Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.
On Tuesday, I reviewed The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval. I liked what they have to say about making a positive personal impact. Today, I’d like to call your attention to another book I like: The Elements of Great Public Speaking, by J. Lyman MacInnis.
Mr. MacInnis does a good job of breaking down the key elements of any good speech or presentation. His first eight chapters focus on what he considers to be the elements of any good talk.
1. The right topic – Mr. MacInnis identifies three key points about choosing a topic for your talk: know your topic, care about your topic and be eager to talk about your topic.
2. Managing fear – Mr. MacInnis says that preparation is the best way to manage fear of public speaking. I agree. As I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog, “preparation makes up for a lack of talent” is one of the quotes by which I live.
3. Know your audience – Mr. MacInnis suggests learning as much as possible about your audience before you begin preparing your remarks. In this way, you can tailor your talk to your audience. Last Saturday, I gave a talk to a group of high school rugby coaches, parents and student leaders. I used the material in my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations, but I focused on how these ideas could be used to create a top notch high school ruby program. People in the audience really appreciated the fact that that I took the time to tailor my remarks to their specific interests.
4. Determine the goal of your talk – Mr. MacInnis says “consider whether your goal is to inform, persuade, motivate or entertain”. Your answer to this question will give you great clues for what to include in your presentation.
5. Writing the speech – Mr. MacInnis suggests writing out your entire speech. I disagree with him here. I think it is important to write and memorize your opening and closing. I think it is better to note the key points you want to cover in the body of your talk, instead of writing out the entire talk. I think that writing the entire talk leads you in the direction of making a rote, overly mechanical sounding talk.
6. Don’t make your talk dependent on PowerPoint -- Your visual aids should enhance, not drive your presentation.
7. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse – Mr. MacInnis suggests practicing out loud, and I agree wholeheartedly. Practicing out loud helps you gain the comfort and familiarity with your material that you need to do a great talk. In my opinion, extensive practice takes away the need for writing your entire talk.
8. Delivery – Mr. MacInnis discusses four things to which you must pay attention to do a good job on the platform: your words, voice, facial expressions and gestures. He provides good advice on managing these four.
Mr. MacInnis does a good job of summarizing the information in each of these chapters. These summaries are a great tool for quick reference the next time you have to do a talk.
I like The Elements of Great Public Speaking. I think it makes a handy reference guide for anyone who makes presentations or speaks in public. It will be a great help to you in enhancing your communication skills. And, communication skills are a key to career success.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. Check out my other blog: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a small business.
I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open. Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.
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