A highlight of last week’s PSA World Speechwriters Conference was hearing Edmée Tuyl describe differences in energy speakers bring to the podium. She outlined the concept of three circles of energy that comes from master speech and acting coach Patsy Rodenburg who speaks about the importance of cultivating what she calls “Second Circle energy” as a way for speakers to use their energy to be present (in “the present”) with an audience for maximum impact. Briefly:

• First Circle energy is inward-looking, drawing energy toward the self, typical of introverted and nervous speakers.
• Third Circle energy is forced out, toward the world in general, typical of bombastic and opinionated speakers.
• Second Circle energy is focused on the audience, in relationship, taking in and giving out. This connection with the audience is characterized in theater as having “stage presence”. Presence that allows your message to survive.

Her book The Second Circle: How to Use Positive Energy for Success in Every Situation expands on the ideas she presents in this short video:

Over 100 attendees at Saturday’s meeting of Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association heard the benefits of taking a Hollywood approach to writing and delivering presentations in order to elicit emotion in an audience.

Hall of Fame keynote speaker and executive speech coach Patricia Fripp joined forces with Hollywood story expert (and Will Smith’s script consultant) Michael Hauge.

Fripp is the founder of our Chapter and a leading authority in the world of professional speaking.

Hauge is a story and script consultant, author and lecturer who works with writers and filmmakers on their screenplays, novels, movies and television projects. He has coached writers, producers, stars and directors on projects for Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Kirsten Dunst, Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman, as well as for every major studio and network.

Michael also works extensively with Hollywood executives, producers, agents and managers, helping them sharpen their story and development skills, and improving their companies’ abilities to recognize powerful material, employ advanced principles of structure, character arc and theme, skillfully communicate a story’s strengths and weaknesses, and work effectively with writers to achieve a commercially successful screenplay. His skills and experience were immediately applicable to the professional speakers and speechwriters in the room on Saturday.

Fripp introduced the program by saying it is difficult to be creative in isolation, hence the collaboration between her and Michael that enables their creativity to flourish. She stated that to ensure your audience remembers your presentation you must present information in a way that it connects with them by following a basic story outline formula: When? Where? Who? What Happened?

Michale Hauge elaborated on this by outlining:

The 10 Essential Elements of Every Great Story

1. A Hero. The story must have a hero or heroine. This main character drives the story and has the potential to be heroic. The hero’s desire propels the action.
2. The Setup. A slice of everyday life before anything heroic happens. It shows how the hero is stuck before they begin the “forward movement” of the story. This is where the writer builds sympathy for the hero in the minds of the audience, which leads to:
3. Empathy. A psychological connection between your audience and the protagonist before you reveal the hero’s flaws. The audience lives through the characters and empathize with them by seeing the highs and lows they deal with in their lives. Hauge shared three ways to create empathy:
   1. Create sympathy. Make them the victim of an undeserved event.
   2. Put the hero in jeopardy. In Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones escapes a host of threats at the start of the movie that have nothing to do with the rest of the plot, but develop empathy for Jones.
   3. Make the character likeable, kind, good-hearted, generous.
4. Opportunity. When something happens that has never happened before and gets the story moving.
5. New Situation. To allow the hero to pursue a visible goal they want to accomplish.
6. Outer motivation. Or the visible goal that the hero wants to accomplish by the end of the story. This goal must be within the hero’s power to accomplish. As a story coach, Hauge asks “What’s this story about?” In the movie, Gravity, the heroine’s goal was, “I want to get home.” This outer motivation should be easily expressed in a single sentence. The clearer you can be about the visible goal of the hero, the better.
7. Growing Conflict. A great story provides obstacles for the hero to overcome. To elicit emotion, you must amplify conflict. Whatever goal the hero wants to accomplish, you must convince the reader it’s impossible and then find a way to achieve it.
8. Climax. At this point of the story the hero confronts the biggest obstacle that must resolve their visible goal. But it’s not the end of the story.
9. Transformation. The hero must transform to achieve their outer motivation. In a character arc, this transformation is the point when they go from living in fear to living courageously. This element reveals the story’s theme and reveals universal meaning, which increases emotion and story depth. The visible goal can only be achieved if the character can overcome the state of being stuck.
10. Aftermath. The final element shows the hero living a new life after completing the journey.

Hauge gave each of us a bookmark with these elements listed.

Soundbites

All great presenters speak in easily Tweetable soundbites. Here’s some I noted:

Michael Hauge:

• Real life is not properly structured
• Stories must be true, but they don’t have to be factual.
• Audiences don’t want to hear that you became courageous; they want to hear how it happened.
• Whatever you want your audience to learn and do, you must have the hero of your story learn and do.
• Stories give your audience a direct experience of whatever it is you want your speech to convey.

Frippicisms:

• Freeze your gestures while the audience laughs or applauds.
• Deliver stories that happened in the past in the past tense.
• The audience does not see how you feel, only what you project.
• You are speaking for the audience of your audience.

Resources

Hauge illustrated his concepts with movie references. He started the morning by sharing a clip from the movie “Hitch”. If you’ve never seen this romantic comedy, take a look:

Hauge’s books on the craft of screenwriting and storytelling are best sellers in the genre. I went home with two of his books and an audio CD:

• Writing Screenplays That Sell: The Complete Guide to Turning Story Concepts into Movie and Television Deals
• Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read
• The Hero’s 2 Journeys

Fripp has launched a Virtual Training website where you can immerse yourself in her speech and sales presentation coaching 24/7.

A recent discussion in the National Speaker’s Association Facebook Group addresses the problem of the lack of originality in many speeches. The discussion was prompted by a LinkedIn article by Richard A. Moran which highlights the repetitive use of the same case studies by speakers at business events. The author requests:

Let’s broaden the conversation and stop talking about the same companies – usually Apple, Zappos and Southwest Airlines.

Instead of the same old stuff he wants:

…to be motivated, not sorry I don’t work somewhere else. I want to know how I can improve, not how a brilliant leader did it a few years ago somewhere else. And, I want genuine advice that might include some practical tips about how to be better and what pitfalls to avoid.

Professional speakers and speechwriters are in total agreement. Their comments show they understand the importance of delivering content that is unique, different, and ensures their message will be heard above the noise. (Since the NSA Group is a closed one, the names of the contributors have been removed.)

1. The problem is a global one – same old stories, same old case studies, same old messages. We need to use our own stories, our own research, and if we must talk about companies, use current news stories.
2. It’s best to tell stories from our own experience. It’s what I do in my own talks and it’s what I encourage executives to do when I’m helping them with their speeches. Not only are those stories going to be original, the speaker is going to be more connected to them.
3. Speakers must bring us a very different idea or way of doing something we’ve not heard before. I can honestly say few exist per my life’s experience. The same ingredients in a food processor still yield pretty much the same outcome–no matter what order you add them. Real Thought Leaders make us think long after the book, podcast or event. I believe great speeches have a beginning, a middle and a definitive end. I also know there are three presentations happening simultaneously: the one you planned, the one you executed and (most importantly) the one they take away. Our own stories and the lessons we share keep our content fresh and unique, as long as we continue to study how to connect the dots in a way the audience most relates to.
4. As a speech writer for others, I want to take their experiences and create a speech based on them, not on what can be found in college business textbooks. Not all case studies are as they seem.
5. We live in an age where everything changes quickly — we have so many examples to share.

Adam Grant is Wharton’s youngest full professor and single highest-rated teacher. He has been recognized as one of BusinessWeek’s favorite professors, one of the world’s 40 best business professors under 40, and one of Malcolm Gladwell’s favorite social science writers. Previously, he was a record-setting advertising director at Let’s Go Publications, an All-American springboard diver, and a professional magician. Adam is the author of Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success. This post was first published on his LinkedIn Influencer page and appears here with his express permission.

How Not to Introduce a Speaker

by Adam Grant

When I attend a presentation, the first thing that captures my attention isn’t the speaker or the material. It’s the person who introduces the speaker.

After giving a few hundred speeches in the past year, I’ve been struck by the variety of ways that different people introduce the same speaker. Some introductions energize me and seem to leave the audience excited to hear from me. Other introductions inadvertently make it more difficult to deliver a successful speech.

In my experience, the best introductions avoid three mistakes:

1. Don’t read the speaker’s biography. Much of the time, introducers walk up to the stage with a written biography, and proceed to read it verbatim. This is a mistake for several reasons. First, it’s boring. Bios are usually written to inform, not fascinate. Second, a typical bio is far too long to hold the audience’s attention. The goal is to pique the audience’s curiosity, not cover the speaker’s entire life history.

Third, even if introducers are armed with a short, punchy bio, they usually trip up when trying to read the words. This often happens to me when I’ve tried to read introductory remarks, leaving me mystified: why can I give a 45-minute speech from memory without missing a beat, but stumble through reading a few words that are right in front of me? (One explanation comes from classic research by psychologist Robert Zajonc: the presence of an audience enhances performance for well-learned tasks, but hinders performance when we’re novices. We’re used to reading silently, not out loud in front of large groups, and the arousal interferes with fluent processing.)

Instead of reading a bio, I like it when introducers highlight a grand total of three or four interesting tidbits about the speaker. Here’s one of the best intros I’ve ever received: “Adam Grant is a Wharton professor who has advised leaders ranging from Google to Goldman Sachs to the U.S. Air Force. He’s the author of Give and Take, and he used to perform as a magician.”

2. Don’t give away the speaker’s content. On numerous occasions, during the introduction, I’ve watched presenters turn white as a sheet. The introducer steals the thunder of the speech by giving away a punch line, a surprise, or a memorable quote. This has happened to me several times recently. One of my most requested speeches introduces three styles of interaction: givers (helpful), takers (selfish), and matchers (fair). I poll the audience: which group is least successful, and which is most successful?

Then, I reveal an unexpected conclusion from a decade of research across multiple industries. Givers are more likely to finish last… but they’re also more likely to finish first. It was a bummer when the CEO of a Fortune 500 company introduced me by announcing that I would be speaking about how good guys finish first.

Goodbye, element of surprise! Goodnight, audience interaction. Hello, pivot!

My rule here is clear: introducers should avoid the content altogether. It’s fine to explain the relevance of the talk to the audience. Just tell us the purpose of the presentation, or the topic of the speech, without divulging the message or the conclusion. You can also create a curiosity gap, as described by Chip and Dan Heath inMade to Stick. Pose a question that the speaker might answer, and the audience will be intrigued to find out more. For my speech, it works well when introducers simply say, “Today’s speaker will challenge our assumptions about what drives success” or “Adam will ask, ‘Is giving the secret to getting ahead?’”

3. Don’t make the speaker sound superhuman. I’m thrilled to share this idea with you, because the next paragraph is going to be the most profound argument you’ll read this week.

Many introducers wax poetic in superlatives about the speaker. This is a good idea in principle: extensive evidence shows that whether the speaker is a teacher or a leader, high expectations can fuel self-fulfilling prophecies. When the introducer emphasizes what’s impressive about the speaker, audience members are more likely to be smiling at the edge of their seats. This can enhance the speaker’s confidence and reduce self-doubt, and then a virtuous cycle ensues. The audience is more likely to engage with her insights and laugh at her jokes, further enhancing the speaker’s confidence and ability to command attention. If something goes wrong, the audience will be more forgiving.

Yet an over-the-top setup can lead to what social scientists call a self-negating or self-disconfirming prophecy. In a nutshell, if the audience’s expectations are too high, there’s a greater risk of a gap between anticipation and reality. If the introduction is too glowing—like my tongue-in-cheek opening sentence above—the speaker will have a hard time living up to it. To paraphrase one of my mentors, Jane Dutton:

It’s better if the introducer under-promises, and the speaker over-delivers, than vice-versa.

The Saturday meeting of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association featured two interactive sessions that helped professional speakers stand out from the crowd.

Sarah Michel: How to be The Session Everyone is Talking About!

Sarah Michel, CSP is a meetings architect with over 15 years of experience designing one-of-a-kind meetings that matter. Sarah showed us you how to collaborate directly with audiences to generate deep meaning. She built on many of excellent suggestions in the report she helped author: Conference Connexity: Delivering on your Networking Promise.

From taking charge of the seating to allow conference attendees to interact freely, to chunking down content into shorter segments so that attendees have plenty of time for small group discussions, Sarah walked the audience through a number of ways to deliver on the promise of networking time (the main reason many people attend live events).

She used a model of how the brain learns and retains information. We start by receiving information (from the presenter) and then integrate it by reflecting and making connections. More powerful integration occurs when we make sense of the content and finally we gain maximum benefit if we test ideas by speaking or writing about it.

She had us discuss how we can encourage attendees to develop their own ideas about the content. I worked with my table mate Rick Gilbert who shared that middle managers at his executive presentation courses brainstorm and role play solutions to engage C-Level audiences.

Sarah shared a useful report that her consulting company has written for conference organizers on ways to improve the experience of attendees’ networking experience.

Sarah is a believer in really scaling back the amount of content in presentations to allow for a third- to two-thirds of the total time to allow for interaction between audience members to connect and discuss content instead of just listening and note taking.

Jim Carrillo: Innovative Video Skills

Past Chapter President Jim Carrillo led a hands-on workshop which demonstrated some basic, powerful and effective video skills. As speakers, we are all able to articulate our message. Video is the easiest way to amplify this message to the world: on social media, our own blog or website, as training aids for our presentations.

Jim forcefully made the point that we have reached the point in time when video captured on the smart phone is available to anyone. Gone are the days when formats had to be translated, cables hooked up from camera to projector or any of the other large or small barriers to getting video done. Now it is a simple matter of point, shoot and post.

He encouraged us to take simple, low-cost, steps to produce effective video. This includes:

• Always hold the phone in landscape mode so that the video fills the screen on YouTube.
• Lighting matters, but a simple lamp with paper clipped over it as a diffuser works.
• Sound can be captured close up with a built-in mic. For distance, invest in something better.
• A simple web-around backdrop or cloth held by willing assistants cuts the clutter in any room.

Jim demonstrated all this with a few volunteers and created a compelling video on the spot in minutes.

Jim has made resources available on his website. Check it out and you’ll see the results from his training session as well as find a host of useful tips and tricks. I recommend it!

Thanks to Sarah and Jim for one of the most useful Saturday mornings I’ve spent in a good while.

Rob Biesenbach is an independent corporate communications pro, actor, author and speaker. He is a former VP at Ogilvy PR Worldwide and press secretary to the Ohio Attorney General. His first book, Act Like You Mean Business: Essential Communication Lessons From Stage and Screen was published in 2011.

Today marks the publication of his new book, 11 Deadly Presentation Sins.

This handy guide is a great resource for, as the subtitle says “anyone who has to get up and talk in front of an audience.” There’s just 100 short pages (I’m guessing no more than 20,000 words) of distilled wisdom based on the author’s direct experience as an actor who has appeared in 150 stage, commercial and film productions and has written hundreds of executive speeches. Biesenbach walks the walk.

He acknowledges that the speechifying bar is set low:

…it won’t take much to dazzle people who are accustomed to the usual Bataan Death March that is the average business presentation today. By adopting just a few of the tips that I give you here, you’ll quickly stand out from the crowd of bad presenters.

The sins of the bad speaker are listed chronologically, from a failure to understand audience needs in the planning stages, to delivering a flat opening, a lack of focus, low-energy delivery, inadequate rehearsal time, through to a weak finish.

How to avoid deadly presentation sins

Each chapter provides the “sinner” with redeeming advice to save their soul the next time they worship the Church of PowerPoint, or kneel at the altar … I mean lectern. There’s great stuff on ways to avoid missing the mark by taking onboard his tips on speech structure, the use of quotes, how to be humorous, tell a story, and much more.

In addition to solid advice on content and structure, Biesenbach’s experience as an actor informs much of the book. He rightly claims there are strong parallels between performance and business presentations: make an emotional connection with the audience, express yourself creatively, share the stage, and be aware of what you do with your body.

He quotes many of the “good and great” in the world of professional speaking: Carmine Gallo, Patricia Fripp, and Nancy Duarte.

It’s from Duarte that he shares one of the most challenging of the suggestions: how to avoid The Sin of Inadequate Rehearsal. Time and again, busy executives will short-change themselves on rehearsal time. Understandable, but sad. Investing in preparation shows–not in a scripted, memorized, delivery, but in the spontaneity and comfort that comes from real planning and adequate rehearsal time.

Rehearsal time

How much time is adequate? Nancy Duarte states that she spent 30 hours rehearsing her 18 minute TED talk! It’s been seen by hundreds of thousands, and will delight new viewers long into the future. Carmine Gallo details the hours Steve Jobs put into each of his product intros. So, how much time do you spend doing email in a week? Sitting in meetings? Consider setting aside time to rehearse your next talk to the point you internalize it and the pay-off will be a better performance.

Seven Deadly Sins?

I do have a couple of quibbles with the book.

First, it’s mystifying why the chosen title is “11 Deadly Sins” since there are an additional eight bonus ones in the last chapter. So we actually get 19. However, it’s well known there are Seven deadly sins. Indeed, the numbers we all remember with ease are 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 (for reasons that have to do with Freud, zip codes, phone numbers and, finally, phone numbers + area codes). Never 11 or 19. But, I digress.

He advises keeping notes on index cards, not floppy pieces of paper. I agree, and in my experience these should always be blue 5×7 index cards with text in 20-point font – proven to avoid glare in the lights, look good on video and easy to carry with you while onstage.

He concludes by saying that comparing yourself to a world-class TED talk is not fair. “Nobody who watches Tiger Woods on TV expects to get off the couch and join the PGA Tour.”

Perhaps so. It could be argued, however, that today’s audiences are schooled by TED talks to expect that level of performance. They now know what a good business presentation looks like. They have higher expectations than in the pre-YouTube era. Commit any of the sins the book lists and you’ll risk your audience turning to their smart phones for amusement, while you bomb.

In sum, however, this is an excellent book that is a quick read for anyone with an hour or so to spare. It will motivate you to take the necessary steps to avoid committing the deadly presentation sins that are on display every day in conference rooms worldwide. Recommended.

NSA/NC Meeting Report: Saturday January 12, 2014

Last Saturday the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association hosted NSA National President Ron Karr, CSP, and the best and brightest of NSA/NC, including Chapter founder Patricia Fripp, and a brains-trust of experienced, successful speakers.

Ron Karr: Sales Leader

Ron talked about “How to Turn a Speech into a Six-Figure Relationship”. He shared how speakers can create a powerful value proposition and how the approach he uses routinely turns speaking engagements into mid to high six figure deals. Ron is the author of Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way: The 7 Traits of Great Sellers.

His approach starts with understanding the mindset we have and the client’s frame of reference. Many NSA members think of themselves as a “speaker”, which positions them too narrowly. They can generate additional revenue as a consultant, coach and trusted adviser to clients. Many of us have mindsets that set boundaries. We position ourselves too small, commoditizing ourselves.

Man of Influence

Rather than “sales” Ron prefers to think in terms of “influence”.

In order to exert maximum influence, it’s not the words (elevator pitch or one-sheet script) that we use, it’s the context within which we use them. Our attempts to influence others often land on deaf ears. The way we use words is based on our unique biases and experiences and we need to continually clarify the point of view of the client to make sure we are on the same page.

This means creating a context to find out what is important to the person on the other side of the table. According to Ron, effective sales professionals spend 60% of their time making a good first impression and qualifying a prospect before they start demonstrating features and closing. It’s safe to assume most clients have already done a quick search online to compare product features and benefits, and are bored if we jump into this aspect when selling our programs.

The high-point of the presentation, for me, was when Ron worked with volunteers from the audience who shared their pitch to potential clients.

2014 Speakers Academy member Sandra Patino was impressed by the lessons of this “hot seat” exercise:

What I loved about Ron’s presentation was that, while he delivered great content, the way he ended it with those exercises was the real benefit. The thing I noticed about the woman volunteer he brought up on stage is that she started selling right away. She went into the details of her program. Yet this is a woman who has a great cause: teaching parents to connect with the children on a deeper level so they can open up. Ron encouraged her to converse about the beautiful purpose that drives her business, rather than doing what everybody else is doing—simply going into what it’s about and when and where and why. He showed all of us how to connect—why it’s about connecting at the heart. He showed that we have to genuinely care about the other person. Don’t just see that person as a dollar sign. We’re not dollar signs. And he proved it.

Ron listed questions that speakers (or consultants) can use to increase their value to an organization:

1. What are the goals of your organization?
2. What are the three biggest challenges facing your organization?
3. What’s at risk if these challenges are not properly addressed?
4. If my program is considered a success by you, what would that success look like? (This is a question Alan Weiss asks.)
5. What do you want to see from your people as a result of my program?
6. What do you want to see as a result of my program?
7. What is your biggest fear once the meeting is over?
8. What worked for you in the past and what hasn’t?

Each of these questions can take your relationship with the client to a whole new level. The answer to #7, for example, allows you to offer consulting services to expose the audience to the solutions you spoke about, so they can keep the conversation going after the event is over.

Susan RoAne: The Mingling Maven

Despite a bad case of laryngitis, Susan spent 20 minutes suggesting ways we can all benefit from the break and lunch-time to network with each other. She touched on suggestions that are listed in her perennial best-seller How to Work a Room: The Ultimate Guide to Making Lasting Connections–In Person and Online.
These included:

• RSVP to invitations: Say “Yes” and GO!
• Arrive 15 minutes early
• Plan a 7-9 second self-introduction
• The best icebreaker: Hi! or Hello! and a smile.
• Approach anyone standing alone.
• Act like a host: greet and welcome others.
• Introduce people with enthusiasm.
• Start with small talk.
• Be in the moment. No glancing over shoulders.
• Listen actively with your face – pay attention.
• Follow up. Do what you said you’d do when you said you’d do it!

Presidents Panel: Secrets of Successful Speakers

Following lunch, a panel discussion with (RK) Ron Karr, CSP; (PF) Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE; (MSL) Michael Soon Lee, CSP, and (CH) Craig Harrison examined the ways each has built a successful speaking business and how their experiences translate into success.

Among the many tips they shared:

What was the one thing you wished you’d adopted earlier in your career?

• Start collecting your list of contact names as early as possible. (PF)
• Stop chasing speaking gigs and start building a speaking business. (MSL)
• Avoid trying to do too many things yourself, outsource website design etc. (CH)
• Consider your hourly rate. Would you cut a check for this amount to someone to collect your mail, stuff envelopes, etc? Of course not! Hire someone else to do the routine chores since your time is worth far more. (RK)

What is the best use of your time?

• Read as much as you can to ignite creativity. (RK)
• Join the NSA and volunteer in your chapter to accelerate your career. (CH)
• Research your client’s needs. Arrive early at the events you are speaking at and ask what their biggest challenge is. (MSL)
• Look for people to model yourself on and learn best practices. Try being a mystery shopper in your clients industry. Include what you have learned in your presentation. (PF)
• Call up two weeks after an event and ask for a meeting to “review my findings and recommendations, to give you an idea on how you can move forward to overcome the challenges I heard at the event.” Every gig becomes to stepping stone to the next event. Don’t look at a speaking engagement as a one off.” (RK)

The day ended with two presentations on practical ways to make money and stay productive.

Michael Soon Lee: Creating product out of your IP right now

Michael gave a rapid-fire 30 minute verison of the presentation he has delivered to each Academy (Pro-Track) class. In the past, he’s called this How Professional Speakers Make Big Bucks While They Are Sleeping.

Lisa Montanaro: the productive entrepreneur

Wrapping things up, Lisa took us through elements of her system to become more productive. She addressed the challenges of time, paper, email and information management. Her “DECIDE to be Productive” system suggests we

• Discover what you have and want in your business/work and life.
• Eliminate what is unnecessary and does not further your goals.
• Categorize what remains.
• Implement a system designed to match your needs, habits, work and lifestyle.
• Dedicate yourself to maintaining your effective new system and integrating it into your work and life.
• Enjoy the freedom and positive benefits that being productive brings.

If you are interested in staying current with meetings organized by the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association, be sure to join our new Meetup Group. Next up: “Corporate Dominatrix Training: How to Use Sex and Power to Your Advantage”– really!

Jeff Hurt is the Executive Vice President, Education and Engagement, at Velvet Chainsaw Consulting. In 2012, he was recognized as the PCMA 2011 Educator of the Year. Jeff has worked in leadership roles with five associations, five government organizations and several companies in the education, events and meetings departments, including Meetings Professionals International and Promotional Products Association International, one of the top 50 shows in the industry.

This article was first published in his Midcourse Corrections blog and appears here with his express permission.

Just Because You Speak Does Not Mean Your Audience Learns: Eight Presenter Principles To Master

By Jeff Hurt

Most speakers are really good at talking!

But talking to your audience does not mean that your audience is learning.

Our Brains Have Limits

As speakers, we have assumed that talking to an audience results in their learning. We think that their minds are like sponges absorbing what we are saying.

But just hearing information does not equal learning it. You know that from talking to your kids and spouse. Just because you spoke it doesn’t mean they heard it or did it. Plus, if just listening leads to learning, we would play recordings while we slept and say we learned it.

Our brains have a limit to the amount of information it can hold in short term memory. We can hold about three to seven pieces of information for 30 seconds. We have to repeat it or give attention to it to move it to working memory. (Dr. Terry Doyle, 2011; Dr. John Medina, 2008; Dr. James E. Zull, 2002)

So the more a speaker talks, the less the listener actually retains. If you want your audience to learn your info, you have to speak less and get the audience to think and talk more about your content.

Your Speech Or Their Learning?

So, as a presenter, which is more important: your speech or your audience’s learning?

If you said your speech, then you don’t need an audience! You can talk to yourself in an empty room.

If you said the audience’s learning, then you really care about their ROI. You know you need to design your presentation so that the audience has time to think about what you’re saying, digest it, reflect on it and consider applying it. That can’t happen while they are listening to you.

It’s time for all speakers to shift the focus from their talk to the audience’s learning!

Eight Adult Learning Principles

Here are eight adult learning principles grounded in neuroscience and andragogy, the study of how adults learn, that can help guide your presentation.

1. Principle of Active Learning

Active participation through discussion, feedback and activities creates more learning than passive listening or reading. As a presenter, focus on critical content needed to succeed and allow the participants to discuss that content with each other.

2. Principle of Problem-Centric

Adults come to your presentation expecting to get their problems solved. They are not there just to get more information. If your presentation does not help them solve their pressing issues, it will be forgotten. Adults are problem-centric, not content-centric.

3. Principle of Previous Experience

New information has to be linked to previous knowledge and experience or it will not be remembered. Allow participants time to discuss with each other how the new information connects with what they already know.

4. Principle of Relevance

If the information being presented is not relevant to the listener’s life and work, it will not get their attention. As a speaker, your content must have meaning and immediate relevance. Explain why your presentation is important and how it relates to their work.

5. Principle of Emotional Connection

Presentations that connect with a learner’s emotions are more likely to be remembered, recalled and learned. Fear is not a good motivating factor for learning as it causes the brain to react in a fight or flight syndrome. Share stories that emotionally connect.

6. Principle of Self Learning

Adult learners have some strong beliefs about how they learn. These beliefs, whether accurate or not, can interfere or enhance their learning. As a speaker, always explain why the audience should participate in specific activity and how the process and content benefits their learning.

7. Principle of Alignment

Adults expect that a presenter’s content, learning outcomes and activities are aligned together. If the learning outcomes do not match the content, the learner feels disconnected and learning is hampered.

8. Principle of Fun

Learning should be fun! As a presenter, if you are not having fun presenting your information and facilitating learning, then you should stop. By all means, make learning fun, enjoyable and filled with laughter!

Which of these principles resonate with your personal experiences? What additional principles would you add to the list?

Neuroscientists and Education Researcher Sources: Dr. Ruth Colvin Clark, Dr. Terry Doyle, Erica J. Keeps, Dr. D. A. Kolb, Dr. John Medina, Dr. David Rock, Dr. Harold Stolovitch and Dr. James E. Zull.

The Weekend WSJ listed The Best Financial Advice I Ever Got from a couple of dozen well-known financial experts, and Scott Adams, the creator Dilbert.

Adams’ advice is of specific interest to members of the National Speakers Association and other professional speakers:

The best financial advice I ever got was “Price yourself high and see what happens.” Humans aren’t good at knowing their market value. When I started doing paid speaking engagements I had no idea how to price myself. A mentor told me to quote an absurdly high price. The client accepted it without hesitation and offered to pay my travel expenses as well. I no longer underprice myself.

What does Adams mean by “absurdly high”? How about the $30-50k range? And he accepts speaking engagements in the Western US only.

There are professional speakers who make a good living earning five- ten- or even twenty-five thousand dollars per speech. Then there are speakers who are paid hundreds of thousands for one speech and earn tens of millions of dollars annually. The former include members of the National Speakers Association. The latter are often retired political leaders.

Palash Ghosh reports in the International Business Times that ex-politicians earn huge money from making speeches.

Gosh writes that

ex-President Bill Clinton has received as much as $750,000 for one speech (before an audience of executives and employees of telecom firm Ericsson in Hong Kong) and has raked in at least $89 million (and perhaps more than $100 million) from similar appearances around the world since he left the White House 12 years ago.

He’s not alone.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani revealed that he had earned $9.2 million over the past 13 months in speaking fees alone, or about $700,000 per month. Former Vice President Al Gore has also maintained an extremely busy and profitable “retirement” from politics. Former President George W. Bush is no slouch either. Generating as much as $110,000 per talk, Bush has reeled in at least $15 million from making speeches since he left office.

Value for money?

The question is, why would any meeting or conference organizer pay such huge amounts of money for what is typically a canned speech? Organizations are willing to pay the speaking fees of leading politicians because of the prestige they bring. At the end of the day, the income these politicos can command is typically proportional to how much power and influence they once wielded.

The lesson for emerging speakers? Get elected leader of the free world and it’s a piece of cake from there on.