After dinner speaking is not for the faint-hearted. Regular speeches and presentations are hard enough at the best of times, but after dinner speaking has a totally different dimension.
With after dinner speaking, your audience has a special expectation, that is they expect to be entertained. A good friend once described it as ... Read more
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For many people confronted with the dreaded prospect of delivering a presentation all that is going through their mind is getting up on stage delivering the presentation with all good speed and getting off the stage.
As long as the message has been delivered and reinforced (usually by distracting and overloaded PowerPoint slides) that's the job done. Thinking about how to win over the audience is the last thing on people's mind but it is absolutely crucial. Failing to win people over will result in 90% of the audience switching off from your presentation within the first 5 minutes; that should be regarded as a catastrophe, but regrettably it is alarmingly common. In recent years I have made a point of asking people what they thought about a presentation that we have all sat through and it is truly horrifying how many people very quickly went off into their own dream world, so dull was the presenter. It is not uncommon for 100 people to sit through an hour's presentation and only 10 to be still listening after a few minutes – imagine all that lost working time. What are the steps to winning over an audience and banishing the fear of public speaking? Firstly – know them (if you can) and as early as possible get in a statement that you know they can identify with. Imagine a politician addressing an audience of business people all of whom are running small independent operations and that politician's opening remarks being ‘Red tape is strangling this country and impeding the ability of our entrepreneurs to thrive. We will reduce this burden at a stroke by taking the following actions …'. As long as the actions made sense to the audience they will have been won over completely and utterly. The rest of the speech will now be so much easier to deliver and the fear of public speaking is lost. Compare this to a speaker with an audience comprised solely of people working within finance departments being greeted with the remarks ‘this initiative will allow us to reduce those working in finance areas by 50%'. No great surprise to hear that this initiative was resisted with all the gusto of a sprinter trying to win Gold at the Olympics! Secondly - when you deliver this audience winning statement look them straight in the eye as you say it and see how the audience rapport builds as they look back at you. Feel the bond forging between the two of you as they do. Thirdly - when you have finished delivering that winning statement pause briefly to allow the audience to absorb the statement and quite possibly shake their head in agreement. Fourthly – during the rest of the speech engage with the audience by asking them rhetorical questions knowing that their answers are going to be in the affirmative. Finally – and this particularly applies to a speech over ten minutes in length; use humour to lighten the mood. This will ensure that the attention of the audience never drifts off. Knowing that you have won an audience over is one of the best feelings in the speaking world. That's how to banish the fear of public speaking.
Time should be taken to mentally prepare the structure of the vote of thanks speech. Be aware that the vote of thanks is not an evaluation and nor is it another speech in its own right, nor should it repeat the chairman's introd... The Association of Speakers Clubs is committed to teaching the art of effective speaking through practice and evaluation.
It does not employ professional lecturers or speakers but draws upon the experience of its membership (... Steps:
1. Evaluate your special message. Consider what it is that you have to say that would be of value to others--have you experienced great adversity, or received some special education? In order to succeed as a motivatio... Exciting new technologies like interactive computer use, live video enhancement of speakers and teleconferencing can be utilized but the associated cost of these new technologies can be steep. The type of AV support you will nee... There are a number of places that hire professional speakers and many of them are in your neighborhoods. Places like universities, colleges, your local Toastmasters organization, speaker bureaus, non-profit organizations, busin... Your verbal message is the first to polish. Supporting this verbal message is the message you send with using the tone of voice. The tone of voice has the ability to liven up your topic. Emphasize highlighted points with excit...
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