10 Biggest Traps to Avoid When You Speak

Posted on 23 April 2010 by Valerie Fuson

I just listened to Patricia Frap on SpeakerMatch. Wow what a dynamic speaker. She gave tips on a speakers biggest mistakes. She went into detail on the following:
1. Unclear Messages
Your message should be able to be described in one sentence. If it takes longer it’s not clear or focused.
2. No Clear Structure
The information and ideas may come off as confusing and your client will not understand your message or know what to do with it.
3. No Memorable Stories
Stories create emotion and sell. Most people will not remember your words but they will remember a story that impacted them. Don’t tell – Show! Tell a story as if you and your audience are there. Make it descriptive and bring the characters to life with dialogue.
4. No Emotional Connection
Engage your audience, their emotions and imaginations. Make them think, make them part of your presentation, make them part of your stories. Ask them questions.
5. Wrong Level of Abstraction
Get on the same wave length as your audience. Are you giving them an overview and they want details, or are you giving them facts and details when they want an overview. Find out what they want and deliver it.
6. No Pauses
Most speakers speak too fast and fill every space in the speech. The audience isn’t given enough time to process the information. When you pause after an important point or when you want your audience to think, you are giving them time to think and reflect on what you just said.
7. Irritating non-words
Ah, hmm, er, uh! These words are distracting and add no value to the speech. Some speakers also use other words inappropriately or as filler words like: ok, so now. These are “ok” once in awhile, but not every new thought for paragraph.
8. Stepping on Your Punch Words
The most important word in a sentence is the punch-word. It’s the final word in a humor sentence. This is where humor is uncovered. Say the punch line or word and then pause and wait for the applause. Don’t continue too quickly with the next word or thought. Also, while on this topic, when the audience is laughing, don’t step on the laughs. Speaking while the audience is laughing trains them to not laugh at your next humor point. They also can’t hear you when you’re talking and their laughing. Let them appreciate your humor.
9. Not Having a Strong Opening and Closing
Your first words should engage your audience. Get their attention, get them interested, and get them hooked. It can be an interesting story, a relevant or unusual fact, a dramatic gesture, a humorous point. Never start with a joke. Never close with questions. Do your Q & A before the close. Your last words should be memorable, dynamic, and humorous and refer back to the beginning. You want your audience to walk away with thought provoking ideas, something to do, a buzz with your name.
10. Misusing Technology
To PowerPoint or Not. That is the question! There are a lot of pros and cons about using PowerPoint. Used correctly it should enhance your speech not be your speech. Audio Visuals are just that, a tool to demonstrate pictures or graphs. Many speakers use it as a crutch and read the slides while facing the slides. Only use bullet points and you tell the details. Also, instead of words use pictures to demonstrate the same thing. If you’re looking at the screen, your not connecting with your audience. You may as well just let the slide show run and you walk out of the room.

As professionals whether we are coaches, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, or business owners communication is the major skill we need to be proficient in, and yet it is the skill that most professionals take for granted and don’t take the time to master. A good persuasive speaker or presenter will have more sales and clients by understanding and mastering the top 10 ways that make your presentations more dynamic. For the complete report you can visit www.Fripp.com/salestraininginfo.html Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Keynote Speaker, Sales Trainer, Speech Coach 527 Hugo Street, San Francisco CA 94122, 800-634-3035 415-753-6556 Fax 415-753-0914 Email: PFripp@Fripp.com www.fripp.com
Feel free to comment and share ideas.

Welcome to Empowered Speaking!

Posted on 04 January 2010 by Valerie Fuson

“Believe that you have the destiny, the innate ability, to become all you expect of life. Experience all of life’s peaks and plateaus. Find the meaning of life’s struggles and accomplishments. There you will find the meaning to life and life’s work.           …Sherrie Householder, CREEDS TO LIVE BY, DREAMS TO FOLLOW

Hello Friends! I am so excited to be here. This is our first blog.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others” …Marianne Williamson

Welcome to Empowered Speaking. I want to dedicate this Blog to you and express how each of you is brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous. 

Marianne Williamsons quote above expresses how brilliant we are. “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And as we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

   I believe this is true. When we don’t let our own brilliance shine, we starve others from shining. Each one of us has an energy that surrounds us. If our energy is in chaos, fear, untrusting, or negative, it not only affects us, but also the people around us. They unconsciously and sometimes consciously react to us.

A friend of mine was depressed about how her life was going. She didn’t have a good track record with close relationships and her business was not where she wanted it to be. She was negative in her conversations and everyone was either stupid, lazy or a know it all.  Drama seemed to follow her around. I soon realized that whenever I was around her, I too felt a loss of energy and depressed. When I was away from her I felt healthier.

 When I was around her sister who was also a friend, I felt totally different. She was lovely, she was enthusiastic with life, enjoyed being around people and loved doing new and exciting things. I loved being around her, and I noticed that her friends shined when they were in her company. She was Brilliant and everyone around her felt Brilliant.

Are you letting your light shine or are you living in the Drama?

As we live authentically in our own bodies and love ourselves, we let others experience that authenticity and it gives them permission to also be authentic and brilliant. 

Daily Intention:

 Make a conscious and positive impact on at least 2 people today.