Apologies and thanks

09/02/2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: John Travolta, john travolta and uma thurman dance, Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman, WordPress, WordPress Support | 1 comment

This morning I had a surprise. An unpleasant one. When I went to check the activity on this blog, I was greeted with a message that it had been suspended for violating the WordPress terms of service.

Now, a dozen thoughts raced through my mind as I tried to figure out what had happened. But then I reminded myself that this problem, although serious, is nothing compared to the problems faced by billions around the world each day. I wrote a message to WordPress Support and offered as much information as possible to help them.

Within four hours I had an email from WordPress apologizing for the mix-up and putting things right. A big Thank You to them. Problems happen and it is nice to know that WordPress stands ready to respond quickly.

By my calculation, the blog was down for around 15 hours – most of which, mercifully, I slept through. I am sorry if this issue has caused any inconvenience and thank you for all the support that you have given my blog since I launched it last year.

As soon as the issue was resolved, I was reminded of Vincent Vega, John Travolta’s character in Pulp Fiction. There is a scene in which he has just saved Mia Wallace (played by Uma Thurman) from a heroin overdose. As he drops her off home, he says in a voice filled with exhaustion:

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go home and have a heart attack.”

Now that this matter has been resolved, I think that I’ll take the lead from Travolta, but not based on the scene mentioned above. No, right about now I am feeling more like Travolta in this earlier scene in Pulp Fiction:

Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 14)

08/02/2010 in Preparation, Quotes for Public Speakers | Tags: Cato, Preparation, preparing a speech, public speaking quotes, quotes | 1 comment

Cato (234 BC - 149 BC) Roman Statesman

“Find the message first and the words will follow.”

- Cato

Analysis of a speech by Sir Ken Robinson

02/02/2010 in Delivery, TED | Tags: audience, creativity, Delivery, education, eye contact, Gillian Lynne, humor, Humour, innovation, Jonas Salk, Pablo Picasso, Sir Ken Robinson, Speech, Stories, TED, tell stories | 1 comment

It is time for another TED Talk and this one by Sir Ken Robinson, is one of my favourites. Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in education, innovation, creativity and human resources.

His latest book is entitled The Element. As Robinson states: “The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels.” Do yourself a favour and spend some time perusing his website.

Before you do so, however, watch his talk below. It is 20 minutes, so find some time when you can watch it without interruption. Afterwards, we’ll look at some of the reasons why I think it is so great.

So what can we learn about public speaking from Sir Ken? Plenty! In no particular order, here are some of the things that I appreciated:

His talk seemed less a presentation to the audience and more a conversation with the audience.

He did not need a single PowerPoint slide or other prop to support his talk.

You might have noticed his limp at the beginning as he comes on stage. Robinson contracted polio at the age of 4. Yet he did not hide behind a lectern. He opened himself up to the audience. (He even joked about his limp at 15:30.) It is understandable that he did not move about the stage but he didn’t have to; he filled it with his personality and intelligence.

He spoke passionately about the topic.

He involved the audience in many ways: his use of the word “we”; his asking several rhetorical questions; his reference to different things that the audience had experienced while at TED (e.g., his mentioning at 2:50, 13.30 and 17:55 other talks that the audience had heard); etc.

He let the audience know, early on, what the talk was about, especially at 3:15: “My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” Very clear.

His humour was wonderful, understated and well-timed. For example, when he said the words mentioned in the previous point, he spoke with great solemnity and purpose, rousing the audience to applaud. However, instead of continuing with the same heavy theme, he immediately lightened the mood – “That was it by the way. Thank you very much. So, 15 minutes left.” Classic stuff, but clever too because it allowed the audience to recharge for the next serious part. Robinson did this throughout the speech.

He used two powerful quotes – by Pablo Picasso and Jonas Salk – at appropriate points in the speech to drive home his points.

He told stories! Great ones! Memorable ones! Stories that reinforced his main point. (NB – If you are new to this blog, get used to listening to me beat the drum relentlessly about the importance of telling stories.) The story about Gillian Lynne (15:20 – 17:45) was especially terrific for this talk.

He wasn’t afraid to pursue an extemporaneous idea, especially a humorous one that the audience clearly enjoyed, such as the humour about William Shakespeare as a child (6:50 – 7:50).

He ended memorably and passionately with a challenge to the audience.

He had a good time out there. You can see that he was enjoying himself. It is fitting that Sir Ken’s latest book is entitled “The Element”, because that it exactly where he was – in his element.

Those are some of the things that I liked. What are your thoughts?

Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 13)

01/02/2010 in Quotes for Public Speakers | Tags: public speaking quotes, quotes, reading your speech, Winston Churchill | Leave a comment

Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) British Prime Minister, Historian, Author and Orator

“First he read his speech; second he read it badly; third it wasn’t worth reading.”

- Sir Winston Churchill

What Yanni can teach us about public speaking

31/01/2010 in Delivery | Tags: Alexander Zhiroff, Delivery, Emotion, enjoy the moment, Ramon Flores, Samvel Yervinyan, Sayaka Katsuki, Victor Espinola, Yanni | 4 comments

I have been writing this blog for a little over eight months now. I recently looked back at some of the posts that I have written. Most of those posts contain advice about things that we should, or should not, do as speakers: look at the audience; don’t read your notes; use the stage; don’t fill your PowerPoint slides with loads of text; do this; don’t do that; do; don’t; do; don’t.

I am not saying that such advice is not important – it is. (Otherwise, there wouldn’t be much point to this blog.) However, it is equally important that, as speakers, we enjoy the moment. Being able to share our ideas with others is a privilege, and one that we should savour. In this regard, we can learn something about public speaking from Yanni.

When they are on stage, Yanni and the musicians with whom he works thoroughly enjoy themselves. They relish every moment. Have a look at the following video.

Six minutes of pure musical entertainment!

Yes, the musicians (whose names appear in the tags to this post) are focused on what they are doing. Yes, they have practiced long and hard. But this is the payoff. This is what it is all about. And you can tell that they are having a blast.

As public speakers, there is no reason why we should not have the same level of enjoyment in what we do. Granted, there is a difference between a speech and a concert, but the underlying principle is the same.

And it is the same regardless of your speaking style. In the video, we see a number of different musicians, each incredibly gifted but each with his or her own unique style. But what they – and Yanni – share, is the pure enjoyment of performing on stage. We should try to have that same enjoyment when delivering our speeches.

Seth Godin on why too much data is not good

30/01/2010 in Delivery, PowerPoint | Tags: data, Delivery, Emotion, marketing, overuse of data, Presentation, presentations, Seth Godin, Seth's Blog, statistics | 4 comments

Seth Godin is the author of ten books about marketing, change and work that have been bestsellers around the world. His blog is one of my favourites. Below is a post that he wrote cautioning against the overuse of data. It is excellent advice for anyone making a presentation, and it is no coincidence that I have reproduced it on the same day as my previous post with the quote by Margaret Thatcher.

———

Too much data leads to not enough belief

by Seth Godin

Business plans with too much detail, books with too much proof, politicians with too much granularity … it seems as though more data is a good thing, because data proves the case.

In my experience, data crowds out faith. And without faith, it’s hard to believe in the data enough to make a leap. Big mergers, big VC investments, big political movements, large congregations … they don’t usually turn out for a spreadsheet.

The problem is this: no spreadsheet, no bibliography and no list of resources is sufficient proof to someone who chooses not to believe. The skeptic will always find a reason, even if it’s one the rest of us don’t think is a good one. Relying too much on proof distracts you from the real mission – which is emotional connection.

Seth Godin

Quotes for Public Speakers (No.12)

30/01/2010 in Quotes for Public Speakers | Tags: Margaret Thatcher, public speaking quotes, quotes, statistics, Stories, Story, storytelling, tell a story, Telling Stories | 1 comment

Margaret Thatcher (1925 - Present) British Prime Minister

“A statistic should tell a story.”

- Margaret Thatcher

Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 11)

27/01/2010 in Delivery, Quotes for Public Speakers | Tags: George Washington Carver, public speaking, public speaking quotes, quotes | 1 comment

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) American Scientist, Botanist, Educator and Inventor

“When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”

- George Washington Carver

Remote control

25/01/2010 in Delivery, PowerPoint | Tags: Keynote, PowerPoint, remote control, Targus, wireless presenter | 2 comments

If you use PowerPoint or Keynote to support your presentations, do yourself – and your audience – a favour. Invest in a remote control. It will enhance the professionalism of your presentations.

Have you ever sat through a presentation in which the speaker was constantly running back and forth to the computer to hit the button that advanced the slides? It is an unecessary distraction. For a modest price, you can buy a remote that will free you from your computer and allow you to stay engaged with your audience.

I use the Targus AMP05US (pictured below). It works well and gives me everything that I need. You can see the range of Targus remotes, with their specifications, here. However, there are other brands such as Logitech.

Different remotes come with different features. For example, the Targus AMP05US has SD Card storage so that I can record the audio of my presentations. Neat as that feature is, however, it is not necessary.

The most important features are the basic ones: (a) an on-off switch; (b) buttons to advance to the next slide and return to the previous slide; (c) a button to turn the screen black (and then back on again); and (d) a laser pointer (which, in any case, should be used sparingly).

Many people shy away using from remotes for fear of hitting the wrong button. However, with a little practice beforehand, anyone can master the technology. It’s not exactly a James Bond gadget – though it would be cool if it were!

"So, Mr. Bond, my presentation bores you? Allow me to demonstrate my new Targus Eliminator. I'm sure you'll find it very interesting."

So go ahead and pick one up. You’ll be glad that you did. Oh, and one last thing – always have an extra set of batteries just in case yours run out during the presentation. Even Bond needed a backup from time to time.