Speaker's Digest August 2003

In this issue:

• The Big Five: Getting Your Team on the Same Page
• Wrapping Up: Completing Sentences, Ideas and Presentations
• Remember the Fundamentals

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The Big Five: Getting Your Team on the Same Page

Most executives recognize the importance of becoming an articulate spokesperson on behalf of their company.  They fundamentally understand the value of being prepared to discuss company vision, strategy and philosophy.  Whether they’re speaking in front of a group, informally to a group of peers, or at a staff meeting, leaders can articulate and inspire.

But being able to explain a company’s strengths, product benefits, organizational goals and corporate culture isn’t a skill that should be limited to those in the ivory tower.  A company’s employees will find themselves in daily situations where they discuss work issues with people outside of the organization.  Savvy organizations make a priority of preparing their staff for those chance and planned encounters.

Training staff to talk about their work can yield many kinds of benefits.  The process can infuse employees with a sense of pride and confidence, which leads to increased sales, more effective recruiting, and even a greater public image for the company.  People like talking about what they do, and they enjoy feeling competent and articulate as well.

In some of our corporate workshops, we use an exercise called “The Big Five,” designed to help companies get their people on the same page.  Executives actually create the content, identifying five open-ended questions that they’d like everyone within their organization to be able to answer quickly, easily and effectively.  Then they list—often in bullet point form – the way they’d like their team to be able to answer them.

Here are some questions that might be part of your company’s Big Five:

• What exactly does the Weston Company do? What do YOU do there?
• How has the economy affected Logan Enterprises?
• What role do you play in the company?
• Why did your company acquire Company X?
• What kind of new things is your company working on?
• How do your services compare to Company Y?

It’s important for employees get a chance to practice giving these answers in a situation that’s supportive and helpful.  Companies are not served well by rote memorization or “group speak,” where people tend to sound unnatural or insincere.  Effective articulation of thoughts requires outlining key points, and then encouraging people to put answers into their own words and their own voices.  That takes practice, preferably in front of a group.

Training salespeople, middle managers, and front line employees to talk about their work is a great way to disseminate corporate ideals and concepts. If you’re interested in hearing more about planning a program around “The Big Five” for your company, we’d be pleased to discuss it with you in more depth.

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Wrapping Up: Completing Sentences, Ideas and Presentations

In past issues, we’ve discussed the importance of opening presentations in a way that engages the audience immediately.  Now we turn our attention to the flip side of that equation: wrapping up.  Leaving your audience on a strong note is as important as a good opening, and effective presenters will find ways to drive home their main points before they give up the microphone. 

Wrapping up can take many forms, however, and we will address a few of them as we consider public speaking. 

Regis-Speak

A common malady among speakers is a tendency to let one’s voice trail off at the end of a sentence or thought.  In daily situations we meet individuals who seem to swallow the final words of a sentence.  This type of intonation—often involuntary—can cause a speaker to seem unconfident, uninterested, or even incapable.  The behavior is particularly problematic because we often end sentences with an important point or thought. 

Our role model for dealing with swallowing words is Regis Philbin, a legend of TV game and talk shows.  Regis treats the ends of sentences as if they were the punch lines of the joke.  His sentences don’t drop off, they get LOUDER!  Dana Carvey used to emphasize this when he impersonated Regis on Saturday Night Live:  “Is that your final ANSWER?!”  “I’m out of CONTROL!!”

Put some “Regis-speak” into your next presentation by adding some emphasis to the end of SENTENCES.  You’ll notice the DIFFERENCE!

Punching Your Main Idea

Every time you tell a story, make a point, show an example or answer a question, you have an opportunity to remind people of your benefit, mission or big idea.  Bob Dole had a great method for wrapping up thoughts that he used when he campaigned for president in 1996.  He punctuated his ideas regularly with the wrap-up phrase:  “That’s why Bob Dole should be President.”  He took every opportunity to remind his audience why he was speaking, reminding them that he needed their votes. Though his campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, we loved his use of that technique.

Try this yourself.  During your next presentation, be sure to clearly wrap up your statements.  Examples:

• “T.D. Enterprises has the experience to get the job done”
• “You’ll get the same quality service when you choose Wiley and Associates as your public relations partner.”

Tell ‘Em What You Told ‘Em

When wrapping up your presentation, especially a particularly long one, it’s important to leave your audience remembering your key thoughts and main points. We suggest that speakers take a few minutes at the end of a speech to SUMMARIZE big ideas or benefits, and even to outline some appropriate next steps that you’d like the audience to keep in mind. This approach, telling them what you already told them, has been used effectively by speakers throughout the ages, and always helps them drive home their messages.

Presenters often have difficulty making the transition from the “body” of their presentation to the “summary”.  Here are some ways that work:

• “To summarize, here’s what we’ve covered today…”
• “We’ve discussed a lot this morning, so let’s review the key points one more time…”
• “In conclusion…”

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Remember the Fundamentals

Do you have a presentation coming up soon?  Prepare by going through the 8 Fundamentals of Speaking that we discuss with our clients.  Take a moment to refresh them in your mind as you plan for your talk.

1. Eye Contact.  Hold eye contact with individuals for a complete thought
2. Gestures.  Use your arms, your hands, your feet to animate your presentation.
3. Movement.  Be purposeful and use your space effectively.  No one said you have to spend all your time behind the podium.
4. Pauses.  Pause early and often. It will help you eliminate . . .
5. Non-Words.  Don’t distract your audience with umm, uhh, or “you know.”
6. Pace.  Take your time.  Speak slowly, loudly and clearly. 
7. Facial Expression.  Use your face to show how passionate you are about your topic.  And don’t forget to SMILE!
8. Energy.  Vary your volume.  Move around the room.  Let your natural energy come out through gestures and expression.

For a more in-depth reminder of these fundamentals, go to our website (www.ems-communications.com) and scroll through some past issues of Speaker’s Digest.  We’ll see you there!

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