Posted on Jan 22, 2008 under Public Speaking |
Have you ever struggled to smother your yawns and keep your eyelids open, while listening to a speaker who talks non-stop like a runaway train?
The offending speaker mistakenly assumes that his audience would eagerly embrace the incessant stream of material. Au contraire. The amount of content shared does not matter at all if the audience fails to assimilate the message and the main points of your presentation.
The truth is, as a speaker, you can still make an impact on your audience when your mouth is closed. I am referring to the art and science of pausing. The delivery of high-powered content would benefit from the deliberate, well-timed use of pauses. In fact, many world-class speakers have fine-tuned their skill in applying this strategy.
Check out the following video of a speech given by Al Gore at the ENBW (part II). Watch the first 2.5 minutes. I recommend that you view the video at least twice and write down a couple of examples where he used pauses. When you are done, come back to this post.
Al Gore’s speech at ENBW
***
Welcome back! Let’s go through parts of his speech and note the pauses.
“I am Al Gore. I used to be the next President of the United States of America. [pause] I don’t think that’s particularly funny. [pause] I realized that it’s unlikely. [pause] I also understand that the unprecedented is improbable. [pause] I also believe that people of this world, [pause] including the people in my country, [pause] including the people of Germany … [pause] can make all the difference. [pause]
Who are we? [pause]
There’s an African proverb that says: [pause] If you want to go quickly, [pause] go alone. [pause] If you want to go far, [pause] go together. [pause] We have to go far [pause] quickly. [pause]
The only way to accomplish [pause] that unprecedented task [pause] is to quickly create [pause] a shared [pause] public resolve [pause] that what we do matters …”
Did you catch all that? Notice that Al Gore, an excellent speaker, uses pauses liberally in his speech.
Here are a couple of ways to use the pause:
1) Break up the sentences for the ear.
2) Highlight key words and phrases.
3) Keep the audience interested and guessing.
4) Set up the audience for a surprise.
Let’s go through the text once again. My comments on usage are in italics.
“I am Al Gore. I used to be the next President of the United States of America. [pause] I don’t think that’s particularly funny. [pause]
He first pauses to wait for the audience’s response and then provokes even more laughter with his next line.
I realized that it’s unlikely. [pause] I also understand that the unprecedented is improbable. [pause]
He’s getting the audience wondering: What is unlikely? Even though he knows that “the unprecedented” is probable, he’s setting us up for the rest of the speech by saying that the “unprecedented is improbable.”
I also believe that people of this world, [pause] including the people in my country, [pause] including the people of Germany … [pause] can make all the difference. [pause]
Here he’s trying to gain support for his cause – in this case - from both Americans and Germans by appealing to their sense of moral responsibility.
Who are we? [pause]
He’s provoking the audience, calling each of us to answer the question for ourselves silently.
There’s an African proverb that says: [pause] If you want to go quickly, [pause] go alone. [pause] If you want to go far, [pause] go together. [pause] We have to go far [pause] quickly. [pause]
This is a great example of a punchy delivery of a quotation that ends with a surprise. Well done!
The only way to accomplish [pause] that unprecedented task [pause] is to quickly create [pause] a shared [pause] public resolve [pause] that what we do matters …”
He pauses before and after “that unprecedented task” for emphasis before giving us a solution. Pauses are also used to stress “shared” and “what we do matters.”
In essence, pausing is a technique for signaling what’s really important in your speech. It’s like being a tour guide stopping at various key landmarks along the route so that your passengers can take a closer look.
Now read your own speech aloud and note where you can insert the appropriate pauses. Rehearse your speech with these pauses until they become organically integrated within your speech. When you are giving your speech, don’t worry about hitting all the pauses, but just concentrate on a couple of key ones.
If you are uncomfortable with remaining silent periodically on stage, I would recommend that you check out Speaking Circles in your area. One main difference between going to a Speaking Circle and attending a Toastmasters meeting is that you speak only if you feel the compulsion to; nothing is scripted. Each participant practices being comfortable with who he/she is at the moment, while speaking to either a partner or the group. He/she learns to connect with each listener and become comfortable with silence.
A couple of months ago, I was invited to attend a Speaking Circle session conducted by Dana Bristol-Smith here in San Diego. I found Dana to be a patient and supportive facilitator/coach. The class size is small so you would get lots of stage time. Feel free to contact her for more information and give her my regards.
Posted on Jan 17, 2008 under Public Speaking |
It was ten minutes before curtain time. I gobbled up my sandwich and hastened into the auditorium … and ran smack! into the star of the show: a celebrity author and former host of a radio show. I couldn’t believe it! After our awkward physical encounter, I found myself a seat in the second row, next to an older woman. She was even more excited to meet the speaker than I was. There were quite a few people like us who had come from all over San Diego to hear him speak that day.
At the front of the room, in the center, were two long tables filled with piles of the speaker’s books. Five minutes before start time, he positioned himself behind one of the tables and started collecting money from those lining up to view the book selections. “I even take credit cards,” he said.
Ten minutes into the hour, the book selling finally stopped, and the program began. While he was being introduced, we heard the speaker whispering into the ears of the event planner. It was a little bit distracting because he was on mic.
Although the speaker inserted more than a few ah’s and ahm’s in his speech, the presentation was quite entertaining.
Then we heard … a big THUD! The event planner came in pushing a cart stacked with four boxes, one of which fell to the ground. My guess is that the speaker had asked her to go out and get more books to restock the tables. She pushed the cart to the front of the room and proceeded to open the boxes.
The speaker looked in her direction, stopped in middle of his speech, walked over to the tables, and began to instruct her on how to stack the books correctly! In fact, this happened a few more times during the rest of the lecture. Every time the event planner would say to him: “Don’t worry. I will take care of it.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. At one point, my neighbor and I looked at one another and shrugged.
I was feeling really uncomfortable with the way that this speaker repeatedly broke his character during his lecture. My impression was that he worried so much about selling his books that he didn’t care about hiding that fact. Engaging the audience was not his main focus. Frankly I was embarrassed for him.
In the beginning of my own journey as a speaker, I was worried about learning to better express who I am. Now I am preoccupied with questions, such as: “What are some of the ways that I can share what I know so that my audience can reap the most rewards from hearing me talk?” “What do they want to know?” “How do I empower them?” Whether you are paid to speak, invited to speak for free, or perhaps you’ve managed to obtain a guest speaking spot at Toastmasters club, somebody has said “yes” to you; somebody has granted you permission to enter in his space. I learned that public speaking is a service-oriented profession.
Just thinking about this makes me fill with gratitude. You see, without an audience, I would not be a public speaker; I would just be another weird person who likes to talk to herself!
Think about what you can uniquely offer to your audience. Think about the purpose of your speech. Is it to educate, entertain, inspire, a combination, or _____? Instead of coming in with the attitude of “I am an expert. Listen to me!” you come in ready to connect with your audience on a human level, in your own personal style. “Hey, I have some information that I would like to share with you, because I really think that you will benefit from my experience.”
Whether you are a celebrity speaker who’s concerned about making a profit or a budding speaker who’s trying to make a name for himself, following this approach will help you become more audience-focused, and keep me-centered thinking at bay.
Posted on Jan 15, 2008 under Public Speaking |
One of the best advice I can give you is this:
Entertain, inform, and inspire your audience with stories.
How does one tell a good story?
In a story we have several key players, the narrator and the characters. Instead of just you narrating the whole thing (which would make it ho-hum exposition), let your characters tell the story. How? Through dialogue and your physical and verbal portrayal of these characters. Before you could do so, however, you will need to have a clear understanding of your characters.
Here are the steps to creating a vivid portrait of your chosen character:
1. Pick a major character from a story that you plan to tell for a speech.
2. Download the “Character Analysis Sheet” that I’ve attached to this blog post.
3. On a separate sheet of paper, write down answers to the questions/prompts posed. As you can see on the handout, I’ve organized related items into clusters: “Vital Statistics,” “Physical Traits,” “Possessions & Activities,” “Take a Peek Inside” (psychological elements), “Backstory,” “What Else Is Important to Know about Your Characters.”
There are many more questions you can ask. Be as detailed in your answers as possible. This is the type of analysis that I had to do (and chose to do) when I acted in plays and dramatic scenes. After completing this exercise, I would have sheets of materials to work with.
4. Look through your answers and pick a couple that will help you portray the character in the most interesting fashion that still advances the story.
In one of my past speeches, I was sharing with my audience about a significant encounter with three characters, all of whom I met within a ten-minute time frame. The three characters were: a tall, burley, clean-shaven young man; an opportunistic, eager little boy holding an ice cream cone; and a white-whiskered, limping old man. These descriptions were all pertinent to the story, of course.
I had specific body posture, movement, and voice dedicated to each character. I also put in my own reactions - physical and verbal - to each. Throw in a couple of dialogue, and I had my audience at the edge of their seats.
All due to the fact that I had done my character analysis homework.
I encourage you to do the same for your speeches. You will find that the more detective work you do to give life to flesh-and-blood characters, the better a storyteller you are, and the more impactful your speech will be for your audience.