasm Cuts Crunch – Imagine the presentation you have to give was the most critical information the audience needed to hear. When you engage emotionally with your speech topic, it becomes easier to emphasize points and avoid crutch words. If you aren`t engaged, you might feel the urge to preface statements with crutch words to downplay their importance.
• Plan Tricky Parts – Know your conclusions and introductions word for word. Also plan out any tricky parts of a presentation you might have difficulty explaining. If you are preparing a business proposal and want to cover a sticky issue delicately, know that section word for word.
• Quality over Quantity – Speaking is a fairly inefficient medium for delivering large volumes of information. Emphasize only a few points in a speech, but emphasize them well and with repetition. A good way to have a presentation filled with um`s and ah`s is to cram a five minute speech with twenty minutes of information.

Bonus Tip – Join Toastmasters

I strongly suggest joining Toastmasters to anyone wanting to improve their speaking and get rid of nasty crutch words. I was able to go from a fountain of um`s and ah`s to near elimination with just a few months of weekly meetings.

Toastmasters can also do more than just cut crutch words. They can also work with you on the finer points of presenting, such as gestures, tone of voice, body language and content. By working on these points you can master your craft and have the confidence to speak in front of any audience.

Scott Young is a university student who writes about productivity, habits and self-improvement. Scott has been featured on the Be Happy Dammit! Show.

On Being Fearful

You know that fear of public speaking that eats away at you when you’re scheduled to do a presentation, not just in the club but at your office? Here’s a writer who says that fear is a special problem for successful people:

Some data suggests that successful, career-minded people are unusually susceptible to this fear. Apparently, if you’re driven and achievement-oriented, you’re likely to worry more about performance and appearances. If you’re the kind of person that has to succeed at everything to feel good about yourself, that could add just enough anxiety to make public speaking an uncomfortable, if not a terrifying experience.

Click through to read the whole post. I’m disappointed that the reference is to high-priced speaking coaches instead of Toastmasters, but there’s interesting advice here.

Train Wreck via LifeHacker.

Speaking Advice

Most of you were probably not members of the club when Susan Trivers used to hang out here. Here’s a recent post she sent that might contain something of interest for you.

Create Magic in a Minute
Trivers Communications Group
Vol 5 Issue 4
November 2007

Dear Mike,

Imagine this: you put the title and two short highlights of each blog post on a sticky note or index card. Once you have captured all the posts on a particular topic this way, you lay them on your desk or stick them to the wall. It’s easy to arrange and re-arrange them, and as you talk through the ideas, you hear yourself creating your presentation. You’ll hear where there’s excitement and where there are gaps. You’ll hear where you have passion and where you’re in danger of being boring. You can hear yourself drive to the call-to-action–or not–and make adjustments accordingly.

This whole process could take you just one hour. When have you ever crafted the content for your speech in just one hour?

Posting on my blog http://www.greatspeakingcoach.com has shown me that blogs are the ultimate tool to become COOL – Creative, Original, Outsized & Liberated.

Short blog posts attract readers when you express your perspective on a business topic creatively. Content developed free from the constraints of templates, bullet points or ‘corporate-speak’ open your mind to the original and outsized ideas buzzing just beneath the surface. Blogging by definition liberates you from being strangled by ‘the way we always do things.’

Competing demands on your time necessitate re-purposing material. Blogging is a great facilitator of repurposing. You let your fingers do the talking in your blog, then you take your blog posts and incorporate your ideas, your images and your calls-to-action into a presentation.

This method allows you to get away from the sameness and dullness of slides as well. When you hear yourself talk through the ideas you’ve jotted on sticky notes or index cards, you are hearing your real voice. No slide deck, no matter how perfect, clever or thoughtful, makes the impact that you will make as a passionate speaker talking to the audience from your inner knowledge.

Did you notice that I opened this newsletter with a springboard story? Learn more about the 8 types of stories and why you need them by clicking here http://www.susantrivers.com/services_storytelling.php

You can request a download of my Great Speaker’s Guide to Business Storytelling. The 7- page Guide is complimentary and will get you started crafting stories in a few minutes.

Dedicated your speaking success,

Susan
aka Great Speaking Coach