Speaker's Digest August 2004
The Olympic IssueIn this issue:
We wish we were in Athens. Why not, since there are so many great seats still available at some of the greatest sporting events in the world. Despite the small audiences at the Grecian venues, the Olympics have inspired EMS to look at the world of presentation training through a new set of eyes. We are pleased to present our 2004 Summer Olympics issue of Speaker’s Digest, brought to you by (list your favorite sponsor here). And now, here’s Bob Costas….
Sometimes in EMS seminars, we say that speaking is like running a marathon. At the end of a speech, many people report that they’re tired after putting out all that energy. Their observations are certainly well founded: if you’ve prepared for a speech and done your best at presenting, you can feel as spent as an athlete after running a big race.
If speaking can be thought of as exercise, then we must be able to plan for our presentations in the same way that athletes get ready for event days. EMS considered this metaphor, and came up with a list of lessons you can learn from athletes to help prepare for excellence as a presenter.
Training: Swimmers, runners, soccer players and other athletes put long hours into training for an event. For a presenter, training means putting in the advance work needed to create a great speech: choosing the right topic, learning about your audience, and developing logical and effective content that makes sense to your listeners.
Practicing: Just like an Olympic athlete planning a winning strategy, a speaker needs to practice their presentation enough to know it well. Rehearsing your speech means standing in front of a video camera (or a mock audience) and putting your body through the motions. Pay attention to the fine points--pacing, gestures, volume, enunciation and emphasis—that will help to maximize your performance. Also, run through your support materials and visual aids with plenty of time to spare so you don’t have to make last minute edits.
Pre-Game Warmup: For athletes, game day differs greatly from other dates on the calendar: it’s the highlight of their week, month or year. Likewise, making a speech isn’t just another task that you should fit into your weekly schedule, but rather an opportunity to market yourself, share your ideas and make a positive impression. Take the time to be your best: well rested, fully hydrated, relaxed, and confident.
Most athletes have a routine that they use to help them prepare for the moment of competition. Take your cue from them, and arrive well in advance of your appointed time, allowing for travel delays or unexpected occurrences. Just before your speech, take a final opportunity to focus your thoughts and prepare for your opening.
The Big Moment. Successful athletes seem to save their best performances for the biggest events. They don’t tense up, but rather seem comfortable in that element, and all their preparations—training, practicing, warming up—motivate them to perform. We encourage you to take in all of the excitement of your presentation, and have fun with it. Smile, think positively, and demonstrate your confidence in your material.
Aftermath: As Schlitz Beer (a one-time staple of Chicago sports advertising) used to say in their ads, “you only go around once in life, so you’ve got to grab all the gusto you can.” At the end of a race, an athlete wants to feel like they’ve put every fiber of their being into giving their best performance. If you’ve done a great job speaking, it’s natural to feel tired. Congratulate yourself, take in the feedback you receive, and enjoy the moment.
If the Olympics have you thinking about new ways to get into shape, raise your hand and volunteer the next time someone’s looking for a speaker for an upcoming event. You might feel tired at the end, but you can be sure that the effort will be worthwhile.
In gymnastics and diving, two popular events at these Summer Olympics in Athens, success often comes down to how judges view an athlete’s performance. To guide their work, judges work from a thorough set of international criteria that athletes, coaches and TV commentators need to know inside and out.
Watching these Olympic Games caused us to imagine that “Public Speaking” could be the next Olympic sport, with its own set of judging criteria. (Not so far-fetched, if we think about Debating and Speech/Performance competitions held in high schools around the country.) What would it take to earn that perfect-yet-elusive “10”?
EMS has borrowed some terminology used by Olympic judges to help illustrate the methods we’d use to define perfection for presenters.
The Approach. Acknowledge your audience, stand up straight, smile, and be yourself. Thank your introducer, look at your audience, and get ready to start. (Dropping your notes is a .25 deduction.)
The Opening and the Dismount. In gymnastics, athletes are judged on their opening and closing maneuvers. As a speaker, start by delivering an impressive “POW! Statement” as part of an introduction that gets your audience’s attention. When you wrap up, summarize your main points succinctly, ending on a positive note. (Don’t let your voice trail off at the end—that’s a mandatory loss of .5.)
Elevation. Divers are judged on elevation—how high they are able to jump from the diving board. For you as a speaker, elevation means raising your energy level by varying volume, projecting to all corners of the room, moving with purpose, and making natural gestures. (Spending too much time looking at your notes will bug some judges.)
Performance. How are you following the fundamentals of public speaking? Use facial expressions and pace your delivery to include pauses and emphasis. Plant your feet, and avoid grabbing the podium and rocking back and forth. (Overuse of umm, I mean or ya know can hurt your score.)
Demonstration of skills. Demonstration is how you show that you know what you’re talking about, delivering an organized, well thought out speech on your area of expertise. Use audience-focused content, and a variety of examples such as quotes, stories and statistics. Explain your ideas completely, and show that you believe in them. (Mandatory .25 deduction for misplaced qualifers like maybe or I think..)
Degree of Difficulty. You don’t earn extra points for using big words, or trying to cram too much material into your allotted time slot. There are enough challenges to speaking in public. Stick to the topics you know well, and when in doubt, keep it simple. (Mispronouncing words will surely hurt your chances for a medal!)
Incorporating all of these elements into your next presentation will bring you success of Olympic proportions. Let’s hope you can win over the tough Ukrainian judge to get that perfect score. (If you really enjoy learning about the complexities of Olympic judging, go to www.nbcolympics.com, and visit the sections devoted to those sports.)
When Senator Elizabeth Dole strolled out into her audience at the 1996 GOP Convention, her presentation style was hailed as fresh and interesting. Trying to add life to your next presentation? Watching other public speakers perform is a great way to get new ideas. The upcoming Republican Convention, beginning August 30th, will undoubtedly feature an array of great speakers, much like July’s Democrats produced many memorable presentations.
We encourage you to notice approaches used by those who take the podium at this year’s mega-event in New York. In an ongoing parade of presenters, which ones stand out as especially strong and effective? In what ways are they interacting with the crowd? How do they use more than the microphone to project themselves to such a large audience? How do they reserve special emphasis to make their main points?
Make a note of techniques that speakers use to their advantage, and think about ways that you might incorporate what you see into your next presentation. As always, feel free to drop us a note. We’re interested in hearing your thoughts.
Gordon McGregor
Director of Development and Community Relations
The Nantucket AIDS Network
Nantucket, MA