How many professional speakers do you know that go to work in their bathing suits? Well, that is exactly what Alicia Berberich does! Besides speaking to parents groups around the Bay Area, she teaches water aerobics at the San Francisco Presidio YMCA. She has over 10 years of experience teaching a diverse group of students the thrill of water aerobics. She has now taken that high energy and is focusing it on teaching parents success strategies for their kids.

Alicia noticed that many children were not learning basic skills that are needed in life such as conversation skills, perseverance, integrity, tenacity, and gratitude to name a few. She began speaking to small groups of mothers about the importance of these skills in adults and the idea of starting with the end in mind that she learned from the Steven Covey program.

Now Alicia, mother of three, talks to school groups, church groups, motherʼs clubs, womenʼs clubs and other groups about what parents can do to teach their children these important character building skills. Parents are excited to learn easy ways to develop these skills in their kids. Alicia has also found that parents are hungry for a place to talk about the various issues and challenges they are having in raising their kids. How to deal with difficult situations like bullying in schools, and how to deal with technology in the home, and how to instill values in kids and how to motivate them. Alicia offers workshops and on-going Success Circles, called Eagle Clubs, which provide just that place for parents to come on a regular basis to talk about their frustrations and find mutual support and ideas.

For more information about the Eagle Clubs, or to hire Alicia Berberich to speak, call 415-596-9806. Additional information is available on her LinkedIn page.

Speaker’s Academy Archive

I caught up with Alicia at a National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting in advance of the Speaker’s Academy program. To hear what she told me about the ways she uses her business and executive skills when coaching families, and a simple tip on how parents can help their children, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:03 — 958.3KB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Manoush Zomorodi is the host of WNYC’s New Tech City which is available for download on iTunes. She is the author of Camera Ready: How to Present Yourself and Ideas On Air or Online. Follow her on Twitter @manoushz. She blogs at manoushz.com/blog and writes for The Huffington Post.

How to Give a TED Talk

Yup, everybody wants a TED talk at their event these days. I recently coached three teachers to help them deliver “TED-like” talks at a primary education conference.

The event was held by a very high-profile non-profit organization and these teachers were no strangers to public speaking—they had years of experience giving speeches, teaching larges classes, and appearing on TV.

But they needed guidance on how to “talk TED”, i.e. engage the audience for 7-15 minutes on their topic “Why Teaching is a Calling.” They didn’t quite get how to craft their ideas into something conversational and inspiring that would RADICALLY MOVE the audience.

I tried to explain: what makes a TED Talk different?

1. There’s no podium—just you and an open space.
2. It’s not merely a presentation of data or research; it’s your view of the world.
3. You give insight into your thought process, not just methodology or experience.
4. It’s vulnerable, intimate, and even, at times, unprofessional.
5. It’s all about an emotional takeaway for the audience.

Every company or organization seems to want a TED talk these days. And it’s understandable: when done well, talks like these can transform conferences and, if filmed and edited properly, can also translate into great online viewing. Videos of some Ted talks, like Ken Robinson’s on how schools kill creativity, have been watched online over 15 million times.

But no one wants to be a cheap imitation. So avoid common traps like:

1. Attempting to recreate actual TED-talks, like using a real brain as a prop (sorry it’s been done) or taking long pauses after saying the word “creativity” or “inspiration.” In other words, own your individuality.
2. Wearing black. Almost always the backdrop at these TED things is black. So don’t wear black. Even with a colorful scarf.
3. Deciding to use prompter (which is fine) but then not writing your “script” in conversational and colloquial language (see this post on How to Use Teleprompter).
4. Getting distracted by your body language. Everyone always asks me what to do with his/her hands.

In the process of breaking down TED-talks for my client, I developed crash course that can help you deliver a TED-like talk should your CEO suddenly discover that your company needs one too.

Week 1:

Watch three TED Talks; decide on your topic and write the three things you hope the audience gets from your talk.

Week 2:

Tell someone your “story,” consider use of possible extra media or props, draft your talk (bullet points, not written out).

Week 3:

Record yourself giving your “talk” with notes to guide you. Make edits and additions. Decide whether to stick with notes or use a prompter.

Week 4:

Give your talk to a friend (without worrying about movement or body language). Then practice giving your talk in an empty room with full movement and props; check duration. Make edits and adjustments for length and lulls.

Week 5:

Decide on your wardrobe/makeup/hair. Give your talk three more times aloud.

Rehearsal Before Event:

Do a full on-stage rehearsal with slides, props, and/or prompter. But relax (no rehearsing!) for at least two hours before the event.

If you want to dive deeper, check out How To Deliver A TED Talk by Jeremy Donovan, read this great New Yorker article on how Ted is turning ideas into an industry.Watch these two excellent Ted-talks (Nancy Duarte’s The Secret Structure of Great Talks and, a personal fave, Amy Cuddy’s Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are) and of course, read my book on presentations, Camera Ready and follow me on Twitter @manoushz.

A version of this post originally appeared in Manoush’s blog. It is re-posted here with her express permission.

Jan Dalley writes in the Weekend FT on the paradox that in an age of increasing digitization of our culture (via music downloads, YouTube video and more) people still seek out the unique personal experience of attending live performances: at literary festivals, rock concerts, and lectures.

Historically, authors like Charles Dickens drew crowds of many thousands. Modern literary festivals such as the annual Hay-on-Wye event attract tens of thousands.

Dalley speculates that the appeal of these live events is

..because of something to do with attention … you (feel) the full beam of someone’s focus right on you.

Professional speakers and executives who deliver their content at live events rather than virtually know there is a special magic in being in front of an audience. For attendees, there is the thrill of attention Dalley speaks of, but also, I would suggest, the chance to congregate with others of a like mind in a shared experience that touches something in us which pre-dates the modern world.

There’s the truth of the moment which our ancestors shared around the fire on dark evenings, enchanted by the tale, drawn together in a common understanding.

Collaboration Done Right – The secrets of a successful project between corporate staff and outside consultants, by Ian Griffin and Kate Peters

At the March 21, 2013 meeting of the IABC Silicon Valley Chapter vocal impact coach and author Kate Peters and freelance speechwriter Ian Griffin reviewed lessons from a two-year collaborative project at Cisco.

In early 2010, Ian worked as an Executive Communications Manager supporting George O’Meara, the SVP for Services Sales at Cisco in San Jose. He knew George needed presentation skills coaching and found Kate’s book Can You Hear Me Now? on Amazon. He sent her a note asking if she could provide coaching services. That began a highly successful working relationship which lasted until George left Cisco two years later.

Kate Peters is a vocal impact coach, singing performing artist, and author. She focuses on finding each person’s strengths and helps individuals express themselves in ways supportive of their professional and personal lives, whether speaking or singing. She helps public speakers clarify the articulation and organization of their ideas. She aligns their personal brand with the message they want to deliver and enhances presentation content with stories to increase the potential for connection with the audience.

As an Executive Communications Manager at Cisco, Ian’s role was to research and gather content for presentations and aligned the material to the overall corporate message.

Collaboration not competition

Ian hired Kate to work with George on improving his presentation skills, specifically to make it easier for the audience to understand his Chicago accent.

The original engagement grew into a two-year engagement where Kate was closely involved with many presentations.

Ian and Kate were aware that working together brought a potential for competition. Turf battles can happen. This is an obstacle many outside consultants face when they work with staff in large corporations.

Indeed, there were times when Kate suggested enhancement to content, an area that Ian was responsible for. Likewise, Ian, as a long-time member of the National Speaker’s Association, had his own presentation skills suggestions.

The solution, they found, was to work together as a team, not against each other. The benefits of this were apparent in a number of ways. Kate, with a background in music, performance and video, helped Ian make George look better on camera in the many short video messages that were a common way Cisco executives communicated with their teams. Ian became skilled in filming video and became known for his expertise by other Cisco communications managers.

Ian reciprocated by introducing Kate to other communications managers at Cisco which helped to expand her presence across the company.

Lessons learned

Kate lists a number of things to keep in mind as an outside consultant working with staff in a large corporation.

• We are better together. Our combined skills are better than either one working alone.
• Be an advocate. Bring attention to the work of the employee at times when executives might take it for granted.
• Keep in touch. Regular meetings help the employee and consultant work more effectively.
• Show appreciation. Say thank you often and in different ways.
• Know when to keep quiet and let the employee do their work.

Ian found there were a number of secrets to success working with a consultant.

• Choose wisely. Be ready to interview multiple candidates to find a consultant who is the right fit.
• Secure initial buy-in. Ian sold the executive on the idea of hiring a consultant as a “swing coach” for his presentation “game”.
• Know the “cut-over point” – where and when the consultant will augment your role, and don’t be reluctant to explore new areas where they can support the outcome.
• Manage the budget. Keep the executive and managers in the loop on costs and make sure invoices are paid in a timely manner.
• Respect the consultant’s time.

Advantages of collaboration

The three advantages Kate found when working with Ian were:

• As an employee, he knew people she didn’t and was happy to put her in front of others who could use her services. The initial $5,000 contract evolved into a multi-year engagement.
• Ian knew the organization and kept her abreast of important organizational changes and processes about which she would otherwise not have known.
• Ian did things she didn’t want to do and vice versa.

The three advantages Ian found when working with Kate were:

• He valued the support she gave the executive. It augmented his role. Some of the least stressful and most effective meetings were between George and Kate with Ian as an observer, seeing results he could never have achieved alone.
• Ian benefited from using Kate as a consultant who was able to mentor him on his own presentation skills.
• He found new ways to amplify the unique skills the consultant brought to the organization among his peers.

Relationships that last

Now that Ian has left Cisco, the relationship he established with Kate continues. Corporate employees never know when they might want to or need to go out on their own. Relationships that are formed through organizations like IABC and one-on-one contacts with industry leaders like Kate are useful bridges to life after corporate employment.

Both Kate and Ian acknowledge the value of having a strong professional network both inside and outside an organization. In fact, they are charter members of the newly formed Silicon Valley Speechwriters Roundtable which is a forum for professionals interested in presentation excellence.

“Speech is my Music. Music is my Speech” – Emiko Hori

A native of Japan, Emiko Hori grew up in California. An accomplished musician, she has been actively speaking and giving presentations to corporate clients and young adults about the connection between musical performance and public speaking and presentation skills.

A graduate of the renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Emiko has give piano recitals throughout the US, Europe, and Canada including masterclasses in Bergamo, Italy, the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany.

Her new book Let’s Play Speech!: How to Give a Better Speech Using the Principles of Musical Performance is now available. The book is an entertaining and instructive exploration of the ways public speakers can improve their “performances”, learning from the ways musicians use pause, rhythm and tonality and the way they have to learn to listen to the audience:

Did you know there are many similarities between piano performance and public speaking? They both have a clear message to deliver in front of the audience. They both impact the audience’s life and way of thinking. Interestingly, the musician’s mindset seems to coincide with many aspects of public speaking.

It is packed with practical tips that will improve anyone’s speech preparation and delivery.

Speaker’s Academy Archive

I caught up with Emiko at a National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting immediately prior to the start of the Speaker’s Academy program. She surprise me by sharing why what she calls the “Strippers Walk” is a crucial skill both professional musicians AND speakers (not to mention strippers!) need to learn. By this, she means the first five seconds when the person steps onto the stage and the audience judges exactly what you look like, your expressions, how tall or short you are, and most importantly, what kind of personality you have, just by watching how you walk. To hear Emiko explain more about the connection between stripping, speaking and musical performance, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:30 — 1.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

NSA/NC Meeting Report: Saturday March 2, 2013

The Saturday meeting of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association featured two savvy businesswomen who shared ways professional speakers and information entrepreneurs can book more business and own their niche markets. Stephanie Chandler is a Silicon Valley refugee who left a stressful job on the Peninsula for the life of a successful information entrepreneur. Lois Creamer knows the speaking business. She has worked with the superstars of speaking as both a cheerleader and strategist. She is endorsed by none other than Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE.

Stephanie Chandler: Living the good life after corporate America

Stephanie was inspired by the film Sleepless in Seattle to move to Sacramento, open a bookstore and write novels. Neither worked out for her. She quickly moved on to Plan B, launching herself as a speaker and non-fiction author on the urging of superstar literary agent Mike Larsen.

She launched BusinessInfoGuide.com, her first website, in 2004. Now, six books and a series of websites later, she is in demand as an author, speaker, Forbes blogger, and expert on content marketing, internet marketing, small business growth strategies, and publishing.

8 keys to owning your niche

The importance of speakers owning a niche has been a core lesson taught in NSA/NC Speakers Academy classes for many years. Stephanie walks the walk when it comes to knowing how to do this in the digital age. Heck, she’s even written a book on the topic.

She shared eight simple strategies to increase website traffic and own a niche:

1. Define your target audience. Decide who you want to reach and what challenges you can solve for them.
2. Tap into the power of community. Figure out where your audience spends their time and engaged them there.
3. Optimize your website. Incorporate keywords and phrases that your audience would use to find you. Update your site frequently, generate incoming links, and continually add new content.
4. Implement a blog. This will help build your audience, increase website traffic, generate new clients, create consulting opportunities, and attract media interviews and speaking engagements. It’s also the heart of your social media strategy. Stephanie recommends updating it at least twice a week.
5. Develop a content marketing strategy. Create ebooks, white papers, and special reports that you give away. Distribute articles to websites to reach your target audience or write articles for print publications.
6. Expand with video and podcasts. Even speakers who hate writing can record their presentations to communicate their message.
7. Embrace social media. There are great reasons why executives are signing on with social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest each have their own unique advantages. You can automate much of the distribution of the content between these different sites.
8. Commit a little time each day. just as you need to spend time weeding and planting seeds to enjoy a luxuriant garden, so you need to set aside time each day to develop content, engage in social media, and cultivate community. Stephanie advises that a little effort goes a long way in expanding your brand.

More details are available in her slides:

Lois Creamer: Business Strategies for Professional Speakers

Lois’s advice starts with the way we say hello. As professional communicators, the worst way to introduce ourselves is by NAME and TOPIC. We need to learn to introduce ourselves in a compelling and interesting way. Much better is an introduction by CONCEPT and OUTCOME. This captures your unique differentiation. She calls this a positioning statement and uses these words whenever she meets someone:

“I work with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes.”

This is far more effective than using an elevator speech, which is typically too long and boring. An effective positioning statement should go on your website, one-sheet, email signature, and be part of any voice mail message you leave when calling prospects.

Effective voice mail messages

If Lois can’t reach a decision maker she’ll leave four voice mail messages over a period of a couple of weeks. Each will use the positioning statement and end with a qualifying question to encourage them to take action:

“Mr. Prospect, I’m sorry I missed you. This is Lois Creamer, I’m a consultant, I work with speakers just like you who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes. I’m calling to see if I might be a fit to be helpful to you in your business in any way. And I’d love to send you something about what I do. I want to make sure it would be welcome. Could you call me and let me do that.”

If four messages bring no results, she’ll leave a 5th indicating she’s been trying to reach them, but this will be the last call she’ll make and she’d love to hear from them. This is often the message that gets a return call from a busy executive.

Negotiating fees

Many speakers have a hard time negotiating fees.

Lois advises to speak for full fee where possible, or be willing to waive your fee, but never give a “free speech”. If you are willing to waive your fee or speak for a reduced fee, ask the event organizer what else, if you are willing to do that, they are willing to provide you of value. Her blog lists suggestions on items of value speakers can negotiate.

If you need to raise your fees, do so with a few months advance notice and give clients the chance to book you at the existing fees before then. look on raising fees as promoting your success in the marketplace.

Interview: Lois Creamer on the future of the speaking business

To hear Lois’s thoughts on changes in the speaking business and what she sees coming over the next 5-10 years, click on the podcast icon below …

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:18 — 1,019.0KB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Susan Cain is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, which is being translated into 30 languages. Her record-smashing TED talk has been viewed more than 3 million times and was named by Bill Gates as one of his all-time favorite TED talks and by the New Yorker magazine as one of five key talks.

Here are six of her favorite tips.

1. Be yourself; good speakers are not necessarily “naturals”

Have you ever watched a fiery orator or a speaker who has the audience in stitches, and thought, “I can’t do that”? You might be right – and that’s OK. The best speakers are not necessarily dynamic or hilarious – they are simply interesting. They communicate valuable information. “People think that being a good speaker means being funny or glib,” says David Lavin of the Lavin Agency (who happens to be my lecture agent). “But that’s wrong. The best speakers are compelling. People underestimate the power of content and of storytelling.”

2. What do Malcolm Gladwell and Lady Gaga Have in Common?

At the same time, public speaking is a performance, and that’s a good thing, even if you’re not a natural actor. Have you ever wondered why people enjoy costume parties? It’s because they feel liberated when interacting from behind a mask. Dressing up as Cinderella or Don Draper removes inhibitions as effectively as a glass of wine. Think of your onstage persona the same way. Surprisingly, both Gladwell and Lady Gaga have this in common. Gladwell, a world-class speaker, says he isn’t chatty at dinner parties, but he becomes a storyteller on stage. As for Gaga? “When I wake up in the morning, I feel just like any other insecure 24-year old girl. Then I say, ‘Bitch, you’re Lady Gaga, you get up and walk the walk today.’”

3. Serve the audience

Introverts are phenomenal listeners, which attunes them to the needs of others. And that’s why speaking (instead of listening) can feel uncomfortable – unnatural, even. But remember that public speaking is not about you. It’s about the audience. Your job is to take care of the audience, not to be judged by it or even to entertain it. Remind yourself that you are not seeking approval or love. You are a teacher, a giver, an enlightener.

4. Accept your nerves

Not all introverts are afraid of public speaking – a subset of them loves it – but introverts are disproportionately likely to fear the spotlight. That’s OK. As the public speaking trainer Charles di Cagno says, “There are only a few people in the world who have completely overcome their fears, and they all live in Tibet.” If you have stage fright, accept it and learn how to work with it.

5. Calm your body

According to Gina Barnett, who coaches many TED speakers, if you have trouble calming your mind before a speech, try calming your body first. When you relax your body, your head will follow suit. Here are a few tips:

• Shake out every limb in your body. This gets your blood flowing and makes you tingle all over.
• Stand up straight. Shift back and forth, putting your weight first on your heels, then on the balls of your feet. Find the place that’s evenly distributed between both, then gently press your toes on the floor. This will give you the sensation of forward momentum.
• Yawn.
• Talk with your tongue out. You’ll sound ridiculous, but it will loosen you up vocally.

6. Smile

After all of your preparation, relaxation exercises and affirmations, there’s one thing left to do, and it’s the simplest thing – smile. Smile at your audience as they enter the room, and smile at them when you begin speaking. This will make you feel relaxed, confident, and connected.

Good luck. You have something valuable to say, and the world needs to hear it!

(Some of these tips have appeared in modified form on Susan’s blog.)

Melanie Watkins always dreamt of becoming a doctor but when she found herself sixteen and pregnant, that dream seemed out of reach.

Having been raised by a single mother, Melanie knew the challenges single motherhood presented. Despite the uphill climb, Melanie made the decision to raise her child on her own.

Her memoir, Taking My Medicine: My Journey from Teenage Mother to Physician, is the story of a young woman’s triumphs–overcoming the stigma of a teenage pregnancy and embarking on the journey to medical school.

Drawing from pieces previously published in Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, Chicken Soup for the Single’s Soul, Woman’s World Magazine, What I Learned in Medical School: Personal Stories of Young Doctors, her memoir encourages young people to dream and to push beyond their most difficult circumstances. Her book is an inspiring story of faith and perseverance about a teenage mother beating insurmountable odds to create a brighter future for herself, her son and her community.

Melanie Watkins, M.D. is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is licensed by the California State Medical Board to practice Medicine and Psychiatry.

She received her medical training at the Stanford University School of Medicine and completed an internship in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco. Her specialty training in Psychiatry was at the University of Nevada, Department of Psychiatry.

She currently is in private practice in Walnut Creek, CA.

Dr. Watkins has experience in treating anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, substance dependence, and personality disorders. She has particular interest in women’s mental health, cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Dr. Watkins can also provide support for family members and friends of mentally ill patients who require hospitalization and/or ongoing support. She enjoys treating adolescents and adults.

She enjoys long distance running, motivational speaking and reading non-fiction books. She can be reached through her website www.drmelaniewatkins.com. She lives in Walnut Creek. Her son, Jonathan, is 18 years old and is a freshman in college in Reno, Nevada.

Speaker’s Academy Archive

I caught up with Melanie at a National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting immediately prior to the start of the Speaker’s Academy program. To hear what she told me about her speaking program which has taken her from Alaska to New York, delivering talks to students from disadvantaged backgrounds; the story behind her book and the importance of mentorship, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:09 — 1.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

NSA/NC Meeting Report: Saturday January 12, 2013

Last Saturday the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association hosted NSA National President Ron Culberson, MSW, CSP and Howard Putman, CSP, CPAE, former CEO, Southwest Airlines.

Howard Putnam: Top-flight speaker

Howard Putnam took a struggling airline called Southwest and turned it into one of the most successful companies in the world. At Braniff Airlines, he was the first CEO to successfully restructure a major airline into, through, and out of Chapter 11. Earlier he spent over twenty years with United Airlines, his final position being Group VP of Marketing.

Howard spent a couple of hours in conversation with Michael Soon Lee, CSP reviewing the reasons he has become one of the more successful celebrity speakers, sharing the platform with such people as General Colin Powell, Laura Bush, Bill Cosby, Terry Bradshaw, Rudy Giuliani, Coach Lou Holtz, Steve Forbes, and Dr. Robert Schuler.

When he retired from his corporate work and decided to become a professional speaker, an early influence was Zig Ziglar — a well-known motivational speaker who sadly passed away in 2012.

Zig advised him to:

• Use the expertise from his past career as the foundation for his speaking career
• Approach audiences from an emotional as well as an intellectual point of view
• Develop substance for his speeches by:

1. Hiring a coach who can give an unbiased outside view of his capability. Howard hired Juanell Teague
2. Writing a book. Howard worked with an experienced writer to publish The Winds of Turbulence: A CEO’s Reflections on Surviving and Thriving on the Cutting Edge of Corporate Crisis.
3. Joining the National Speakers Association.

Working with a Speakers Bureau

Howard shared that he is now a successful speaker booked two to three times a month at fees in excess of $25,000. He outsources the management of his bookings to Holli Catchpole of the Speakers Office, Inc who manages a select group of top-flight speakers.

Michael Lee pointed out that beginning speakers are in a Catch-22 situation with Agencies. Most Agencies will only work with established speakers. One option for speakers with fees at the lower end of the scale is Speakers Unlimited.

Ron Culberson: Funny man

NSA National President and professional humorist Ron Culberson demonstrated simple steps speakers can take to add humor to any presentation that will make their content stick and increase the value of their speech for the audience.

He started with a few observations on the morning, joking that the title of Howard’s book reminded him of his last Taco Bell bean burrito.

Starting with a humorous summary of the meeting is a deliberate technique he recommends for any speaker who wants to let the audience know they are “one of them” who was listening to the event. Too many speakers ignore anything that happens before they speak.

In an era when content is instantly available to an audience able to Google it, speakers must create an experience — the more fun this is, the more memorable. Humor balances the serious information in your presentation. It creates a new perspective.

Discovering humor

Ron advised that material for humorous speeches is all around us in everyday interactions. He encourages us to ask “what might be funny about this?” and shared the humor he discovers in visits to doctor’s offices, family life, street signs, newspaper articles and more.

Think outside the box to discover sources of humor. Consider the many ways that you can answer the question “What is half of eight?”

Developing humor

The “Secret Formula” for developing humor is to look for congruent incongruence — or the surprising ways the unrelated ideas are related. He works with category lists to discover the congruence between topics such as golf and autos. This was in response to the news that Tiger Woods had crashed his car outside his home. A common term was “drive” which gave Ron the idea for a one-liner about Woods and a PGA award for the “shortest drive”.

Ron recommends we check out the Seinfeld movie Comedian. This shows how much effort professionals put into writing humor that works. Ron parsed his own material to show how adding or removing a single word can make a humorous speech work better.

10 ways to deliver humor in your presentation

Ron’s handout listed 10 ways to deliver humor in your next presentation:

Verbal humor:

1. Use funny quotes from people who already said something funny. It does not have to be anything more than “I read so-and-so said…” and if the content is funny you have generated laughter without the need to be funny yourself.
2. Use jokes, but sparingly as they are now much more accessible to people via the internet. That said, Ron struck gold with a joke about a chicken and frog that he delivered to an audience of librarians.
3. Use personal stories from your own experiences. This is most authentic form of humor.

Visual humor:

4. Use funny actions and facial expressions to make your appearance funny. It might be a hat or other item of clothing.
5. Use fun props as visual aids. (Note: Ron’s business partner David Glickman elaborated on this in his 2006 NSA/NC presentation.)
6. Use creative and funny slides.
7. Add humor and funny clip art to your handouts.

Experiential humor:

8. Invite the audience to respond to funny questions or surveys. This can be especially effective in training sessions.
9. Use volunteers to come up front and interact with them in a funny way.
10. Design funny small group activities in which the audience creates the humor.

Ron Culberson’s Demo Video

In order to appreciate Ron’s comic genius and encouragement to audiences to do things well and make them fun, take ten and watch his entertaining and, yes, rather funny, demo video:

Seven years ago this month, I added this Professionally Speaking blog to my Executive Communications website. Now, on New Year’s Day 2013, which happens to be my father’s 92nd Birthday — Happy Birthday Dad! — I’ve reached the milestone of 700 blog postings. This seems like a suitable moment to reflect some of the key lessons I’ve learned from my experience in providing executive communications support to my clients in Silicon Valley and around the world. You know you’ve hired a world-class speechwriter and communications consultant when they embrace these seven qualities.

1: CEOs need a confident confidant

Sitting in meetings at major Silicon Valley companies such as Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco, I’m often the only person in the room without a few thousand people reporting to them or a multi-billion dollar target to meet. This can be an incredibly useful role that a CEO will come to value. As the speechwriter, I’m the one person in the room the CEO can turn to without an agenda of my own to advance. A CEO once told me “Ian, it’s lonely at the top. I’ve seen every scam that managers can pull to cover their rear ends. I need someone like you who can tell it like it is.”

Key Lesson: Speechwriters with the confidence to speak up become the confidant and trusted adviser of a senior executive.

2: Be an impartial observer

I was once brought in to edit an Annual Report for a European client with four separate divisions. My role was to resolve the different viewpoints of each group. The VP of Communications needed an outside consultant with the independence required to be able to write a cohesive document. Executive communications professionals are in a unique position to be an impartial observer in large organizations with multiple departments and competing interests.

Key Lesson: Take the initiative and tell the truth, no matter what certain executives want to hear. But don’t take sides within a company. We need to keep lines of communication open to all parties.

3: Take complexity out

Companies are filled with subject matter experts (SMEs) in engineering, finance, marketing, and sales. A speechwriter is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But that’s our hidden value to a company. It’s my job to know a little bit about everything the company does, and who to talk to when I need details. But lack of detail is rarely an issue. Time and again, I’ve asked SMEs for the background information needed for five to 10 minutes of a speech only to be given enough data for a two-day seminar. My job is to absorb enormous volumes of data and take the complexity out–to find a way to communicate the message without putting the audience to sleep.

Key Lesson: Learn to simplify. Only include what is necessary to convey what is essential. As Einstein said “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

4: Tell compelling stories

As others have noted, people may not remember what you did or said, but they will always remember how you made them feel. Audiences forget facts, but they remember stories. Once you get past the jargon, the corporate world is an endless source of fascinating stories. I’ve found the best source of great stories for speeches come from informal chats when you are sitting down over coffee or, as I did one memorable afternoon, sharing a beer and pizza with the CEO in Boston’s North End. We talked about our time there as students. He shared a story about the lessons he’d learned outside the Harvard classroom that I used in a future speech.

Key Lesson: Always listen for stories executives tell about their childhood, family life, hobbies, early career and more. Dig for specifics. As speech coach Patricia Fripp says: “Specificity builds credibility.”

5: Embrace multimedia

The one-hour keynote is an endangered species. Conference organizers know audiences have short attention spans. Given travel budget restrictions, many organizations are turning to virtual meetings. Executives now need to feel comfortable on camera as well as on the podium.

My three years as a communications consultant at Cisco introduced me to the exciting possibilities of TelePresence meetings. I also enjoyed access to fully-equipped TV studios to produce All Hands meetings. But it was just as exciting working with the limitations of a simple Flip camera to capture video that I edited with Windows Movie Maker. These days it’s not enough to write clever speeches, you need to keep current with the latest in multimedia technology.

Key Lesson: Digital media expands the boundaries of executive communications. Suggest it as an alternative to travel; use it to time-shift; create content that includes outdoor shots, audience testimonials and impromptu out-takes; record staff interviews; livestream events; experiment with transmedia storytelling.

6: Open up the backchannel

The audience is no longer silent. They might look like they are sitting quietly, but a raging debate on what Cliff Atkinson called The Backchannel can occur within and beyond the confines of the presentation venue.

I’m amazed at the resistance some speakers have to this. My experience curating Twitter hashtags for specific events shows that there’s a rapidly emerging opportunity to magnify the impact of a speech and increase the reach beyond the walls of the auditorium.

Key Lesson: Learn about and embrace the backchannel. Make sure your executive has a Twitter account and use it for shameless self-promotion and to stimulate a lively debate before, during and after each presentation they make.

7: Learn to ask the right questions

As a communications professional, it’s not your role to out-gun the SMEs, VPs and assorted executives in the C-Suite when it comes to content. Our role is to ask what headline the CEO wants the speech to produce, to find out the audience’s hot buttons, and to uncover the unique point of view the speaker brings to the issue.

If there’s one lesson I’ve taken away from the work I’ve done for clients, it’s to always be ready to ask “Why is that?” when they suggest points they want to make in a speech. When they give an answer, have the courage to ask the same question again. It’s often only after they answer for the third time that the core of the speech is revealed.

Key Lesson: Don’t hurry to get to a final draft. Be professional and respect deadlines, but keep asking questions until you reach an answer that will make the audience sit up and take notice.

What executive communications lessons have YOU learned? Share them by leaving a comment below.