Today's guest post comes from my pal Mare Swallow, whom you may remember from her excellent radio guest post last February. Enjoy, and I'll catch ya next week!
As a professional development facilitator and speaker, I coach my clients on how to improve their speaking skills. Lots of educational gems can be found all around us -- on TV or on the internet.
One of my favorite shows, The Office (U.K.), illustrates some of the, um, worst practices for public speaking. David Brent is the "entertaining" boss with a "cool vibe," who, sadly, doesn't really know a ton about effective presenting. Fortunately, I do, and I'll share some tips with you.
Below are some lessons I teach in my workshop. David Brent Illustrates the exact oppostite of what you should do to ensure success when you speak.
1. Always rehearse before you present. At a bare minimum, rehearse your opening.
2. Begin with a bang. No one likes to hear a boring opening. You know, "Hi, my name is Marianna and I'm going to talk about blah blah blah." Create a dramatic, interesting, or captivating opening. But not of the David Brent variety:
3. Start Strong; Finish Strong. Creative opening? Use a creative finish. Even if your talk is more subdued, you want to close with conviction. I always tell my students the worst way to end a presentation is with a flat finish like, "Well, that's it." Here's an even worse way:
Do the opposite of David Brent, and you'll be just fine when you give your next speech.
Marianna Swallow is a professional development facilitator, blogger, and writer. She's currently writing her how-to book on public speaking. See her in action at http://www.swallowconsulting.com/.
Wanna get your guest post on? Email me at maybeimamazed02(at)yahoo(dot)com.
great site, keep it up the good work.
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