Ray Franklin, author of “On-The-Job Speech Training”, is helping people prepare for this annual event. You can prepare by visiting http://goo.gl/IMH2R.
If you are a content expert in your firm, you WILL be asked to speak in front of an important group at one time or another.
June 4th is your day to practice speaking in public! If you need help, contact Ray Franklin – the 8-minute speech coach.
This is jut one of the many exciting experiences I have had as a speech coach. I welcome your comments. Ray Franklin
A few years ago, a corporate client called with an interesting challenge to my 8-minute training technique. I had coached all of their executives for more than a dozen years.
This company holds quarterly meetings in their headquarters building, with 350 employees in attendance. Typically these meetings are addressed by company executives.
The challenge they gave me? Turn the presentations at one meeting over to the Administrative Team (A Team): the people who support the executives.
These “admins” schedule their bosses, maintain their very busy calendars, and coordinate the business lives of very successful executives. They often know everything that’s going on within their department. I’ve always counted on them to grant me access when I needed it.
In my first meeting with them as a group, these busy people were frightened about the task before them. None of them had ever spoken to a group larger than 10, and then only for a few minutes. This was a great opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the company.
Each admin was given the charge to host a 10-minute portion of the meeting with an opening message supported by PowerPoint, and then introduce the next speaker or moderate a panel of other supporting staff members.
I explained all the tools covered in this book. We then went through the “what do I do with these?” exercise with hands and other basics.
I told them how to develop their message and how to practice. Two days later, I met again with six excited people. They had crafted their message and their graphics, and they had followed my instructions on the need to practice.
Now, for the first time, they rehearsed with their graphics and microphone in the empty auditorium. They practiced their transitions to each other as I reinforced the training.
You know the result, of course. These admins – who came to me with virtually no experience or confidence as public speakers – were amazed at how successful they had been. An appreciative audience gave them a standing ovation, and the accolades kept coming for weeks afterward.
One enthusiastic woman explained she had rehearsed in front of a bathroom mirror (just as I have advised you to do). Then she assembled her husband, 2-year-old and 13-year-old in the living room and rehearsed her presentation to that audience the night before.
In fact, her 13-year-old daughter had a chance to be in the audience during this woman’s presentation at work; she was so proud to see her mom do so well and receive a standing ovation. The two of them had such big grins, I will never forget that moment.
Needless to say, these women of power within the organization were now regarded with additional respect by everyone who attended that meeting.
Empower staff with skills to speak successfully in staff, department or company wide meetings.
Start with “On-The-Job Speech Training” available at amazon.com.
Find out more about speech coach Ray Franklin.
Hotels continue to mislead about their ceiling heights and room capacity. They continue to publish ceiling heights at HIGHEST point and seating capacity based on uncomfortable seating.
Before signing a hotel contract know what the true ceiling height is based on this drawing. True ceiling height
Use this capacity chart to confirm space required. calculator.stageamerica.com
For a production partner that will help you evaluate venues before you sign the contract contact: rfranklin@stageamerica.com. 702-879-8177
by JENNIFER MILLER on OCTOBER 29, 2012 from http://people-equation.com/
in LEADERSHIP
Do you ever dread leading a meeting because you know that people are going to show up with barely concealed negativity or meeting malaise? People have lots of possible reasons for resisting your meeting. Take a hard, honest look at the meetings you run. Do any of these conditions exist?
Here’s the good news: you can absolutely do something about numbers 1 – 9. And, I’d be willing to bet that if those nine barriers to meeting success were addressed, not so many people would be on board with #10.
Remember, even if you don’t have a management title, when you lead a meeting, you are a leader. True leaders step up and address things that aren’t working. So, if you are dreading a meeting, consider what role (if any) your meeting leadership skills play in the dread. Then, put on your Big Kid Pants and get to work making your meetings productive, can’t-miss events.
Check out www.stageamerica.com.
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Happy Birthday America
I enjoy empowering people with my workshop on public speaking and my book “On-The-Job Speech Training”. When I find a resource like Tara Mohr I want to share her with my connections. Here is an article worth sharing.
Please click “Follow” next to the title of this post to keep up to date with more info I find.
Ray Franklin May 1, 2012
You are brilliant.
Your ideas? Incredible. Your questions? Insightful. Your critiques of the status quo? Right on.
I keep meeting brilliant <people> like you, with powerful ideas to contribute, important businesses and organizations to build, provocative questions to share. But so often, the way they communicate fails to command power.They equivocate, apologize, and look away as they speak.
I do this too. We are subtly undermining ourselves with their words. As a result, our ideas aren’t having the impact they could.
Here are eight ways you might be undermining yourself with your words–and eight ways to stop:
1. Drop the “just:” “I’m just wondering …” “I just think …” “I just want to add …” “Just” demeans what you have to say. “Just” shrinks your power. It’s time to say goodbye to the justs.
2. While you are at it, drop the “actually.” “I actually have a question.” ” I actually want to add something.” “Actually” communicates a sense of surprise that you have something to say. Of course you want to add something. Of course you have questions. There’s nothing surprising about it.
3. Don’t tell us why what you are about to say is likely to be wrong. We are still starting sentences with, “I haven’t researched this much but …” “I’m just thinking off the top of my head but …” “You’ve clearly been studying this longer than I have, but …”
We do this for lots of reasons. We don’t want to appear arrogant. We aren’t totally sure about what we are saying. Or we fear being wrong, and so we buffer the sting of a critical response by saying up front, “I’m not totally standing behind what I’m about to say, but …” Then, no one has the chance to say back, “Well, I know you strongly believe this, but I entirely disagree.”
No matter what the reason, doing this takes away from the power of your voice. Time to change the habit.
4. Don’t tell us you are going to “just take a minute” to say something. Often, in presentations or meetings, I hear <people> say, “I’d like to ask you to take just a minute to consider this idea” or “Now, I’m going to take just a few minutes to tell you about our product.” Think about how much stronger it sounds to simply say, “I’d like to tell you about our product.”
Go ahead and only take a minute, if that’s appropriate, but skip using the phrase “just a minute” in a talk or presentation. It sounds apologetic and implies that you don’t think what you are about to say is worthy of time and attention.
5. Don’t make your sentences sound like questions. <Many of us> often raise the pitch of <our> voice at the end of a sentence, making it sound like a question. Listen to your own language and that of <others> around you, and you are likely to notice this everywhere. Unsurprisingly, speaking a statement like a question diminishes its power. Make statements sound like statements; drop the tone lower at the end.
6. Don’t substitute a question for a statement. You might think you are “suggesting” increasing the marketing budget by asking, “What about increasing the marketing budget?” in a meeting, but your colleagues aren’t likely to hear an opinion (and certainly not a well thought-out opinion) in your question. When you have something to say, don’t couch it in a question.
Sometimes, of course, there are strategic reasons to use a question rather than a statement: to gently introduce an idea to a group that is likely to be resistant to it, for example. But <people> often turn to questions rather than statements because we are avoiding conflict, avoiding visibility, avoiding claiming power. We use questions because we have old stories about it being dangerous or inappropriate to state our ideas definitively, and we can’t see how sharing our perspective boldly and directly could actually hugely benefit our careers. Time to let the old stories go.
7. Punctuate and Pause. Imagine sitting across a table listening to a <someone> share this: “We are working hard on this, because we want to get the business up in running by 2012, specifically April 2012, which is the target date, and we are very optimistic that with the right financing we can get there, and so that is why I’ve been approaching different investors every day…”
You know this type of communication: clauses get piled on top of one another, the speaker interrupting their own thoughts with digressions.
When we don’t feel we have the right to take up space in a meeting or conversation, or when we are nervous, we tend to rush, and never leave a moment without words. Brief pauses between your sentences connote confidence and a sense of comfort in the role of speaker. They allow the listener to absorb what you are saying and give you a moment to gather a deep breath and collect your thoughts.
How does it feel, in contrast, to imagine listening to this: “We are working hard on this. We want to get the business up and running by April 2012. We are very optimistic that with the right financing we can get there. I am approaching different investors every day.”
All that has changed is punctuation, but speaker number two sounds calmer and more on top of <their> plan. Punctuate and pause.
8. Keep being yourself. <We> have unique ways of communicating — ways that tend to be more collaborative, consensus-building, and inviting. These new habits are not about adopting an authoritative communication style that doesn’t sit right with you in your heart; They are about giving up the self-diminishing patterns that stem from being afraid of power or from believing what our inner critics have to say, and as a result, sharing our ideas tentatively.
So, how do you begin changing your speech? Start by increasing your awareness of the unhelpful speech patterns you currently use and be mindful of your intention to speak differently.
I love speaking trainer Jeanne Marie Grumet’s recommendation to take these changes one at a time. Focus on one that stands out to you. For example, for a few weeks you might just work on noticing when you use a question when you really have a statement or opinion to share and work on changing that. Then you might shift to noticing your “justs” and eliminating them.
The world needs your ideas. It’s time to start sharing them fully, loudly, boldly, slowly — without diminishment or apology.
Tara Mohr is an expert on women’s leadership and wellbeing. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN.com, ForbesWoman, and numerous other publications. She is the creator of the free, downloadable 10 Rules for Brilliant Women Workbook.
<> Indicates gender neutral changes in Huffington Post article made by Ray Franklin.
I am grateful to Gina Tripanni’s web site Smarterware by Gina Tripani. Please watch Tara Mohr’s interview with Jillian Michaels.
Please pass this along and leave comments below.
Ray Franklin, Production Director and Speech Coach Stage America
