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Welcome Message
Can you feel it? Winter is coming, holiday parties are starting, and the gift-buying season is right around the corner. 2009 is almost done, and what a year it was! Whether it was in corporate training, workshops, conferences or private coaching, I've been surrounded by people who are passionate about improving their public speaking skills, and who are taking action to make it happen. And what an amazing thing it is to see so many people making giant leaps forward because of their newfound confidence!
This month, Michelle Obama 'volunteers' her speaking style with an impassioned speech to a girl's school in London. It's a great lesson in persuasive speaking, and talks about easy ways to get over some common delivery 'glitches.'
Be sure to check out an article I wrote for womensmedia.com, addressing Seven Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking. No more excuses for avoiding presentations!
I'll be heading to Calgary, AB in early December for the annual Canadian Association for Professional Speakers (CAPS) Conference. I promise to come home with even more great presentation ideas to share with you.
As always, I'd love to hear what you think of the newsletter, so feel free to email me!
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On December 3, I will be giving a half-day workshop at Compagnie F, a dynamic organization that encourages and supports female entrepreneurship.
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We very much enjoyed hearing you and we all walked away from the talk having learned a great deal. The feedback was very positive as the participants appreciated learning so much in such a brief period of time. It will be our pleasure to have you back next year."
-- Corry Robertson, President, Healthcare Businesswoman's Association of Canada (HBAC)
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This holiday, give yourself the gift better public speaking skills!
Book a 2010 public speaking coaching package by December 31 and save 15% off the regular price! Get more information.
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Cool Quote
"It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech."
-- Mark Twain
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THE PERSUASIVE POWER OF THE FIRST LADY
 Speaking at a London girl's school, Michelle Obama makes a passionate, personal case for each student to take education seriously. As far as persuasive speeches go, this one is clear, concise and passionate.
In this 12-minute speech, she engages the audience and develops a mutual connection with them right from the start with stories of her family, her modest upbringing, hardships experienced and overcome by her parents and herself, and how she met her husband. It is these stories that add the most colour to her talk, and that I believe provide the greatest bond with the audience.
This is a very inspirational speech that does not waver from its goal. Every story and example gets the point across of how "regular" people all have the power to do remarkable things if they get educated, help each other, pursue their passions, and use their talents to help their communities grow. If I was in her audience, I would feel like she's speaking directly to me.
What would a presentation skills coach say?
The speech content is inspirational and well-structured. Very tight, direct, and persuasive. Calls-to-action at the conclusion, coupled with a smile, a strong voice and eye contact send off the audience with drive and motivation. The only thing I would add to the content would be a little more detail on her first date with her husband. My guess is that she didn't want stories that were not relevant to the overall theme of her speech to overshadow the points she wanted to make. But it certainly would have been interesting!
So it all comes down to her delivery.
Where could she improve?
- Microphone placement - Throughout most of the speech, she holds the microphone directly under her mouth, covering her chin and therefore obstructing part of her face. Holding the microphone two inches lower would have virtually no effect on the volume or clarity of her voice, and would allow her audience to see her whole face.
- Filler words and sounds - "Uh" and "tsk." In this speech, I counted 28 "uh's" and 12 "tsk's." For a 12-minute speech, that's almost 2.4 "uh's" and one "tsk" per minute, which is quite a lot for someone who has to speak so regularly. These filler words can get quite distracting if they occur too often in a speech. Fortunately, once someone is aware of this problem, it's easier to start fixing it.
The Undecided Issue: What about reading her notes?
I have to admit, I'm a bit torn on this one. On the one hand, although she read from her notes at times, she made sure to look up and maintain eye contact with her audience at least 75% of the time. However, a persuasive speech can be even more powerful if the speaker maintains eye contact with the audience 100% of the time. Notice the difference when she reads her notes, and then at the 11-minute mark, where she looks up and speaks from the heart in her concluding statements. Her passion really comes through whenever she looks up and speaks directly to the audience; and this passion is slightly diluted when she looks down to read her notes.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't ever use notes. However, you can reach much deeper into the hearts and minds of an audience if you speak directly to them, and not read from notes. What do you think?
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WHERE WAS I LAST MONTH?
Toastmasters District 61 Conference
It was a pleasure to go back to my "roots" and give a workshop to a group of Toastmasters at their Fall Conference in Bromont, QC.
With Darren LaCroix, winner of the 2001 World Championship of Public Speaking.
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SEVEN STEPS TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
Have you ever avoided a career or business opportunity because it required you to speak publicly? Did you ever have a great idea you wanted to share with a group, but suppressed it because you were afraid to speak up in front of other people? Read the full article at womenmedia.com.
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QUESTION OF THE MONTH
 "No matter what I do, I still can't shake the butterflies before I have to give speech. I regularly refuse requests to present at meetings, which I'm sure is hurting my career. What should I do to control my nerves?"
- Ashley, Calgary AB
Dear Ashley,
Over the years, I have met people who had so much anxiety over public speaking that they chose not to speak at conferences, didn't apply for certain jobs, or dropped out of classes or academic programs because it required that they give presentations. Certainly, public speaking is not always easy. However, it can also be exceptionally rewarding if you open yourself up to the opportunities that it presents to you.
Don't let a fear of public speaking hold you back from your full professional and personal potential. Take a public speaking course, join a Toastmasters group, and learn what you need to do to get more comfortable in front of an audience. You won't regret it.
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