You’ve scheduled the speech. It’s the day of your presentation. You’re about to time your arrival so that you’re helpful without getting there too early or too late. What should you do when you arrive?

It’s different with each person and each presentation. But here are a number of things to consider…

1. Talk to the organizer (duh!). Offer to help her out in any way you can; confirm the time of your presentation and any other odds and ends.
2. Ask the organizer about the officers or board of the organization and make sure she either points them out to you or makes an introduction.
3. Check any AV equipment to make sure it works, especially if it’s not yours.
4. If you’re recording the program (and you should record!), do a one minute test and play it back to make sure your recorder is working.
5. If there is no microphone and the room is small, have one or two of the organizers make sure they can hear you in your ‘normal presenting voice’ from the back of the room.
6. Check sight lines from around the room to make sure all seats can see you. This includes any sight lines to your PowerPoint screen and where you may be standing – make sure you plan to stand in a location where everyone can see the screen.
7. Introduce yourself to people as they arrive. Make mental notes of names and businesses, and any related story they mention. Chances are you can reference it somewhere in your speech: “When I was chatting with Jim earlier, he mentioned that his tradeshow marketing really benefitted by using this technique…”
8. If there’s a meal involved, plan on either skipping or eating light (eat before or after).
9. If there are handouts from the organization that relate to your topic, review them for errors or updates.
10. Give your pre-written introduction to the person that will introduce you. This ensures that you will be properly introduced. It should be succinct, but thorough enough to cover the reason(s) you’re speaking to them today: brief background qualifications and title or topic of the talk.
11. Take a deep breath. Smile. You’re here to have FUN!

photo credit: hectorir

Guest Post by Lisa Braithwaite

This might be the biggest concern of would-be speakers: “What if I forget what I was going to say?”

The horror! Imagine: You’re standing in front of a room full of people. The seconds tick by loudly as you frantically search your memory for the next point in your talk. You clench the lectern, knuckles white, as the audience becomes restless and start shifting in their seats. You see them looking at each other, some with pity in their eyes, others with disappointment. Your mouth is dry and you feel hot as your face turns bright red and you begin to perspire. You start to feel woozy . . . and you crumble to the ground, mortified to death.

Now that truly sounds like a public speaking horror movie and it’s a movie that plays in a lot of speakers’ heads. But like most horror movies, it’s pretty far removed from reality. With proper preparation, both physical and mental, you can handle anything that comes your way onstage, including the dreaded “mind going blank” monster. Slay the monster with these helpful tips.

Pointer 1: Bring your notes

Don’t let anyone tell you that using notes makes you less professional. The key to using notes properly is to keep them out of sight and only refer to them when necessary.

Keep your notes to one piece of paper, single- or double-sided, so you won’t find yourself shuffling through note cards or flipping through paragraphs of text if you do lose your place.

On your piece of paper, use simple bullets or a clean outline format in large text to lay out your main points and supporting points. When practicing your presentation, use these bullets to trigger the chronology of ideas in your head. Make sure to practice enough that you remember the presentation from start to finish; the notes are not a crutch, but rather a backup tool.

When giving your talk, keep your notes on a table or on the lectern to your side. When you need a refresher about what comes next, take a few steps over and casually look at your notes.

This will not offend your audience or send them into shock. In fact, it makes you look more human, rather than a perfectly polished and mechanical speaker. And taking a step or two to view your notes serves more than one purpose; it adds movement to your talk, and it allows a healthy pause for the audience to process the information you’ve been giving them. This will feel perfectly natural to your audience.

You don’t want to be pacing back and forth to your notes throughout your talk, which is why practice is important. However, just having the notes close by can act as a “security blanket,” helping you to feel more comfortable knowing that they’re there if you need them. You might find that you don’t need the notes at all.

Pointer 2: Acknowledge that you’ve lost your train of thought

If it does happen that you forget your place, and it’s going to take longer than a quick glance at your notes to get back on track, it’s better to acknowledge this fact to the audience than to try and hide it. The audience can tell when you’re not being honest with them or trying to fake them out. Make a human connection with them and say, “Hold on a sec, I’ve lost my place.” Then take those two steps to your notes and find your place.

Seasoned speakers do this all the time, and the audience can relate. They won’t judge you, because it’s happened to them before as well. They will sympathize with you, not criticize you. The audience is not your enemy; they want you to succeed and they want to support you.

While doing your pre-presentation practice and preparation, visualize yourself experiencing this situation. Visualize yourself acknowledging that you’ve lost your place, finding your next point in your notes, and moving forward. Visualize yourself handling this situation with calmness and confidence, and even a little self-effacing humor if you feel so inclined. And visualize the audience as your encouraging, nurturing friend rather than your critical, judgmental enemy.

Pointer 3: Move on and forget about it

Now that you’ve acknowledged to the audience that you’ve lost your place, and you’ve looked at your notes, go ahead and pick up where you left off. Make light of the moment; say, “Now where were we?” and just keep going.

Think of the last sporting event you watched. You might have seen an athlete make a mistake or fall down at some point during the event. Did that athlete sit there, pounding on his forehead, saying “Stupid, stupid, stupid”? Of course not! That athlete jumped up and got right back into the game.

Remember the scene in “A League of Their Own” where the Tom Hanks character says to the sobbing player, “There’s no crying in baseball”? Well, there’s no time for feeling sorry for yourself in sports, and there’s no time for feeling sorry for yourself in public speaking.

While you’re on stage, you are responsible to the audience. You are responsible for serving them, for giving them the information they want or need, for being their guide. Don’t waste their time feeling sorry for yourself and dwelling on your mistake. The sooner you move on, the sooner they will, too.

After your talk, take some time to analyze what happened and determine why you lost your place. Write it down so that the next time you are preparing for a presentation, you remember what happened and incorporate this into your practice.

By using clearly written notes, taking enough time to practice, visualizing yourself managing a potential mishap, and reframing the way you see the audience, you can handle any interruption or disruption. Whether it’s the building alarm going off, the sprinkler system malfunctioning, or the dreaded “mind going blank” monster, you are the star and the director of the movie playing in your head. Make it a blockbuster!

Lisa Braithwaite works with individuals to uncover their challenges and build their strengths in presenting themselves confidently as speakers. Find your voice with public speaking coaching! Sign up for the Presentation Pointers newsletter or a free consultation at www.coachlisab.com. Check out the Build Skills and Confidence e-course and the Speak Schmeak blog.

photo credit: califrayray

For the ‘newbie,’ being asked to stand up and give a short speech or presentation can be one of the most nerve-wracking moments he’ll ever have.

So what do you do to keep from drowning in sweat or turning into jello from all that shaking?

Rule Number One: first, take a moment to compose yourself. During this moment, focus on one message you’d like to deliver.

For instance, if you’re at a luncheon meeting and you’re asked to stand up and introduce yourself and your company, that’s going to be a fairly easy thing to do, assuming you are able to articulate a few words about yourself and your company!

It could be a bit more difficult, though. Perhaps you’re asked to comment on you or your company’s position on an important local issue. This does require a bit more thought, but follow rule number two.

And Rule Number Two is to focus on just one topic. Remember, you’re not there to give a speech, just a few remarks. Your remarks might last a couple of minutes at best. So pick out one thing you feel is important – even if it’s obvious – and deliver that comment, with a few follow up supporting comments.

Rule Number Three: Give your idea some structure. Depending on how much time you’re able to speak – you might ask the person who called on you how much time you can take – do some ‘mental organization’ of your impromptu speech.

Rule 3.1: For instance, the ‘Rule of Three’s’ is something that research has show is very effective. Break your main topic into three sub-topics. Why three? Because four is too many for to remember, two isn’t enough for people to think you really covered anything of significance. Three is the optimum number of ideas anyone can remember from your speech.

Rule 3.2: Another organization outline you might easily use is the ‘Cause and Effect’ approach. If you are commenting on a subject where you can show a ‘before and after’ scenario you can use the ’cause and effect’ approach.

Rule 3.3: Give Examples. If you can think of any example that vividly supports your point, use it.

Rule Four: Don’t expect to be perfect! Impromptu speaking is a learned skill. Rarely is it a gift that people are born with. Some people may do it more naturally than others, but speaking ‘off the cuff’ is not something too many people prepare for.

So here’s the last – Rule Five: Practice. If you pick a few topics, get a stopwatch and practice giving impromptu speeches at home or in another safe area where you’re allowed to flub, stumble, stutter and lose your train of thought. Pick a wide variety of topics – news, family, local issues, ancient history, personal history, whatever – and give yourself two minutes on each topic.

If you can record yourself with an audio recorder or even a video camera, do it. When you review you’ll pick out weak areas which you’ll work to avoid next time, as well as the stronger points in your presentation that you can enhance.

Next time you’re called on – and who knows, it might be tomorrow! – you’ll have a little better idea of how to make it through a daunting experience. The more you do it, the less daunting it’ll be. The opportunities for ‘unprepared speeches’ are countless. Take them on with grace and a smile!

photo credit: stevendepolo

Should you customize all of your presentations?

In other words, do you need to make sure that each time you talk about one of your ‘power’ topics, does it need to be custom fit to that specific audience?

Well, yes and no.

In other words, it depends. I’ve seen speakers that go to great lengths to make sure that they are relating to a specific audience.

For instance, when I saw Tony Robbins address the audience at the Natural Products Expo West a couple of years ago, his presentation had a lot to do with that specific industry. But he had a lot invested in it – financially. One of his companies had an interest in new FDA rules that might affect them, so his knowledge of the industry was extremely high. And because of that, his presentation was specifically tailored to the audience – even though his core message could have been delivered to virtually any gathering.

I’ve also seen keynotes that were ‘cookie-cutter’ and could have been virtually cut-and-pasted to any group without changing a single word.

Both went over quite well.

So what’s the answer?

In those cases, the audience was large – a few thousand at least. The speakers were well known, and the audiences quite receptive.

If you’re speaking to a smaller audience, your payoff will be worth it if you can tailor your presentation.

Let’s say you’re speaking to a group of fitness trainers. Before the presentation if you take some time to chat with some of the audience (either in person or with one of the organizers ahead of time) and learn a bit about the group, you’ll have some good ammunition to add to your speech.

For example, perhaps you speak with Carol, who’s been training and helping clients who are recovering from auto accidents. You tell her that an acquaintance of yours was in an auto accident recently and is in need of some direction. In your conversation you may uncover a couple of tidbits that might help your friend. If you find a way to work a few elements of that conversation into your presentation it does a couple of things:

First, it shows that you took the time to talk to and learn a bit about your audience. It shows them that you care.

Second, when you mention Carol’s name, several members of the audience will perk up a bit more because they’re sure to know who Carol is. So you’ve got them paying closer attention.

Both of those elements will make you more attractive to the audience as a good speaker. It wouldn’t surprise me if a number of them took mental notes and remember to call you when a group they’re associated with needs a speaker.

So all the way around, customizing your presentation – whether a full-blown speech written specifically for the group, or adding some elegant personalization touches – makes a lot of sense.

Photo by Steve Jurvetson

In our lives, we all have different people, things, books, movies, music, etc. that inspires us. What inspires you? Tim ‘Gonzo’ Gordon and Roger Pike discuss the sources of inspiration they find.

1.    When you give a speech, you’re perceived as an expert.
2.    When you speak about a subject, you learn more about it because you have to organize and articulate your thoughts.
3.    People want to meet you.
4.    People will be inclined to mention you to other people.
5.    People will be inclined to do business with you over other people.
6.    You learn to become a better, more skilled and sensitive communicator.
7.    It helps you in your one-on-one communication.
8.    It gives you confidence.
9.    Even though you may have similar experience and skills as a colleague, if you speak in public you are perceived as having an edge over others.
10.    Learning to speak off the cuff, being good on your feet, draws people to you and you’ll find yourself with more friends and business acquaintances.
11.    Personal growth.
12.    A person who is an excellent public speaker will generally get a promotion over the person who is not a public speaker.
13.    You are viewed as a leader.
14.    Your leadership skills will increase.
15.    Your value to your organization increases.
16.    It helps you become a better entertainer.
17.    The better you get, the more fun you have at it.
18.    Being a good and effective public speaker improves the quality of your life.
19.    You can make money as a speaker. You may even opt for a career as a public speaker.
20.    It’s been said that writing and speaking are two skills that can significantly improve your income.
21.    If you are paid to speak, chances are you will also be paid to travel to other locations. It’s a great way to see parts of the country that you might not have otherwise visited.
22.    When you become an accomplished public speaker, the confidence will translate to other areas of your life, and you’ll realize much more of your potential.
23.    Public speaking pushes you out of your comfort zone, where self-growth exists.

If you’re in business and do any amount of networking, you’ll see some sort of presentation or speaker on a regular basis. It could be a luncheon meeting where the local Mayor is giving a brief presentation, or someone from the Salvation Army updating the group on an ongoing project.

Speakers come in all shapes and sizes and levels of competence and awareness.

I say awareness, because as a speaker I think being aware of a variety of things will carry you a long way in your presentation, however long or brief it is.

Speaker awareness is one of the main things I tend to evaluate, along with delivery, pacing, content, paying attention to the audience and – of course – did they finish within their announced time?

Let’s start with ‘speaker awareness.’ To me, as a member of the audience, it means that the speaker appears to have an understanding of his audience (the makeup of the group he’s speaking to), the size of the room and what areas he may need to pay special attention to, the comfort they have with their material and – as the speech goes on – the understanding of the material and the overall reception of the audience to the material (check our podcast on ‘Listening to Your Audience’ for more on this: http://budurl.com/baya).

If the speaker is unaware of a number of those issues, he or she becomes more of a ‘talking head’ who may appear to be speaking on television to an unseen group, instead of to an actual live audience right in front of them. That approach puts an emotional distance between the speaker and the audience.

Having awareness as a speaker also brings into the picture other things I mentioned: length of the speech, pacing, knowing the content inside and out; it all adds up, and answers the question: did the speaker understand his audience and what their expectations are?

Of course I instinctively judge a presenter’s delivery: how was their intro (did they get our attention or did they spend a minute thanking the hosts and put us all to sleep or send us to our Blackberries?), did the content of their speech seem well-organized and cohesive or was it haphazard and rambling?

Content is probably the hardest thing to judge – but as an audience member I like it when I hear a presentation that leaves me with a good feeling. And that may mean I feel good because I was just made aware of an important topic that I was woefully uninformed on, or it makes me feel good because I felt inspired by the stories and the call to action by the presenter. Either way, how you make your audience feel is important and should always be a part of your planning and organizing.

At the end – when everybody’s watching the clock – is the speaker conscious of the audience’s expectations on when the meeting is scheduled to be released? Did she stop five minutes ahead of time so that everyone felt like they were just given an extra five minutes of their day to do with as they please? Or did she run over by six or eight minutes and make everyone uncomfortable and fidgeting – and even watch as a few of her audience trickled out before the presentation had completely wrapped up?

What do you look for when you’re sitting in the audience? If you’re a speaker, you probably check for things that non-speakers would not notice.

Would love to see what things stick out in your mind the next time you’re watching a speaker at a service club breakfast or luncheon meeting.

photo credit: Marshall Astor – Food Pornographer

As a speaker, do you ‘listen’ to your audience? If you do, it’s amazing the amount of information they ‘tell’ you that you can incorporate into your presentation.

photo credit: quinn.anya

Tony Marino, long-time marketer, public speaker and former stand-up comic discusses his public speaking life in this fast-paced interview with Tim Gordon and Roger Pike.

Check out Tony’s BlogTalkRadio show ‘Marketing Antics’ here.

Follow Tony on Twitter.