Hall of Fame keynote speaker and executive speech coach Patricia Fripp spoke to the members of the NSA Northern California Chapter Speakers Academy on Saturday. Fripp is the founder of our Chapter and a leading authority in the world of professional speaking.

Her entertaining and informative morning session touched on many aspects of her own 30-plus year career as a top speaker. She shared valuable information for aspiring professional speakers who want to prepare and present powerful presentations, including:

• Ask: Are you practicing to improve or to reinforce bad habits? As a novice, start with best practices from the beginning.
• Take advantage of the opportunity the Academy and NSA chapter gives us to network with others who have a passion for speaking.
• Expect to bomb — if you’ve not failed somewhere on stage, you’re probably not challenging yourself enough.
• Asking questions is the best education. The quality of the information you receive depends on the quality of your questions.
• Be willing to promote yourself in an ongoing, consistent and relentless way. Refocus and redirect what you are doing.
• To build a long-term sustainable business you need to exceed expectations, or you won’t be invited back.
• Desire trumps talent. You must have a relentless commitment as well an interest in speaking on your topic.
• The most powerful way to learn any topic is to teach it to others.
• Find a topic for your speeches by looking within your experience and talent, such as the expertise you’ve accumulated in your day job. No matter how technical your field, build your speech by thinking how you would explain what you do to your grandmother.
• Despite the fact that there’s only so much truth in the world, you have a unique point of view. Deliver that in your speeches. Don’t invalidate your life experience.
• A great way to develop material for a speech is to become a customer of the client who books you for a speech. Be a secret shopper and report your learnings. Talk to lower-level employees.
• Structure your speech on a strong premise or central theme that is a basis of argument, leading to a conclusion. Be sure your talking points back-up and prove your big idea.
• Remember the first 30 seconds and last 30 seconds of any talk have the most impact. Don’t waste them with empty pleasantries.
• Engage the audience in your subject by asking “Would it interest (horrify, amaze) you to know…”
• Populate your presentations with flesh and blood characters other people can relate to. Stories do this.
• Your audience will remember what they “see” in your stories.

These were among the many lessons shared by Fripp in her session. For anyone who would like to dive deeper into what she has to offer, I highly recommend her Virtual Training program. This online resource gives you access to one of the most in-demand executive speech coaches and sales presentation experts available. Fripp’s Virtual Training is engaging and fun. It is designed for ambitious professionals, executives, sales teams, and professional speakers. Heck, she’ll even give you a 7 day free trial. What’s not to like?

To hear a brief extract from Saturday’s event, where Fripp shares the secret of her own career success, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:20 — 3.1MB)

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In this third and final edited highlight of the Silicon Valley Speechwriters Roundtable conference call from the PSA World Conference, I give a summary of Bob Lehrman’s break out featuring a conversation with David Kusnet who was Clinton’s speechwriter. Katie Gray shares admiration for General David Petraeus’s intellect.

Brian Jenner shares Eric Schnure’s tips on writing for roasts and why it’s important to “singe not burn” and ways jokes can be reused. Schnure recommended writers do a “joke dump” and write 10 jokes for every one used. A good way to structure a joke is by associating a person or place in the news with a different issue. CEOs can get away with humor if they introduce it by saying “As Jon Stewart said…”.

To hear the audio, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:28 — 5.1MB)

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In this second edited highlight from the call, social media director Jerry Weinstein reviews postings to the tweet-stream under the #PSAworld hashtag. He discusses the unusual nature of the opening keynote that took people out of their intellect into a bodily appreciation of what is involved in the act of speaking. He comments on the “Know your Worth” breakout session with Fletcher Dean, Julie Conway and Harry Kruglik and the relevance of salary surveys in journalism which might be valuable for speechwriters to initiate. Likewise, in a parallel breakout, Gotham Ghostwriters founder Dan Gerstein addressed the value of freelancers sharing rate information.

Duarte Design content developer Katie Gray was attending her first ever speechwriters conference and was impressed by the variety and cross-section of presentations. She liked the mixed media content of Mette Højen’s presentation on the ways speechwriters can command audiences exactly like an orchestra conductor.

David Murray explains why he chose an experiential opening keynote from Edmée Tuyl. He explains that it’s easy to find tips on the basics of speechwriting which he assumed most attendees at this event knew. He wanted to encourage people to share experiences, with someone who talked about speechwriting on a holistic basis. He discusses the closing keynote by General David Petraeus was himself a speechwriter for General John Galvin, Supreme Commander of European Forces. Petraeus demanded the right to be present every time the General spoke and to be in the car on the way to the event to get the boss fired up before stepping onto the podium.

To hear the audio, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:26 — 8.0MB)

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The Silicon Valley Speechwriters Roundtable conference call took place May 21 at the end of the first day of the Professional Speechwriters Association (PSA) World Conference held May 22-23 at New York University.

There were 9 callers online from around the country. The Roundtable is open to anyone who is interested in speechwriting in Silicon Valley, not just those of us who live and work there. The call lasted 45 minutes, and I’ve divided the audio recording into three segments.

In this first of three edited highlights David Murray, the organizer of the Conference, discusses the mood of the event. In contrast to the 200-person Ragan Speechwriters Conference in Washington DC which attracts generalists, this event was targeted specifically at practicing professional speechwriters—over 50 attendees came from Europe, USA and Canada. David gives a preview of the review sessions that will occur on the final day of the event. He concludes by describing advantages of becoming a member of the newly formed Professional Speechwriters Association.

Brian Jenner of the UK Speechwriters Guild attended the 2008 Ragan Conference and saw first-hand the differences between British and American approaches to speechwriting and was inspired to found the UK Speechwriters Guild. The interest of other Europeans led to the European Speechwriters Network holding their first conference in 2013. He claims that this event has made him realize the differences in style between speechwriters and the “hippie tendencies” of some people who make their living as speechwriters!

To hear the audio, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:47 — 3.4MB)

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In this fourth and final edited highlight from the Silicon Valley Speechwriters Roundtable call, we hear from the callers who had comments and questions. Helping me respond to callers questions is MasterCard VP Douglass Hatcher.
By listening to the Q&A you’ll hear comments and opinions about many aspects of the first day of the Ragan Speechwriters conference.

Questions came in from:

• Freelance speechwriter Pete Weissman asked what was the most unexpected thing about the conference.
• Communications Director Sharon Rubinstein asked how complex topics can fit into a speech that only covers three points.
• Executive Speech Coach, Trainer, Proposal Consultant Chris Witt asked about the distinction between different uses of stories in speeches.
• Freelancer Colin Moorhouse commented on the value of the Ragan Conference and the power of storytelling in speeches.
• Wendy Hanson shared her interest in podcasting.
• Paula Tesch from Duarte asked about the challenge of getting speakers to include storytelling in their speeches.
• Doug Neff from Duarte asked about the two kinds of speakers who use stories and the importance of using stories to move audiences to action.

To hear what they said, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:41 — 5.2MB)

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In this third edited highlight from the Silicon Valley Speechwriters Roundtable call, freelance speechwriter Michael Long shares his impressions of the conference. Mike taught a pre-conference workshop on Storytelling for speechwriters and has strong opinions about the keys to constructing a speech around a story. He also presented on Time management for speechwriters and relays a few of the many tips and tricks on ways speechwriters can work more efficiently. He also references his excellent newsletter which is available as a free subscription from his SoMikeSaid website.

By listening to Mike you’ll hear a Ragan Conference institution in full flight.

To hear what he said, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:25 — 1.9MB)

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In this second edited highlight from the call, freelance speechwriter Rosemary King and Douglass Hatcher, VP of Thought Leadership at MasterCard, share their impressions of the conference and specifically the panel they were both on: Chart your career path: Job advice from successful professionals. The other panelists were freelancer Eric Schnure who has worked for Vice President Al Gore and as Director of Executive Communications at GE and Caryn Alagno, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs Group Head at Edelman.

By listening to Rosemary and Douglass you’ll hear tips and tricks about ways to chart a successful career as a speechwriter.

To hear what they said, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:24 — 2.4MB)

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The Silicon Valley Speechwriters Roundtable conference call took place Feb 20 at the end of the first day of the 2014 Ragan Speechwriters Conference.

There were 16 callers online from around the country. The Roundtable is open to anyone who is interested in speechwriting in Silicon Valley, not just those of us who live and work there. The call lasted an hour, and I’ve divided the audio recording into four segments.

In this first edited highlight from the call, conference MC and Vital Speeches of the Day editor David Murray, and Fletcher Dean of Dow Chemicals share their impressions of the opening keynote by Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau.

By listening to David and Fletcher you’ll hear first-hand impressions of one of the most compelling keynotes about the craft of speechwriting that it’s been my privilege to hear.

To hear what they said, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:25 — 9.9MB)

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Back on June 27 I spent a delightful and instructive day helping judge emerging speakers at Sahar Kordahi’s Bright Side of Life Voices of Leadership day.

Over 30 speakers competed in a showcase where they gave three-minute speeches that were evaluated in terms of presentation skills, message content, personal appearance and stage presence. The five winning presenters were Dawn Christensen, Carolyn CJ Jones, Jim Niswonger, Sandra Patino, and Ryann Pryor-Foster. They will give a 15-minute presentation at the follow-up event being held in Pleasanton, California on August 16.

The speakers were trained by Pam Whitman and Sahar Kordahi. In addition to individual coaching the winning speakers will receive

• “Look the Talk” image consulting with fashion expert Olga Kamova
• A speech writing coaching session with me
• “Stand in your Leadership Role” coaching session with Sahar Kordahi
• “Lead and Speak with Balance” with speech performance and movement specialist Pam Whitman
• Support from the collaborative “Voices of Leadership” team
• Referrals to other speaking opportunities

This was a well-produced, motivational and educational event perfect for emerging speakers to develop skills that will take them from “free to fee” in the exciting world of professional speaking.

I highly recommend registering for the August 16th Be the Voice of Leadership event and join in the program that Sahar and Pam have produced.

Interview

I caught up with Sahar & Pam after the event and asked them to share the background to the Voices of Leadership. To hear what they told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:34 — 1.3MB)

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Anyone interested in the world of professional speaking should check out two relevant resources from the National Speakers Association (NSA).

Note: This is the NSA that speaks, not the NSA that listens!

SPEAKER Magazine

Published 10 times a year this house magazine of the NSA is sent to all members. However, anyone can read the content in an online archive of SPEAKER Magazine at no charge. You can browse every edition back to January 2007.

Check out the January 2013 edition with the NSA Northern California Chapter founder Patricia Fripp on the cover. Fripp writes about the “game changers” in a speaker’s career, including those in her own life which took her from her home in England (where she grew up with younger brother, renowned guitarist Robert Fripp) to San Francisco to the world stage.

Voices of Experience

NSA members receive a Voices of Experience audio CD with each magazine. These interview-style hour-long CD’s are where the world of professional speaking comes alive. Voices of Experience is an audio magazine in which top achievers share their experiences to bring members vital, up-to-date information on every facet of the speaking profession. Discussion topics include secrets about platform skills, growing a businesses, and life on the road.

Until recently, you had to be a dues paying member to hear this content. However, archives of VOE are now available on the Voices of Experience Podcast Network site as downloadable or streaming audio. Archives go back to January 2009.

I’d recommend downloading the MP3’s and loading them onto your iPod for a priceless audio education in all aspects of professional speaking, coaching, consulting, training and entrepreneurship.