2-Minute Talk Tips

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2-Minute Tip : The Stage as War Zone Think of the stage as a war zone. Not in the sense that the audience is an enemy. The enemy is the way many folks hold back and don’t spend all their energy on stage.

To mix metaphors even further, the stage is that poker hand where you need to go all in./ If you hold chips back — if you hold energy or enthusiasm back — you won’t win. You won’t accomplish your goal.

When you get off stage, you want to be exhausted and drained because you left it all out there.

Post Tip Discussion One reason I like talking about public speaking is because the content is ever green. By that I mean the strategies for effectively speaking today, are the same ones that will be effective next year. Or that were effective last year.

Define your goal.
Tell a story.
Do it with enthusiasm.
Be bigger on stage than you might be in private conversation.
Do it all with authenticity.

As I write this, it is April 2020 and we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and shut downs of various sorts. As more people speak via webinars and video conferences, think about how those core principle change.

They don’t.

You still need to:

Define your goal.
Tell a story.
Do it with enthusiasm.
Be bigger on stage than you might be in private conversation.
Do it all with authenticity.

This interview is one I recorded a year ago, and it’s just as relevant today. And it will be just as relevant 5 or 10 years from now.

In this conversation with Ken Moscowitz, we talk about the importance of your energy level and how to have to give it your all every time.

We also talk about how just because your story has become boring for you because you tell it all the time, it’s still new to your audience and can be just as powerful and illustrative now as the first time you told it.

And we wade into the discussion about which is more powerful: words or pictures.

Bio From Ken’s website:

As a father of 5, this man knows how to multitask. OK, his wife does the multitasking, but Spanky’s a close second.

Spanky started his creative career in New York City and quickly rose to the top of the broadcast creative industry. He’s led re-branding and resurrection efforts for many major and smaller brands over the last three decades; like the Indy 500, Frito-Lay, Samuel Adams, Coca Cola, M&M Mars and many more. He also revitalized ailing broadcast outlets and sports franchise brands across the country.

Spanky’s unique approach to creative and fun, yet memorable branding, sets him apart in the industry. His approach is at times edgy, always unique, but very memorable.

Following the advice of his mentor and friend Gary Vaynerchuk, Spanky built his business by jabbing (that’s Gary Vee’s shorthand for providing value). It worked so well that he wrote a best-selling book: Jab Till It Hurts: How Following Gary Vaynerchuk’s Advice Helped Me Build A 7-Figure Brand.

Hop over to SpankyMoskowitz.com to get to know Ken better, find out where he’ll be next, and book him for consulting or speaking opportunities.

Links

Call To Action * To learn more about Ken, be sure to check out Ad Zombies everywhere, including the links above * Check out Ken’s book from your favorite online bookstore, library, or read chapters on the Ad Zombies blog * Subscribe to 2MinuteTalkTips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * And, as always, don’t get best…get better.

Jab Till It Hurts: How Following Gary Vaynerchuk's Advice Helped Me Build A 7-Figure Brand

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2-Minute Tip: Tell Stories Stories are how humans connect. They form the basis of our social relationships. They’re how we share history.

As a speaker, one of the best ways to make sure you connect with your audience is to tell stories — and not just one. Illustrate your talk with as many stories as possible. Generic ones are okay, but authentic, personal stories will bring you the most success.

Post Tip Discussion Grant Baldwin has built a business speaking to speakers about the business of speaking. He hosts the Speaker Lab podcast, which is in my weekly must listen to list. His Speaker Lab company runs the popular Booked and Paid to Speak program. And now he has a new book coming out next week on February 18, 2020 called The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.

As a long-time fan, I was thrilled to talk with Grant for this episode. I think I’ve listened to every episode of his podcast. Now I just need to put it all into action.

If you’ve ever wondered how keynote and other professional speaker make their living and how you can too, Grant is the guy to listen to.

Bio Grant Baldwin is the founder of The Speaker Lab, a training company that helps public speakers learn how to find and book speaking gigs. Through his popular podcast The Speaker Lab and flagship coaching program Booked and Paid to Speak he has coached and worked with thousands of speakers. As a keynote speaker, Grant has delivered nearly one thousand presentations to over 500,000 people in 47 states and has keynoted events for audiences as large as 13,000. Grant has also been featured in national media including Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Huffington Post.

He now lives near Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Sheila, and their three daughters.

5 Basic things Effective Speakers Do Grant shared this list of characteristics of effective speakers. The key thing here is that all the required skills are ones that anyone can develop.

They are comfortable with their content.
They are familiar with their content.
They understand pacing and pausing.
They tell a good story
They keep an audience engaged

5 Steps to a Successful Speaking Career S – Select a problem to solve.

P – Prepare and deliver your talk.

E – Establish your expertise.

A – Acquire paid speaking gigs.

K – Know when to scale

This is the framework Grant covers in The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.

Links

Call To Action * Subscribe to the Speaker Lab podcast in your favorite podcast app * Check out Grant’s new book The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform. * Share this episode with someone else by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Grant * Don’t get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Be Authentic and Tell Your Story Across the different guests I talk with, the theme of authenticity keeps coming up in the tips. It’s similar in many of them which demonstrates just how important it is. Also interesting is how each of them brings their own angle to the concept.

When you tell your story and use it to connect with the message you want to convey, it’s much easier to have a memorable and authentic impact on your audience. And that’s ultimately what you want.

When you are talking about things that aren’t about you specifically, you can still let your authentic self come through. It’s in your enthusiasm or feeling about the topic your discussing. It’s in the analogies you use. It’s in how you dress and how you carry yourself. It’s in how you relate to the folks in your audience.

Sharing your story and being authentic doesn’t mean you have to share your detailed biography, especially when it’s not relevant to your topic. But you may have had an experience or anecdote that helps explain something. It doesn’t have to be a major thing in your life. It just needs to be something that will help make your point and help you achieve your goal.

Meet Kira Ming Kira is a writer at heart. As she became more and more successful, she received more invitations to speak. And that helped her writing business. Which got her more speaking opportunities. Ultimately she learned that people want to hear from the person behind a brand.

The point is, she didn’t seek the stage.

And when she found herself on it, she had to learn fast. She had to learn to be bigger than herself — to push beyond her own limiting beliefs about what she was capable of to share her story with her audience and how her company could help them achieve their goals.

Bio Kira Ming’s background in publishing spans over 15 years and involves the creation of her own successful publication. Over the past decade she’s had the pleasure of interviewing some of entertainment’s biggest names, and has been involved in many legendary events within entertainment both as a host and media sponsor.

She’s spent the past few years developing tools, resources, marketing material, and several types of content for businesses, editing numerous projects, and contributing articles to major platforms including Huffington Post. As a result of her success within publishing, content marketing, and business strategy, she felt it only necessary to write Small Business, Big Success – a straight to the point guide for small business owners. Kira Ming has served as keynote speaker, a panelist, and workshop conductor for numerous events, and she’s excited to continue giving value when it comes to her expertise.

3 Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Speak 1. It increases the audience for your product, service, or content 2. Others want you to speak on their platform. And that will further expand your audience and potential customer base. 3. It has a high conversion rate. People are more interested in buying from someone they’ve personally seen and heard

Personal Branding We talked about this topic a bit. A lot of people don’t like the idea because they feel, “I’m a human being — an individual. I’m not a brand.”

This is a short sighted approach. A brand is really a mental shortcut that we all use that is a summary of our thoughts and feelings about a person, an organization, a topic, etc.

We all have a brand whether we want one or not. Personal branding is about taking an active role in influencing how people think about and see you.

It’s essential in the modern social media landscape we live in. And people will create it for you if you don’t protect it yourself.

It’s a modern way of caring about your reputation.

Links

Call To Action * To learn more about Kira or her book, Small Business, Big Success: A Straight To The Point Guide For Small Business Owners, check out the links above. * Who else do you know that might enjoy this episode? Give them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/TheRealKiraMing * Don’t get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Be Your True and Honest Self We talk a lot about authenticity because it matters. And while it may seem daunting, it can actually make things easier. When you don’t try to fake it, you don’t waste brain cycles and energy trying to maintain a façade.

There are 3 questions to ask yourself when you prepare to talk to an audience:

Who are you really?
What do you have to offer your audience?
What do you have to gain from the experience?

Integrate this framework into your prep work to put yourself on the path to success.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Heather Vickery “Man up,” is a phrase I don’t like. Most folks understand it to mean that it’s time to just do something that’s hard or that you’re afraid to do it.

But obviously, it’s sexist. It implies that being afraid to do things is womanly and doing the tough stuff despite fear is manly.

I prefer the exhortation to, “Fortify!” instead of “man up.” Sometimes you do need to muster all your energy and willpower to accomplish something tough. “Fortify” captures that spirit without insulting a significant portion of your audience.

I’m thinking about this today because today’s guest is host of The Brave Files podcast, personal coach, speaker, author, and musical theater enthusiast, Heather Vickery. Heather often finds herself telling clients, “So what? Do it scared.”

Bio Heather Vickery is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker, business owner, and transformational coach. But Heather isn’t just a savvy businesswoman − she’s an inspiration.

The founder of Vickery and Co., Heather helps organizations build an environment of honoring “The Whole Employee” so that they have empowered team members, happier clients, higher retention and make more money!

Heather is a featured expert on achieving an authentic and meaningful life and designing your own roadmap for balance and success.

A mother of four, Heather’s world turned upside down after a major life transformation and divorce, suddenly, she had the freedom to be her most authentic self. She discovered that this same authenticity empowered her with the confidence she needed to repair, rebuild, and reach her life’s vision and goals. Today, Heather leverages her entrepreneurial skills and expertise to coach individuals towards greater personal and professional fulfillment. Through her story of personal bravery, perseverance, and resilience, Heather inspires audiences and empowers attendees with the tools they need to live bold and meaningful lives. A strong believer in strengthening her community, Heather also serves as vice president for The Children’s School and as a board member for the About Face Theatre, Chicago’s premiere LGBTQ theatre.

Heather is the executive producer and host of The Brave Files Podcast featuring real stories from people living courageously.

Heather is the author of “Gratitude Journal: Shift Your Focus.”

She works with people all around the globe to help them build Brave and empowered life’s.

Heather’s Speaker Demo Books It’s great that I get to share Heather’s conversation this week. As I write this we are just a few days away from the Thanksgiving Holiday in the United States.

Giving thanks and expressing gratitude is an important life skill, and on December 3, Heather can help with that.

Heather’s new book, Grow Grateful: A Gratitude Journal for Kids and Families will be released on December 3rd.

This book is designed to help you create intentional and impactful conversations with kids about gratitude. Doing so will lead to life-changing habits that increase their own happiness and wellbeing and give you delightful quality time together.

The second edition of Heather’s earlier book, Gratitude Journal: Shift Your Focus is also available. This beautiful journal offers space to record gratitude, personal wins (high fives), and 180 unique prompts to help you connect with gratitude in unique and often surprising ways.

What I think is important about these books is that the focus isn’t just on being grateful because it’s the right moral, ethical, or spiritual thing to do. Heather talks about gratitude as something that is good for you. It raises your spirits and helps you feel better.

These can be great presents for various holiday events, or they can even help you kick start a gratitude practice for yourself or your kids as we approach the time for New Year’s resolutions.

Links

Call To Action * Don’t, “Man up.” Fortify instead. * Check out Heather’s Brave Files podcast and books at the links above. * Share this episode with one other pers0n by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Heather. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip — Connect with Your Audience Before speaking, meet your audience members. In a small meeting, maybe that means greeting them as they come in to the conference room. At a larger event, that may mean mingling with attendees in the venue.

By meeting with some of your attendees before you speak, you start to build a connection and a more personal relationship. It can make your audience instantly more friendly to you as a result.

It can also give you Valuable information about things that are on the audience’s minds that you may be able to incorporate into your talk. There are all sorts of valuable things that can come from those connections.

Additionally, it can help distract you from your own nerves in the lead up to your talk.

Maura Sweeney — The Ambassador of Happiness Maura Sweeney is the world’s Ambassador of Happiness. She has built a career around speaking as part of traditional corporate roles she’s held and later as an entrepreneur.

The recurring theme in this episode is connection — how you connect with your audience on a personal level and the importance of connecting your message with your stories. Those connections all need to be internally consistent find success and happiness in public speaking.

Bio

Author, Podcaster, and International Speaker, Maura Sweeney has transformed her own mantra of “Living Happy – Inside Out” to become a global influencer.

A former corporate manager and home schooling mom transitioned again at age 50 to make her life long goal a reality. Today, she brings uplift and unity to an often disempowered and divided world.

A former HuffPost columnist who has traveled to 60 countries, Maura was first called the Ambassador of Happiness by the UNESCO Center for Peace when invited to speak at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Day celebration. Since then, she’s trademarked her title and become a popular media guest featured on hundreds of media outlets in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Australia.

Maura has lectured on Influence and Leadership at universities, leadership conferences, women’s organizations, Model UN’s and several American Embassy outposts. In 2018, she was named Women of the Decade at the Women Economic Forum held in The Hague. Maura Sweeney’s genuine and first-hand approach empowers others of every background to become their finest version of self and helps us see what’s best in us all.

Maura just released an ecourse for Personal Leadership, Happiness and Authenticity on the Ingomu Learning Platform.

Links

Call To Action * So check out Maura’s books, podcast, and more. You can find all those links above * Connect with someone in your life by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Maura * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Earn your Confidence If you project confidence on stage your audience is more likely to believe you. If you are confident, you’ll feel less nervous getting up to speak.

Confidence doesn’t come for free, though. You have to earn it. And you earn it by doing to work — by planning, editing, revising, practicing and rehearsing. If you don’t do the work, you don’t deserve the confidence and probably should be nervous.

So if you find you lack confidence in your public speaking, ask yourself, “Did I do the work to deserve it?” If the answer is, “No,” okay. Now you know what you have to do in the future.

Building blocks with Cory Truax Cory’s story is one of building. He didn’t become a speaker by jumping on the biggest stage he could. He assembled this life in pieces beginning in school. Then began volunteering to speak and chaining together event after event as people would see him speak and then invite him to speak.

That’s the journey we talk about today — about taking small steps forward that lead to bigger and bigger things — and doing a lot of work today.

Bio Cory Truax’s day job is in Admissions at the University of South Carolina. He supplements that with secular and religious speaking gigs, and on air work at WLFJ radio in Greenville, SC.

Cory Truax fills a lot of roles – Host of the creatively-titled radio show & podcast, “The Cory Truax Show,” Teaching Pastor at Beechwood Church, uncle extraordinaire, and even has a day job.

Cory enjoys early-morning work-outs; all things football; basketball’s post-season; healthy political discussions; theology; learning new things; and discovering new voices. Cory is also an invited speaker at church, educational, and political events along with serving as the fill-in host for WLFJ Christian Talk 660’s morning show, “Christian Worldview Today.”

Leadership and Public Speaking One of the key lessons in this conversation is the link between leadership roles and public speaking. If you become a leader in an organization, no matter how small, you have the opportunity to speak. The more people see you speaking, the more likely they are to think you are a leader. And the whole thing can loop from there.

For kids there are opportunities to lead and or speak in school projects, clubs, teams, and church. Pursuing those opportunities early open up future opportunities for success.

Adults aren’t shut out though. There’s a reason Toastmasters isn’t just about speaking, but also about leadership. There are opportunities in churches and PTAs. There are committees and cross-functional teams at work. There are condo and home owner associations.

To grow as a speaker, try being a leader. To grow as a leader, try being a speaker.

Question Your Assumptions On a recent episode of the Real RX, a podcast hosted by doctors, they talked about aging in women. The official guidelines say that generally women do not need to get pap smears after age 65. The standard is in place because of two assumptions:

Women over 65 do not have sex.
If they do have sex, it’s with a long-term partner.

The problem is that often, both those assumptions are false. Relying on those false assumptions can lead to higher risk of cancer.

You can listen to the whole episode here:

If you’d like to hear more from Dr. Kim Brown, I interviewed her last year on my other show.

Another example that I’ve shared before is this. When I taught people to sell laptops, I talked about how I liked selling laptops instead of desktops because I didn’t have to lift a heavy monitor with the sale.

In the late nineties, that got a laugh. By 2005, new audiences no longer laughed. Why?

Because light weight flat panel monitors had replaced heavy CRTs in the market. The joke no longer made sense.

We have to question our assumptions.

Links

Call To Action * To learn more aby or find his podcast, visit http://CoryTruax.com. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/CoryTruax. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Be Vulnerable We often talk about the importance of authenticity as a speaker. Another way to think about it, though, is vulnerability.

The benefit of vulnerability as a speaker is that the audience can feel where you are coming from. It’s easier for them to connect with you.

And if they feel that stronger sense of connection, they are more likely to pursue the action you are calling them to pursue.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Charles White When I put together an episode, I don’t always know what it’s about. I do my core edit of the conversation where I listen to the whole thing, cut some stuff , and clean up the audio Wile I take notes.

Then I look over my notes. Sometimes I sit with it for a day. It’s only then that I realize what my guest and I talked about. Then I can write up my intro and outro comments and start work on the show notes for an episode. That’s my process.

And that’s how I came to realize that this week’s episode is all about process. Charles focuses on process in his life. Process can be quite freeing. Once you have a structure and a way of doing things, suddenly those tasks get a whole lot quicker.

Often when we talk about public speaking we don’t think about the process. We think about standing in front of the crowd with some slides.

But 90% of the success of a talk is determined before you ever open your mouth. It’s in your preparation and planning. And when your preparation becomes repeatable and duplicatable, you have a process.

It’s not as sexy as the roar of the crowd, but the right process can make your life so much easier.

Bio Charles helps business owners who need their operations to run more efficiently. As businesses get more clients, more work orders, and hire more people the processes they built become stressed. Charles is there when you are looking to find that new tool, improve your old process, and increase your workforce’s output.

He provide a full service solution to improving your daily, weekly and monthly workload. Together he helps you identify areas of your business that can most benefit from immediate intervention. Then he provides a solution through new software implementation and personalized training documentation, videos and in person classes.

Charles’ TEDx Talk Links

Call To Action * Visit the links above to learn more about and connect with Charles White. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Charles * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Know 3 Stories While it’s helpful to have lots of stories at your disposal, there are three types that will help you in speeches, job interviews and client interactions. They are Underdog, Authority, and Fixer.

The Underdog story is the story of where you came from. It’s the obstacles life put in your path and how you got over, around, under, or through them to get where you are today.

The Authority is the story about your expertise. How do you know what you know? Why should people listen to you? What makes you different from other folks they could be listening to right now?

The Fixer story is about what you do to help others. How can you help this audience? What will you do or what will you enable them to do?

With those three stories in your pocket you can are better prepared for any audience.

When we talk about pathos, ethos, and logos as being crucial to persuasive success, these three stories support the often neglected ethos side of the pyramid.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Zack Hudson I and my guests talk a lot about Storytelling in public speaking. And I talk about it more with Zack today. One thing that makes today’s conversation a little different is that we get a little bit deeper into the process of finding your stories. Because that is what Zack does with his clients — he helps them find and tell their stories.

The fact is everyone has stories to tell, even if we don’t realize it.

Bio Today Zack not only speaks and consults with organizations. He also live the corporate executive life with more than 500 people in his organization across the southern US.

From Zack’s website:

I grew up in Louisiana and never saw a swamp until I was a teenager. I loved my town and the dream was to never leave and become mayor. That plan was dramatically altered when I met a certain redhead. She captured my heart and after getting married, we moved off to start our own adventure.

We relocated all over the South and started a family along the way. During the journey, I had a hunger to grow as a leader and discovered there were many others out there that had that same fire.

Since then, I’ve developed many leaders to become more than what they thought they could be. Many have gotten the job they’ve always wanted or ended up at their dream locations. One of my greatest joys is seeing others hit their personal goals.

Today, I lead about 500 employees across six states and spend much of my time developing them to be the leaders that they are called to be. I also help others across the globe reach their potential through the Passing the Baton Leadership Podcast and it’s resources.

What you may not know:

I’ve made it to 38 of the 50 states so far.
I minored in jazz bass in college.
I’ve chest-bumped a whale shark.
My daughter lived in 5 cities by the time she was 5.
Sharon and I love Disney more than just about anything.
I jumped out of a plane…with my mom.
I served in the military.
Pies are my weakness.
I’ve survived running with the bulls and hang gliding.
I’ve been in movies and TV shows.

5 Tips for Finding you Story 1. Do some free writing while you think about incidents from the past couple of weeks 2. Use a text app or speak into a voice recorder if writing is not your thing 3. Focus on authentic personal stories; don’t try to fake it. 4. Prepare your story before you tell it. Practice it; don’t improvise it. 5. Get feedback from friends and colleagues before delivering it in front of a “real” audience

Heart and Stroke Walk 2019 Regular listeners may know that I had a stroke on June 3, 2017. I looked for stroke related podcasts at the time to learn more. When I didn’t find enough existing shows, I started my own. You can learn more about that show at http://Strokecast.com

This year I am once again participating the Puget Sound Heart and Stroke Walk here in Seattle in October 2019. Please donate to the American Heart Association to help promote their work to reduce stroke through research and medical standards on the white coat side and through help folks reduce their blood pressure on the general population side.

If you’d like to contribute $10 or more, just visit http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/HeartWalk. That will take you right to the donation page on the AHA website. None of it goes to my pocket.

If you are interested in hiring me to speak at your event, we can have that conversation, too. Just reach out to me at bill@2minuteTalkTips.com

Links

Call To Action * Check out Zack’s podcast and all his social accounts at the links above * Pass the Baton yourself to a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/PassTheBaton. Then ask their thoughts on the episode. * Consider donating to the American Heart association here: http://2minuteTalkTips.com/HeartWalk * Don’t get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Reframe your Anxiety Anxiety and excitement are closely related so if you’re nervous before speaking, reframe it in your has as excitement. Tell yourself how excited you are at this opportunity. The physical symptoms — jitters, racing heart, etc. are very similar so give your brain a different interpretation of them

Post Tip Discussion: Core Confidence Authenticity is something a lot of my guests talk about because it matters. You can take inspiration and learn best practices from other speakers, but don’t try to be other speakers. Be yourself. It’s a heck of a lot easier.

Today’s guest coaches folks to do just that through his Core Confidence and AMP programs, with a special emphasis on understanding masculinity in the modern era.

Bio Dennis Sumlin is a certified life coach, speaking coach, speaker, podcaster, and Distinguished Toastmaster.

From Dennis’s website:

I have a long background in performing arts, speaking/broadcasting, talent recruitment, and other related promotional and administrative experience. I am both a certified communication and confidence coach as well as a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) from Toastmasters International.

The company that would become Core Confidence Life started out as a men’s development coaching service. Lack of confidence is far too common, and many people have a hard time both knowing and using all of their talents.

Along with promoting and developing artists with a pro-growth message, CCL, through the main podcast, helps you gain core self-confidence and a healthy self-esteem. Guests share their story and we give you actionable tips to support your development.

Core Confidence Life is not just a promotion company, we support your development as an artist and a person, and we work to both make you more confident in your message and craft, and to promote a healthy authentic soul centered lifestyle.

Gillette: The Best a Man Can Be Links

Call To Action * Check out Dennis’s website, podcast, and more by visiting http://Coreconfidencelife.com * Share this episode with a friend colleague or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/CoreConfidence * Subscribe for free to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Don’t Apologize Or more specifically, don’t start your talk by apologizing to the audience for the talk they are about to hear. It comes across as an appeal for pity. When you do that it means you are starting from a position of weakness rather than one of strength.

The opening few moments of your speech are where you can have a tremendous impact. Engage your audience with something compelling. Don’t waste it apologizing about how you were up late the night before and don’t feel prepared to deliver your material well. Don’t start by telling the audience they made a mistake coming out to see you.

Post Tip Discussion: Fire Stories with Jason Jordan I often talk about the why of your talk. Why are you delivering it? WBTU — Why bring that up? Why should your audience care? If there’s no reason for something to be in your speech or on your slides, cut it out. It’s just wasting your time.

Jason Jordan thinks about Why a lot, too, but it’s on a bigger scale. He helps organizations and individuals craft their Fire Story — the story of what drives them. It can be a cause close to their hearts or based around a moment in time that irrevocably altered their future for better and worse all at once.

My Fire Story, of course centers around the morning of June 3, 2017 when I found myself whisked away to the hospital I would live in for the next month, and the changes that have happened in my life since then — the things I’ve learned and the passion I was able to focus on helping others share their stories.

This week, Jason shares his story and talks about shaping those Fire Stories we all have. He talks about his approach to crafting a speech that will utterly terrify novice speakers, about the impact of forensics on his life, and just why Fire Stories matter.

Bio From Jason’s website:

I completed my MBA in 2004 at Texas A&M, with a focus in Entrepreneurship. I found competing in case competitions (before the rise of “Shark Tank”) to be especially exciting! I remember noticing, at the time, that the teams that usually won were expert storytellers, and always had a compelling narrative for the inspiration for their business idea. I would watch as their stories connected with the judges, and their faces would crack into beaming smiles. That was when I first realized how storytelling could impact business.

In 2009, I launched my dream career as a professional speaker and coach, primarily focused on the interaction of the Generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials). I developed programs on Intergenerational Sales Tactics, Leadership Development, and Communications, which were delivered at corporations and events around the country. Giving people tools to help them connect with others outside their generation was immensely satisfying, but the more business leaders, entrepreneurs, and influencers I worked with, the more I pushed them toward sharing their story.

This inevitably led me to the stories that matter most: The FireStories!

I am committed, for the rest of my career, to helping people discover and share their FireStories. In a world that is overrun with information and people trying to be heard, what we truly need is UNDERSTANDING. We don’t need to know what you do or how you do it. We need to know your WHY. Your FireStory provides your WHY.

Simon Sinek’s TED Talk on finding your Why Thoughts on Forensics Now that the new school year has begun in the US, Speech and Debate is picking up again. It gave me my early training as a speaker. It helped Jason get started.

Many of our previous guests got their start competing in Forensics, including Spoken Word Artist Huwa from Nigeria, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Litigation at Walmart and Courtroom Graphics specialists Kerri Ruttenberg, and Dr. Denise Vaughan from the UW-Bothell Speech and Debate team.

If a student expresses interest in speech and debate, encourage them. It may be the most valuable educational experience of their life.

Links

Call To Action * To learn more about Fire Stories, check out Jason’s website. * Share this episode with 3 coworkers or relatives by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/FireStory * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Slow Down Many speakers take the stage with their adrenaline pumping as the try to stifle their nerves or live in the exciting moment. Many times, they end up speaking to quickly. So try to slow down.

When we speak, we are often excited about, or at least familiar with, our topic. Our tendency is to go quickly over the basic stuff.

But the reason folks are in our audience is that they don’t know this stuff. They are likely hearing it for the first time. They are trying to digest and process this information as you speak. They are looking at your slides, too.

So slow down a bit. Give every word a chance to sink in. And use a varied pace to truly land your key points.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Morgan Lopes Morgan Lopes got his start in public speaking riding a horse and wearing a cape at dinner time.

He’s gone on to be CEO of one company and CTO of another — telling stories and working to change the world.

Some of the key things we talk about are managing his multiple roles, the importance of the niche, and the power of story.

Bio As a software engineer and entrepreneur, Morgan Lopes pursues deliberate, consistent progress over time as life’s greatest growth strategy. Regardless of his job titles, leadership is a choice not a rank. Morgan strives to make that choice daily and challenges others to do the same.

Polar Notion. Cofounded in 2012 New Story (YS S15). A human centered software from design to development and beyond.

Joined as Chief Technology Officer in 2016

Ending survival mode through home construction and global housing innovation.

3-Keys to Running Multiple Companies 1. Disciple — Morgan keeps a tight schedule, gets up early and goes to bed early. He respects the importance of sleep, and refuses to let email take control of his day. 2. Communication — Frequent and deliberate communication with team members is essential to keeping everyone on the same page. Just as important is inviting and accepting feedback — even when it’s not positive. It’s especially important for a C-level executive to be open and welcoming of criticism from other members of the team. 3. Grace — Things don’t always go perfectly, and Morgan is grateful for the grace his family and team members extend to him when things don’t go well.

New Story 3D Printed Homes I’ll just leave this here.

Links

Call To Action * Check out the work Polar Notion is doing here. * Learn more about New Story here. * Share this episode with someone you know who might wonder how you go from Medieval Times to C-Level executive by giving them the link http://2-MinuteTalkTips.com/Morgan * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Record Yourself and Watch it 3 Times Recording yourself on video used to be hard. But that’s not the case anymore. Nearly everyone has a powerful video camera in their pocket. There’s no reason not to use this tool to make yourself a better speaker. Record a rehearsal or presentation, and then watch it back 3 times in 3 different ways.

First, close your eyes and just listen. Focus on pace, rhythm, and filler words (uhms, ahs, likes, etc.).

Second, turn the sound off and just watch the silent video. Look for physical pacing, repetitive gestures, and awkward motions.

Third, watch it as an audience member might and ask yourself, “Did I actually land my point? Do I feel inspired to do what I want my audience to do?

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Denise An Galloni One thing I’ve seen over the past episodes is how childhood is not destiny. Some speakers started in grade school and couldn’t get enough stage time. Others were horrified early on, but were able to ultimately get past it and even learn to enjoy speaking.

Your approach to speaking as a child is not your destiny in life. Public speaking is a skill that can be acquired later in life. If you want to acquire it.

That’s how it was for Denise Ann Galloni.

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half

John Wannamaker

Bio Voted the quietest girl in her senior class, Denise Galloni started to come out of her shell and find her voice as a young adult. Today her mission is to help others find their voices and become better communicators through her company, DG Training Solutions Inc., which was founded in 2014.

In fact, Denise has delivered more than 500 presentations across the United States and Internationally. She is a Toastmasters award winner. Denise was inspired by so many women who helped her make her business more successful in 2017, she expanded her reach to help women live their dreams by creating, producing and hosting an award-winning TV show called Empowering Women.

n 2018, she was a nominee for the Inspiring Lives Magazine International Empowerment Award. Denise’s show Empowering Women was a 2018 nominee in the categories for Best Talk Show and Best Series for The Greater Pittsburgh Community Media Awards.

5-Tips for Better Training videos 1. Keep them short. Folks don’t want to watch a 40-minute video. You may feel you need that much time to cover all the material, but if folks don’t retain it, does it really matter if you covered it all? 4, 10-minute videos will always be better than 1, 40-minute video . 2. Don’t talk to the whole audience. Your learner is probably watching it by themselves. Address them as an individual. 3. Make sure your message is clear and concise. Plan that message before you start anything else. That simple message should be supported by the rest of your content. 4. Edit tightly. If you have any question about whether something belong in the video, cut it. 5. Keep the bottom line up front. Get to the point first. This way your learners have the full context for everything else they are about to hear. Plus, they can enjoy the instant gratification you are offering.

Links

Call To Action * Check out http://DGTrainingSolutionsInc.com to learn more about Denise’s training programs and other resources. * If you’ve thought about exploring Toastmasters, check out a local chapter. It’s made a big difference in Denise’s career. * Share this episode with friend or coworker by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/DGTraining * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Don’t waste you first 10 seconds When you go out on that stage you are a blank slate with the audience . They don’t know you. They’re not bored with you — yet. Now is when you have the best chance to grab their attention and interest.

So plan it out. Don’t leave your opening 10 seconds to chance or peter it away on, “How is everyone doing today?”

Tell a story. Tease the content. Surprise them. Comfort them. Or get right down to valuable business. But whatever you decide to do, make it deliberate and within your control.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Magician, Speaker, and Coach Matt Fore Matt Fore’s career has really been full of adventure. From proudly showcasing magic in high school, to jumping on last minute cruises as a performer, to coaching entertainers hoping to grow their own businesses, he’s got stories to fill 10 episodes.

What jumped out about him in this conversation is the humbleness with which he presents himself. There’s no over-the-top bragging here. It’s just a lot of simple practical advice and moments that had me laughing throughout the episode.

Bio Matt Fore is a Humorist, Writer, Speaker and Comedy Magician who routinely serves as the main stage performer for Corporate, Association and Faith based events around the country as he has for more than twenty-four years.

He has performed for Carnival Cruise Lines, The Magic Castle in Hollywood and has appeared on several national TV Shows including The Crook & Chase Show on TNN, Fox Sports and Swan’s Place on Odyssey. Matt is a contributor to Success.com, Entrepreneur.com and is the author of two books, “The Five Essential Elements – A Simplified Road to Success,” and his very popular comedy devotional “The Truth Shall Make You Laugh.” He is a lecturer among his peers in the areas of entertainment, sleight of hand magic and effective marketing.

He lives in Johnson City TN with his author wife Jo Ann. They have three or four kids. He is not sure because he spends much of his time on the road.

Minnie Pearl Matt’s early efforts at speaking in grade school were centered around Minnie Pearl. But what if you don’t know who Minnie Pearl is? Well, that’s why God and Google gave us YouTube

Introverts vs Extroverts Matt describes himself as an introvert. Many speakers do. Personally, I go back and forth between the two poles so I guess I’m more of an ambivert.

A lot of people assume introvert means shy so how can an introvert be comfortable on stage?

Because the concept of an introvert is more nuanced than that. Generally, introverts lose energy engaging with other individuals and recharge in more quiet, individualistic activities. Extroverts are just the opposite. They soak up energy from the people around them. They thrive on personal engagement with other people.

Public speaking at first glance seems optimized for extroverts since you’re in a room with dozens or hundreds or thousands of people.

In reality, though, you aren’t in a personal engagement with all those people. You are on stage doing your own thing. You’re working to engage all those people at once and, while it’s important to think about those people and the value you are there to deliver, it’s ultimately a solo activity. It’s you and the concept of the audience. It’s an individual approach. You can leave all your energy on stage to land your message and succeed.

It’s a heck of a lot easier than schmoozing at the networking party later.

Let People Help After and before an event, people may want to help you out. If you’ve been doing this a while, you may not need that help. In fact it may slow you down and throw off your entire routine. Or you may want to not burden those folks. Let them help, anyway. Prepare ahead of time some tasks you can ask folks to do when the offer assistance.

You’re doing them a favor.

Them offering to help you is how they are trying to forge a connection or a relationship with you. Most of us aren’t “famous” in the traditional world, but in the context of a speaking event, the speaker is a star. For some people this will be their brush with fame for the day, and they’ll be thrilled to talk about the part they played in your day in the years to come.

Accepting help also validates that they have value. That they can contribute even in some small way.

And that’s a simple thing you can do to leave an even more positive feeling with your audience.

Links

Call To Action * Visit MattFore.Com to learn more about Matt and his projects, or check out the Entertainer’s Marketing Academy to learn how you can book more gigs. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode * Don’t get best…get better.

Edit 2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Take Action The most important thing you can do as a speaker is to speak. Get one or two takes ready to go and then just focus on filling your calendar. Do whatever you can to book yourself solid. Get that stage time so you can get better.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Candice Bakx-Friesen Candice Bakx Friesen is essential the Nike of Canadian Real Estate. She embodies the idea of just do it. In today’s conversation, you’ll hear her advise several times to say yes and then figure it out when an opportunity presents itself.

While this may not be the best advice for neurosurgeons, it does work pretty well for speakers. Figure out your message, focus on that and deliver value to your audience.

I really like her approach to doing new things — just do it, and try not to get in your own way.

I also like that she emphasizes the importance of knowing your audience. In real estate of course we all know that the 3 most important things are location, location, and location

Before speaking to an audience Candice looks into the local real estate market. It’s not hard; there are plenty of resources available. Then she can deliver a custom talk that makes her local audience feel valued.

You can do that with most of your audiences, too. Do some research on what your audience is concerned about and mention their concerns. Talk to them about their problem specifically. They will feel that much more connected to you.

Bio Candice is passionate about helping people reach their financial dreams. Candice has been a real estate investor since 2001. She is also the founder of Investor Smarts Global Network and Driven By Results, and a coaching partner within the Truly Invested Real Estate Club. Candice’s candid approach to business and affinity for getting past the fluff and getting to the root of each challenge for her clients so that they get a lot done, has led to her becoming a highly sought after coach within the finance and real estate industries.

Candice has had the opportunity to speak at many events, and enjoys sharing and teaching others.

Some events she has spoken at include: Toronto Real Estate Investors Forum (Toronto, ON), Truly Invested Real Estate Group (Winnipeg, MB), Group Facilitator at the Conversation Event (Texas, USA), Durham REI Club (Toronto, ON), RENTS Bootcamp Event (Kamloops, BC), Prairie RE Forum (Regina, SK), Judge for TEDx (Flowermound, Texas, USA), Shine Again Event (Steinbach, MB)

Coaching There are many qualities and skills that go into being an excellent professional coach – integrity, in-depth knowledge, marketing savvy, effective negotiation skills and a high-quality professional network, all of which are hallmarks of how Candice works.

“Client first” philosophy has always been her approach and it requires Candice to continually improve her skills and ways of doing business. This means keeping herself accessible, being a good listener as well as a good communicator, and responding quickly to her client’s needs.

Links

Call To Action * So check out Candice’s Investor Smarts podcast or Driven By Results coaching program. * Share this episode with 3 people you know by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Candice. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Greet Audience Members Early As much as practical, if you have time before your speech, meet some members of your audience. Greet them as they come in and sit down. This accomplishes a couple things.

First, it’s the start of a relationship with a new person. For part of your audience, you will no longer be just that person on the stage. Instead you will be that person they were just chatting with who is now on the stage. As you build that relationship, you are building trust.

Second, it gives you some familiar faces you can look for when you are on the stage. This encourages you to engage in more eye contact, and it gives you some people you can specifically look for.

As a bonus, it can even help with speaker nerves by distracting in that period before your talk.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Joel Hawbaker Joel Hawbaker has fully embraced the storytelling aspect of speaking. And why wouldn’t he? Telling stories is how civilizations have shared their histories, their lessons, and their faiths for millennia.

It’s how religions today share the lessons and directives of their prophets and marketing departments around the world grow their profits. And it’s how you can make history compelling and memorable for the toughest audience in existence — school kids.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less

CS Lewis

I also like Joel’s thoughts on the importance of humility for not just a speaker and teacher, but for any expert. There’s an importance in going back to basics and working on fundamentals. Success requires a strong foundation, and not thinking you’re too good to work on the basics.

Even an experienced speaker needs to think through their content, do the prep work, and practice.

This focus on humility and going back to basics is an important that can help us connect with more audiences. They’re the best way to celebrate the hero of our talks — the message.

Bio Joel W. Hawbaker is a professional speaker, an author, and a high school teacher and soccer coach in Alabama where he lives with his wife, his two daughters, and their two rescue dogs. Joel has a degree in History from Covenant College, and he also spent time studying Medieval Civilizations at New College, Oxford, in the UK. In his professional speaking, Joel focuses on the topics of blended family life, leadership, and education. His goal is to help people form better relationships through a combination of confidence and humility. In addition to his books on leadership, he is currently working on a book about blended family life.

Writing the Book Joel talked about his approach to writing his book. He worked on his outlines in the evening, and he filled them out while driving to work. This can be a great approach, assuming you can do it safely. This is a great job for a dedicated digital recorder. For a task like this, the small, cheap ones are probably fine.

This is an approach that can work because editing is easier than creating. Once Joel had his recordings done, he could turn them into transcripts and then edit them into a book. Even with that, it still took him a year to write, “Inverted Leadership.”

But he did it.

On Strokecast, I talked with true crime author Paul Sanders. He finished his latest book a week before he had his stroke. That stroke robbed him (at least for now) of his ability to write books.

So don’t wait. Get that book written now. Joel found a way to write it during his commute. How can you find a way to write yours?

Links

Call To Action * Check out Joel’s book and web presence * Share this episode with 3 colleagues by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Joel * Don’t get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

Inverted Leadership: Lead Others Better By Forgetting About Yourself

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2-Minute Tip: Fuel your body properly Our bodies react differently to different foods, and to maximize our performance, we need to consume the appropriate fuel for the results we want.

That means, first of all, hydrate. That was also the very first tip in the very first episode of 2-Minute Talk Tips. But it goes beyond that.

Avoid dairy before speaking. It drives mucous production which leads to throat clearing and generally results in less clear speech.

Managing blood sugar is also important to prevent energy crashes and to reduce the stress on our systems.

So what should you consume if you’re planning to speak? Focus on proteins and fats. Think savory instead of sweet. And drink more water than you think you need.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Nutrition Expert Mary Sheila Gonella Mary Sheila Gonnela is a speaker, teacher, and nutrition expert. And in this episode we cover all those different areas.

We don’t often think about the fuel we need before speaking when we hit the snack buffet at a meeting. But it does make a difference. It’s among the things we explore this week.

But that’s not the only thing about effectiveness that we explore. Working with an assistant and being transparent with your audience are all ways to be more effective while speaking.

Bio Having served clients for over a decade as a Board Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant and Ayurvedic Practitioner, Mary Sheila Gonnella teaches clients how to honor their unique physiology, move self-care to the front burner, and achieve and maintain radiant health.

Mary Sheila’s classes and public talks fill up with students who keep coming back for more .

“Your breadth of understanding and your enthusiasm to share this knowledge, is so palpable. I learn many things from you every time!”

Andrew Goldstein, MS

Mary Sheila’s students at Bauman College Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts, where she taught for 7 years, say she is “One of Bauman’s greatest assets. She is brilliant and communicates her brilliance well. I am in awe of her knowledge level. She was a Godsend and a wealth of knowledge.” Jill Brogan, NC

In addition Mary Sheila’s private practice, Occidental Nutrition, Mary Sheila consults and teaches classes through doctor referrals in a clinical medical setting, where her approach has helped people have complete health transformations.

“My husband has been able to cut out nearly all his medications, as well as his sleep apnea machine, and both of us have greatly improved our sleep, and collectively we have lost 250 pounds. We can’t thank

Mary Sheila enough for her knowledge, energy, dedication and wonderful sense of humor.”

Nancy Palandati, CA

Her online courses include Your Roadmap to Bone Health, Blood Sugar Reset, Adrenal Vitality Blueprint, Winter Vitality Cleanse, Deeper Than Weight Loss, and Food Mood & Fermentation.

One of Mary Sheila’s favorite ways to connect with her students is by rolling up her sleeves, putting on an apron, and teaching cooking classes, reconnecting people to their ability to create delicious healing food in their own kitchen. Her classes include Fermentation, Eating for Immunity, and Everyday Superfoods, to name a few. Mary Sheila’s wealth of knowledge has led her to be included as a featured speaker and teacher on various online summits and stages around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Stay connected by visiting www.occidentalnutrition.com and sign up to receive “The Breakfast Report” Mary Sheila’s free guide to determining the right breakfast for you, your hormonal balance and your blood sugar regulation.

Personal Stories Mary Sheila talks about how she was able to connect with a group of young students by sharing the personal story of her mother’s cancer. As a result, she was able to engage the students.

It’s similar to the experience the Ari Gunzburg talked about a few weeks ago. In that episode he talked about throwing out the talk he planned to give to instead share his personal story with a group of students in juvenile detention. They really appreciated that and made his talk more effective.

One of the things that helps makes us more effective as speakers is when we can connect more deeply with our audience. That’s easier when we have more things in common with them. When we speak with other adults in our companies or industries we already have some key things in common — especially being adults.

Telling those personal stories helps the young audience see this “adult” is more like them than they might have expected.

Links

| Mary Sheila’s Website | https://occidentalnutrition.com/ | | Mary Sheila on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/occidentalnutrition/ | | Mary Sheila on YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUBuM3eolTaJ60GVkvVUHog | | Ari Gunzburg on 2-Minute Talk Tips | http://2MinuteTakTips.com/AriGunz | | Managing Handouts on 2-Minute Talk Tips | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/03/28/episode-14-manage-your-handouts-and-12-webinar-tips/ | | Avoid Dairy on 2-Minute Talk Tips | http://2minutetalktips.com/2018/03/07/episode-052-avoid-dairy-and-the-7-deadly-sins-of-powerpoint/ | | Hydrate on 2-Minute Talk Tips | http://2minutetalktips.com/2016/12/ |

Call To Action * To learn more about Mary Sheila’s approach to nutrition, check out www.occidentalnutrition.com. * What foods to find make you a more or less effective speaker? Let us know in the comments below. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Just put yourself out there Getting past intense nerves can be challenging, but there comes a point where you just have to do it. Just acknowledge your nerves and stage fright and do it anyway. If things don’t go well, the world won’t end, and (for most of us) no one will die. So just get up on stage, nerves and all, and just do it.

How can you give yourself the best chance for success? It’s no secret — practice. Prepare and practice. The more you do that, the better you’ll be able to focus on what matters — the audience and the message.

Afterall, it’s not about you.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Okoyomoh Egbekhuwa — or simply Huwa

“You know what’s great about hitting rock bottom? There’s only one way to go, and that’s up!”

— Buster Moon, Sing

Okoyomoh Egbekhuwa — or simply Huwa — is a Chemistry student, spoken word artist, and podcaster living in Nigeria. We live in an amazing time where technology let’s us have conversations like this across the world.

Spoken Word is a performance genre where poetry meets public speaking meets story telling. Rhythm and timing are critical to success. A lot of the lessons Huwa learned as she grew as a performer will likely resonate with other speakers today.

And I have to confess my own ignorance here, This is a genre I wasn’t really familiar with before this conversation. I love getting to learn stuff on the show.

Bio Okoyomoh Egbekhuwa, or just Huwa is a performance poet and podcaster from Nigeria, West Africa. She’s been speaking since she was eleven years old at debates and in church. She started performing as a spoken word artiste three years ago and realized how underrated it is as an art so she started up a podcast, called The Spoken World, inviting performance poets, authors and enthusiasts from around the world to share their stories as expressed in literary arts.

Recently, she’s learnt that the podcast can be so much more as it involves stories that reveal the culture, traditions and politics of individuals across the globe.

Sing Huwa quoted the movie Sing in our conversation. It’s an animated film about animals performing in a singing competition. A lot of the stories are about dealing with nerves, being true to yourself, and getting out there to share your art.

Here’s the trailer:

The Danger of the Single Story The Danger of the Single Story is the risk we have of falling into ignorance. In the context of our discussion, we touched on how many folks in the US and elsewhere have a limited perception of life in Africa. One narrative about the continent often dominates our perception.

Storytelling is a great way to connect with an audience. As an audience member its also important to seek out more stories from speakers and artists who have a different background. It’s not about creating an artificial debate between 2 view points — 2 or more viewpoints and be different without being in opposition to one another.

Even with my relative ignorance I think it’s safe to say that life in Nigeria is very different from life in Egypt or life in Lesotho. And it’s fair to say that life in Lagos is probably very different from life in Yola (and yes, I did have to pull up a map).

And that’s the danger of the single story or narrative. It makes it way too easy to make assumptions about a wide swath of the Earth and its people.

It’s not just about geopolitics and cultural diversity, though. As speakers, how many of us have gone into a company, or even a department within our own company, with a narrative in mind about the people there? What do you think you know about the internal culture of Amazon or Microsoft or Starbucks? These are organizations with tens of thousands of employees and contractors. The single story in our minds about organizations will impact how we prepare and speak with them, even though that story may only apply to a part of the group.

And even if it applies to most of the organization, is your audience within that organization the group that story applies to? And do you think the same story you have about a company as a whole applies equally to the legal department, the marketing department, and the C-Suite? Probably not.

And let’s talk about individuals. What is the single story you have about someone who’s had a stroke? Is it the 86 year old retiree in the nursing home? Or is it someone like Luke Perry or Sharon Stone? Or do you think about the freelance blogger and podcaster helping folks become more effective speakers in as little as 2 minutes a week?

Stories help us understand the world. They help us connect with one another and pass along history, values, lessons, inspiration and community. There’s nothing wrong with stories.

The danger is in letting a single story about our audience or millions and billions of people become the sole way we see that aspect of the world.

So seek out and listen to more stories.

Names When Huwa and I were setting up the interview, she also emailed me an MP3 of her pronouncing her full name ( Okoyomoh Egbekhuwa) for me. This was great because it gave me an opportunity to practice listen to the correct version again and again.

If you have a name that is difficult to pronounce — or than might be difficult for someone from a different culture to pronounce, consider send a recording of it in advance to whomever may be introducing you at an event.

And if you’re the person doing the introduction, make an effort to learn to pronounce what may be for you a challenging name. You want to get it right because names are so important and they tie into so much emotional stuff. Getting a person’s name right is a sign of respect. And so I hope I did well by Huwa’s name.

Links

| The Spoken World Website | https://thespokenworldpodcast-com.webnode.com/ | | The Spoken World on Twitter | https://twitter.com/spokenpodcast | | Huwa on Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/thespokenworld/ | | Spoken Word on Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoken_word | | Huwa’s Email Newsletter | https://mailchi.mp/07f2853d15f1/thespokenworld | | Spoken World Podcast on RadioPublic | https://play.radiopublic.com/the-spoken-world-podcast-WJ9QMB | | Spoken World Podcast on PocketCasts | https://pca.st/59Ai | | Spoken World Podcast on Apple Podcasts | https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spoken-world-podcast/id1416359054?mt=2 | | Spoken World Podcast on Google Podcasts | https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80Y2UzYjEwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz | | Spoken World Podcast on Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/6lpOymOxMa7vZ59gpq08tx | | Spoken World Podcast on CastBox | https://castbox.fm/channel/id1381569 | | Spoken World Podcast on Overcast | https://overcast.fm/itunes1416359054/the-spoken-world-podcast | | Spoken World Podcast on Stitcher | https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/the-spoken-world-podcast | | Spoken World Podcast on Breaker | https://www.breaker.audio/the-spoken-world-podcast | | Spoken World Podcast on Podbean | https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/95f92-7e247/The-Spoken-World-Podcast | | Kerri Ruttenberg on 2-Minute Talk Tips | http://2minutetalktips.com/Court | | Denise Vaughan on 2-Minute Talk Tips | http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Denise | | Hilary Billings on 2-Minute Talk Tips | http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Hilary | | Tim Garber on 2-Minute Talk Tips (Part 1) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/02/28/episode-010-parallel-structure-and-tim-garber-part-1/ | | Tim Garber on 2-Minute Talk Tips (Part 2) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/03/07/episode-011-record-yourself-and-tim-garber-part-2/ | | Jon Clarke on 2-Minute Talk Tips (Running a Panel) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/04/18/episode-017-plan-to-punt-and-how-to-run-a-panel/ | | Jon Clarke on 2-Minute Talk Tips (Comedy, Advertising, and rock) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/01/10/episode-003-skip-the-opening-joke-and-meet-jon-clarke/ |

Call to Action * Check out the links to Huwa’s podcast and Instagram above. * Subscribe to the Spoken World Podcast and 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Slides must help the audience, not the presenter One reason folks audibly groan when they think about PowerPoint is that too many speakers use the slides to help them get through their presentation rather than to help the audience understand what’s happening.

We use them too often to:

Help us remember
To keep our place
To just generally put too much stuff on screen

Ultimately there are 3 purposes behind our visual aids

Help the audience understand
Help the audience believe
Help the audience remember

When it comes to improving our visuals, we need to eliminate any extraneous text, and limit ourselves to just one concept per slide.

When designing slides or other visuals ask yourself, “Who does this help more: the audience or the presenter?”

If it’s the presenter, cut it or change it.

Post Tip Discussion Slides and visual aides are an important part of public presentations and not always in a good way. Slides dominate most stages these days, and reviewing a presentation for most folks means looking at the slides.

This trend isn’t limited to the conference room; it extends into the courtroom. PowerPoint slide decks, foam core boards, and animations now help juries make decisions in courts around the United States.

This week’s guest literally wrote the book on courtroom graphics. Kerri Ruttenburg, the Senior VP and General Counsel for Litigation at Walmart, is the author of Images with Impact: Design and Use of Winning Trial Visuals. She wrote the book to help lawyers and non-lawyers both make more effective use of visual aids in presentations.

Bio Kerri L. Ruttenberg is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Litigation at Walmart, trial lawyer, and previously a partner at the law firm Jones Day in Washington, D.C., where she served as the Head of Litigation for the firm’s D.C. office. She has tried cases in state and federal courts around the country. Kerri recently authored a book published by the American Bar Association, Images with Impact: Design and Use of Winning Trial Visuals, which has been praised as “groundbreaking” and “a must for the trial lawyer’s library.” Based on nearly 20 years of trial experience, working with graphic designers and interviewing jurors, Kerri frequently conducts seminars for lawyers, judges, expert consultants and marketing executives on the effective design and use of visuals for trials and other professional presentations.

Kerri has been a successful public speaker for decades. She paid for her college and law school education with competitive speaking scholarships, and her love of public speaking has continued through her career as she tries and wins cases, conducts seminars on presentation design and delivery, and even coaches others on how to improve their own effectiveness in public speaking.

Thoughts on Speech and Debate While my career took me in the direction of marketing, and Kerri’s took her in the direction of Law (which are pretty much complete opposites in most corporate environments). Our origin stories have a common touchpoint — Speech & Debate or Forensics in high School and college. We both partially paid for college with scholarship earned in competitive speech.

As kids start heading back to school next month, encourage or support their interest in Speech and Debate. And encourage schools to develop vigorous programs. The lessons from Speech and Debate extend well beyond how to speak before a judge.

A year ago, in July 2018, I spoke with Denise Vaughan, one of my former team mates in Speech and Debate from the Carroll College Talking Saints, and now coach of the Speech and Debate team at UW-Bothell about competition and her path. You can here that conversation here: http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Denise

Preparation The other important lesson is one I talk about a lot — the importance of preparation. Kerri emphasizes the importance of showing up early to make sure everything works and the venue is setup as expected.

Preparation is also key for courtroom visuals. Kerri talks about the importance of using graphic designers for most of her trial graphics. We also talked about the unique review process for courtroom visuals. The opposing counsel needs to review graphics as does the court in many cases to make sure they are in compliance with appropriate legal standards.

The point is none of these graphics are put together at the last minute. They’re not assembling slides 10 minutes before using them. The stakes are just too high.

Links

| Kerri Ruttenberg on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerri-ruttenberg-251018126/ | | Kerri’s book on Amazon | https://amzn.to/2CBYnDd | | Kerri’s book on America Bar Association website | www.ambar.org/imageswithimpact | | Rule 403 | https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode28a/usc_sec_28a_03000403—-000-. | | 2-Minute Talk Tips with Denise Vaughan | http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Denise | | @-Minute Talk Tips Review of “Storytelling with Data” by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/09/05/episode-026-bring-candy-and-read-storytelling-with-data/ |

Call To Action * So check out Kerri’s book on Amazon or the American Bar Association’s website. * Kerri is also on LinkedIn, where you can see the path of her career. You can connect here. * Share this episode with the attorney, graphic designer, or Law & Order fan in your life by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Court. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Be Vulnerable When you open up and share your story with an audience, it gives them an opportunity to connect with you on a deeper, emotional level. When you establish that connection with them, they listen more closely, relate to you better, and are more likely to retain your message or execute your call to action.

It’s not something to fake though. Audience’s can generally sense when someone is being authentic, rather than being fake. And vice versa.

So on stage, you don’t need to pretend to be perfect. You can share failures and mistakes. You won’t chase away your audience. You’re more likely to inspire them to join you on the journey.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Ari Gunzburg Ari is now a motivational speaker, a podcast host, and a wilderness liaison. Once his two podcasts are launched, and his workload calms down slightly, Ari plans to start writing a book, outlining specific programs and ideas to help people build a more meaningful life.

Ari learned about death early in life. He experienced a traumatic moment when only 10 years old, when his teacher passed away while on a hiking trip. This would affect his life deeply and change his perspective forever.

Following the death of this teacher, there was trouble afoot at school for all of the traumatized kids. This created a domino effect of changes and decisions that all culminated in Ari getting his “PhD” from the school of hard knocks, through multiple bad decisions and the outcomes of those decisions.

Having to live through these decisions and consequences has taught Ari many important life lessons; all of which he passes on to others.

“Regret not, but learn from your mistakes,” says Ari, reminiscing the wild cycles he experienced during his misspent youth. “Any lesson gained from real life experiences is one you no longer need to learn in a formal educational setting.”

Ari has had many life-changing experiences, each of which shaped him; from dropping out of high school, to going to jail, to experimenting with drugs, to wild partying and more.

After more than a decade working in marketing, branding, graphic design and websites, Ari realized that his experiences can help others. That his mistakes don’t have to be lived over and over again, if he can just tell over his story, and help people understand.

Ari is now focused on helping others, all while taking care of four fantastic children and the most amazing wife.

He is building programs and workshops to help others, using his ability to speak. Ari is producing podcasts to help others find their path to success and greatness. Ari helps others experience the wilderness, and the calm that comes from being immersed in nature. And Ari is helping kids and teenagers make better decisions.

Ari is now building lives of meaning.

Toastmasters This week, we get to learn a lot more about the competitive aspect of Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a well-known international organization with thousands of chapters around the world. It’s a fantastic resource for folks who want to improve their public speaking skill, practice, and get feedback.

While we do talk about competition in Toastmasters this week, keep in mind that is only part of the program. If you don’t want to compete, that’s perfectly fine. Most Toastmaster folks don’t.

But for those who do want to explore competitive speaking, though, Toastmasters can be a great option.

Vulnerability and Rebranding Ari’s tip about vulnerability is important, and you hear it come out a few times, including the last segment where Ari talks through his rebranding, refocusing, and redesign of his website. His new website is now live. If you’d like to see how it changed, you can check out the old version in the Internet Wayback Machine.

Links

Call To Action * Check out Ari’s new website at AriGunzburg.com, and Ari’s other inks above. * If you want to try your hand, or mouth, at competitive speaking, or just want more experience while you improve your speaking, check out a local Toastmasters chapter. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work

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2-Minute Tip: Tell Your Personal Truth To be effective as a speaker on the big stage, you have to be able to tell your truth. That means you have to know what it is. This may take some personal work to understand what you are passionate about — what you truly believe.

Where it really pays off is in the connection to your audience. They can sense the authenticity. More importantly, they can sense artifice.

Ultimately it goes back to the words of Maya Angelou:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Mel Andre In the conversation I had with Mel, we covered the big picture stuff, but also some of the nitty gritty stuff about developing talk. There’s a nice mix of practical, individualistic, and conceptual material here.

And like any good motivational speaker, Mell brings some great enthusiasm to our talk.

Bio Mel M. Andre is an Entrepreneur, Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, CEO of Skill and Will Fitness and former lead consultant at Andre Consultant. Mel’s passion in life is to help people realize their greatness and help people accomplish their goals.

Mel knows that in order to change your life, you must first change yourself and your mindset. Mel’s program focuses on helping you have a paradigm shift while also helping you make a plan to accomplish your dreams and goals.

Several years ago Mel hit rock bottom and lost everything she had worked so hard to obtain. Mel decided that she would no longer be the victim and decided to completely change her life around.

Through the power of motivations, dedication, discipline & positive affirmations Mel was able to turn her life around in a few months. During those few months, Mel decided to work on her business full time while also working on herself. She knew in order to become successful and stay successful she would have to make drastic lifestyle changes. These changes allowed her company, Skill and Will Fitness, to take off in ways she could only imagine.

While Mel’s success grew she started mentoring her friends and family. This led Mel to discover her new passion, which is motivating and inspiring people to accomplish their goals and dreams.

Keys to Success and Happiness Conference On May 11, 2019, Mel, along with Barbara Pando-Benke and Melanee Williams spoke at the Keys to Success and Happiness conference. At that conference they not only discussed how to become successful, but also how to find happiness during your journey and stay happy during the ups and downs that come with chasing your dreams and accomplishing your goals.

You can watch the entire conference for free at http://KeysToSuccessAndHappiness.com.

Five Mistakes Speakers Make Mel outlined 5 important mistakes new speakers make.

They don’t speak their truth.
They rely too much on their notes and slide decks.
They fail to Practice.
They focus on landing big gigs at the expense of learning and growing at smaller ones.
They turn down opportunities that they are afraid are too big.

To learn more about these mistakes, listen to the clip below, or just listen to the whole episode.

If you’d like to share this video, you can use this link: http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/MelTalksMistakes

Links

Call To Action * You can find Mel on Instagram, where she is Mel_Andre911. Just search there or follow this link. * Share this episode with 2 colleagues by using the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Mel * Subscribe to 2-MinuteTalkTips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Stay in Your Line When on stage, there’s pressure to have all the answers — to be the expert. And when we’re talking about the area of our expertise.

What do we do we aren’t the expert though?

There’s a lot of power in saying, “I don’t know. I’ll get back to you.”

Know what you can speak about and know what you shouldn’t speak about. Focus on your lane and the audience will respect you more.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Chandler Walker There’s a temptation when we speak to throw more and more information at an audience. We see this manifest in unreadable slides; long, boring talks; and few opportunities for Q&A or other audience interaction. And I get it.

In the corporate world, we are under pressure to cover all the material possible to maximize the value of the audience’s time. Or we may have multiple sponsors for our talk who want to make sure we include all of “their” material.

The problem is when we focus on everything, we focus on nothing. We disregard the fact that the audience needs to take away something. It doesn’t matter if we say all the stuff if it doesn’t inspire the audience to do something with it.

Bio Candler Walker’s tip about staying in your lane is important. It’s not about “knowing your place.” It’s about being comfortable with where you can add value and where you can’t. As we go through today’s discussion, you’ll see that. You’ll also see how he questions his audience to continue understanding how he can add value.

Chandler Walker has built a personal brand that has catapulted him to the keynote stage, fireside chats and corporate speeches. He’s spoken in the US, Australia, The Netherlands, and Canada. He also hosts the Chan’s Logic Podcast.

Links

Call To Action: * Check out Chandler’s website, Facebook page, and other social media accounts in the links above. * Subscribe to the Chan’s Logic Podcast and 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Mine Social Media for Stories We talk a lot about the importance of storytelling in talks. And I’m sure many of us have seen speakers who have a story for everything. How do you do that?

Review your social media. We tell stories throughout our day on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a variety of other platforms. Then we often forget them.

So next time you need a story go ahead and mine your own social media to find some good ones. It’s likely filled with moments you wanted to remember and share. And those are the good stories.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Logan Rena Logan Rena is just overflowing with energy, enthusiasm, and self-discipline.

Her approach to life is about not asking for permission. But it’s not in a reckless manner. In fact, it’s highly disciplined because once you no longer ask for permission then you become responsible for your actions at a much deeper level.

Logan Renā is the Chief Creative Director of The Logan Design Project Affirmation Clothing company and author of the #1 New Released book, Never Ask For Permission Again. Logan’s heart work is taking women on a journey of self-love, self-awareness and self-care through speaking engagements, The Logan Rena Show on YouTube and through the SoulKation podcast.

Links

Call To Action * Check out Logan’s site at LoganRena.com where you can learn more about Logan, her books, and her programs. * Get your free copy of the Soul-Formations list. * Check out the Soulkation Podcast in your favorite podcast app. * Mine your own social media for stories to tell at your next talk * Don’t get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Practice Breathing Breathing is, of course, an essential step in speaking. After all, it's how we make sounds. But it's more than that.

Getting adequate air into our lungs calms us down. It helps us counter act the nerves many speakers experience. It ensures our brain has the oxygen it needs to stay on task. And it enhances the volume and confidence with which we speak.

To practice breathing:

Place 2 hands on your chest so your fingers barely touch.
Inhale deeply until your fingers separate.
Exhale
Repeat 4 more times

Do this exercise 5 times a day for several weeks and your body will get used to breathing in a way that maximizes effectiveness in speaking

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Kim Baillie Kim Baille fell into public speaking, like many of us do, by simply not hating it. In many fields, being willing to speak means that colleagues will ask us to speak

Kim lives in Australia where she acquired her 30 years of experience coaching engineers, architects, senior executives, and now floral designers in public speaking. Her focus is combining their expert knowledge with practical tips to increase their impact as presenters of information.

Kim cohosts the Inside-Exec Podcast with Fulyana Orsborn, a former Citigroup Executive and wealth management expert. Together they help today's corporate executives learn from managers outside the traditional corporate world.

Pre Speech Warm-Up Kim talked about doing vocal warmups before going on stage. This is probably more common among singers and voice actors. It's helpful for speakers, too, because you still need to tune your instrument.

To me the real value, though, is in how it shifts your mindset. It puts you in a position to go out and speak. It's a ritual that helps you refocus your mental energy on the speech you are about to deliver.

And when it successfully does that, it has the added benefit of knocking down the nerves

Inside-Exec Podcast Kim talked about one of the most popular episodes of her podcast.

That episode is called "What are the similarities between elite athletes and executives?"

Kim and Fulyana interviewed triathletes Josh and Krystle Hockley. You can listen to the episode here.

Links

Call To action * So check out Kim's site Talking in Public to learn more about her programs. * Explore Kim's Podcast, Inside-Exec in your favorite podcast app. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Kim * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Cross the Screw It Line We can prepare and prepare all we want, but at a certain point before a talk, we’ve done all that we can do.

The anxiety we may feel in going out on stage is less helpful on stage.

There comes a point, where we just have to say to ourselves, “Screw it.” (Or a less family friendly version of that). At that point it’s time to go execute. You’ve done everything you could to be ready. Once you get to that line, you have to trust that you’ve done enough.

And if not? Well, screw it. You’ve got a job to do.

Post Tip discussion: Meet Phil Johnson I like talking with comedians because they are not just interesting people to chat with. The one-on-one conversations may not be the laugh-fest you might think, especially considering how many are introverts.

But I really like talking with them because comedy is such a precise craft. It involves understanding language, timing, and storytelling at a deep level.

Most public speakers understand these topics at a basic level, but we can be successful by wielding them in broad strokes — almost clumsily. Sometimes we can land our points and message like we are using a paint roller.

Comedians however, can’t use a paint roller. They have to use a fine tip touch up brush because their success relies on precise timing, wording and even emphasizing the right syllable. So there’s a lot we can learn from them.

Bio Phil Johnson is a man who gets mistaken for a woman, but only by those not paying attention. That revelation kicks off a battle for self-awareness where comedy and music are the weapons of choice. It’s a battle that has taken Phil to such esteemed festivals as the Edinburgh Fringe and Sundance Film Festivals and the Top 8 Finals of the World Series of Comedy.

“I’ve always been the guy who isn’t quite what people expect,” says Phil. Using that experience, Phil pokes holes in the medical marijuana argument, discusses being a white guy at a hip hop show (and the innocent gestures that can get him in trouble), and reveals why Hawaii isn’t the paradise we think it is.

From Shakespearean bees to redneck vampires to anthropomorphic cell phones with weight issues, Phil Johnson fills the stage with quirky characters that combine social satire with absurdist flights of fancy. Then the guitar comes out and kicks the show into an even higher gear with songs about the bright future (and dark past) of babies and what he would do if he woke up one morning as an actual woman.

On stage, Phil’s playful humor and likeable, endearing manner allow him to shake things up without antagonizing the audience. In the end we can only be who we are, try to understand others, and hope they understand us.

RA Curtain CallRoadside Attraction comes from leader Phil Johnson’s twin careers in music and comedy. “The idea here is songs that are musically interesting and challenging, but also funny, and understandable by a casual music listener,” says Johnson. It’s more eclectic than Stephen Lynch, funnier than Prince, and more palatable than Frank Zappa, though influences of all three abound.

“Afrodizzyac” is their take on Blaxploitation film themes. This one is about an international super spy (Afrodizzyac) saving the women of the world from his archenemy, Left Nut. “Brown Ring Around The Collar” is a happy tirade about the stupid people we meet every day. And “Hella Good Day” is Phil Johnson’s own musing on what would make his perfect day. “I wrote it during a really bad day and it helped cheer me up. I don’t expect people to personally relate to each lyric. But I hope it will make them think about what would make them happier.”

Two of the greatest forms of release are live music and a hearty laugh. And Roadside Attraction delivers in spades as evidenced by the audience of young and old, and every ethnicity you’ll find in the audience. Roadside Attraction play by their own rules, and doing everything they can to help you loosen up.

Phil’s Upcoming Tour Dates Here’s where you can see Phil in June 2019.

For more appearances, check out the list on his website here.

Phil in Action These videos highlight Phil’s comedy. You might not want to play them loudly in your office.

Other Conversations with Comedians Way back in Episode 3, I talked with my good friend Jon Clarke about his experience as a musician, comedian and advertising creative.

You can find that here.

In Episode 62, I spoke with British comedian, host, and podcaster Iszi Lawrence about the power of storytelling.

You can find that episode here.

Trina Talks Podcast I had the privilege of being the first man to appear on the Trina Talks podcast.

Trina Talks is a podcast with inspirational talk based on wisdom gained through Trina’s life experiences for women who want motivation and inspiration to go to the next level in their lives, whether personal or professional. Trina L. Martin is a motivational speaker, leader, and cyber tech expert.

I share my stroke story and journey as we talk about the challenges, signs and causes of stroke, and some of the specific challenges women face. You can listen below or subscribe to Trina Talks for free in your favorite podcast app.

Links

Call To Action * To learn more about Phil, his comedy, his Pirate podcast, and more, visit http://www.RoadsideAttraction.com or check out the links above. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Phil * Subscribe for free to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Textiful One way to avoid overwhelming and stressing your audience is to make resources available after the fact and to let your audience know those resources will, in fact, be available.

Ari Meisel recommends Textiful for this. With this tool, you can tell your audience to text a key phrase to a specific number. Now you have an automated dialog with the audience member. You can automatically email them your slides, add them to a newsletter mailing list, or set up other follow-up activities.

When you tell your audience about this at the beginning of your talk, that helps them focus more on understanding and thinking about you content instead of just trying to retain all the details.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Ari Meisel Ari Meisel speaks around the country about being an Overwhelmologist and helping founders replace themselves in organizations. Regardless of your role in an organization, though, there is a lot of wisdom in Ari’s approach.

Bio Ari is the best-selling author of “The Art of Less Doing,” and “The Replaceable Founder.”He is a self-described Overwhelmologist whose insights into personal and professional productivity have earned him the title, “The Guru’s Guru.” He can be heard on the award-winning Less Doing Podcast, on international stages speaking to thought leaders and influencers, and for those who prefer the written word, Ari’s blog posts on Medium offer immediate and actionable advice for entrepreneurs seeking replaceability.

Teach Your Audience to Listen Ari starts off his talk by explaining three things.

He speaks really fast to pack in a lot of information, and he encourages his audience to slow him down if he goes too fast.
He likes to be interrupted so he doesn’t want folks to wait until the end of the talk to ask questions.
At the end of the talk they’ll be able to get the slides and notes via textiful, as described in his tip.

By explaining these items, he teaches the audience how to listen to his talk. Giving folks the ground rules means folks don’t have to wonder if it’s appropriate to ask questions, if they have to take detailed notes, or if the talk is going too fast for others.

When we know the ground rules and set the appropriate expectations, we can focus more on the content.

OAO Methodology Ari mentioned the core methodology of OAO.

Optimize
Automate
Outsource

Those 3 elements are key to making yourself replaceable.

You first need to know which processes you can make more efficient. That’s not just about being faster. It’s about making sure they are built in the right way to deliver the results you want fastest and at the lowest cost.

Once you optimize your processes, how can you automate them? Are there tech tools that will deliver the same result with less involvement from you? A text message autoresponder like the one Ari talked about in his tip might be one example.

But it’s not just as about tech tools. Are there ways you can set up an automated process that triggers actions from you or members of your team in such a way that you don’t need to spend much time thinking about it? Preserve that brain energy for things that matter and make a bigger difference in your business.

Finally — outsource. Once your processes are optimized and automated for your business or role, is there someone else who can take that over? Maybe it makes sense to hire another company or contractor to execute that task for you.

TedX Talk Ari mentioned doing a TedX Talk as one of his earlier speaking endeavors. Here it is.

Managerial Economics 101 I mentioned the Manager Tools description of Managerial Economics 101. Here is their explanation of the concept.

Other Lessons for Speakers There’s an important lesson for speakers here. At one level, it’s about how a speaker or trainer runs their independent business, or how we do the rest of our job if we have a role in a corporation.

At another level, it’s about the content of our talks. It’s easy to fill our talks with too much stuff — with too many details. We might do that because we want to share all the details. Or prove how knowledgeable we are. Or because we’re afraid to leave something out.

We sometimes do the same thing when crafting slides. We put too much on there because we love our content. Or we want to make sure it’s complete. Or because we think we should.

In reality, putting too much in a talk or too much on a slide is just as counterproductive as doing too much non-core work in our business.

If we overwhelm our audience we are less likely to land our actual message or point. If we don’t do that, what’s the point?

Links

Call To Action * To learn more about Overwhemologist Arie Meisel click here or the other links above. * Share this episode with a busy colleague or entrepreneur you know by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Ari * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

The Art Of Less Doing: One Entrepreneur's Formula for a Beautiful Life

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2-Minute Tip — Remove Filler Words Filler or crutch words are the bane of many a speaker’s existence. The ums, ahs, likes, verys, you knows, and more clutter up our talks and conversation so much we don’t even notice them. They waste time, annoy the audience and distract from your message. So get rid of them.

Easier said than done.

One technique is to have a friend or colleague listen to you practice your talk and ring a bell every time they hear a filler word. Once you actually know you are using them in real time, it becomes easier to eliminate them and relish the power of silence

Post Tip Discussion — Meet John Rohe One of the terms you hear in the training field (and likely other education related fields as well) is the “sage on the stage.”

In describes the lecture format in many education contexts. The wise experts stands on the stage at the front of the room and imparts knowledge on to the lucky audience members. It’s one way communication, and it has its place, but can have a certain amount of arrogance associated with it.

Bio John Rohe is a speaker who eschews the lectern and the stage. He a speaker and trainer in both the commercial and ecclesiastical fields, and one of themes that comes through in the episode is the importance of humility with your audience.

John’s experience ranges from start-ups to established multi-billion dollar enterprises. John launched the cardiac marker proBNP for Roche Diagnostics and the first personalized health (test and drug) for osteoarthritis for Roche Pharma, Roche Diagnostics and GSK.

He also internationalized sales for RPS, revived sales of Procalcitonin for Thermo Fisher, grew Alere’s PT/INR home testing from $9 million to $25 million in 1 year and boosted equipment service contracts for BD.

John has taken products from R&D through FDA clearance and achieved CMS and other third-party reimbursement. He has implemented user friendly CRMs and automated quoting systems, and he integrated marketing collateral with sales force access. He has also been responsible for developing and implementing automated quoting and contracting systems.

John’ Speaker Evaluation Checklist * Are they using filler words? * Do they appear to be knowledgeable about the material? * Are they speaking to the audience? * Are they looking down at their notes? * Are they reading slides to me? * Are they moving around? * Are they actively engaged with the audience?

Kirkpatrick Levels of Training Evaluation * How do the learners feel about their training experience? * How effectively did the learners acquire new skills or knowledge? * How effectively did the learners apply what they learned in training? * How effectively did the training ultimately meet its goals for the organization?

You can read more about the Kirkpatrick framework here. It’s a fascinating mental exercise.

Links

Call To Action * Check out the work John is doing at Hycap.org * Share this episode with another speaker or trainer by giving the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/JohnRohe * Don’t get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip — Tempo When things are going well or smoothly we often talk about being in a state of flow. We feel it in music; we feel it when we’re writing code; we feel it when we’re doing needlepoint; and we feel it on stage when we speak.

Part of what drives that rhythm is finding the right tempo, or pace, for ourselves and hour talk.

Tempo goes beyond just finishing on time (though that’s important, too). It’s about honing in on the natural way that you talk. If you naturally talk fast, that may be fine. I you talk fast because you’re nervous, then that’s something to worry about.

The length of your sentences, the words you choose, your phrasing, etc., all impacts your tempo.

When you find yourself giving a talk that just “feels right,” ask yourself what you were doing in that talk. Ideally you recorded it so you can go back and listen to it again a figure out what made it smooth.

You probably found your tempo. And when that happens, don’t fight it — lean into it. Embrace your tempo.

Your speech can also have its own tempo, separate from the speaker. Different content will lend itself to different pacing. Talks may rise and fall emotionally depending on where you are in it. The energy level shouldn’t be the same throughout; let it fluctuate as the content dictates.

Ultimately you want the tempo of you as a speaker to be in line with the tempo of your talk. If you can’t get there, then rethink that talk.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Lyle Tard Back in college on the debate team I found my performance in competition rose or fell to the level of my competitors. The value in competing against a really awesome team was that it would draw out the best in my performance.

That was my experience in today’s conversation with speaker, trainer, Podcaster, Servant Leader, and Airforce Technical Sergeant Lyle Tard. His enthusiasm and energy is contagious.

Bio Lyle Tard is the Founder and CEO of IMPACT Servant Leadership, started in 2018. He is currently entering his 19th year as a Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force and serves his country while still on active duty at the 305 Maintenance Group at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as the Non-Commissioned Officer in charge of Training Management.

During his Air Force career, he has been all over the world, from Europe to the Pacific Islands and everywhere in between. Among his accomplishments are honors such as Non-Commissioned Officer of the Quarter and Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award – Non-Commissioned Officer Tier. He has guided the careers of more than 10,000 Airman from civilian to military life, leading them in cutting edge training of their newly developed skills. He previously managed the Community College of the Air Force program at the United States Expeditionary Center’s school, touching the lives of more than 43,000 military and civilian members annually just before his current posting.

As a communicator, Lyle has spoken worldwide inside and out of the military community. He has motivated young adults at institutions such as Atlanta Leadership College, American University and Harvard Business School. Just as in the Air Force, Lyle takes pride in leading the next generation of world changers. From universities to businesses to churches, Lyle’s passion is to influence the world to realize that “Leaders lead best when they serve.” IMPACT Servant Leadership aims to transition our most impactful areas of society to realize that achieving power with others is more beneficial socially and economically than asserting power over others. Lyle is also the primary moderator of the Service is Power podcast, spreading the message that “The Power to Serve, Serves us All.”

Along with his wife of 14 years, Sherrell and his two children, Alycea and Ethan, Lyle has served as the Youth Pastor at Gulf Coast City Church in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, Missions Director at National Community Church, Washington D.C. and Lead Elder of Lighthouse International Ministries in Brunssum, Netherlands.

Gain From Our Perspective Lyle found inspiration in the slogan of Franklin Templeton Investments. Here is one of their commercials.

Episode 13 of Service is Power Lyle talked about how his guests surprised him in Episode 13 of the Service is Power podcast. Here is that episode

Training I found Lyle’s description of training in the military particularly interesting. It’s a model based on simulating the experience as much as practical since in the real world lives, millions of dollars in equipment, and US foreign policy are all on the line and dependent on that training kicking in when it’s needed.

Obviously, most corporate trainers do not face the same stakes, but our work may take us closer than we think. The way our learners do their jobs can impact millions of dollars of business, the jobs of their coworkers, and the health or safety of colleagues and customers.

eLearning and stand-up lectures can be part of the training solution, but ultimately we need to get our learners as close to the actual real world work as much as possible.

Go Make a Thing As you probably noticed in the conversation, I also like how Lyle started his podcast on Servant Leadership. He went looking for content for himself, found it didn’t exist, so he created it. It’s the origin behind my Strokecast, too.

If there’s a resource you are looking for that you can’t find, go ahead and create it. You will help others, and you’re likely to learn a lot in the process, too.

Links

Call To Action * Is there something you want to learn more about or that you are passionate about? Try creating content about it for other people. * Explore the work Lyle is doing at http://ImpactServantLeadership.com * Subscribe to the Servant Leader Podcast and 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app for free so you never miss an episode * Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Caring is key People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

As with so many strategies for success in speaking, it often comes down to the audience. How well do you know them? How well do you connect with them?

Most importantly, do they trust you?

Try to connect with the audience and make them feel you care and are listening to them and their concerns. Once you have established that level of rapport, they are much more likely to believe you when you speak to them.

Post-Tip Discussion: Meet Richard Kauffman I do have a content warning for this episode. We do talk about both suicide and addiction. It’s a big part of Richard’s history and the journey of recovery he’s on today.

Richard Kauffman is a member of an elite group. He joins Nursepreneur Catie Harris (Http://2minutetalktips.com/Catie and Http://Strokecast.com/Catie) as only the second guest to appear on both 2-Minute Talk Tips and Strokecast.

I originally spoke with Richard in August of 2018 in Episode 29 of Strokecast about his experience surviving an ocular stroke when he was wounded in combat. Over the past year his projects and initiatives have grown quite a bit. He’s doing more work to help people than ever before.

Compassion and Caring The theme that runs through this episode is about compassion and connection. It’s about connecting with your audience, connecting with individuals, allowing folks to truly talk with you, and enhancing that connection through the power of touch.

Bio Richard brands himself as #TheComebackCoach, helping people comeback from life challenges many thought they might not survive.

Richard Kaufman has had a fascinating life. At various points he has been…

An addict
Homeless
In the Army
Wounded in a Humvee
A retail salesperson
A survivor of an ocular stroke
A Podcaster
A speaker
And #TheComebackCoach

Richard’s book is available on Amazon. Just search for A Hero’s Journey.. From Darkness to light or click here.

Babe — Styx Links

Call to Action Whether you’re selling time shares, connecting with a support group, or presenting to a thousand people, compassion and connection are how you can be effective with your audience.

If you want to hear more from Richard, visit Strokecast.com/Richard to hear our previous conversation
Check out the list above to see Richard’s links, podcast, website, and find his book on Amazon.
Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode
Don’t get best…get better.

A Hero's Journey.. From Darkness to light

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2-Minute Tip: Identify Your Biggest Take Away To deliver an effective presentation, first identify the biggest take away for the audience. If they remember only one thing, this is the thing it should be.

To figure that out, start by doing a brain dump on a piece of paper or whiteboard. Then go through all theses random ideas that are in someway related to your topic. What stands out? Which ideas are most important? What themes keep popping up?

As you do this, you'll likely discover the big idea for your talk. Once you have that, you can begin building everything else.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Julia Wojnar In the theater you have to know your part and how your role fits into the rest of the show. You have to know your lines and be rehearsed.

Speaking is similar. You have to know your purpose. Why are you speaking? What is your role in this meeting? What is the purpose of your talk in the larger event or conference? What are you meant to accomplish.

You have to be prepared and rehearsed to be effective. Unlike theater, you don't need to have your talk memorized word for word, but you do need to know your content.

That's what the prep work is all about.

Today's guest, Julia Wojnar comes from a theater background which helps her be an effective Public speaking trainer through her company, Unleash Your Presence.

In this conversation we talk about theater, working through nerves, identifying your purpose and speaking in different cultures.

Crazy 8s One reason we get anxious before speaking is that our bodies don't really know how to deal with it. Evolutionarily, we are not optimized for standing in front of a group of other human animals and having the focus on us. Our fight or flight instinct kicks in. Adrenaline pumps. Muscles tense. Secondary biological processes may shut down. Muscles tense to spring into action and survive.

But it's all unnecessary. There is no threat to our lives. We're not about to be kicked out of the tribe. We need to rechannel that energy and deal with it.

Pradeepa Narayanaswamy recommended changing your language. Don't tell yourself you're anxious or nervous; tell yourself -- and others -- you're excited. And it's great insight because excitement and anxiety often feature similar physiological symptoms.

Julia offers another great way to deal with the anxiety -- the Crazy 8s (though it could use a less ableist name).

This is exercise comes from Julia's theater background where it can be a valuable warmup exercise for actors as they burn off their excess energy and get ready to wow the audience.

Take a look at the video below to learn more.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NANGMbz5-Gk[/embed]

Billy Mays I mentioned Billy Mays in this episode. If you're not familiar with him, Billy Mays was the quintessential TV pitchman of the 90s and 2000s. He's the reason so many people buy OxyClean, KaBoom, and other products.

Here is one of his videos:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PU8ZxQj7eE[/embed]

Bio Julia Wojnar is the Founder of Unleash Your Presence where she develops professionals’ resilience, speaking, and communication skills to tackle tough decisions and express their ideas clearly and confidently.

She has honed her own speaking skills with over fifteen years of experience on stage speaking and performing, in addition to her formal training in Communications from Ithaca College.

She has been featured on The Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Hello Fearless, Grant Cardone’s Whatever It Takes Network, Savvy Central Radio (a syndicate of iHeartRadio), and The Wealth Standard Podcast, among others.

Nowadays, she speaks and delivers live and virtual trainings to help her clients bridge the gap between their brilliant idea and their ability to communicate it powerfully.

Promotions Julia is making her Corporate Communications Check list available to listeners of 2-Minute Talk Tips. You can get that at by clicking here: http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/UYPTopTips

Julia also has a special deal for corporate managers right now.

If You're A Corporate Manager whose ready to "Set the Stage" to Lead Your Team with Clarity and Conviction…" then Julia has an online course which may be just what you need. And, she'll make Module 1 of this 8-Module series available - For FREE to the first 5 companies that qualify.

For more information and to see if you qualify, send us an email over at www.unleashyourpresence.com

Links

Call To Action: * Check out Julia's Corporate Communications Checklist at http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/UYPTopTips * Check out the other resources Julia has over at http://UnleashYourPresence.com * Subscribe to 2-MinuteTalkTips in your favorite podcast app for free so you never miss an episode * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Build a Team Sometimes to get better, you may need help, and that's okay.

Hire a coach.
Join Toastmasters.
Ask a friend or colleague. Take an online course.
Take a traditional course.
Read a book.
Subscribe to a podcast about public speaking

Or do all of the above. Or some combination of them.

The point is you can build expertise, or at the very least, competence in a skill by assembling your own team of experts. They can be in person or virtual. It can be a dialog or a 1-way process.

But you don't have to do it all alone. There's a community there you can build or be a part of.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Sandy Weiner I think the best way to sum up Sandy Weiner's approach to speaking (and probably a lot of other things) is "Just jump in and do it -- but don't do it alone."

Sandy's first major talk was her TedX talk, which you can see here:

[embed]https://youtu.be/yvzUMIcrBYU[/embed]

While she may go straight for the deep end, she's successful because she prepares -- she works with coaches when she has a weakness and does the work she needs to do to be successful.

I talk a lot about how 90% of the success of a talk is determined before you ever get on stage -- it's in the message, in the prep, and in the rehearsal. And that's how Sandy has succeeded as a speaker.

Bio Sandy Weiner, founder of Last First Date, is devoted to helping women over 40 achieve healthy, toe-curling love. An internationally known TEDx speaker, dating coach, author, and podcast host, Sandy specializes in helping women communicate effectively, set clear boundaries in relationships, and know their true worth. She believes a woman of value attracts her best partner.

Sandy’s work has been published in Mind Body Green, The Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and The Good Men Project.

She's also the host of Last First Date Radio, an acclaimed show about attracting and sustaining healthy relationships in midlife. Sandy wants you to go on YOUR LAST FIRST DATE!

Superman Pose Sandy mentioned the Superman pose in our conversation, and we talked a little about Amy Cuddy's Ted Talk about power poses. Here's the video of that talk.

[embed]https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?language=en[/embed]

Links

Call to Action * Be sure to check Sandy's websites, podcast, and social media profiles. You can find all those links above. * Subscribe for free to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode, and then subscribe to Last First Date Radio in the same place. * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Challenge the Audience to Discover Truth Immediately challenge the audience to discover a truth about themselves that proves the premise of your talk. If the group knows that you have an appreciation or understanding of their personal (or business) situation, they will engage. As a bonus, make them laugh within the first 30 seconds.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Amy Lyle I always enjoy to talking to folks who follow a path similar to mine -- sales, training, speaking. The way our careers end up different despite a similar progression is fascinating and demonstrates the possibilities available to all of us. There is not one path to your destination and not one destination for a path.

Amy Lyle is one of those guests who followed a path similar to mine and has built the latest iteration of her career out of failure. Or rather, talking about failure -- her own and giving people an opportunity to share theirs. And she's funny! And compelling.

I really enjoyed hearing about the training sessions she ran for recruiters. The programs may have been tough for new folks, but helping them find out early the role is not for them is valuable.

We also have a great conversation about sales and storytelling. Amy even references Iszi Lawrence's appearance from last year.

When it seems like the interview is over, keep listening because we kept talking. And enjoy talking about sweet, sweet failure. And an alpaca.

Bio Most people avoid talking about their most cringe-worthy moments but not our next guest, Amy Lyle. She has turned her own disasters into The Book of Failures and her newest release, We're All A Mess, It's OK is a collection of funny essays and one-liners about the struggles of everyday life.

Amy believes that the filtered world is making us all feel less than and tearing us apart- but being authentic and sharing your faux pas with others brings people together.
She’s a frequent guest on WXIA’s Atlanta and Company's, author, actor and public speaker.

Links

Call To action * Have you read either of Amy's books? Let us know over in the comments below * Visit Amy's site to sign up for her newsletter she rarely sends out or follow her on social media to see the alpaca. All those links are available above * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/AmyLyle * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: You Know Your Stuff Experienced speakers still feel anxiety and nerves before getting on stage, but there are a couple thing you can remind yourself of before you start speaking.

First, you know your stuff. The reason you earned that stage is that you are a subject matter expert (SME). You're likely speaking about your work or your passion. Or you're presenting material you've studied. Sure, there might be a question, you can't answer, but that's okay. You don't have to have all the answers at the tip of your tongue. Do your prep work. Rehearse your talk. And know your stuff.

The second thing to keep in mind is that people -- including your audience -- think about themselves 95% of the time. If you make a mistake, they likely won't even notice.

Remember, it's not about you. It's about your message and your audience.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet David Erickson A lot of the speaking many mid-career professionals do is in the conference room or other small space. It might be pitching a potential client, reporting on an initiative, or briefing their own team. The core of it all is still the same, though. Know what you want to accomplish. Prepare. And establish a connection with the folks in your audience.

One of the valuable lessons to come out of today's episode is the importance of establishing that in-person connection -- that analog relationship with your audience, especially when you are selling modern products like digital marketing services to businesses.

I talked a few months back about the importance of balancing logos, pathos, and ethos back in episode 035. To put it much more simply, today's guest, David Erickson, reminds us that people like to do business with people they know, like, and trust. Establishing credibility and building a relationship with your audience is just as important as making logical points.

Machine Transcription David and I recorded our conversation in January. One of the things he predicted at that time was how Google would probably start searching and transcribing audio content in the near future.

It turns out, he was right.

Within the past couple of weeks, news has come out about how Google is making transcribing some podcasts, presumably to make them searchable. You can read more about these early efforts here: https://9to5google.com/2019/03/27/google-podcasts-transcribing-episodes/

It's also helpful to note that YouTube (a Google property) has been converting audio to text for years as they do automatic closed captioning for videos. The main reason I also publish this podcast to YouTube is to take advantage of this feature so folks with hearing challenges can still follow along with the content. It's not good enough yet, but it will get there. You can take a look here: http://2minutetalktips.com/YouTube

And, of course, Microsoft is doing some pretty impressive work with audio-text conversion. Speakers ought to familiarize themselves with the free PowerPoint add-in Presentation Translator. I talked about this in Episode 65 -- http://2minutetalktips.com/2018/06/05/episode-065-close-to-open-and-presentation-translator/. I'll likely revisit this in a couple months since almost a year has passed.

On a related note, Microsoft has also started offering automatic closed captioning in Skype. You can enable it in the settings. It even support live translation into dozens of language. This opens tremendous opportunities for greater communication across ability, cultural, and language barriers.

My experience is that the English captions for English speech work well, but it adds a little bit of latency to the conversation so it's not something I use by default. But the fact that it works at all is amazing. And the fact that I can now have Skype phone conversations with folks that don't speak English is a huge benefit to our world.

Bio David Erickson is a digital marketing veteran, principal of e-Strategy Media and producer and co-host of the Beyond Social Media Show. He is a frequent expert source for media coverage of digital marketing topics, having appeared on MSNBC and CBS and cited in such publications as USA Today, US News & World Report, Slate & Search Engine Watch.

Links

Call To Action * What are your thoughts on this week's episode? Let us know in the comments below. * Learn more about David's business or find the Beyond Social Media Podcast by checking out the links above. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/david * Don't get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Don't Memorize Memorizing your speech is generally a bad idea. You want to internalize it, not memorize it.

There are 3 main problems with memorizing your talk.

First, it's a lot more nerve wracking.
Second, if you forget a part you're more likely to get stuck and freeze.
Third, your audience wants you to be real.

You want to practice and prepare of course. Memorizing word for word is not a good use of your time, though.

Post-Tip Discussion: Speaking, Purpose, and Hand Analysis with Jayne Sanders I know that most members of my audience are career professionals looking to improve their speaking skills to advance their careers. You may or may not want to make the leap to the keynote stage.

That's one reason I love talking with guests like Jayne. She honed her public speaking skills in the halls and conference rooms of corporate America while doing her job. The message came first; the speaking was secondary. Speaking was secondary. Over time she grew to appreciate the power of it, though, and make it a core pillar of her modern career.

This week we talk both about Jayne's path as a speaker and the too she uses to help people learn more about their own nature -- scientific hand analysis.

Bio Born and raised in southern Illinois, Jayne's Midwestern roots still influence her friendly, approachable demeanor, which can disarm and delight at the same time. Hearing an occasional “Well, hell’s bells!” or “I’m on that like green on grass, white on rice, and a duck on a June bug!” is not uncommon. At the same time, Jayne offer deeply insightful observations, sound solutions, and a quick wit.

Jayne's professional background includes an undergraduate major in Speech/Journalism with emphasis in Communications and Psychology. She then earned a Masters in Business Administration. In the corporate world she moved swiftly up the ranks of marketing management for eight years, then left for a more entrepreneurial position as SVP of Sales and Account Service for an international corporate identity firm, where she broke sales records and acquired numerous Fortune 500 accounts.

Wanting to contribute even more and help people at deeper levels, Jayne then founded her professional speaking and consulting business and spoke in the corporate world on topics including authenticity and courage, work/life balance, finding and living your passion, GenderSmart® communication, and presentation skills. Her book, GenderSmart – Solving the Communication Puzzle Between Men and Women, has been published in five countries.

Walking her talk as a consultant and transformational catalyst with first-hand knowledge of the importance of play and joy, Jayne is also an avid horsewoman, often seen galloping along trails on one of her horses, either Darby or Comet. Her impassioned “YEE-HAW!”s or “YA-HOO!”s can sometimes be heard echoing through the fields. Get her on the subject of how horses have positively impacted her life and you will have quite a lengthy but engaging and impassioned conversation!

Links

| Jayne's website | http://purposewisdom.com | | Purpose and Impact Denver Workshop | https://purposeandimpact.co/ | | Forbes Article on Hand Analysis | https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/02/05/how-hand-analysis-could-influence-your-success/#5d12d1aaeeb8 | | GenderSmart – Solving the Communication Puzzle Between Men and Women | https://www.amazon.com/GenderSmart%C2%AE-Solving-Communication-Puzzle-Between/dp/0972381023 |

Call To Action * If you're listening to this episode before April 26 and will be in Denver that day, check out Jayne's Purpose and Impact Workshop. Check out the links above. * Share this episode with someone you know by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/Jayne. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Create a Presence Live everyday to create a presence that has presence when you're not present.

As a speaker, in order for your message to have impact, it has to be something that sticks with your audience when you are not there. You can do that by being a powerful, memorable speaker.

But that's not the only way.

Give clear guidance. Develop a simple, compelling message. Make sure your audience knows what you want them to do. Tell great stories.

All these techniques that we regularly talk about help you maintain that presence with the audience even when you're on your way to your next meeting.

Post Tip Discussion As I recorded this conversation with Richard, a few things really jumped out at me.

Richard has an eye for the picture in life -- for prioritizing what will really make a difference for people. He also has a tremendous talent for putting structure to his thoughts. He makes a lot of points by breaking them out into simple lists that get to the core of the matter. I counted at least 5 of those lists in this episode.

From a technical standpoint, these are not just lists. They are excellent examples of parallel structure -- using similar words and phrases almost rhythmically to land a point.

I talked about this technique way back in episode 10. A few weeks ago, you heard from Joe Apfelbaum in episode 103. He also excels at using parallel structure.

Bio Richard Flint, CSP is Chairman and CEO of Flint, incorporated, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals, companies and associations. He has had the opportunity to address people in talks and seminars throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Spain. As a Keynote speaker and seminar leader, he addresses more than 200,000 people each year.

Richard speaks to corporate and public audiences on the subjects of Personal and Professional Development, including the executives and staff of many of America's largest corporations. His humorous and poignant talks and seminars on Leadership, Sales, Self-Esteem, Goals, Strategy, Creativity and Success bring about immediate changes and long-term results.

He has written 15 books and produced more than 100+ audio and video learning programs, including being a finalist for The Top Self-Help book of 2005.

Prior to founding his company in 1987, Richard put his four degrees to good use as a Professor of Philosophy at Ohio University and Wayne State University, where he also served as the Baptist Campus Minister. Following that, Richard was the Director of Counseling at the First Baptist Church in both Tampa and West Palm Beach in Florida.

These days he travels the world on his crusade to help others move past their Circle of Sameness and achieve a positive life.

Richard's Lists Three keys to success:

I've got to believe in myself
I've got to trust in myself
I've got to have faith in myself

Three questions when preparing a seminar:

Why is this issue there? What's created the issue?
Why does this issue create so much confusion for people
Is there a process that will help people resolve -- not eliminate -- this issue

4 Keys to a successful year:

What do you really want to achieve this year?
Why do you really want to achieve that?
What price are you willing to pay to have it?
What behaviors do you have to improve to get there?

Three Ds:

I have a desire to improve to help other people
I have the determination that there is more for me to write, discover, and learn
I have the discipline to do it

Six Fears:

Fear of the unknown
Fear of abandonment -- being left alone
Fear of failure
Fear of rejection
Fear of loss
Fear of success

Links

Call To Action * Check out Richard's links above to learn more about his mission and passion. * Who do you know that would most benefit from hearing Richard's message and story? Give them the link 2minutetalktips.com/richardflint and ask them what they thought of the conversation. * Don't get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Use Click Bait-ey Titles When you need a title for your talk, take a lesson from all those click-bait titles you see on Facebook and other social platforms. Make it short, compelling, and maybe a little edgy.

When you promise a talk with the "5 Secrets to Successful Penguin Petting," you also have a built-in structure for your talk that will keep you on the right path.

If you take this approach, though, make sure you deliver. You'll only get one shot.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Catherine Auman Some of us become speakers because we just love it. We love the stage, the crowd, the power of sharing a message -- It's intoxicating.

Other folks build a speaking career as a tool to share their message and drive other parts of their business. That's what Catherine Auman has done -- used speaking to drive interests in her books and other resources around tantric dating.

What I really like about this conversation, besides the fact that tantric dating is now part of my vocabulary, is how Catherine lives the idea of "build your own stage." This is something I've talked a lot about over the previous few months. She has done it in both the virtual and the real world.

Catherine Auman LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist) is a psychotherapist in private practice in Los Angeles. She is the author of three books with two more being released in 2019. Ms. Auman speaks twice monthly to live audiences and was previously a frequent guest on the national TV show "Extra." Visit her online at http://www.catherineauman.com, or on her YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/c/CatherineAuman

Links

Call To Action * Learn more about Catherine Auman at the links above. * Share your thoughts on this episode in the comments below. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by telling them to visit http://2minutetalktips.com/catherine * Don't get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Don't Squander Water Cooler Talk After winning or losing a big sale in a store there's tendency to brag or vent to colleagues around a literal or metaphorical water cooler. It happens after a big talk, too. We celebrate the brilliance or decry the stupidity of an audience.

Don't.

It's not effective. It won't help you win or save more sales in the future. And it has the tendency to hurt morale and reinforce negative -- and counterproductive -- attitudes.

Instead, take that time to dissect the talk or sale. What went well? How can you do more of that in the future?

What didn't go well? How can you avoid doing that again?

And learn how can you share those lessons with others.

That speech you just did is in the past. It's gone. It now time to learn lessons from it and get ready for the next talk.

Post Tip Discussion Stuart Rice and I have similar paths, separated by a few years. We both started out selling consumer electronics before transitioning over to the vendor side of retail, and then joining or creating other educational initiatives to help others.

Key skill that are helpful in retail are also helpful in public speaking. You have to learn about your audience. You have to connect with your audience. You have to bring your audience on a metaphorical journey with you.

You have to focus on what's in it for them and why they should care.

And storytelling is a key part of it all.

Bio Stuart Rice has 24 years of experience in sales, purchasing and management focusing on strategic growth. In his career, Stuart has helped companies multiply sales by revamping their current strategies and introducing new concepts that increased customer traffic and created new experiences for customers and salespeople alike.

Training is his passion and Stuart looks to use his experience and ability to communicate to share his knowledge, ability to critically think through problems, and use real-world scenarios to develop processes and strategies that can promote growth with individuals and institutions alike.

In addition to professional training, Stuart’s other pursuit is comedy, specifically sketch comedy, on the very accurately named “Sketch Comedy Podcast Show” a one-of-a-kind show where interesting people have intriguing conversations and then improvise a comedy sketch based on what was talked about.

Links

Call To Action * Check out The Sketch Comedy Podcast Show and Impactful Sales Solutions to learn more about Stuart and the topics we talked about today. * Share this episode with a friend colleague or relative by giving them the link 2minutetalktims.com/stuart * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Practice To be successful, there is no substitution for preparation. Practice. Rehearse. Prepare. And then practice some more.

When you see speakers who make it look easy -- who effortlessly string together words and phrases and jokes and more -- it's usually not off the cuff. It's because they've practiced. Put in the time and know your stuff cold so that you can come up with it seamlessly when it's time to speak.

That's one of the beautiful things about speaking. It's not magic. It's just work.

On a related note, check out the documentary Comedian on Netflix. It's about the work and process that Jerry Seinfeld went through to develop a new set. It looks effortless when you see the final set, but it can take a year to get there -- even when you've been doing your trade for decades.

Post Tip Discussion: Brandin' buildin' and Boomin' with Joe Apfelbaum Joe Apelbaum is a high-energy force of nature, and that really comes through in this episode.

Joe's professional focus is on B2B or Business to Business marketing, which is something many folks don't think about. He has built a large following and expertise on LinkedIn that you should definitely check out there.

Joe also just launched a new course dedicated to Social Selling. You can find it here.

Bio Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO of Ajax Union, a B2B digital marketing agency based in Brooklyn, NY. Joe is a business strategist, marketing expert and certified Google trainer. Joe enjoys speaking and writing about marketing, business networking and personal development in his seminars, webinars and articles.

Joe is the host of the popular podcasts The Breakthrough Maze. Joe is the Author of 3 books including High Energy Secrets his most recent book about how he lost 95 pounds and does flying selfies. He is the producer of GrowTime.tv and has published over 500 Mojovational Street Talk videos on YouTube.

Joe is a contributing member of Entrepreneurs Organization in Brooklyn, a group with over 12,000 CEO’s and an active member of Executives Association, a premiere business networking organization in NYC.

Joe is a selfie master, he takes 1000 selfies a year with entrepreneurs and makes hundreds of introductions to business professionals in his network.

Joe is proud of all his accomplishments, but most of all he is proud of his purpose, his beautiful amazing kids.

Lessons In this episode, one of the things I'd like you to listen for is Joe's pattern of speech. He uses a lot of repetition and parallel structure to make his points and it just sounds natural and powerful. I talked about these techniques back in Episode 10 and 35.

It takes practice to do this effectively, and the best way to get better at that is to do it.

Another lesson besides preparing and rehearsing is that when it comes to speaking you just have to get out and do it. And do it again. And do it some more.

Links

| Joe Apfelbaum on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeapfelbaum/ | | Social Sellin' System (Joe's LinkedIn Course) | https://learn.socialsellin.com/ | | Ajax Union | https://www.ajaxunion.com/ | | Joe's Website | http://www.joeapfelbaum.com/ | | Joe on Twitter | https://twitter.com/joeapfelbaum | | Joe on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/joeapfelbaum | | Joe on Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/joeapfelbaum/ | | Grow Time TV on YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8_nEearUG2JyW-lZbyjAuA | | Joe's Street Talk Videos | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1nXhsbrHRc&list=PL_GUx-xCvZptR2MJKV-O8XCfIBPZFrBUl | | Joe's Book: High Energy Secrets | https://www.amazon.com/High-Energy-Secrets-pounds-higher/dp/1948363003/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=high+energy+secrets&qid=1551570163&s=gateway&sr=8-1 | | CEO Mojo Podcast | http://www.joeapfelbaum.com/category/podcast/ | | The Breakthrough Maze Podcast | http://www.joeapfelbaum.com/category/the-breakthrough-maze/ | | On Writing by Stephen King | https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1 | | Comedian with Jerry Seinfeld | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedian_(film) | | 2MTT: Episode 010 — Parallel Structure and Tim Garber (Part 1) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/02/28/episode-010-parallel-structure-and-tim-garber-part-1/ | | 2MTT: Episode 039 — Skip the Gimmicks and Repeat Yourself | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/12/05/episode-039-skip-the-gimmicks-and-repeat-yourself/ | | 2MTT: Episode 035 — Let the Audience React and Ancient Rhetoric Today | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/11/07/episode-035-let-the-audience-react-and-ancient-rhetoric-today/ | | Preview | http://2minutetalktips.com/JoePreview |

Call to Action * So connect with Joe via LinkedIn. * Are you looking for stuff to share on your social media channels? I created a preview of this episode. If you found today's chat interesting or valuable, you can post the preview in your LinkedIn or Facebook channel by sharing the link: http://2minutetalktips.com/JoePreview. * Don't get best…get better.

High Energy Secrets: How I lost 95 pounds, kept it off and have higher energy levels than ever!

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2-Minute Tip: Scientist-Philosopher-Author To grow as a speaker, develop your path along 3 aspects. This is a framework you can use immediately to become more effective quickly. You have to be a scientist, a philosopher, and an author.

Be a scientist and conduct experiments in your preparation and on stage. Figure out what works for you. What is the right level of energy? What gestures feel most natural? How do you relate most effectively with slides? You have to experiment to uncover what is most natural and effective for you on stage.

Be a philosopher and ask why. "Why?" is the most powerful question you can ask as you build a talk. Why are you speaking? Why you in particular? Why should your audience care? Why bring that up? If you can't answer those and similar questions well, then you have more work to do.

Finally, be an author, and chart the course of your life. We tell stories in our talks because it helps us connect with our audience. It can be bigger than that, though. You need to develop the story of your own life. Where have you been? How did you get where you are today? Where do you go from here. Craft that story to become a more effective speaker.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Tim Pahuta One of the great things about speaking is that it's a skill that you can apply to a wide array of fields. It's a skill you can develop early in life or later in life. Skills and experiences from different areas of life can inform your public speaking, as well.

That's one of the things that comes clear in this conversation with retired pro athlete Tim Pahuta.

I especially like Tim's approach to defining the direction his life.

Bio Tim Pahuta spent 7 years as a professional baseball player before transitioning into a career in sales. As Tim navigated this journey of self-discovery. What h ultimately realized is that it’s not about figuring out who he is; it’s about creating who he wants to be.

Then he found Life Mapping.

Life Mapping and the coaching program that accompanies the map are tools used to create a new story- about the person he's becoming, the life he wants to live, the challenges he faces and reasons why it is important to overcome them.

Tim's have been creating this story using his Life Map for over a year now and helping other people use these same tools to develop their own stories for the past six months.

He makes his living as a speaker, author and coach- focusing much of his efforts on training other coaches to use Life Mapping within their own practices.

The Inspire Café I had the honor of appearing on Kathy De La Torre's The Inspire Café podcast. She started the podcast to understand what makes a person resilient. She explains her motivation like this:

I am fascinated with the stories of human resiliency…. What makes these people tick? What became their turnaround, ah-hah moment or the trigger that caused them to pivot, shift their thinking and turn away from their dark moment and face the light? The idea of people actually putting into practice of making lemonade out of their lemons, turning a negative into a positive, is remarkable.

Regular listeners know that I am a stroke survivor.

Last week, I talked with Kathy in detail about my stroke, stroke in general, and why I started the Strokecast podcast. It's the latest version of my origin story.

I'm truly humbled to be on Kathy's show, especially when I look at the other folks she's interviewed.

Links

Call to Action * What do you think of Tim's story? Let us know in he comments below. * Check out Tim's Life Mapping tool by visiting his site. You can find that link above. * Be sure to subscribe for free to 2-Minute Talk Tips so you never miss an episode. * And of course, as always…don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Seek out Vulnerability Vulnerability can be a powerful element in your speaking. Being vulnerable doesn't mean your weak. It's about having the confidence to acknowledge how you can grow today and how you have grown in the past. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable helps the audience connect with the most human aspects of your nature.

Post Tip Discussion A lot of us got our first exposure to public speaking in school. It's a common theme that often sets the stage for how we may approach speaking later in life.

Sasha Laghonh moved nearly every year as a little kid and each new school meant standing up and introducing herself to a new group of kids.

It's a vulnerable time for a kid, and vulnerability is a theme that runs throughout this episode. It's not about being weak, but about exposes yourself so that you can have an impact on the audience.

We cover everything from vulnerability to boundaries to 90 day plans to the importance of gratitude and forgiveness.

Bio Sasha Laghonh ( laa-go ) brings over eighteen years of experience to the commercial and spiritual realm by working with private and commercial clients hosting diverse backgrounds and life endeavors. As a seasoned MBA professional, she also specializes in Organizational & Human Behavior which grants her a broad base from which to approach many topics. These tools drive her corporate career by executing diverse business strategies in complex and evolving environments. As a Business & Lifestyle Strategist she works with clients ready to transform their paths by offering customized services relevant to their needs.

To complement her career, she is a spiritualist hosting abilities that allow her to deliver intuitive insights derived from questions possessing various degrees of complexity. By applying these insights as a self-development tool, one can empower themselves by making better decisions with clarity and confidence. Sasha continues to share her craft with global clients through private sessions, professional groups and global media including print.

As a producer and author, Sasha's work is presented through various media appearances and private speaking engagements. As a frequent guest on FM/AM radio and worldwide platforms, including events, she educates audiences on business strategies, effective management & leadership, lifestyle choices, and spirituality. For pleasure Sasha enjoys traveling, teaching and raising awareness of various humanitarian efforts. To learn more, visit www.sashatalks.com.

Links

Call To Action * Check out Sasha's site at the link above to learn more about the work that she does. * Do you know someone who might find this interesting? Tell them to visit http://2minutetalktips.com/sasha or help them subscribe for free in the podcast app on their phone * Come back next week to hear from former pro baseball player and now life mapping expert Tim Pahuta * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Evaluate and Connect Create a scoring sheet for your audience members, and ask them to complete in at the end of the talk. In the Learning and Development field, we call these smile sheets, and they are the first step in figuring out if training is effective.

In a speaking context, they can be a little different. One approach is to build the form in three sections.

Section 1 is a 5 category scoring rubric, and they audience members give you points in each 5 of those categories. Sure, this can be scary at first, but you won't know if you are successfully unless you ask. By using the same evaluation over time, you can eventually monitor trends in your scores. Are you getting better or worse? Did you make a change that impacted your score? This can be helpful to know.

Section 2 is a few open ended questions. This gives the audience a chance to say great things about you or offer testimonials. You can also find out what they think you did well or not well, and you can ask about what they wanted to see more of.

Section 3 is how you extend your relationship with them. Here is where you ask them to sign up for your newsletter, join a private Facebook group, call for a private appointment, hire you to speak at another event, etc. You give them the chance to ask for more of your content and to start a long-term relationship with you.

Post Tip Discussion -- Rock On with Pat Roque Pat Roque rocks!

In fact, that idea is what her whole philosophy and work to empower folks focuses on. In this episode, she talks about how she uses a box of rocks to build custom talks and extend the talk months and years after she leaves the stage.

Managing your life and growth can be a complex undertaking so Pat breaks it down into 5 areas:

Family
Fun
Fitness
Finances
Fabulous career

That certainly makes personal growth look a little a bit easier, and the alliteration with the letter "F" is a classic an effective speaking tool.

Bio Although she founded her company in 1988, a midlife meltdown sparked her own pivot and her mess became her message. Pat and her box of 50 ROCKS have transformed lives and careers through her proprietary Rock On Success Coaching System and Mastermind. It sparked global keynote talks, coaching and she's now authored two books as an expert in helping folks figure out why they rock...and how they can tell their story to can serve the world in a bigger way.

Whether she helps 1:1, in group coaching or from the stage, Pat's clients gain confidence, leadership effectiveness, career fulfillment and a rock-solid future. Pat is a fierce advocate for strength-based culture, virtual teams, women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion at organizations including Novartis, KPMG, Konica Minolta and Bank of America. Her message impacts worldwide audiences as a top LinkedIn Career Coach and SHRM Preferred Provider. A passion is driving business through golf: Pat serves as a global brand ambassador for the LPGA #Inviteher initiative, and as a board member of several golf and health charities.

Pat juggles life in the "sandwich generation," quarterbacking work, marriage, aging parents, 2 college students and a rescue puppy, Bella. She lives a laptop lifestyle, working remotely from NJ and Myrtle Beach, SC.

Pat says, "Not only is my glass half full, but I'm grateful for the glass every day. Have fun and embrace these secrets that for sure can change the rest of your life!"

100 Episodes I want to take a moment and acknowledge a milestone. This is episode 100 of the podcast. It's a big number and it took a long time to get hear. I hope you continue to find value for 100 more episodes and beyond.

If you've found the show has helped you become more effective, I'd love hear from you. Email me at Bill@2minutetalktips.com, or post a comment below.

Links

Call To Action * Why do you rock? Let us know in the comments below. * Check out Pat's site and the links above. * Prepare a post-speaking scorecard for your audience to complete. * Don't get best… get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Be Authentic Present in a way that is true to yourself. Your content needs to resonate with you first, or it won't resonate with your audience. When you can share a message that you are on board with, you can convincingly tell your story and you have the best opportunity to move your audience to take the action you want them to take. And isn't that the point of all this?

Post Tip Discussion A lot of my guests appear on other podcasts -- shocking, I know. Every show and host has their own perspective and the conversations are often unique. A couple months ago. I listened to some other shows an upcoming guest had been on, and I realized I needed to up my game and energy level to impress the guest. So I tried.

And it went -- okay. The guest was happy, and after editing the episode was solid. But it wasn't as good as it should have been, and I felt it at the time. And I was a little embarrassed at the end because I knew I didn't do as well as I could have. Because I wasn't myself.

I share this story because Evan Kubicek, AKA Coach K, is my guest this week, and fortunately, I was myself for this one.

Obviously we talk about speaking on this episode, and we also talk about sales and marketing. The focus of our conversation, though is on temperament and being authentic to who you are.

Coach K helps folks understand their temperaments -- the core of who they are and how they work best. Being authentic to yourself is key to effective public speaking and core to professional success.

Coach K is a full time instructor at Indiana State University focused on Management, Leadership & Startups. He's a very proud Father of 4 boys and married to the wife of his youth for 15+ years.

As a certified temperament analyst from the Sarasota Academy of Christian Counseling he has used the tool for nearly 10 years across 4 continents with hundreds of people in 1 on 1 sessions.

Links

Call To Action * Visit Coach K's page and connect on social media at the links above to explore how you can find your own temperament. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/coachK. * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip -- Tell a story to Open The beginning of a talk is when you have the maximum audience attention. Don't squander it welcomes, thank yous, and introductions. Instead, tell a story to engage your audience at the very start.

Think about a band coming out on stage. They don't start with banter. They go right into a big opening number to get everyone excited for the rest of the show. Try the same thing with your audience.

You can come back to introductions 3 or 4 minutes in.

Post Tip Discussion: Speaking and Preaching with Dylan Dodson Whether you're speaking in the secular world or the religious world, the principles behind effective public speaking are the same -- define your message, prepare and rehearse your talk, and connect with your audience to ensure the message lands. That's never more clear than in this conversation with Dylan Dodson.

As a pastor, Dylan delivers a different 30 minute sermon every week. To do that effectively takes disciple and a process. He shares his content development process in this chat as we look at how he manages the 6-week development process for each talk he delivers.

Storytelling, brevity, making an impact on your audience -- it's all in here. The lessons we talk about this week are as valuable for the corporate conference room or keynote stage as they are for pulpit or altar.

Dylan Dodson is the lead pastor of New City Church in Raleigh, NC. where he lives with his wife Christina, daughter Finley, and son Roman. He's a big sports fan who likes to read and learn, spend time with people, and talks about Jersey Mike's with anyone who will listen.

Dylan's Processes Dylan has a 6-week lead time for each of his sermons. Since he delivers a new one every week, that means there are 6 in various stages of development at any given time. He manages it with this schedule:

T-6 Weeks
- Define the message
- Meet with the rest of the team
- Outline it on the white board
T-4 Weeks
- Meet with the music team
- Incorporate the announcements for the week
T-1 Week
- Go over it 4-5 times
- Plug in additional stories
- Make final Tweaks
T-6 Days
- Pull the outline and notes out of Google Docs and put them on the whiteboard
- Begin whittling it down
- Identify content for slides
T-5 Days
- Go over the sermon out loud
- Cut material
T-3 Days
- Finalize the content
- Review it out loud again
T-1 Day
- Review it for 15-20 minutes that evening
T-1 Hour
- Arrive early to look and pray over the content a final time
T-0
- It's GO TIME!
  - Or I suppose, it's GOD TIME!

To make the process more manageable, Dylan also has an outline he uses to build his sermons. To build each one, he asks theses 5 questions:

What does the congregation need to know?
Why do they need to know it?
What do they need to do?
Why do they need to do it?
What is the bottom line I want them to walk away with?

Links

Call To Action * Visit the links above to learn more about Dylan, his podcast, or his church * Try opening your next talk with a story * Share this episode with your favorite sermon-giver or equivalent and ask their thought by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/dylan * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Increase Attendance Retention with a Take Away One challenge with webinars and live sessions is keeping folks around until the end, especially if the material is on the dry side. To help folks stick around, let them know that at the end you'll have a give-away for them.

It could be something as simple as a collection of other resources or websites. Maybe it's a how-to document. Perhaps it's a list of key email addresses.

It could also be something bigger -- like an eBook or downloadable PDF. You can offer attendees who stick around a special link to get that content for free. When they follow that link you can also ask them for an email address so you can add them to your newsletter.

Now, they've gotten value because they got that freebie and because the attended the whole talk.

You've gotten value because you were able to share your whole message with the attendees and you have more subscribers to your newsletter, which can be valuable in the future.

It's a win all around.

Post Tip Discussion Love it or hate it, there's no arguing that the US healthcare system can be complex. There are details and bureaucracies and costs and restriction and benefits and more. Once you reach age 65 or become disabled, it gets even more complex with Medicare, its assorted parts, supplements, deadlines, and more.

Enter Danielle Kunkle Roberts.

Danielle has built a business teaching folks how to navigate this world. She speaks to groups new to Medicare to help them understand what they need. She trains folks both in person and online and has to keep them engaged the whole time. She also teaches other insurance agents about this stuff.

This week Danielle and I talk about just how she does that. We talk about tips for managing webinars, for engaging folks in dry material, and for navigating the political discussions that inevitably come up in any US discussion of healthcare policy.

Bio Danielle Kunkle Roberts is a founding partner and senior executive at Boomer Benefits, a national agency specializing in Medicare-related insurance products since 2005. Serving thousands of Medigap policyholders in 47 states, Boomer Benefits helps baby boomers learn how to navigate Medicare. She is a nationally-recognized expert in the Medicare-sector of the health insurance industry and a member of the Forbes Finance Council.

She has served on the board of directors for the Fort Worth Chapter of the National Association of Health Underwriters for six years and was a recipient of the chapter’s Outstanding Member of the Year Award. She teaches continuing education courses for other insurance agent as a part of this organization.

Danielle has a degree in journalism and English from Texas Christian University. She lives in Fort Worth, TX with her handsome Canadian husband and their two fur-kids.

Tracking Questions Danielle found her niche by listening to questions. As she explained, she was selling traditional corporate health plans and folks kept asking her about Medicare. That told her there was an untapped need. She pivoted her focus to meet that need and became significantly more successful.

That's one reason I recommend keeping track of all the questions you get in a talk. You want to look for patterns that keep coming up. They may highlight something you need to fix, or those questions could unlock the next major step in your career or business. But you won't know unless you keep track of them.

Tips for Effective Webinars 1. It's hard to sit through a webinar that's longer than 60 minutes so don't schedule them for longer 2. Finish early if at all possible 3. Keep things visually moving on the screen to keep folks engaged 4. Promise to make materials or key take-away resources available at the end so folks stick around 5. Promise in advance that you'll stay on to answer any questions after you end the main portion of the webinar

Medicare Open Enrollment Danielle also provided this update:

Open Enrollment Period: From January 1st to March 31st each year, Medicare allows beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan to make a one-time switch in their coverage. They can return Original Medicare and add a Part D drug plan, or they can switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another. Beneficiaries are otherwise locked into their Medicare Advantage plan for the rest of the year, so this is a great enrollment period to take advantage of if you for some reason do not like your current plan.

Links

Call To Action * Connect with Danielle and visit BoomerBenefits at the links above * Subscribe for free to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative with the link http://2minutetalktips.com/medicare * Don't get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Go the Extra Mile To create the life you want, go the extra mile every day in 3 separate ways.

First, go the extra mile for your health. What can you do today to live a more healthful life that you might be inclined not to do? Is it eating less junk? Getting a little more exercise? Tending to a nagging health issue you've been trying to ignore? Do this every day to help make sure your body can take you where you need to go. Getting healthier gives you more stamina on stage and makes it easier to control your breath.

Second, go the extra mile for someone else. It could be a friend, colleague, or relative. How can you help them in a way they did not expect? Can you help someone else with their talk? Or can you help them find another speaking opportunity?

Third, go the extra mile for your purpose or mission. How can you drive your personal mission forward? How can you get closer to your dreams? Make a little progress every day. What steps can you take to get closer to the speaking lifestyle you want to pursue?

Post Tip Discussion This week, keynote speaker Shawn Anderson joined us to talk about his story and the importance of speaking from your heart. I first heard Shawn on Victoria Mavis's Pure Mind Magic podcast and was delighted when he popped over to 2-Minute Talk Tips a few weeks later.

I'm struck by the sheer volume of energy that Shawn brings to the show. He tells impressive stories, including how and why he came to speak to a bunch of students at a grade school in a village in the Philippines while standing outside getting soaked in the rain. It's easy to get caught up in the passion and emotion he brings to the things he says.

Bio Shawn Anderson is a #1 ranked motivational author, unlimited thinker, and lifetime entrepreneur with a history of inspiring others. A seven-time author, Shawn is also the creator of Extra Mile Day...a day recognizing the power we each have to create positive change when we "go the extra mile." (On 11/1/18, 553 cities made the declaration and recognized local extra-mile heroes.)

Shawn walks his talk. Besides having inspired tens of thousands through his speaking and writing (including an inspirational speaking tour in the Philippines attended by 20,000 attendees), Shawn’s built a million dollar company, pedaled a bike solo across the U.S. (twice), and created adventures in 45+ countries including having walked across six countries in the last 4.5 years (England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and 750 miles around Shikoku, Japan.)

Still...he believes his greatest adventures and success are waiting to be lived.

Extra Mile Day & Extra Mile America History In 2009, in order to symbolize the "go the extra mile" message, Shawn Anderson (a non-bicyclist) pedaled 4,000 miles ocean-to-ocean, interviewed 200+ people along the way whom had been identified as having gone the extra mile, and then gave $10,000 of his own money to the people and organizations whose stories most inspired him.

As a part of that cross-country extra-mile ride, Extra Mile Day (11/1)......a day recognizing the capacity we each have to create positive change in our families, our organizations, our communities and ourselves when we "go the extra mile"... was created with 23 inaugural cities.

The momentum of this unique day has continued to build each year since, and on November 1, 2018, 553 mayors and cities made the "Extra Mile Day" declaration and recognized people who are "going the extra mile" to make a difference in volunteerism and service in their community.

Links

Call to Action * What do you think of Shawn's story? Let us know in the comments below. * Check out Shaw's site at the link above. * Start your day by going the extra mile for health, people purpose. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Make Eye Connection Look them in the eye and make strong eye contact. It helps to make the audience feel more comfortable. To make that connection, though you need to hold the eye connection for 4-6 seconds. They will feel you are conversing with them rather than talking at them.

Pure Mind Magic A few months back, German podcaster, magician, and mindset expert Victoria Mavis joined me to talk about the intersection between public speaking and magic. You can find that interview at 2MinuteTalkTips.com/magic.

During December, I had the pleasure of appearing on her show, Pure Mind Magic. We talked about speaking, sure, but much of the conversation was about my stroke story and the power of mindset in recovery. You can listen to it here or subscribe for free to Pure Mind Magic in your favorite podcast app.

Post Tip Discussion

I spoke with George Hendley from The Speakers Academy in Dallas. It was a great conversation about speaking, training, technology, and the way the field has changed over the years.

George founded George Hendley Presentations, a training/coaching/consulting firm in 1992. His first 19 years was focused primarily on serving corporate clients from coast to coast. From 1997 until 2003 he delivered the Zig Ziglar Effective Business Presentations course over 20 times during a six year period. George was in a Dallas Toastmasters club for over 3 years and achieved the Certified Toastmasters recognition. Currently, The Speakers Academy, which George founded over 7 years ago has multiple locations around Dallas, each one meeting twice a month for open enrollment training and professional development coaching.

He has had an active leadership role in the American Society for Training and Development for over 20 years. He was a member of the National Speakers Association for 10 years and the International Coach Federation for 5 years and has held numerous leadership positions in both organizations on the local level. He has been an adjunct college teacher for 5 different courses over a period of 10 years. He continues to enjoy speaking in church events and on mission trips abroad for over 40 years.

As an authorized partner for Wiley Publishing (formerly Inscape Publishing and Carlson Learning) George has a rich and very successful career. In the last 24 years he has earned the Diamond award twice putting him the top 2% of all distributors in the world for sales volume of the DiSC profile and other related programs. He has lead dozens of seminars and workshops across the country for a wide variety of companies (including Fortune 500 companies) and still serves a variety of clients who appreciate his wisdom and experience with the tool.

During the past 26 years George authored over 150 articles on a variety of important topics. Those topics include Presentation skills, Listening, leadership and understanding body language as a form of communication. He posts frequent tips and insights on his Speakers Academy Facebook and LinkedIn page that are clear, brief and practical.

His zeal for learning and the desire to teach and mentor others makes him a passionate, enthusiastic and competent presenter.

Links The Speakers Academy The Speakers Academy

www.TheSpeakersAcademy.com

The Speakers Academy on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TheSpeakersAcademy/

George Hendley on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehendleythespeakersacademy/

George Hendley on Twitter

https://twitter.com/George_Hendley

George Hendley Email

George@TheSpeakersAcademy.com

George Hendley

Phone 972.234.4377

The Speakers Academy on Meetup

https://www.meetup.com/The-Speakers-Academy/

Bill on Pure Mind Magic

https://victoriamavis.podbean.com/e/60-pmm-changing-your-brain-changing-your-body-wiht-bill-monroe/

Call to Action * Share your thoughts on George's perspective in the comments below * Check out George's site, The Speakers Academy, at http://thepeakersacademy.com * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative with the link http://2minutetalktips.com/george * Use strong eye connections * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Watch Yourself on Fast Forward I met speaking coach and entrepreneur Emily Messner (AKA Sleevs) on the JoCo Cruise earlier this year and she told me about this tip.

Gestures are a complicated thing for many folks. Your gestures may or may not feel natural, but it's hard to tell how they look. We're not watching ourselves while we speak; we have higher priorities. So if we want to evaluate our gestures, video becomes our friend. With the proliferation of camera phones, there's no reason not to record more of our sessions. Of course, you have to actually watch the video you record to get value from it.

When it's time to evaluate your gestures, watch that video on fast forward. You'll see repetitive or annoying gestures really pop out in an almost comical way at high speed. They'll be obvious in a way that they might not at normal speed.

Then, with that information, you can make an educated decision about what to do.

Post Tip Discussion: Resolutions for Speakers I'm posting on January 1, 2019, which means it's time to make New Years Resolutions. Rather than vague, grandiose resolutions that will be dust in a few weeks, here are 5 resolutions that will help speakers be more effective. They are:

Rehearse a talk 5 times
Do one talk without
Solicit detailed feedback from one colleague
Finish every talk on time
Tell 3 stories in talks this year

Executing on theses resolutions will help you grow your skills, become more confident, and conduct more persuasive presentations.

Program Notes I'm currently working on the editorial calendar for the rest of 2019. I've got a bunch of great interviews with speakers already lined up, and I've begun recording them. I'm already learning lots, and I hope you will, too.

As I go forward, I do want to make sure I'm providing the value you need. So, please do me a favor and let me know what you think of the show. What do you want to see more of? What do you want to see less of? You can let me know in one of 4 ways -- whichever is easiest for you:

Comment in the comment section below
Email me at Bill@2minutetalktips.com
Leave a voicemail at 650-TALK TIP (650-825-5847)
Message me through Twitter where I am @CurrentlyBill

Call To Action * Let me know what you think of the show * Adopt 5 resolutions for public speakers to grow your effectiveness * Watch yourself on video on fast forward * Teach a colleague how to subscribe to podcasts * Don't get best...get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2018 has been a great year for 2-Minute Talk Tips, and I got to talk with some amazing people from around the world for the show, This week, I pull together the initial tip from each guest into a single episode. If you want to listen to the whole episode each tip came from or explore the guest's background, click in the link below.

Call to Action * What has been your favorite tip from the show this year? Let us know in the comments below. * Do you think these tips are helpful? Share this episode on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or the social media platform of your choice with the link http://2minutetalktips.com/2018tips * Check out full episodes from the links in the table above * Don't get best...get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Greet Your Audience A lot of speakers pace back stage or pound coffee or try to deal with nerves in other ways before going out to speak.

Instead, go out into the audience as folks are arriving, and greet audience members. Have a brief chat to get to know folks. This accomplishes a few things.

It gives you something to do and gets you out of your own head
It gives you information you can leverage in your talk to better connect with the audience while you speak
It gives you a friendly face to look out at from the stage
It let's an audience member feel heard and gives them a favorable impression of you

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Dave Jackson About 10 years ago, my team and I were looking at ways to integrate this brand new podcasting thing into our corporate training and brand evangelism efforts. I was already a fan of the medium, so I started listening to podcasts about podcasting to figure out how we could do it. Ultimately, I turned most of that project over to Tim Garber who appeared on this show way back in episodes 10 and 11 and who you can still hear at the end of every episode today.

But all that is how I found with Dave Jackson whispering in my ear from the School of Podcasting as I tried to find my way to a taxi at the Philadelphia airport in 2008.

I've been a fan of Dave's work and all he's done for this medium for a long time, and I'm thrilled to have him on the show today.

One of the most important lessons in this chat is that while Dave is an experienced speaker, he still gets nervous before a talk. And then he does the talk anyway. He also still takes the time to rehearse, practice out loud, and try the stage before folks come in.

There's a lot more in today's conversation, too.

So who is Dave? Dave Jackson started experimenting with audio on the Internet in 2004. In 2005 he launched his first podcast and soon launched the School of Podcasting (the Internet's first site dedicated to helping people learn the right way). His accomplishments include:

3.2 Million Downloads
3044 Episodes
Director of Podcasting for the New Media Expo
Featured Speaker at Podcast Movement 2014- 2018
Featured and Keynote Speaker at Podcast Mid Atlantic and Podfest Orlando
2018 Inducted into the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame

Unlike many other “geeks” who know how to podcast, Dave's been a technical trainer for over 20 years. This means he not only understands the technology but can explain it in a plain English “geek-speak free” environment. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Akron (Specializing in technical education). While there are other podcast consultants, Dave believes his experience sets him apart in regards to helping folks make sense of the entire podcasting process. He not only help with the “how,” but also explains the why, and makes sure new podcasters avoid common podcasting pitfalls. Dave's won awards at fortune 500 companies for hi customer service. In a nutshell, he cares.

A Video Interlude [embed]https://youtu.be/SSQEEEvrxU8[/embed]

[embed]https://youtu.be/P5qdfTIrOw8?t=442[/embed]

Links

| School of Podcasting | http://schoolofpodcasting.com | | Dave Jackson's other Shows | http://PowerOfPodcasting.com | | Dave on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/podcastcoach | | Dave on Twitter | https://twitter.com/learntopodcast | | Dave on YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/user/personalpodcastcoach | | Thinkific Online Training | https://www.thinkific.com/ | | School of Podcasting with Cathy Heller | http://schoolofpodcasting.com/the-courage-to-make-mediocre-things-cathy-heller-from-dont-keep-your-day-job/ | | Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame | http://academyofpodcasters.com/hall-of-fame/ | | FocusRite scarlett 2i2 | https://focusrite.com/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-2i2 | | Applying ADDIE to Public Speaking (2-Minute Talk Tips Episode 041) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/12/19/episode-041-listen-actively-and-apply-the-addie-model-to-public-speaking/ | | Talk Like Ted Book Review (2-Minute Talk Tips Episode 005) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/01/24/episode-005-arriving-the-day-before-and-a-revew-of-talk-like-ted-by-carmine-gallo/ | | Tim Garber Part 1 (2-Minute Talk Tips Episode 010) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/02/28/episode-010-parallel-structure-and-tim-garber-part-1/ | | Tim Garber Part 2 (2-Minute Talk Tips Episode 011) | http://2minutetalktips.com/2017/03/07/episode-011-record-yourself-and-tim-garber-part-2/ | | Secrets of Dynamic Communication by Ken Davis | https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Dynamic-Communications-Prepare-Deliver/dp/0849921902/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1545036770&sr=1-1&keywords=secrets+of+dynamic+communication |

Call To Action * What did you hear from Dave today? Let us know in the comments below. * Check out Dave's School of Podcasting if you're thinking of starting a show or just want to learn more about the insides of a podcast * Next time you're speaking, greet the early arriving audience members personally. * Share this episode with anyone thinking of starting a show by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Describe your Audience Back in 2008, Best Buy described 4 personae who represented their target customers. The even started designing different stores to appeal to Buzz, Barry, Ray, or Jill. They had detailed descriptions for theses archetypes.

I'm not sure if it's the best approach for a big-box retailer, but it can help your talks.

It's important to understand your target audience. Start by describing the one person you wan to reach. Who are they? What do they do? What do they wear? Where do they work? What is family like? Why do they need to hear your message? What will happen to them if they don't heed your call to action?

This exercise provides a useful framework for understanding your audience and tuning to message to maximize it's effectiveness. After all, it's hard to tell a story when you don't know who you're telling it to.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Phillip Andrew Phillip Andrew is a speaker and TV producer with a special interest in the youth market. And he is a delight to talk to. I wanted go even deeper into a whole bunch of areas, but this would have been a 5 hour episode.

As it is we covered topics as far ranging as:

The impact of YouTube on speakers
The variety of kids a speaker must address
And the value The value of coaching

Plus, did you ever wonder what a TV producer does? Phillip Tells us.

Overall, Phillip is just an engaging conversationalist who brings tremendous energy to everything he does.

Phillip Andrew is a speaker, author, media coach, Emmy-Nominated TV producer, DJ and more. Based in Los Angeles, he travels around the country educating and encouraging High School and College Students through high energy entertainment and unforgettable storytelling. He's passionate about educating, entertaining, and connecting with people in a way that encourages, empowers, and provokes insight.

He began drinking at age 11 and lost his mother in High School. Today, he lives a life in recovery, speaking with kids about overcoming addiction, surviving the loss of a parent, and how learning to take ownership over his life and became a catalyst for the positive change that helped him create a life he is proud of today.

Links

Call To Action * Check out Phillip's website at https://www.phillipandrew.co/ * Write down a description of your target audience member so you know how to build your talk for them. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague or relative by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/phillip * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Get on Stage More Ultimately, the most important way to get better as a speaker is to speak more. Find more stages and get on them. Reach out to local clubs and service organizations who are always looking for speakers in your community. Theses gigs may not pay anything, but especially when you're starting out as a professional speaker, you need to get in the stage time. And then you need repeat that. Get more stage time to refine your craft and develop your skills.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Success Coach Donnie Boivin My conversation with Donnie covered a huge range of topics, including things like defining success, the power of having a podcast, and how to treat chickens with birth defects. What really comes through is the intense, joyful energy Donnie brings to everything that he does. It's a bit of a long episode because every time I thought about cutting something, that conversation would quickly veer into a delightful or fascinating area.

I think many of the things Donnie said will be bouncing around in my skull for some time to come.

On a slight tangent, Donnie mentions Napoleon Hill's book, Think and Grow Rich. It's also a book I heard come up on the Pure Mind Magic Podcast and the Cliff Ravenscraft Show on episodes I listened to over the past week. I think I heard it mentioned on another podcast, too. I guess that's the universe's way of telling me it's time to read it. To the library!

But back to Donnie

Donnie Boivin is a former Marine turned sales rep turned National Sales Trainer Turned speaker podcaster, and success coach. He challenges success minded people, and entrepreneurs to tackle their fears and find success that they know is there.. His no-nonsense "Jarhead Gentle" style inspires people to take action and grow. Combining his story with those of everyday people who have faced challenges in life, he helps audiences reach their goals.

He coaches speakers, entrepreneurs, and more to reach success however they define it. In his podcast, Donnie's Success Champions, he celebrates Ordinary People, Entrepreneurs, Veterans, First Responders, Business Owners and visionaries that have a story to tell. These champions are pure awesome plain and simple.

Links

Call To Action * Be sure to check out donnieboivin.com to learn more about Donnie and how you can work with him. * Share this episode with a colleague by telling them to go to http://2minutetalktips.com/donnie. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don't get best…get better.

Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century (Think and Grow Rich Series)

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2-Minute Tip: Practice in a Mirror The key to success on stage is to practice as much as you can. Prep by using a mirror to give yourself an audience to impress. And often the person in the mirror is the toughest to impress.

Practice with your notes at first, and get good enough so you don't need them. Once you don't need your notes, that means you're protected against something going wrong. When it's time to

actually present, though, have your notes available to give yourself that extra little bit of confidence

Post Tip discussion: Meet Andrew "Mecha" Davis Andrew "Mecha" Davis is a regular at anime cons around the country. He initially fell in love with the genre well before he was 10 years old and it stuck with him into adulthood. He's turned his passion for these multi-faceted Japanese cartoons into a series of presentations at fan conventions, a YouTube Channel, a podcast, a website, and the PopAnimeComics brand. Along the way he added interests in wrestling, comic book investing, Cos-players, and Funko Pops.

This week, Andrew and I talk about the genre of Anime and what it takes to construct a good presentation for a fan convention.

I think my favorite take away from the discussion is that if you want to speak at a con, the process is as "simple" as choosing a topic that appeals to you,. Build it out, and submit it according to the con's guidelines. The cons have a lot of presentation and panel slots to fill and are always looking for great content to fill time.

Not sure what you want to talk about? Make a list of things you love and geek out over. Then look at that list and figure out what 2 or 3 of them have in common. Now you have an idea that could make a good pane topic. Flesh out those common threads and pursue that opportunity to be on stage.

And when you get accepted (of course) do the work, do the prep, and do the practice to wow the audience.

And if the topic doesn't get accepted for whatever reason, try submitting it to another con. Or two. Or 3. Or more. Or turn all your work into a blog post, medium article, or YouTube video.

Do what it takes to share your passion with the world.

Links

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTwCak18Xv4[/embed]

Call To Action * Be sure to check out the various PopAnimeComics online properties in the links above * Share this episode with the anime fans in your life by sending them to http://2minutetalktips.com/popanimecomics * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode * Don't get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

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2-Minute Tip: Thank your Hosts Putting together an event is a lot of work. Sometimes even putting together a short internal company meeting is a lot of work. Coordinating peoples' schedules and even finding an available conference room is way more complicated than it ought to be. So thank your host for inviting you. They took care of logistics and are giving you the audience's most valuable assets -- its time and attention.

So thank the host after the event. Send them a note letting them know you appreciate the work they've done. It may even make it more likely you'll be invited back. Everyone likes to be appreciated.

Post Tip Discussion: Tips for Speakers During the Holidays It's the Holiday season in the US. We start with Thanksgiving on November 22 and goes through New Years Day on January 1. In the tech industry some folks would say it goes through January 11, 2019, when CES ends.

That means folks may be distracted either because they are so excited. Folks may be recharging with family and friends or dealing with family and friends. Folks may have different views of the Holidays from you due to their personal experience, or their politics, or their philosophy. Don't let differing views of the Holidays detract from your core message or call to action.

Travel may be more complicated. Airports and airplanes will be busier and fuller than normal. Many of the folks who are travelling do not travel regularly. They may not be as familiar or experienced with security and airport procedures as more frequent travelers.

Weather will also be a factor in delays and agitation in air travel this time of year.

So plan to allow extra time and bring lots of extra patience.

As you encounter children performing in pageants or skits during the Holidays, support them. Their experience with an audience now will impact how they feel about speaking and stage presence years into the future.

Finally, back in Episode 066, I spoke with Mario Porreca about gratitude, among other things. Thanksgiving week is a great time to start a gratitude project.

Start and end each day by writing down one thing you are grateful for. It doesn't have to be a big thing; the consistency is what matters.

After a month, you'll have a list of 60 things. At the end of a year, you'll have a list of more than 700 things.

This list then becomes a great source for talks, points and illustrations, bios, and job interview answers among other things. Plus its a great thing to look over when you're having a bad day.

Call To Action * Start a Gratitude List * Enjoy the Holidays that you celebrate * Have patience * Don't get best...get better

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2-Minute Tip: Choose Your Headline As you frame your talk, make sure you choose the headline for it. Flip through a newspaper or magazine and look at the headlines. Their job is to give you a little bit of information in a way that is compelling enough that you want to read more. They have to be short. They can be funny, But when you define the headlines for your talk, you also need it to get people to come see you and give you their time.

Think about your headline as the kind of thing that might be the subject line of an email or go on a poster advertising your talk. If you already know your goal for the talk and what you want people to take away from your talk, you should be able to develop the headline easily. If you can't, then maybe your talk isn't quite ready yet and you need to review your goals again.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Scott Charlston I first met Scott through a professional job hunting workshop where we are both looking for our next adventures. If you're looking for a great PR or media relations expert, reach out to Scott. If you're looking for a corporate trainer, product evangelist, or podcaster, just email bill@2minutetalktips.com.

In this episode, you'll hear about just what it is PR professionals do and the things they work on while doing media training. While there's an obvious surface level overlap between public speaking, ultimately it goes deeper. The core themes of defining and knowing your message, understanding your audience, and telling compelling stories that I talk about all the time on this show are also the core elements that Scott focuses on in his work with executives and media relations teams.

Scott spent 6 years as a reporter and anchor at Spokane's KREM TV before moving into PR for nearly 20 years with Weber Shandwick and Verizon Wireless. He's done media training, media relations, executive coaching and even more -- all with a focus on putting people at the center of the story, distilling complex ideas into clear benefits.

Links

Call To Action: * What are your thoughts on this chat and PR? Let us know in the comments below. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, relative, reporter, or PR Specialist. Just give them this link: http://2minutetalktips.com/scott * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app. * Don't get best...get better.

How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In (Good to Great, 4)

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2-Minute Tip: Incorporate, Don't Emulate A movie that's inspired by a true story takes elements of that story and creates its own thing from it to move the audience. It doesn't attempt to duplicate the original story itself because that would be a documentary and not a theatrical tale. Both the original story and the entertaining film can be excellent things, but they are different things.

When we try to be more effective speakers, one thing we do is watch excellent speakers. That's a good thing. Watch as many excellent speakers as you can. Just don't try to be them.

They got where they are with their own unique combination of practice, training, and life experience.

You got where you are with your own unique combination of practice, training, and life experience.

Watch those excellent speakers and think about what they do well and why. What specific behaviors or techniques to they use to get their message across. Is that a technique you can use in your talks? Give it a try.

Here you are trying to incorporate specific behaviors. You are not trying to be someone else. Incorporate; don't emulate.

Post Tip Discussion: Brevity The proper length for a talk is to be exactly as long as it needs to be and not a second longer.

Sometimes that takes work. It's easy to craft a long talk. The work comes in trimming away the unessential parts.

Make your point. Support your point. Get off the stage.

How often have you heard the audience say, "I wish that presentation was longer."

Call To Action * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite Podcast app. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/brevity * Incorporate techniques from other excellent speakers * Don't get best...get better

Bonus In the spirit of getting the heck off the stage, this week's episode includes "Opening Band" by the legendary musical comedy duo Paul and Storm (released under Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike). You can check out more of their work here.

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2-Minute Tip: Take a Beat Have you ever noticed that a speaker will step up to their speaking spot (fancy technical term there), look down, then up, scan the room silently, and then start speaking? They're taking a moment to prep themselves for the talk they are about to deliver. While that whole ritual may be a little much, there is value in taking a moment to take a breath and plant your feet before speaking.

It gives you the opportunity to shift from prep mode into speaking mode. When you are prepping for a talk, you are reviewing what you want to say, making last minute adjustments based on the audience, double-checking your gear, reviewing site lines, going through sound check, turning off your phone, emptying your pockets and more. When it's time to speak, prep time is over. You have to put aside all the to do items of prep and now let their value come through. It's time to focus on delivering your message.

Taking a moment at the very start to clear your head and change your thinking allows you to do that.

You don't have to do it literally on the stage. You can take your beat in the wings just before you go on stage. Make your walk to your speaking spot part of your presentation. Be in speaking mode the moment you come out.

Regardless of exactly where you do it, take that deep breath and take that moment because now it's showtime.

Post Tip Discussion: Tips on Apologies Sometimes an apology is all it takes to fix a problem. Many times, someone who has been wronged simply wants the transgressor to acknowledge they were wrong and validate the reality of a situation.

Too often, though, we apologize ineffectively or inappropriately and we do so from the stage. To be a more effective speaker, consider these 5 tips to apologize from stage:

Don't say, "I'm sorry." Say, "I apologize."
Be sure you actually need to apologize.
If the audience doesn't know something went wrong and they got a less than perfect experience, don't break their illusion by apologizing.
An apology-nerves spiral can be painful. Avoid apologizing frequently from stage.
Substitute the word "and" for the word "but" whenever possible.

Links

Call To Action 1. I recorded this on World Stroke Day. Get your blood pressure checked and manage it appropriately. Issues with blood pressure are a leading cause of stroke and long term disability. Learn more about stroke at http://strokecast.com. 2. Visit other articles at 2-Minute Talk Tips for more tips to be a more effective speaker. 3. Take a beat before your next talk. 4. Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Control the Lights An important part of room setup is the lighting. You want folks to see you and any visual aids you are using without straining them selves so lighting matters. What does good lighting look like? Well, it depends.

If you are using a data projector, you likely need to minimize sunlight and dim the lights near the screen while keeping the rest of the room well lit.

In an auditorium, you may get better results dimming the lights above the audience to focus on the stage.

If you ask your audience to do something during your presentation, you may need to bring the lights up for that activity and dim them again when it's time for you to be the focus again.

While the details will vary, the important thing is for you to make deliberate decisions about the lights during your talk to make sure they support your goals.

Post Tip Discussion: 9 Ways to Get more Speaking Time The best way to become a better speaker is to speak more. But you don't have to just wait for opportunities to come along. You can take proactive steps to make more opportunities. Here are 9 Ways to Get More Speaking Time

Class Projects If you are in a training program or a class that has group projects, volunteer to be the group spokesperson. Others may be relieved to not have to do it.

Church If you attend a house or space of worship, consider volunteering to do readings, run discussion groups, or participate in other speaking related tasks. Ask the appropriate leader what opportunities there might be.

Ask Your Boss If you'd like to speak more at work, let your boss know. There may be opportunities they would be happy to give you, but they can't accommodate your desire to speak more if they don't know about your desire to speak more.

Toastmasters Toastmasters clubs are popular around the world as a forum where professionals can go to improve their public speaking skills.

Volunteer Groups Look for groups in your community that you can support. There may be chances to volunteer there, support a mission you care about, and get some speaking time in the process.

Community Theater Joining a local theater program will help you grow your acting skills and get you on the stage in front of an audience. The skills aren't exactly the same as those in public speaking, but they can certainly add more depth and flavor to your speaking skills. Plus, stage time is still stage time.

Facebook Live This is a great tool to easily start speaking to the world about things you care about. You can use your PC or phone. You are probably listening to this episode on a live, international, broadcasting tool. It's easy to start and the videos are easy to share and review so you can continue to get better. You'll find the Facebook Live videos that I've done here.

Podcasts Start a podcast and you have another speaking channel under your control. If you don't want to do the work of running your own show, look for opportunities to be a guest on shows you enjoy and reach out to the producers.

Build Your Own Stage You don't have to wait for someone to give you a stage. Go ahead and build your own. Start your own event. The technology and reach of social media makes it possible in ways unimaginable 20 years ago. Back in Episode 077, I talked with Patricia Missakian who wanted to speak in Brazil, so she created her own event there from the US and flew down when it was time.

Call To Action * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them this link: http://2minutetalktips.com/stage * Control the lighting at your next event * Seek out more opportunities to speak * Don't get best...get better

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2-Minute Tip: Note Something interesting Everyday It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking we are not creative. Or that we have nothing to say beyond the basics of our message. Or that writer's block is impenetrable. Or that we are just going to bore our audience.

That can happen because we take our own experiences for granted. We think our lives are just boring or normal. The reality is we all have a unique assortment of experiences -- some big and some small. We just forget about them or write them off as they pass, and then we forget about them when they could be helpful to us as speakers.

Back in Episode 024, I challenged you to take 5 pictures a day to flesh out your personal library of photos to use in future presentations.

This week, I say write down something interesting that you saw, did, or learned. It doesn't have to be a big deal or something anyone else would care about. Just do it daily. at the end of a year, you'll have hundreds of theses observations and tidbits that you can incorporate into a presentation as an aside, to illustrate a point, to build rapport with the audience, or any number of other rhetorical tools.

Best of all, it's a personal list. It's a list of things that you found interesting. That makes it even easier to speak with passion.

Post Tip Discussion: The Six Ps of Presenting Over the past couple years, I've talked about a lot of strategies and tactics to make you a more effective presenter. Today we take a step back and look at the broader framework of how theses elements fit together.

The Six Ps of Presenting are:

Preparation
Production
Pactice
Preshow Inspection
Present
Post-Mortem

In Preparation, you define your goals, figure out the messages you want to land to get there, reseach your audience, consult with subject matter experts, figure out where and what type the venue is, understand the timing, and more. Basically you get all the knowledge you'll likely need. At the end of this phase, you'll have an out line for your talk and know how you plan to work with the speaking environment.

In Production, you open up PowerPoint and build your slides. You assemble other visual aides. You get the signage and handouts together, if relevant. Basically, you are assembling all the gear and intellectual property you need for the presentation.

In Practice, you practice your presentation. try to make it as real world as possible. Stand up. Use your slides. Execute your demos, Then do it again. Fix problems you encounter with the material and practice some more.

In the Preshow Inspection, you visit the venue before you speak -- preferably the day before. you want to make sure it is setup right. Ensure you understand how to hook up the projector, if needed. Confirm any sound system you need works. Make sure you know how to work the room lights. Basically, figure out if there are any problems with the space so you can fix them before it's time to start presenting.

Then Present at the right time. start and finish on time. wow your audience. Move them to take the action you want them to take. This is what it's all been leading up to.

Finally, do your Post-Mortem. What went well? What didn't go well? What do you want to do differently next time? What action items did you commit to? Do this as soon as possible because otherwise the details will slip away. Take all that you learn and feed it back in to your next presentation.

Call To Action * What do you think of this framework? Let us know in the comments below. * Note something interesting everyday. * Do you like 2-Minute Talk Tip? Leave a rating and review in Apple podcasts. * Don't get best...get better

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2-Minute Tip: Act as If When you are nervous, or think you don't see,m confident, don't tell yourself not to be nervous or just be more confident. That rarely works; it usually just makes things worse. Instead, think about other speakers you know who don't appear nervous (they might actually be). How do the act? Can you adopt some of those behaviors? Try to act like you're not nervous. The more you act like you're comfortable, the more likely you'll feel comfortable.

The brain wants consistency. If your physical mannerisms say you're not nervous, your mind will make you feel less nervous. Act as if you're not nervous to in fact become less nervous.

Post Tip Discussion Often in my life life, I've felt like a fraud. Like I was about to be found out or caught. That I had no business teaching people or speaking to an audience or managing a million-dollar-plus budget for an organization. But you know what? That was just my own brain messing with me. I learned to accept that. The doubt was always going to be with me even though it was illegitimate.

Most people have this feeling at one time or another. Your friends. Your colleagues. Your boss. Their boss. Your subordinates. Nearly everyone is afraid they're going to be revealed as a sham, even when they are not.

It's called Impostor Syndrome. And it's an insidious source of stress for billions of people. Some respond with fear and nerves. Others with defensiveness and anger. Some embrace it. Others simply accept it and move on.

This affects many speakers when we get on stage. We start thinking, "Who am I to command the attention of dozens or hundreds or thousands of speakers?"

Well, you're the expert. You're the one who does in fact have value to contribute to this event. You were chosen by smart people to talk to the audience. It's an audience that is there because they believe this is the best use of their time at the moment.

Acknowledge the impost syndrome when you feel it creep up on you to take away it's power. Do the things that are within your control. Do the work. Practice. Deliver a great talk. And wow your audience.

Call to Action * How do you deal with Impostor Syndrome? Let us know in the comments below. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Next time you're nervous, act as if you're not * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Be Alive When giving a talk, focus less on scripted words, especially those scripted by someone else. Speak instead from you mind, from your heart, and from your soul. When you do that you can fully engage the ethos, pathos, and logos you need to make a compelling argument.

Post Tips Discussion: Meet Bilal Moin Bilal Moin is a 16-year old student and entrepreneur from Mumbai. He is the founder and CEO of 2 companies, one called The MUNkey Business and another called Metamorphospace.

The Munkey Business is a partnership between avid Model UN competitors (MUN’ers), experienced delegates and aspiring students with one simple goal: making MUNs simpler for all. The organization offers one of India's most expansive Model United Nations training and support program for aspiring delegates by providing online training sessions, research documents and oratory training. The MUNkey Business also pioneered conference promotion packages in India, providing advertisements services to reputed conferences at the University and School level, as well as private MUN bodies, both in India and abroad.

MetamorphoSpace is a sustainable, affordable and ever-transforming retail spaces for small businesses in developing cities. A novel solution to expensive real estate in overcrowded urban environments, our sustainable metamorphosing work-spaces for tertiary enterprises help small businesses flourish in developing cities, and aims to transform urban real estate distribution as we know it.

Bilal is a student of economics and history, and is well versed with the financial, political and business fields. He is also a published author, poet and national debater.

One of the things we talk about is the nature of language. It's something I ask about a lot, especially with my guests who are poly-lingual. After all, our words are the core part of our public presentations. One thing that came up in or conversation was the idea of mixing languages while speaking. In this case, we specifically talked about speaking in English and incorporating Hindi words or speaking in Hindi and incorporating English words. Bilal cited the work of Shashi Tharoor. You can see Dr. Tharoor speak here:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7CW7S0zxv4[/embed]

Links

Call To Action * Share your thoughts on my conversation with Bilal below * Connect with Bilal on LinkedIn or check out The MUNKey Business * Subscribe for free to 2-Minute Talk Tips so you never miss an episode * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Thread a story through your talk Figure out how to tell a story in your talk. Story telling is a powerful tool and is a great way to engage your audience from the moment you step in front of the crowd. Don't stop at opening with the story, though. Weave that same story through your talk and keep coming back to it, either to reference it or to advance it. It provides a simple, entertaining way for your audience to remain engaged while you speak and to better understand the context of the various points in your talk.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Diana Wink Diana is an author and a coach who writes dystopian novels set in Scotland from her base in Germany while helping folks around the world learn the crafts of story telling and creativity. She studied film making in school, but ultimately made her initial career in writing due to the economics of the fields. Ultimately those 2 media are just different takes on her core passion -- story telling.

There are lots of compelling lessons in this episodes both big and small. Three of them are:

Creativity and story telling are crafts, not talents.
When speaking to another culture, try to connect with the stories they grew up with.
Make your stories personal and detailed.

Diana Wink is a mountain child from the depths of middle Asia, striving to kidnap her readers into make-believe worlds, blend the borders between past and future, and master her own curiosity. In her spare time, she directs movies and rewatches Christopher Nolan films, empowers creatives to tell stories themselves and explores theaters, cities and wilderness with her bearded dancer husband. They have their base in Germany, but who knows where they are currently to be found?

Diana's first novel in the Prometheus Rising Trilogy is available on Amazon and in most other places that you find books.

You can download a free copy of the novella Shanakee's tale -- the prequel to the Prometheus Rising Trilogy from Diana's website here.

Links

Call To Action * What did you think of this conversation with Diana? Let us know in the comments below. * Download a free copy of Shanakee's Tale from Diana's website. * Check out Diana's story telling course. * Share this episode with a friend or colleague by encouraging them to visit http://2minutetalktips.com/diana * Don't get best...get better

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2-Minute Tip -- Know You can do It The first thing to know about a talk is that this IS something you can do. You can get out on stage. You can move around deliberately to make the points that you want to make. If you're not comfortable with eye contact, that's fine. You can come up with a solution.

But regardless of the challenges, go into it knowing that you can do this.

Post Tip Discussion -- Meet Denise Vaughan Denise and I were both members of the Carroll College Talking Saints Speech and Debate team back in the early 90s. Being a part of that team was a powerful experience that had a major impact on the person I am today. The things I learned and skills I acquired as part of that experience are the ones that I still use today.

Denise and I recently met up in real life for the first time since college to catch up and talk about public speaking, speech and debate, and the power of rhetoric.

We recorded this episode at one of my favorite interview locations -- the Wayward Coffeehouse in Seattle.

Dr. Denise Vaughan has a BA from Carroll College and an MA and PhD from Washington State University. Today, she teaches courses in Debate, Oral Communication, and Debate and Policy Analysis at the University of Washington -- Bothell. Denise is a firm believer in the ability of rhetoric to shape the world and empower students. Through the use of a variety of outside sources and the interests of students themselves, she seeks to create connections between the world they study in the classroom and their interactions outside the classroom. She sees the classroom as a collaborative experience where students and faculty interact with the material and educate one another. Her courses focus on experiential learning and problem solving. Denise is also the Director of Forensics, at University of Washington Bothell, and coaches the award-winning, nationally ranked Speech and Debate team.

Links

| Denise Vaughan at University of Washington Bothell | https://www.uwb.edu/ias/faculty-and-staff/denise-vaughan | | Denise via Email | Dvaughan@uwb.edu | | Denise on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-vaughan-70753324/ | | UW Bothell Speech and Debate | https://www.uwb.edu/ias/undergraduate/experiential/debate | | Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs | https://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Arguing-Aristotle-Persuasion/dp/0307341445 | | Words that Work by Frank Luntz | https://www.amazon.com/Words-That-Work-What-People/dp/1401309291/ref=sr_1_1 | | Influence by Robert Cialdini | https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X/ref=sr_1_1 |

 Call To Action * What are your thoughts on this episode? Let us know in the comments below.

You can connect with Denise via email or LinkedIn. You can find those links above.
Do you know a high school or college student thinking about speech and debate? Encourage them to try it at their school. The value is immense.
Share this episode with someone else by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/denise
Don't get best…get better

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition

Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear

Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

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[bctt tweet="'I'm all about trying to live my life to the fullest. You only get one, right? So, do all the things.' -- @hilary_Billings #publicspeaking" username="CurrentlyBill"]

2-Minute Tip: Focus on how you make your audience feel [bctt tweet="'I'm all about trying to live my life to the fullest. You only get one, right? So, do all the things.' -- @hilary_Billings #publicspeaking" username="CurrentlyBill"]

Hilary tells us about her experience interviewing mega-star interviewer, host, and generally larger-than-life character Ryan Seacrest. It's intimidating to talk to someone that big for the first time. An experience like that can overwhelm the content of the actual conversation. But when she described her experience, the main thing Ryan did was help her feel at ease. He was nice, accommodating, and respectful of an up-and-coming interviewer.

Focus on the feeling you want your audience to take away from the talk you are giving because that's what will stick with them. Tell a story,. Share an emotion, and respect your audience. They'll remember that long after they forgotten any slide, factoid, or statistic.

Post Tip Discussion I first met Hilary Billings several years ago at the Toshiba booth during the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas. I ran partner training and evangelism programs for the company year round. Hilary was brought in to talk to press and customers during the show. And the company would continue to bring her back year after year.

During breaks and between customers, a bunch of us would chat about the business and the paths that brought us to that show floor. In the ensuing years, it was always great to catch up with Hilary learn about her latest adventures as a speaker, blogger, on camera personality, and, oh yeah, beauty queen.

During today's chat we talk about her journey and how speaking plays a part in it. We talk about the importance of High School Speech and Debate. And about the importance of pursuing your passions through adversity to live the life you want to live.

[bctt tweet="'In some weird way, pageants still provided a microphone for women and an opportunity for them to share what was important to them and give back to their community.' -- @hilary_Billings #publicspeaking" username="CurrentlyBill"]

Hilary guides her life around 4 core values that she shares right up front:

Embrace adversity
Experience everyday adventures
Find humor in everyday situations
Build Community

Hilary Billings is a burn survivor turned Miss Nevada United States 2013. She is accomplished in journalism, on-camera hosting, and public speaking. She's contributed hundreds of articles to national outlets including USA Today, Huffington Post, has been featured on Extra! Entertainment Television and worked for E! News. She's now the face for Norwegian Cruise Line's newest ship for their in-room streaming entertainment, and had a co-starring role in the final season of Nashville.

Most recently she's been responsible for creating viral social media content and is about to launch her newest venture, a podcast series focused on self-growth called The Iceberg Effect. She also travels and speaks to Universities and corporations about embracing adversity and seeking out everyday adventures.

Links

Call to Action * What does this conversation make you think about? Let us know in the comments below. * Connect with Hilary on Instagram or Facebook. * Do you know someone else who might find this conversation interesting? Send them this link: http://2minutetalktips.com/hilary. * Be on the lookout for The Ice Berg Effect -- Hilary's new podcast. * Focus on how you can make your audience feel in your next talk. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip Influencing dozens or hundreds or thousands of people can be intimidating. That's a lot of work, and it's a lot of minds to change. So how do you do that when the public speaking jitters start rattling your stomach? Don't.

Think about influencing one person in your audience, instead. Then that person can influence others and help spread your message.

The interesting thing about this mindset is that the bigger the crowd, the less intimidating the goal. Influencing one person in a group of five is tough. Influencing one person in a group of 500 is easy.

Post Tip Discussion Patricia Missakian is the founder of the Akashic Records Institute. While Akashic Records as a concept has hundreds of years as a spiritual element, for our purposes, it can be thought of simply as the collection of conscious and unconscious memories we start building the day we are born.

Those memories -- our early wins and traumas help form the adults we grow up to be. Those memories and patterns can block our success. They contribute to how we sometimes "can't get out of our own way."

Patricia helps folks work through those patterns to be more successful.

In this episodes, we talk about how those patterns impact our public speaking.

We also talk about how and why she became an international speaker by leveraging technology and social media to create her own stage.

Patricia Missakian is an international speaker, coach, and spiritual teacher. She is the founder of the Akashic Records Institute, a school for spiritual development, specializes in uncovering and releasing the old beliefs that block success in finances, relationships and health.

Accessing the Akashic Records, Patricia guides clients to align themselves, pinpoint money blocks and discover how to break through these blocks to achieve full potential.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Patricia now lives in Glendale, CA with her family, enjoying her kids, and working with clients. She brings together her Brazilian roots, colorful creativity, positive energy, genuine happiness, advanced training and unquestionable mystical connection to everything that she does.

Relevant Links

Call To Action * What are thoughts on breaking through blocks to unlock your success? Let us know in the comments below. * Visit http://akashicrecordsinstitute.com to learn more about Patricia's program and how you can work with her. * Adapt your mindset to influence one person in your audience. * Do you know someone who might benefit from this episode? Send them to http://2minutetalktips.com/patricia to listen. * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Make Eye Contact Making eye contact with your audience is a great way to show them that you care and are interested in their success. It's much more effective than looking down and a script or shuffling note cards around.

Bonus Tip: Watch the Air Quality Before you go someplace to speak, check the air quality in the city. A simple web search should bring up the latest data. For example, the air quality in Seattle right now is 153. That's unhealthy. Good air quality is between 0 and 50. In our case, it's because of forest fires throughout the US and Canada.

This means speakers who spend a lot of time outdoors may have problems with the throat. A speaker may find themselves sneezing a lot more or generally stuffed up. We may fatigue more. Our lung capacity may seem lower because we're inhaling so much more than just air.

Plan for local air quality. That may mean you bring more tissues or lozenges. You should probably drink more water. Consider wearing a mask while out and about. Reduce your exposure to outside air.

In general, protect your voice.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Louise Brogan Louise Brogan (Social Bee) is a social media consultant and trainer, who teaches entrepreneurs and established companies and organizations to market their business online. Louise's aim is to explain how to do things online in a simple, straightforward way.

Louise has been working with organizations and small businesses for over five years. In 2017, Louise was listed in the Small Business Saturday Top 100 Small Businesses in the UK, and in March 2018, Louise was awarded Top 50 Small Business Advisors in the UK by Enterprise Nation

As you would expect, our discussion focused on the intersection of public speaking and social media.

There were a number of key lessons I found in this episode.

Reach out to local councils, governmental organizations, or Chambers of Commerce about speaking opportunities they may have available. Some of these gigs may or may not be paid, but they can be great for lead generation.
Use LinkedIn to make sure your professional network knows you're a speaker. It's a great tool for finding those opportunities.
As a business, focus on only 1 or 2 social media platforms where your customers are most likely to be and are most likely in their customer mindset.
Speaking because you have the fire for it is great, but there's also tremendous value in it if you don't like speaking for speaking's sake.
Social media for business is profoundly different from social media for personal use.

Relevant Links

Call to Action * What are your thoughts on speaking and social media? Let us know in the comments below. * Be sure to subscribe for free to the Social Bee Podcast, and, of course 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Does someone you know run social media for their small business? Send them this link: http://2minutetalktips.com/socialbeeni, and ask what they think about it. * Make eye contact with your audience * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Write it Down In the run up to a talk, our minds can go all over the place. Thoughts come and go, and it can get pretty loud inside our heads. It becomes hard to focus on what we need to do and to be present like we ought to be to maximize our success.

One way to deal with this is to write down all those thoughts on a piece (or pieces) of paper. That gets them out of your head and your brain can let them go since you can deal with them later if you choose.

I find this helpful at other times, too, when I get overwhelmed with stress or my mind starts racing. Just write it all down and get on with the things you need to do.

Post Tip Discussion Victoria and I talked about this focus and the importance of being present for the audience and in conversation. We also talked about the power of speaking to an audience and the possibilities with podcasting today.

Victoria Mavis is worldwide one of only a few professional female magicians. She started doing magic at the age of 4 and had her first stage show at the age of 7. She has two academic degrees, a background in hypnosis, is a member of the magic circle in Germany as well as Rotary International. She also published her first book in 2017. While performing a lot of mental magic on stage she started getting closer to the real secrets of magic... tools that can improve our lives, bringing us closer to our dreams, break through blocks and even get in touch with quantum physics.

One thing stage magic and public speaking have in common is the importance of being present. A magician uses discipline, focus, and misdirection to create an experience that challenges an audience's perception of reality and tries to interrupt the patterns the live their life with. That requires tremendous effort and skill on the part of the magician. They can't just let their mind wander on stage.

As a speaker you need to be focused on your audience, delivering the message, and driving to your goal of what you want the audience to do.

Relevant Links

Call To Action * What do you think of the intersection between magic and public speaking? Let us know in the comments below. * Check out the Pure Mind Magic Podcast in your favorite podcast app. * Check out Victoria's new book and get chapter 1 here. * Write down your thoughts before your next talk. * Don't get best…get better.

How Podcasting Can Change Your Life: Unleash Endless Possibilities

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2-Minute Tip: Use a Checklist Everyday, thousands of airline pilots around the world pull out the same task list them read hundred or thousands of times and it out loud to their colleague. Even though they have the whole thing memorized by now, they still refer back to that list to nearly guarantee they don't forget anything. The consequences of failure are huge. Forgetting one thing can cost hundreds of lives and millions of dollars in damage. So the use a check list.

The consequences for skipping a step in your talk are not nearly as serious. No one is going to die if we make a mistake. That doesn't mean we should skip check lists as speakers, though. Working from a checklist as we prepare a talk, pack our bag, and wrap-up an event can make a big difference in our effectiveness. We come across as more professional when we have those procedures in place, and we get to off load some of the cognitive load from our brains. We don't have to remember to not forget things because we can work from the list.

Sample check lists include:

What to pack
- Luggage
  - Day 1 Shirt
  - Day 2 shirt
  - Pants
  - Workout shoes
- Presentation kit
  - Projector cable
  - Timer
  - Slide clicker
  - HDMI adapter
  - Tissues
  - Gaffers tape
Actions at event
- Greet organizer
- Greet AV Tech
- Check room sight lines
- Confirm projector works
- Find rest room
Tear down
- Shut off computer
- Shut off projector
- Pack extension cable
- Pack notes
Follow up
- Thank the organizer
- Complete event report
- Follow up on questions you said you would follow up on
- Submit expense report

I'm sure you can come up with more things for theses check lists.

Post Tip Discussion: Thoughts on Crowd Size The size of the crowd you are speaking to determines how you deliver your message. It impacts the content and activities that are part of you presentation. It even impacts what you wear to an event.

Some folks might say that the bigger a crowd gets, the harder it is to deliver a talk, but that's not necessarily true. There are different strategies to deploy in a large group versus a small one, and there are different results you can expect. Here are some thoughts of crowd size. Theses are ideas to get you thinking about what you'll do in your talk, but the are not strict absolutes -- merely a starting points that inform your prep work.

Small Crowd (under 15 people)
- It's probably a meeting
- A conversational approach works best
- Interactivity is key
- Time management can be harder since folks are more likely to pursue tangents and cross talk
- Group dynamics play a big role
- They might make a decision
Medium Crowd (15-50 people)
- Likely a class or educational seminar
- Small group activities are more practical
- Speaker appears to be an authority figure
- Sessions can run multiple hours
Large Crowd (51-100 people)
- Presentation is more formal
- Small group activities are less practical
- Folks will help you control the room
- Need to determine if you are addressing all of them or a subset of them
Auditorium (100+)
- Beyond 100 people the crowd tends to blur together
- Often lights block most of the crowd
- Allow time for humor to work
- Timing is critical
- Clothes should accommodate a mic pack
- Stage location may be important

The key with any talk is to get the information you need ahead of time so you can bring the right sized talk to the right sized crowd.

Call To Action * What's the toughest size crowd for you? How do you adapt to crowd size? Let us know in the comments below. * Build checklists for your next talk. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Connect with your Audience Often you don't need to adopt a high energy approach and dance around the stage. Focus instead on making a connection with your audience. Share stories. Help them see the things they have in common with you. That makes your presentation more credible and memorable.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet NursePreneur Catie Harris I connected initially with Catie Harris through the work I do with Strokecast.

Catie has a background in nursing, specializing in neuro patients, like stroke survivors. After working in a clinical setting for years she decided to leverage that experience to pursue other opportunities in transitional care, and now in helping other nurses pursue the next chapter of their lives as business owners. Speaking has played a key role in her career both at the hospital and in her current endeavors.

Theses are the 4 most important lessons to come out of this episode:

Speaking helps establish your credibility. If you want to be seen as an expert, looking for and accepting speaking opportunities is a great way to do it.
The worst of the speaking anxiety is before you start talking. Once you start, for many folks it goes away. It's one reason I recommend memorizing your intro.
The stories you tell are how you connect with your audience and are the things they will remember most.
Begin with the end in mind. Figure out your goal and build the rest of the talk around that.

Relevant Links

Call To Action * What are your thoughts on Catie's story? Share them in the comments below. * Check out CatieHarris.com to learn more about Catie and her NursePreneur Training Program. * Share this episode with friends and colleagues through email, social media, or text message by sending the the link http://2minutetalktips.com/catie * Connect with your audience through storytelling. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip Much of the communication we have with folks is non-verbal, and facial expressions play a big part in that.

When we conduct a presentation, though, we lose much of that subtlety because we are further from our audience. Instead of 2 feet away we are 10 or 20 feet away. To make up for that, we need to use much bigger and more dramatic facial expressions. Smile bigger. Open your eyes wider. Exaggerate your head tilt.

In practice it may feel like you are going too far and becoming silly. That's okay. Your probably still not going far enough.

When you use bigger expressions on stage, folks will see you as more lively and will pick up more on your meaning, even if they're not sure why.

Post Tip Discussion: How to Memorize a Speech Generally -- don't. Don't memorize, internalize. Know your material well enough that you can generate the speech each time you rehearse or give it.

Of course there are some parts you should memorize.

Intro
Conclusion
Structure
Quotes.

There are some excellent reasons not to memorize the rest.

Lot of work. Rehearsal is a better use of your time.
A brain freeze where you go blank is more likely.
Getting back where you belong if you lose your place is tougher.
You're more likely to sound robotic.
It's harder to adapt if something changes at the last minute

That said, sometimes the detailed script matters a lot more, whether that's due to an approval process, legal/financial disclosure, crisis management, or some other reason. Business reason sometimes demand strict adherence to the text. In that case, follow these 8 steps to memorize your talk.

Be one of the script writers.
Don't start memorizing until the final version.
Read the whole thing out loud.
Memorize the structure.
Repeat the structure until you have it memorized
Go paragraph by paragraph, memorizing in pairs - 1 and 2, then 2 and 3, then 3 and 4, etc.
Repeat the whole thing from memory.
Record yourself reading it and play it back in the background to lock it in.

Then you can move on to rehearsals.

Call to Action * Don't memorize, internalize * If you do have to memorize, what steps do you use? Let us know in the comments here. * Use big facial expressions. * Share this episode with a colleague and subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip -- Know the thing that lights you on fire Melissa Bird explains that the key to success is to know what lights you on fire. When you know that fire and can speak to your passion, it becomes so much easier to let your voice through regardless of the audience size.

But how do you figure out what your fire is if you don't already know? Here's where I think pen and paper and a quiet corner or coffee shop can help.

Give yourself 15 minutes and write down the answers to these questions. Don't worry about getting it "right" or making it presentable. All you want is ink or graphite on paper.

What do you talk about with friends?
What do you post about most on social media?
What angers you most in the news?
What is your go-to advice for folks?

Odds are something you are passionate about will be on that list.

That's great for personal stuff, but I know most folks want to improve their speaking skill at work and prefer to keep politics and life issues separate because they may not be directly related to your quarterly sales presentation or negotiating skills seminar. That's fine. Simply at "at work" to each of those questions and the exercise will still help. It will help you identify the issues at work you most need to speak about.

Post-Tip Discussion Melissa Bird, PhD, MSW is a passionate feminist whose education in social work has led to a career advocating for children, women, and their families. She is a fierce believer in social justice advocacy and preparing women for leadership roles in politics. She has a wealth of experience working with policy makers, community leaders, and other stakeholders to improve access to reproductive health care for women, men and teens.

As a writer, professor and fiery public speaker, Dr. Bird creates the genesis for a new brand of leadership. Her words awaken revolutionaries, trailblazers and powerful innovators in the quest for justice. When she’s not building her public speaking Empire, she can be found reading trashy novels, drinking fine whiskey, playing mom to three delicious humans, and loving her punk rock scientist James Thomas Kelly.

I met Melissa Through Melanie Childers who you heard from in episode 68.

Melissa's experience with speaking began with dealing with tremendous speaking anxiety in high school, in front of an audience of 15 other students. A great teacher helped her through it and pushed her to succeed, providing the basic tools she needed for success.

Melissa would later go on to speak at political rallies to audiences large and small, to conferences for social workers, and to anywhere she could share message of social justice or finding your voice.

We also talked a lot about Facebook live. Melissa regularly uses the platform to connect with her audience and to work out ideas and thoughts she may want to talk about in the future. It's a fascinating platform that frequently draws a larger audience than expected.

The discussion has me thinking about ways to incorporate Facebook Live into 2-Minute Talk Tips and Strokecast. After show, anyone?

Links related to this Episode

Call To Action * What do you think about finding your voice or working things out through Facebook Live? Let us know in the comments below. * Would you like to share your literal voice? Leave a message at 650-TalkTip (650-825-5847) * To share this episode on Facebook or the social media platform of your choice, click the icon below, or just copy and paste this link: http://2minutetalktips.com/birdgirl * To learn more about Melissa's work or to work with her, head on over to birdgirlindustries.com. * Make sure you speak about the topics that light you on fire. * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: 3-Fer This week's tip comes from our special guest, Pradeepa Narayanaswamy and is a 3-pack of tips.

Wear comfortable clothes. That doesn't necessarily mean loose. It means clothes in which you feel comfortable and powerful.
Practice power poses and do vocal warm ups before going on stage. You can check out Amy Cuddy's work for more details on poses. For vocal exercises, go ahead and make sounds and loosen up to get comfortable. You can even step into the bathroom before you speak to do this. Bonus: you may end up with an entire public restroom to yourself as you make theses sounds to loosen up.
When someone asks if you're nervous, say instead, "I'm excited." Even announce on stage how excited you are. The body responds similarly to nervousness and excitement so embrace the mindset that best prepares you for success.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Pradeepa Narayanaswamy Pradeepa is a corporate trainer, speaker, and fertility coach whose mission in life is "to help men's women's, and couples' infertility journey suck less."

We talk about how she group up in the public speaking world, first learning by watching her father, and later being coached by him when she entered the world of competitive speech. She developed a natural rhythmic style that came through as we spoke. It's one of the things that makes Pradeepa a compelling speaker.

She brought those skills to her new found passion as a fertility coach. This is not a journey anyone seeks out. It's the result of her own, long struggle with infertility. She talks about the details and heartbreak of these struggles over at the Biz Babes with Soul podcast.

Conferences have played an important part in Pradeepa's evolution from developing new skills and understanding around the importance of listening to giving her an opportunity to experiment with branding and publicly embracing her new identity.

We also talk about the challenges of talking about a subject many folks don't want to talk about publicly, and how Pradeepa benefited from doing just that.

So take a few minutes this week, and get to know the fascinating Pradeepa Narayanaswamy.

This week's links * Pradeepa's Coaching Site -- Lives-Transformed.com * Pradeepa's interview on Biz Babe's with Soul * Pradeepa's LinkedIn article "Claiming My Niche" * Pradeepa on Twitter * Amy Cuddy on TED

Call To action * What are your thoughts on this week's episode? Have you found yourself speaking about taboo subjects from stage? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below. * Check out Pradeepa's site for more information or to learn how you can work with her. * Do you listen to 2-Minute Talk Tips on an Apple device? Visit the Apple Podcasts store to leave us a rating or review * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Raise Your Energy One of the most powerful things you can do to conduct an effective presentation is to raise your energy and dominate your stage. There are a lot of ways you can do that. You can channel your inner Lady Gaga or try running in place. Regardless of how you do it, a high energy level will put you in a position to let your message burst through.

Post-Tip Discussion: Meet Melanie Childers Melanie is a coach focused on helping progressive women run for political office or other wise change the world through advocacy. Her own experience surviving cancer helped her chart this new path to make her world a better place.

We have a wide-ranging discussion this week that covers topics like confidence, focusing on a message, the challenges women face in running for office that often men do not, the nature of neuroplasticity, depression, suicide, authenticity, and mindset to name a few.

I first encountered Melanie through Lyn Henderson's Inside Knowledge podcast. It was a great discussion so I had to invite her on 2-Minute Talk Tips.

As I spoke with Melanie this week, Mario Porreca 2 weeks ago, and next week's guest, one theme that comes through is the importance of controlling and choosing your mindset. To be successful, you first have to believe you can be successful. The other common theme is the importance of authenticity -- of sharing a message you can believe it. When speaking from the heart, the discussion is less about yourself, or, rather, your ego. It let's the audience more fully experience your story.

We mentioned a number of resources this week. Here is a collection of those links.

 Call To Action * What are your thoughts on running for office or otherwise using public speaking to change the world? Let us know in the comments below.

Check out Melanie's website and services at The Enlightened Bad-ass.
Do you know someone who might benefit from this episode? Share this link with them: http://2minutetalktips.com/Melanie
Raise your energy before your next talk.
Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Poll the Audience A simple way to increase audience engagement and inter action is to poll the audience. Ask them if they've had some sort of experience, like dealing with a tough customer or a misunderstanding with a boss. You already know the answer (probably) so you can use that to lead right in to your next point.

When you poll the audience be sure to tell the how to answer. Do you want the to say, "Yes!" Or do you want them to clap? Or do you want them to nod silently? If you don't make the choice for them, you never know what you'll get.

A great choice is to ask them to raise their hand. And demonstrate this behavior when you ask for it. This way you get them moving physically plus you get points for using gestures.

Post Tip Discussion: The Power of Limits People often think they want total freedom, and it's a nice idea. In reality, though, we do our best and most creative work within constraints or within limits. Those limits force us to make the best use of an available workspace. Instead of infinite options that are impossible to sort through, we have finite ones from which we can make our best selections.

When preparing a talk, the most important limit is our goal. By defining our goal, we establish the framework all our other topics must fit into. If a point we think we want to make doesn't support our goal, it's gone. Get rid of it. It's irrelevant to our topic and will only waste everyone's time. Plus the audience will think the speaker is rambling and boring.

Other important limits on our talks include the environment we will speak in. It's why we need to ask things like:

Where will I be speaking?
Who will I be speaking to?
How much time do I have?
What AV gear is available?
When will I be speaking
…and much more.

Too much choice is problematic. In Robert Cialdini's book Influence (affiliate link), he talk about a jam selling experiment. When a store increased the varieties of jam customers could choose from, sales went down. When they took away choices, sales went up.

Too many choices paralyzes us. We are afraid of making the wrong choice. Of being embarrassed.

Working within certain limits empowers us to do our best work.

Call To Action * What are your thoughts on the power of limits? Let us know in the comments below. * Share this episode with a colleague and ask them their thoughts about limits. Or about Madonna. * Poll the audience during your next talk. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Practice in the Shower The shower can be a great place to practice your talk. It's a comfortable, warm environment. You don't need to pay too much attention to your other activities. You are less likely to be distracted by other folks and tasks. In general, the environment really helps you shift your mindset in a way that allows you to mentally prepare and visualize yourself conducting a great presentation.

Plus, it also forces you to go through your content without using your slides (just because you can take a waterproof laptop in there doesn't mean you should).

Meet Mario Porreca

We're all Unique. We're all perfect at our core. We all have something to bring to the world. What is your something? -- Mario Porreca

Mario Porreca joins us this week. Mario Porreca is a performer, chef, author, TV personality, speaker, and mindset performance strategist. Mario’s main focus is coaching busy achievers to align their mindset, purpose, and passion to experience life at a deeper more profound level. You can learn more about his background here. Or, of course, listen to this week's episode.

Failure is something that we construct in our own minds because we didn't meet our own expectations.

-- Mario Porreca

Mario's focus is on mindset and how important it is to redefine how you look at yourself in order to achieve, and more importantly, maintain success. With work, practice, and the right mindset, a speaker can achieve a level of peak state performance where the message flows through the speaker on stage. At those moments, presenting can almost become a meditative practice, allowing us to connect with a deeper part of ourselves as we share our message and serve our audience.

What I like about this conversation is that the things we talk about will resonate with the new speaker who is nervous about the stage, with tips on letting the message through and dealing with nerves, and with the experienced speaker at home on the stage who wants to understand more about their own on-stage experience. Plus, what happens when your presentation results in the fire department showing up?

Mario's 10-Minute Mindset podcast is a daily show designed to help folks get ready for the day and take immediate steps toward achieving their goals.

Plus, Mario is a Billy Joel fan, which is awesome.

Here are some of the links related to today's show:

Mario's Website
Mario on Facebook
Mario on Twitter
Mario on Instagram
Mario on LinkedIn
Mario's books on Amazon (Affiliate Link)
10-Minute Mindset on Facebook
10-Minute Mindset Podcast
Mindset by Carol Dweck on Amazon (Affiliate Link)

Our greatest need as human beings is to act consistently with who we believe we are.

-- Mario Porreca

Call To Action * What are your thoughts on the idea of mindset? Let us know in the comments at http://2minutetalktips.com/mario. * Check out Mario's podcast on Apple Podcasts. * If you have an Amazon Echo, go up to it and say, "Alexa, enable 2-Minute Talk Tips." * Practice your next talk in the shower. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Close to Open In retail, management coaches employees to Close to Open. That means to get the store clean, stocked and signed at closing time so it's ready to open up the next day and get right to business.

If you are doing a series of presentations, you can do "Future You" a big favor by taking the same approach. Close to open.

That means when you're done, you don't just throw everything in your bag and run out the door. Take the time to:

Reset your PC to presentation state.
Wrap up your cables.
Pack your extension cord and presentation remote where you will find them.
Fold up your branded table cloth.
Reset any visual aides you have
Etc.

Don't leave your self with a tangled mess to deal with the next day. You don't need that stress, and you don't need that hassle.

Close to Open.

Post Tip Discussion: Presentation Translator Presentation Translator is a free add in for PowerPoint that you can get from Microsoft. It requires a recent version of PowerPoint, a Windows PC, an internet connection and a microphone. You can download it here. You can learn more about the tool here.

It does three main things in PowerPoint. It:

Provides live voice to text subtitles on your slides while you present
Allows audience members to view a live translation of your talk on their smart phones (or on top of your slides, if you choose)
Gives you a written transcript of your talk at the end of the presentation

I saw a great demonstration of it at the Microsoft Ability Summit. I talked more about that on my stroke podcast, Strokecast.

Translator does all this in the cloud. Your PC microphone picks up your voice and uses Microsoft's cloud-based artificial intelligence to do the conversion and translation on the fly. It's pretty impressive.

This is complex stuff to get right. One way to improve accuracy is to let the tool scan your slides before your presentation. This takes about 5 minutes, but you only need to do it once. It's an optional step, but it's important if you have a lot of specialized language in your presentation. What I like about this function is that it reads both your slides AND your speaker notes. That means you can get the benefit of this tool even with graphic heavy slides with few words. Your speaker notes can be as text heavy as you like.

Speed and accuracy are important, and I found it works pretty well most of the time. A good internet connection is important to avoid lag and keep it functional.

I ran this week's episode through the tool. You can read the English transcript of this week's episode here.

If you'd rather read it in Klingon, you can do that here.

You can translate into 60 different languages.

Here's a look at some of those screenshots.

[caption id="attachment_652" align="aligncenter" width="415"] This is a screenshot showing some of the languages you can translate your slides into.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_650" align="aligncenter" width="514"] This is the dialog box you see when you start the subtitling mode. Here, you can enable or disable the prescan.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_651" align="aligncenter" width="521"] This screen shot of the dialog box shows some of the languages you can display your subtitles in.[/caption]

This is not just a cool toy for speakers. Presentation Translator has some important implications for accessibility and for reaching under-served communities. It puts simple translation tools in the hands of every Windows-based PowerPoint user. It allows a speaker in one language to speak with an audience not as proficient in that language. It streamlines business and opportunities across borders. It allows the hard of hearing to consume more content.

Here's a Microsoft produced video demonstrating the tool:

Call To Action: * What do you think of the tool? Have you tried it? Let us know in the comments here. * If you find content like this interesting, be sure to subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Close to open the next time you have a series of presentations. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Prepare Talking Points It's one thing to plan your presentation when you are leading the discussion. It's another when you're not. During informal presentations like interviews and panel discussions you may not be driving the whole discussion. That's why you need to prepare talking points ahead of time and review them before the talk.

Pick 2-3 key points you want to make during your limited time. What do you want the audience to know? What do you want them to do? How can you make sure your appearance at this event has value for both you and your audience?

Just as important as crafting them is reviewing them before the event. You want them top of mind so when the discussion comes around to you, you are prepared to address these key points without forgetting them.

Post Tip Discussion: What Happens When You Don't Care? We don't always have the luxury of speaking about things we are passionate about. Sometime, a customer, boss, or colleague may ask us to speak about a topic where we just don't care. How do you get past that? Here are 8 tips for delivering content you don't care about.

Remember why you are there.
Know the specific topic better than your audience does.
Don't fake it.
Find something in there you can connect with.
Know your audience.
Know why your audience should care.
Adjust your metrics for success.
Remember: It's not about you.

Call To Action: * How do you present material you have no interest in? Let us know in the comments here. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Share this episode with a friend or colleague. * Prepare your talking points. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Use PowerPoint Online Photos PowerPoint has some great tools for sourcing images online. In the version for Windows that comes as part of Office 365 (and possibly other versions), PowerPoint content layout frames include an option to insert online images. If you are working without layouts, you can reach this same function through the Insert menu.

Once you choose that option, you will get a search box that includes categories of photos, drawings, and graphics, along with the search option. Type your search term and PowerPoint will use either Bing Image search or OneDrive search functions to find the pictures you need. It searches for images that folks are generally allowed to use under a Creative Commons license. Simply click the image you want, and it drops right onto your slide.

Now there is no excuse not to use graphics in your slides.

Post Tip Discussion: 6 Observations From a Talk I spoke to a stroke support group recently. I had several weeks to prepare so my discussion went through a variety of iterations. Through that process I made 6 observations.

PowerPoint has good templates if you search.
Iterating during the outline phase is important.
Listing/Sourcing images before building slides helps.
Watch out for dark graphics.
Filter words vary by context.
You don't know what you have until the audience hears it.

Call To Action * Share your observations on these observations in the comments below. * Are there topics you would like to hear more about? Email Bill@2minutetalktips.com * Have you check out the Alexa skill? Go up to your (or someone else's (I'm not picky)) Echo device and say, "Alexa, enable 2-Minute Talk Tips." * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Tell a Story to Add Value When presenting, we are often selling something. It may be a product, a service, or an idea. To be effective, though, don't just go through a barrage of features or details. It's the story that you can connect with your topic that gives it value. It's the story you tell that your audience will respond to and remember.

It's the story you tell that makes your subject rise above the fray.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Iszi Lawrence

The human brain is designed to listen to voices and designed to understand stories.

-- Iszi Lawrence

Iszi Lawrence is a British comedian, podcaster, presenter, radio personality, and public speaking coach. She has more than a decade of experience talking in places from nightclubs to boardroom to the Oxford Union to the Tedx stage in Southhampton. You can learn more about Iszi by visiting Iszi.com.

I met Iszi through a Facebook discussion group. We had a wide ranging conversation about the comedy and speaking scenes in the UK, the value of human conversation, the differences in how aspiring male and female students tend to approach speaking, and the importance of acknowledging awkwardness.

Iszi answers the question few speakers ask: What do you do when Sir Ben Kingsley eats into your time?

We talked about a variety of websites and projects. You can find many of those links here:

Call To Action: * Check out Iszi.com to learn more about Iszi and her projects. * What are your thoughts about Iszi's comments and lessons? Share them in the comments below. * If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, colleague, or stranger. * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Prewire your big meetings I first learned about the idea of Prewiring a meeting from the folks at Manager Tool. Check out their podcast for a deeper discussion. I also talked about it in the early days of this 2-Minute Talk Tips in Episode 7 (Empty Your Pockets and Prepare Your Audience).

Basically, to prewire your audience before a big proposal, meet with your stakeholders one-on-one to brief them on what you want to do, get their feedback, address their concerns, and answer their questions in the days and weeks leading up to your presentation.

By doing so, you increase your odds of success because everyone is better prepared for the discussion.

Post Tip Discussion: Bad Boss Advice When your boss gives you bad advice about speaking, what should you do? Generally, comply.

You may want to dig a little deeper. Ask for more information about the advice. Try to understand the context and details around it. What is the problem your boss hopes to address with this advice? Is there a more effective way that you can accomplish the same goal? There may be an opportunity for discussion here.

But you have to be prepared to comply and do things the "wrong" way if your boss insists. Doing otherwise is likely to be counter-productive if your goal is to stay employed and stay in your bosses good graces. If you're not comfortable with complying, then perhaps it's time to leave that organization.

Bosses also need to be mindful about the advice they give. A casual thought or some simple thinking-out-loud may be perceived by an employee as an order or policy change, and that can get ugly.

Call To Action * Have you gotten bad advice from a boss? How did you handle it? Tell us about it in the comments here. * Are you a boss who's had an employee take a suggestion too seriously? Tell us what happened here. * Enable the 2-Minute Talk Tips Skill in your Echo device and rate it in the Alexa app. * Prewire your next big meeting. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Always Assume Your Screen is Showing I think we've all been in that meeting at one point where someone's PC is connected to the projector and suddenly an embarrassing IM pops up. Or the meeting gets derailed by a 5-minute discussion about they're wallpaper.

There are lots of notifications that popup on our devices -- meeting reminders, email previews, Skype notices, Windows 10 Action Center updates, etc. Sometimes we just have assorted files scattered across folders or our desktop.

And sometimes we forget folks can see that stuff because we're just conducting our presentation. That's when it's easy to get into trouble.

Always assume your desktop is showing when connected to a projector, and make sure the only stuff on there is stuff it's okay for your audience to see.

Program note: Amazon Echo Skills Both 2-Minute Talk Tips and Strokecast now have Amazon Alexa skills. You can listen to every episode from theses nifty speakers around your home.

Just go up to your echo device and say, "Alexa, enable 2-Minute Talk tips."

Then say, "Alexa, enable Strokecast."

If you don't have an Alexa device, you can order one here (affiliate link).

Post Tip Discussion: More Thoughts on Storytelling More and more these days, I find myself thinking about storytelling. From holy books, to fables, to blockbuster movies, stories are what connect us. Stories are how we share history, teach lessons, build a community, and bond over shared victory or loss.

Stories are how we can tap into the Pathos side of the pathos-ethos-logos triangle and can make us much more effective speakers.

Call To Action: * What are your thoughts on storytelling? Tell us in the comments below and at 2minutetalktips.com/stories. * Find one new story every week that you might be able to use in a future presentation. * If you have an Alexa device, go up to it and say, "Alexa, enable 2-Minute Talk Tips." * If you want to purchase an Alexa device, visit this page on Amazon (affiliate link). * Assume your screen is showing every time you connect to a projector * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Believe Them When your audience members tell you that you did a good job, believe them.

In our zeal to be the best we can be, many speakers have an inaccurate and often negative view of our own performances. Often we see how it could have been better. Or we notice a mistake no one in the audience did. We can obsess over those "failures" no one else saw.

But it's not about us.

It's about the audience. When audience members tell you that you did a good job, take their word for it. Respect their opinion. Believe them.

Post Tip Discussion: 8 Questions to Ask After Your Talk

There are stories we tell ourselves that keep us small.

-- Emma Gibbs-Ng

Lyn Henderson's Inside Knowledge Podcast

Evaluating our performance after a presentation is good, but simply asking, "How was I?" is not good enough. It makes it all about us again and doesn't give us the actionable data we need to get better. Instead, we ought to ask these 8 questions after a talk:

How was the timing?
What were the questions the audience asked?
What demos or visual aids worked and which ones didn't?
How did my jokes go over?
How well did the presentation flow?
What did people say to you after the talk?
What follow up items do you have?
Did you accomplish your goal?

The questions focus on how the audience experienced the presentation, rather than how the speaker experienced it.

Keep track of the answers over time because they will reveal patterns that point to ways you can grow and improve as a speaker.

Call To Action: * Ask the 8 key questions after your next talk. * What other questions do you ask? Let us know in the comments below. * Share this episode with a friend or colleague who also conducts presentations. * Believe your audience when they say they like you. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Schedule Your Practice We mean well. We put "practice" and "rehearse" on our To Do lists. Unfortunately, that often gets bumped by other, more urgent matters. Or meetings get scheduled in our open blocks of time.

That's why it's important to schedule practice time on your calendar. Set up a meeting with yourself to rehearse. Reserve a conference room if you don't have a private office.

When you have practice actually on your calendar, you are more likely to actually do it and less likely to have that time stolen away by another meeting.

Program Notes 2-Minute Talk Tips was named to Nikki's Podcasts' list of the 6 Inspiring Podcasts for Entrepreneurs. Check out the story and the other podcasts on the list here.

Libsyn is featuring my story along with Strokecast and 2-Minute Talk Tips as the Rockin' Libsyn Podcaster this week. You can find the article here.

Post Tip Discussion: 3 Myths and 1 Mindset for Nervous Speakers There is a lot of advice out there to help speakers deal with stage fright or fear of speaking. Some of it is good. Some of it is really bad.

Here are 3 Myths about dealing with nerves:

You should have a drink.
You should imagine the audience naked.
You should skip practice.

These are all terrible ideas. They are unlikely to be effective, and ultimately you want to be effective to land your message or inspire folks to take a particular action.

An excellent way to deal with nerves is to shift your mindset and remember it's not about you.

It's about your audience, and that's where you ought to focus. Your audience wants you to succeed. They want to have a good experience and get value out of your talk. That's why they are there.

Keep your focus on the audience and value you are delivering.

Because it's not about you.

Call To Action: * How do you deal with nerves? Tell us about it in the comments below. * Schedule practice time for your next talk. * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Photograph Your Space The brain plays tricks on us. It can be difficult to see clutter and distractions in the space around us because we tune them out. That can be true in a home office, in a conference room, or on a presentation stage.

Try taking a picture of your presentation space with your phone. Better yet, have someone take a picture, or several pictures from different angles, of you standing in your speaking spot.

Then look at the background in those pictures. You're more likely to spot potential issues by looking at those pictures than by just looking at the real world.

Post Tip Discussion: Digital Ink in PowerPoint Digital Ink is feature of modern PCs, especially pen-enabled PC. In PowerPoint, it means you can draw on your slides with a digital pen, your mouse, or even your finger.

There are two contexts for digital ink in PowerPoint

Reviewing Content
Presenting Content

Reviewing Content I like to use ink to review slide decks while sitting on the couch. By getting away from my desktop monitor, keyboard, mouse, and desk, it helps shift the context of my thinking. I can more easily apply a critical eye to content because it forces me out of "author mode."

To review content with ink:

Open the slide deck in slide sorter view
Click on the "Draw" tab
Choose "Draw with touch"

Now, I can make notes directly on the slides I'm reviewing, circle typos, ask questions, sketch out additional slides, and more.

Then I can save the file with all that ink and send it back to the author to update. Even if that author is me.

Presenting Content When presenting content, ink annotations let us do things we used to do with grease pencils and overhead transparencies 40 years ago. We can draw on our slides.

To turn on ink annotations during a presentation:

Launch slideshow mode
Hover your pointing device in the lower left of the screen
Look for the transparent icons
Choose the writing implements button
When that pops up the choices, choose the pen

Now you can draw on your slides while the audience watches.

What can you do with this function? You have a bunch of options, including:

Emphasize a point
Mark up a picture
Interactively label parts of a diagram
Make note of questions or follow-up items
Create a virtual whiteboard

After your presentation, you can choose to keep or delete your annotations.

Call To Action: * Use digital ink in one of your presentations. * Have you use this feature in the past? Tell us about it in the comments below. * Photograph your next speaking space to identify distractions. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Create a Folder Many of us have thousands of files on our computers, in our clod drives, and attached to email messages. Getting to the right one can take some work. That's fine when we are by ourselves and have a few moments to spare. During a presentation, or between presentations, it can be more challenging.

Sometimes we may need to drop out of our slide show to answer a question, demonstrate a resource, or change course.

To make it easy, create a folder on your computer desktop. In that folder, include:

Your slide deck
Relevant video
Reference PDFs
Digital version of your event form
Whatever other resources you might need during your talk

That folder makes it easy to find what you need when you need it.

Post Tip Discussion: 7 Tips for Better Conclusions The conclusion of your talk is valuable time. It's the stuff that will stick with your audience when the leave the room and go back to the real world. Make that section has effective as possible by applying these 7 tips for better conclusions.

Wrap up your talk
Recall your key points
Summarize your calls to action
Close any open loops
Tie things back to your introduction
End only once
Memorize your conclusion

Call To Action: * What, in your mind, makes a great conclusion? Have you seen or used a very effective conclusion? Let us know in the comments below. * Apply these tips to the conclusion in your next talk. * Create a separate folder on your desktop to keep all the stuff together for your next talk. * Share this episode with a friend or colleague. * Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Slides are not Time How many slides should be in a 15-minute presentation?

How long is a 10-slide presentation?

I don't know because the number of slides is a poor proxy for presentation length. I would rather see a presenter add more slides than to use a small font. Splitting one slide into multiple slides doesn't lengthen your presentation. It just makes content more legible. Conversely, replacing 10 text heavy slides with 3 graphic slides doesn't shorten your presentation.

Let the content drive the number of slides in a deck -- not the clock.

Post Tip Discussion: Talk Less, Say More My apologies to Lin-Manuel Miranda. His Aaron Burr gave the advice to, "Talk Less. Smile more," to make it easier to get along with everyone, avoid getting arrested by the British, and minimize political enemies. It didn't work out so well for him in Hamilton.

Instead, I suggest you talk less and say more.

Silence and repetition can be powerful tools as we saw in Emma Gonzalez's recent speech following the murder spree in a Florida high school.

As speakers, we may be tempted to throw as much stuff in a presentation as possible, and that's the wrong instinct. Volume of points won't help us achieve our goals; clarity will. When we try to focus on everything, we focus on nothing. When everything is the top priority, nothing is a priority.

Overwhelming our audience with facts, features, details, charts, slides, etc. doesn't drive our call to action. It doesn't support the point we want to make. Instead, it leaves our audience distracted and confused. They are more likely to forget stuff that we said because we obscured the important stuff with trivia. And that just wastes everyone's time.

To address the issue, go back to basics. Start your presentation prep by asking:

Why will I conduct this presentation?
What's the point?
Why should the audience care?
What do I want them to do?
Why ought they do that?

Start with those questions and write down your answers. When you review your content, ask if it supports the goals outlined in those questions. If a point does not move you towards your goal, cut it. It's a distraction, and we all have enough of those these days.

Call To Action: * Review an upcoming talk. Can you cut 25% of the material without detracting from your main point? If so, cut it. * Do you have any experience of how cutting something make a talk more effective? Have you talked less and said more? Tell us your story in the comments below. * Do you know someone who may benefit from this episode? Share it with them, and help them subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in their favorite podcast app. * Don't equate the number of slides with the number of minutes in a presentation. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Use Nose Contact Using eye contact effectively is an important skill for speakers to master. It helps the audience feel that the speaker cares. It emphasizes how the speaker and audience members are all participating in a shared experience. Looking at audience members' eyes can be unnerving for some speakers, though.

The solution is nose contact. Instead of looking at the eyes of the audience, try looking at the bridge of the nose. The audience members will still think the speaker is making eye contact, but it can be more comfortable for the speaker.

Post Tip Discussion: Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast Rushing gets us into trouble. Whether it's while hunting for a job, meeting folks at a conference, relearning how to walk, persuading a crowd, or training learners, there's a temptation to take the fast way to save time. Unfortunately, it doesn't actually save time.

To really be efficient, its often more important to slow down and get it right. By focusing on the basic elements and going slowly, we can master the fundamentals. That's how you get to a smooth process, where execution is clean and simple. And once we have that level of skill, prep, or competence, then things go faster.

In this section, I included about a minute of audio from the Cliff Ravenscraft show, Episode 520. By slowing down, Cliff was able to make his participation in a conference even more valuable by building deeper relationships now and in the future with folks he met there. You can find Cliff's whole episode here.

Call To Action: * How doe Slow is Smooth/Smooth is Fast apply to your own life or public speaking? Let us know in the comments below. * If you haven't already done so, please subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Try some nose contact at your next talk. * Don't get best; get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Don't Change Your Caffeine Consumption It can be tempting the morning of a big speech to load up on coffee and enjoy that miraculous substance. If that's part of your standard morning ritual, that's fine. Go for it.

But don't suddenly double or triple your standard consumption. I get that you may feel tired or nervous, but excess coffee will not help. Instead, you will just ramp up the anxiety even further or cause other last minute biological challenges.

You are much better off getting a good night sleep the night before and giving your body what it has come to expect in the morning.

Post Tip Discussion: The Power of Rituals Rituals, like the crowning of a new king in the Black Panther movie are powerful things. Whether they are religious, civic, personal, cultural, or familial, the bond a community together. They become ingrained from an early age and follow us throughout our lives. disregarding a community's rituals is a great way to get banned from the community and marked as an outsider.

It's important for speakers to understand or at least respect the rituals of the communities they speak to. As I discussed in Episode 035, persuasion depends on engaging the audience with Pathos, Ethos, and Logos. Rituals play into the Pathos side of that triangle.

Ignoring, disregarding, or mocking a community's rituals makes it harder to persuade them, as you burn up Pathos and throw away good will. Do so at your own risk.

Call To Action: * Think about the rituals in your life, your family, and your organization. How can you leverage them to build deeper bonds? * Consider what rituals you can introduce to your team meetings that will help center everyone and help them be more present. * Before your next big talk, maintain your standard caffeine consumption. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Avoid Dairy Before Speaking I love a big bowl of sugary cereal or a nice cheesy pizza. I used to drink mochas like water before I decided to switch to Americanos for weight loss (by the way, switching from mochas to Americanos will NOT make 30 pounds just fall off). So I like my milky, cheesy goodness.

But not right before speaking.

Dairy consumption promotes phlegm production. Excess phlegm means that when speaking you have to clear your throat more off, deal with being a little more stuffed up, and generally have to work harder to push your words out cleanly.

So save that beloved dairy consumption for after your talk.

Post Tip Discussion -- The 7 Deadly Sins of PowerPoint Over the previous few episodes, I've talked about the 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking. They are:

Droning on
Going overtime
Starting late
Failing to rehearse
Ignoring the audience
Getting dragged off topic
Using inappropriate language

This week, let's get a little more specific and talk about the 7 Deadly Sins of PowerPoint.

A lot of folks will complain that PowerPoint is the root of everything that is wrong with presentations and meetings today. They're wrong. The problem is people using PowerPoint badly or lazily. As a speaker, you can be much more effective with PowerPoint if you simply don't commit the 7 Deadly Sins of PowerPoint:

Eye charts
Excessive animations
Transcripts
Low quality images
Not knowing the content
Not knowing the software
Typos

Call To Action 1. Are there more deadly sins of PowerPoint? Let us know in the comments below. 2. Check out the Strokecast where a Gen X stroke survivor explores rehab recovery, the frontiers of neuroscience, and one-handed banana peeling. 3. Avoid dairy before your next talk. 4. Don't get best…get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Use an Event Form I used to travel from Seattle to Irvine, CA, quite a bit. It got to the point where I thought I knew where I was going down there. That was a false confidence. I began making wrong turns because I didn't think I needed a map to help me. As we do more public speaking, we can easily make that same mistake. It's easy to blow past the initial logistics of a talk and just assume, "I got this."

That's when things start to go wrong.

The more speaking you do, the more important it is to have systems in place to manage logistics. A standardized event form is an important piece of that.

The event form you use should be standardized so you use it the same way for all your presentation. At a minimum, it should include:

Event Name
Event Date
Flight Schedule
Flight Confirmation code(s)
Hotel Name and address
Hotel reservation confirmation
Directions to the hotel
Rental car details
Rental car confirmation
Loyalty card numbers
Venue Name
Venue address
How to enter the venue
Host/organizer name, email, and cell
On-site contact name, email, and cell
Talk summary

Keep room on the sheet so you can make additional notes. And carry a pen with you.

Post Tip Discussion This week I talked about the 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking. Well, I talked about 5 of them. The other two, I talked about a couple weeks ago in Episode 049.

The 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking are:

Droning on
Going overtime
Starting late
Failing to rehearse
Ignoring the audience
Getting dragged off topic
Using inappropriate language

These thing seem pretty basic, but I see speakers doing it all the time.

Call To Action * Are there any Deadly Sins I missed? Let me know in the comments below. * Are you interested in stroke, neurology, and recovery? Check out Strokecast in your favorite podcast app or at Strokecast.com * Use an event form at your next event * Don't get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Conduct Q&A Before Your Conclusion

Many speakers go through their entire talk, and then open things up for questions. This is a mistake. You will be more effective if you take question before you launch into your conclusion.

The end of your speech is a golden time. It's the last the audience will hear before they go out into the world. Since its the last thing, it can also be the most memorable. Make sure that what they remember is the stuff you want tem to remember -- your call to action. Your vision.

If you conduct Q&A after your talk and through the end of the session, you squander an important opportunity.

Post-Tip Discussion: Manage Your Gestures

This week I talked about Gestures by talking about Tucks. It's amazing how much he can communicate with a tilt of the head or the flip of a wing.

You can do a few things to assess the gestures that you use and how effective they are.

Ask a friend or colleague to watch you practice and watch for your gestures.
Record yourself with your phone and actually watch that video.
Watch that video with the sound off to look just at your gestures.
Ask a friend or colleague to watch that video with no sound and see if they can tell you what you are talking about based purely on your physical movements.

There are three things to think about as you deploy your gestures. They ought to be:

Intentional
Big
Relevant.

Unintentional gestures can have unfortunate impacts. For example, Donald Trump's gestures make it look like he's playing an accordion.

There are several things you can do to improve your gestures.

Try to conduct your presentation in practice without speaking.
Try to have a conversation with a friend or colleague without speaking.
Help a pet, toy, prop, or stuffed animal tell its own story.

Call to Action

How do you use gestures? Tell us in the comments below>
Learn more about stroke an recovery at Strokecast.com. Share with others impacted by stroke.
End your next talk with your conclusion, not with your Q&A.
Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Restrict Your Practice Time Two of the biggest sins of public speakers are going overtime and rambling. Both disrespect the audience, When you go 5 minutes over, you're not just taking 5 minutes. You're taking 5 minutes from everyone in the room. If there are 20 people in the room, you've actually taken 100 minutes in total.

To address both these issues, restrict your rehearsal time. That doesn't mean rehearse less. It means that if you have 45 minutes for a talk, practice as though you have only 38-40 minutes. In all likelihood, the audience will take up that extra time reacting to you and asking questions.

If you ramble when you tell a story, time how long that story takes. If it's three minutes, set a practice goal to get it down to 2:45. Practice until you get there, and then set a new goal of 2:30. When you get there, go for 2:15. Then 2:00. It may take you a lot of practice to get there, but by the time you do, you'll have shaved not just a minute, but 1/3 of the rambling story. You likely cut the fluff and now have a tighter, more compelling narrative to share.

Post Tip Discussion I'm a big fan of process.

When you have a process, you set yourself up for success.
A process also helps with the anxiety around public speaking. Because it gives you an element that you can control.
A process can save time in prep because once you have a process in place you don't have to start from scratch each time. That time you save can be better spent on practicing and refining your content.
A process is also teachable making it easier to work with other folks when necessary.

In this episode I talk about my content development process. I talk about multiple ways I generate ideas, how I develop them on paper, and then refine them in OneNote, and how that impacts the editing process.

I also reference several earlier episodes:

Episode 024 — Take More Pictures and the Story of my Hiatus
Episode 020 — Practice without Slides and Deal with Writer’s Block
Episode 047 — Keep Tissues Handy and Lessons from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Episode 029 — Use a Lavalier and Learn from Star Trek: Discovery
Episode 012 — Repeat the Question and What I Saw on a Cruise

For standard episodes, I:

Generate ideas/topics.
I try to build a big list.
I sometimes start with the theme.
I let it run as a background process in my brain.
I pick a topic and start outlining it on paper.
I type it up in OneNote.
I edit and revise in OneNote.
I record.
I edit the audio and cut more.

For book commentary, I:

Read the book and take picture of key passages as I go.
My phone uploads them to OneDrive
I add those pictures to OneNote.
I let OneNote convert them to text.
I pick the 10-12 best/most interesting ones.
I script or outline commentary on those.
I assemble the rest of the episode and record.
I edit the audio and cut more.

Special Announcement I am launching a new podcast on February 16, 2018, at 8:00 AM Pacific called Strokecast. In it I, a Generation X stroke survivor, explore rehab, recovery, the frontiers of neuroscience, and one-handed banana peeling. Look for it at Strokecast.com on February 16.

Call To Action * Tell us about your process for building a talk in the comments below. * Next time you practice, try restricting your time. * Beginning February 16, 2018, check out Strokecast.com * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Keep Your Shirt Off Breakfast is the most important meal of the day (if you believe "Big Breakfast"). When travelling to give a talk, we may start the day with room service breakfast in a hotel room while we putter about getting ready for the day. That makes it really easy to spill coffee or jelly on your presentation outfit if you get fully dressed before eating. The simplest way to avoid that is to keep your presentation shirt off until it's time to leave.

Post Tip Discussion As a general rule, we all want to be successful in our talks, our careers, and our personal lives. But how often do we stop and define just what success means? The fact is success can mean a lot of different things depending on the context. That's why it's so important to think about the criteria for success and define it early on. Once you have a definition of success for the specific context you are in, then you can develop the appropriate plan to achieve success.

Problems and disputes arise when we don't agree on criteria. If you think you are successful, but your boss does not, then you have a problem. Is it because your work wasn't as good as you thought or was it because you did the wrong work? Working through criteria for success in advance helps eliminate those conflicts.

Before you prepare your presentation:

Think about what success looks like.
Define the criteria for that success.
Get buy-in from your key stakeholders.
Ensure your Call To Action supports your criteria for success.

Call To Action * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips so you never miss an episode. * Follow me on Twitter: @CurrentlyBill * Do you have a story about criteria or how a disagreement over criteria impacted a talk you gave? Share it in the comments below. * When you're on the road, keep your shirt on until it's time to leave the room. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Keep Tissues Handy Sneezing in the middle of a presentation can be either mildly annoying or quite embarrassing. It all depends on whether or not you have tissues readily accessible during your talk.

Tissues are also great for dealing with perspiration while you speak. Dripping on the carpet isn't a good look for anyone.

Everything thing from a cold to allergies to hot lights to failing air conditioning can impact your need for tissues as you talk. Be prepared, and have them available.

Post Tip Discussion Leadership is awesome, but it doesn't exist without followers. Often we may think senior leadership is making terrible decisions, but if leadership is generally effective and competent, it's better to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It must have made sense in some meeting I was not a part of.

This week I take a look at the question of trusting leadership as demonstrated in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This is a spoiler filled episode.

Call To Action * What lessons did you take from Star Wars? Let us know in the comments below. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Next time you speak, keep tissue nearby. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Play Your Videos Full Screen Including short videos in your presentation can be a great way to illustrate your points. They can be videos you shot of people, stock video, animations, or illustrations. If it's valuable enough to include, make sure your audience can see it. Play it in full screen.

The default for PowerPoint when you embed a video is for it to appear in the middle of your slide. You end up with the title bar of your slide still showing and blank space around your video. That's a waste. Instead, play your video full screen to make it bigger and more visible. Here's how.

When you create your slide and embed your video, click on the video to activate the "Playback" tab in the menu bar. Then, check the box next to "Play Full Screen."

When you conduct your presentation and run your slideshow, you'll get to the slide with the video. When you click that slide, the video will expand to take up the whole screen and play. When the video ends, it will shrink back down and return you to standard slideshow mode.

Give it a try and practice with this feature. It can make everyone's presentation experience better.

Post Tip Discussion: 10 Steps to Presenting Someone Else's Material Sometimes an organization needs to replace a speaker. It could be due to poor performance, illness, personal emergency, a change of business priorities, or any number of other reasons. At some point, they may ask you to step up and take over that speaking slot and use the original speaker's content. How do you do that? Here are 10 steps to use someone else's material. Not all of them will be relevant in every situation, but they do give you general guidance.

Talk with the original presenter.
Identify the goal, theme, objective, or call to action of the original speaker.
Review the speaker notes.
Determine how much freedom you have.
Recognize your limitations.
Tell your story.
Make analogies to your own expertise
Rely on your audience.
Use an assistant with a back channel.
Remember, there's a reason they picked you.

Call To Action: * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative. * Have you had to step in for another speaker? Tell us about it in the comments below. * Run your videos in full screen mode. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Know Your Gear Whether its a projector, TV, laptop, audio hookup, or slide clicker, get to know your gear before you conduct your presentation. Figure out in advance how everything works so you're not scrambling at the last minute to figure out why something doesn't work the way you thought it would. If there is a problem making something work, you want to know about that problem while you still have time to fix it.

Post Tip Discussion: 5 Steps to Better Slides The core message and content of a presentation are always the most important parts. Slides ought to be only secondary. That said, they can still be important. This week, I talk about 5 steps to make better slides. First, though, there are three important principles to keep in mind before opening PowerPoint.

Slides are not your presentation.
Know your goal.
Plan it out.

With that in mind, here are the 5 Steps to Building Better PowerPoint Slides:

Step 1 -- List out the slides you need.
Step 2 -- Choose a template.
Step 3 -- Stick to the layouts.
Step 4 -- Use more pictures.
Step 5 -- Keep it legible.

Call To Action: * What steps do you use to build your slide decks? Tell us in the comments below. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Is there a topic you would like to hear about or a question you would like answered? Give us a call at 650-Talk-Tip (650-825-5847) or email Bill@2MinuteTalkTips.com. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Party AFTER Your Talk At the Hollywood Foreign Press Golden Globes Award Show, the alcohol flows freely. Many award recipients reach the podium under the influence, and that makes many of the speeches more entertaining. Of course we're not laughing with the recipients; we're laughing at them. That's in stark contrast to the powerful speech delivered by a seemingly sober Oprah Winfrey.

Alcohol at evening speeches and other events is not uncommon. Many speakers may be tempted to drink to soothe their nerves or "take the edge off." This is generally a bad idea. A speaker needs to be sharp to be effective. If the alcohol is significant enough to relax us, it's significant enough to cloud our view of how we are performing.

So save the partying until after the presentation.

Post Tip Discussion: Learn From Oprah At the Golden Globes, Oprah gave a powerful 1,000 word, 8.5 minute speech about empowerment and possibility. She used story telling, elegantly wove her themes into her stories, and clearly prepared and rehearsed. I don't know if Oprah will run for President in 2020, but the speech feels like that's a possibility. Regardless of her ambitions, it's instructive to see how she uses stories to accomplish her goals.

Call To Action: * What did you think of Oprah's talk? Let us know in the comments below. * Have you read or seen Oprah's speech? Check it out here. * Is there a topic you would like to hear about or a question you would like answered? Give us a call at 650-Talk-Tip (650-825-5847) or email Bill@2MinuteTalkTips.com. * Don't drink before your next talk. * Learn from Oprah. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Acknowledge Your Elephants An elephant in the room is a topic no one wants to talk about, but probably everyone should. They include:

Equipment failure
Fire alarm
Falling flowers
Folks who walk out
Medical emergency
Loud neighbors
A blown lamp
Major news event
Major corporate news
And more

As a speaker, it's important to acknowledge them in an appropriate manner. If you don't acknowledge them, the awkwardness will distract your audience and make the rest of your talk less effective.

Program Note Personal friend and friend of 2-Minute Talk Tips, Tim Garber, recently appeared on the 12 Minute Convos podcast with Engel Jones. It's fun interview. You can check it out here. You can find more of Tim's appearances here.

Post Tip Discussion: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Analyzing the goal you are trying to achieve with a talk, and the arguments you plan to leverage through the lens of necessary and sufficient conditions can be enlightening. Doing so makes it easier to see why something works or doesn't work, and it promotes cleaner and clearer thinking.

A necessary condition is one that is required to achieve a result, but does not guarantee a result.

A sufficient condition is one that will definitely bring about a specific result, but it is not required to achieve that result.

How do your programs and proposals fit in with this framework?

Call To Action: * Acknowledge your elephants. * Know the necessary and sufficient conditions around the topics you speak about. * Check out Tim's conversation with Engel Jones on 12 Minute Convos. * Leave a rating or review for 2 Minute Talk Tips in iTunes * Have a great year * And don't get best…get better

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Top 10 Public Speaking Tips As we wrap up 2017 and plunge headlong into 2018, we are also approaching the first anniversary of 2-Minute Talk Tips. Let's take a look back at my favorite public speaking tips of the year. That's right, it's time for a clip show. That also makes this a great episode to introduce someone to 2-Minute Talk Tips, or to form the basis of a New Year's Resolution to be a better public speaker in 2018. Her are the top 10 public speaking tips with links to their original episodes. Enjoy.

Use a Timer
Use Silence
Explore the cursor Keys
Record yourself
Sit up Straight
Avoid the G-Word
No Eye Charts
Take More Pictures
Sit in the Back
Bring Candy

Call To Action * Use this episode to introduce someone to 2-Minute Talk Tips. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Have a great Holiday Season. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Listen Actively Speaking is about more than just giving a speech. It's about meeting the needs of the event organizer, getting the logistics right, and helping to put everyone at ease. One way to do that is with active listening.

When meeting with your event organizer, customer, colleague or SME, there are some things you can do to help everything run smoothly.

Look at them when they are speaking so you pick up on non-verbal cues.
Take detailed notes.
Ask questions to clarify things.
Repeat back what they said to confirm you got it right.
Follow up with an email summarizing the key details.

Post Tip Discussion: Apply the ADDIE Model to Public Speaking As I read Dorie Clark's book Stand Out (affiliate link), it got me thinking about what I could learning by applying what I know in one field to another field. It occurred to me that the ADDIE framework we use in Training (or Learning and Development, or Adult Education, or Professional Development, or whatever your organization calls its training department) also applies to creating a speech or talk. The framework is helpful for understanding different aspects of the process.

ADDIE stand for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate.

Analyze: This is the brainstorming and knowledge collection part of the process. Here is where we identify resources, determine our goals, consider our format options, learn about our audience, and generally get all sorts of stuff together.

Design: In this phase we build and edit the outline for our content. We add stuff, cut stuff, choose the format, settle on the right look and feel, and get our major stake holder review.

Develop: Here we fill in the blanks. We turn our design into our product. We build our slides. We practice. And then we practice some more.

Implement: It's show time! Now is when we get on the stage and speak. Everything else led up to this point.

Evaluate: The show's over, but we're not done. Now is the time to collect audience evals, get feedback from the event organizer, make our own notes about what worked and what didn't, and feed all that data back into the ADDIE process to star all over again and make the next talk even better.

Call To Action: 1. Apply the ADDIE model to your next talk. 2. What fields besides training and public speaking could benefit from the ADDIE model? Tell us in the comments below. 3. Leave a rating or review for 2-Minute Talk Tips in the iTunes Podcast store 4. Do you have friends or colleagues who are making a New Year's Resolution to improve their public speaking skills? Help them subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips so they never miss an episode. 5. As you plan your next event or attend your next meeting, exercise your active listening skills. 6. Check out Dorie Clark's Stand Out 7. Don't get best...get better.

Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It

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2-Minute Tip: Practice in Real Shoes When we have a big presentation on the calendar, we may be tempted to pick up a new outfit and new shoes to feel all shiny and new, and to imbue us with more confidence. And that's great. It's also important, though, to practice in that new outfit.

If half way through the presentation, you discover those new shoes are pinching your toes or rubbing your ankle raw, you'll have the opposite result of what you intended. Instead of feeling fresh, you'll feel pain. Instead of feeling focused, you'll feel distracted. Instead of feeling empowered, you'll feel weakened.

Make sure you know before the big day just how well those shoes will actually work. uncover any issues while there is time to fix them. You don't want to learn about the problem while on stage.

Post Tip Discussion: Be a Great Audience Member As a speaker, you know how important the audience is. Audience behavior can impact how well your audience receives your content and how well you deliver it. To help make the experience better for everyone, it's important for us to be the kind of audience members we want in our audiences.

The are 5 reasons to be a good audience member:

You can learn from the speaker's content.
You can learn from the speaker's technique.
You can be seen as more professional.
You can form an ally.
It's just the right thing to do.

Here are 5 behaviors you can engage in to be a good audience member:

Be attentive.
Take notes.
Participate.
Ask appropriate questions.
Limit side conversations.

Call To Action: * What makes a good audience member? Let us know in the comments below. * Be the audience member you want in your audience. * Practice in the shoes you'll actually present in. * Help a friend or colleague subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips on their phone or mobile device. * Don't get best...get better.

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Begin your Amazon Holiday shopping at the 2-Minute Talk Tips recommendation page.

2-Minute Tip: Skip the Gimmicks Original ideas in a presentation are fun, but don't confuse originality with gimmickry. A gimmick is often more about the ego of the presenter who wants to show off how clever they are. It becomes more about the speaker's ego and less about the message or the audience.

Post-Tip Discussion: Repeat Yourself Repetition is a powerful tool. We see it in annoying ads, in great product announcements, in political speech, and more.

Repetition helps with knowledge retention.

Repetition helps with audience persuasion.

Repetition helps with audience engagement.

A speaker who can intelligently deploy repetition has the use of a powerful tool.

Call To Action * What are your thoughts on repetition in public speaking? Let us know below. * Think about ways you can use more repetition in your presentations. * Watch Angry Angel, and let me know if it's any good. * Avoid special gimmicks in your presentations. * Start your Amazon holiday shopping here. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Watch for Keystone No matter how pretty your slides, they won't look good if your projector isn't set up properly. One common issue with data projectors is keystoning. When instead of a rectangle on your screen, you find a trapezoid, you have a keystone issue. The bottom of the image is narrower than the top. This shape is called a keystone because the keystone in a stone arch is the one in the top center that joins the right and left sides of the arch together and keeps them from collapsing into one another. It has that trapezoidal shape. Keystones are great in architecture, but not in presentations. The problem pops up when you tilt the projector up. That puts the top of the lens slightly further from the screen than the bottom of the lens. The further from the screen the projector is, the bigger the impact. To fix a keystone issue, check the projector settings. It may have an auto-keystone correction function. Try that. If it doesn't do it, or if that feature doesn't exist, there is probably a manual adjustment you can try. If you move the projector, you'll have to adjust the keystone correction again. In the future, as more presenters move away from projectors and to LCD and TV displays, this will be less of an issue. For now, it's important to understand what's happening. Post-Tip Discussion: Read Resonate Nancy Duarte owns a consulting organization and is the author of multiple books on presentations and storytelling. Here books include slide:ology, and Illuminate. They also include Resonate, and that's the one I talk about in this week's episode. I chose 10 passages from the book that represent some of the most important takeaways for speakers and talk about them in more detail. Duarte is also a TEDx speaker, and in the talk below she outlines the broader themes in Resonate. Call To Action * Read Resonate. * Watch out for trapezoids. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app. * Don't get best...get better

slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations

Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

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2-Minute Tip: Be Thankful As we begin Thanksgiving week here in the US, it's a good time to think about being thankful as speakers. And not just to the universe or deity(ies) of your choice. While speaki9ng may seem like a solitary activity where we are on stage or at the front of a conference room by ourselves, there are a lot of other people involved in our talks, including:

SMEs
Editors
Event/Meeting Organizers
AV folks
Event Hosts
Family and Friends we inflict our practice upon
Our Audience

Take a moment before, during, or after your talk to thank the folks who contributed.

Post Tip Discussion: Structure Your Talk Have you ever sat through a talk that just seemed to ramble on? It probably lacked structure. The structure of a talk is basically an intelligent outline. Start by defining your goal or Call To Action. Then identify the points or topics that support that goal. Then identify the points, evidence, and stories that support those main points. There are 8 main reasons why structure matters:

Structure makes it easier to build and review your content.
Structure makes it easier to balance your.
Structure makes it easier to find irrelevant content.
Structure makes it easier to judge timing.
Structure makes it easier to punt material.
Structure makes it easier to retain material.
Structure makes it easier for the audience to follow the talk.
Structure makes it easier to take action.

Call To Action: * Develop the structure of each talk you give. * Share your comments and thoughts on presentation structure below. * Do you have a question about public speaking? Leave a voicemail at (650) TALK-TIP (650-825-5847). * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative and help them subscribe in their favorite podcast app. * Don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Let it Go When things start to go wrong, our instinct is often to panic and make a split second decision to stop whatever is falling, crashing, or coming apart at the seams. Often this is the wrong instinct. Instead, let it go, take a moment to assess the situation, and then recover. When you can do this with confidence both you and your audience will be more comfortable, and you can recover more quickly.

Post Tip Discussion: Road Trip! Preparing a presentation is a lot like preparing for a road trip. Both processes have at least 6 steps in common:

Decide where to go.
Brainstorm ideas for the journey.
Consult with experts.
Confirm and secure resources.
Finalize your plan
Allow for side trips.

Call To Action: * Do you have any good road trip stories? Have you used one in a presentation? Tell us about it in the comments below. * If you like this or other episodes, please encourage a friend, colleague, or relative to subscribe in their favorite podcast app. * Next time things go sideways, let it go. * Don't get best...get better

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2-Minute Tip: Let the Audience Respond When you tell a joke, make a humorous aside, show an entertaining picture, or land a heavy or emotional point, it's important to give your audience a chance to experience the emotions you've just inspired in them. That means that while you plan your presentation, and your timing, you need to allow time to respect your audience's reaction. Remember also that when you practice you will not get the emotional response. Don't become so wedded to your practice timing that you skip over the response in the actual session.

Post Tip Discussion: Ancient Rhetoric Today There's lot's of new stuff to learn about public speaking, but that doesn't mean older stuff suddenly becomes obsolete. Nearly 2,500 years ago, Aristotle gave us a model for understanding rhetoric by balancing the spheres of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos.

Logos refers to the logical elements of a presentation.
Pathos refers to the emotional impact the speaker has on the audience.
Ethos refers to the credibility the speaker has with the audience.

For maximum success, a speaker must engage all three spheres with their audience.

Call To Action: * The next time you attend a presentation, try and identify the different ways the speaker uses each one. + If the presentation is not effective, is one of the three missing? + Which one? + How would you fix it? * Tell us your thoughts on Pathos, Ethos, and Logos in the comments below. * If you liked this episode, share it with a colleague, friend, or relative. * You can also like this episode on Facebook @2minutetalktips or Twitter by following me @CurrentlyBill * Do you have any questions about public speaking? Leave a voice mail by calling 650-Talk-Tip. * And as always don’t get best…get better

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2-Minute Tip: Don't Trust the Internet There are many times it seems like a good idea to use the Internet in a presentation, but if you do, make sure you have a plan B. All sorts of things can go wrong. Your audience might take up all the bandwidth. Your presentation space may have poor coverage. You could encounter too much radio interference. These problems might not show up during rehearsal; they might only manifest when your audience is in the room. You don't want to troubleshoot in the middle of your talk. If you plan to use the Internet, have a plan B, and execute that plan quickly if the network fails.

Post Tip Discussion: Learn from Ghost Stories Today is Halloween, which makes me think about stories. Storytelling has a long history and is an important skill for speakers to develop. But today let's talk about a specific type of story -- the ghost story. There are 7 lessons speakers can learn from ghost stories.

Setting matters
Community matters
Pacing matters
Volume matters
The unexpected matters
Practice matters
Slides do not matter

Now let's have some fun. Sort of. I almost met a ghost when I was a student at Carroll College. I tell that story in this week's Halloween episode.

Call To Action * Learn from ghost stories the next time you build a presentation. * Don't always assume the internet will work. * Share this episode with a friend or colleague. * Sleep tight, if you can. * Don't get best.. get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Dim the Lights The data projector/projector screen combo has been a mainstay of the AV setup in conference rooms for years, but it can still be hard to see the visuals. Data projectors have gotten brighter over the years, yet they still benefit from less ambient light. They tend to have a long lifecycle which means there are a lot of older, dimmer projectors still in use when you try to make an impact with your presentation and slides. If the room is too bright, your slides will look washed out and illegible. Instead of giving your audience an eye opening experience you'll just be giving them eye strain. Here are some ways to make your slides look better in a room that's too bright:

Look for ways to make the area around the screen darker without putting yourself in the dark
Play with the light switches in the room to see if there is some way to shut off just a few of the lights
Close the blinds or curtains at any windows
Try repositioning the projector and screen so the screen is in a darker part of the room.
Contact the facilities department to remove some bulbs above the projector screen.
Make sure the projector is in full power mode instead of a low power eco mode.

Post Tip Discussion: Read The Seven Strategies of Master Presenters One of the great things about public speaking resources is that books more than 10 years old can still be relevant. I enjoyed the approach Bradley McRae and David Brooks take in this book (affiliate link) when they talk about prep work, storytelling, retention, and content development for speakers. The seven strategies the explore are:

Strategy 1: Know Thy Audience
Strategy 2: Prepare Outstanding Content
Strategy 3: Use Superior Organization
Strategy 4: Develop Dynamic Delivery
Strategy 5: Make It Memorable, Actionable, and Transferable
Strategy 6: Manage Yourself, Difficult Participants, and Difficult Situations
Strategy 7: Total Quality Improvement

In this episode I take a deeper look at this book, share some key passages, and offer commentary on them.

Call To Action: * Have you read this book? Share your thoughts in the comments below. * Do you have any questions about public speaking you'd like me to answer on a future episode? Email them to me at Bill@2minutetalktips.com, or leave a voicemail at 650-Talk-Tip * If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review in the Apple Podcast Store * Share this episode with a friend, colleague or relative. * And as always, as you continue grow as a speaker, don't get best...get better.

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2-Minute Tip: Use Silence Everything we do as speakers communicates something to the audience -- how we move, how we dress, how we gesture, how we speak, and how we don't speak. Silence is a powerful tool. A speaker can use silence to:

Emphasize a point
Let your audience soak up information
Give your audience a break
Let the audience take notes
Get more detailed answers
Correct an error calmly

Don't fear silence; embrace it.

Post Tip Discussion: 10 Parties to Think About Successful public speaking involves more that just the speaker. It involves a public. There are a bunch of groups and individuals that influence your success or who are impacted by your success. This week, we talk about 10 of them

Your boss
Your SME (subject matter exert)
Your colleagues who review stuff
Your customers
Your on-site contact
Your AV team
Your host
Your previous speaker
Your following speaker
Your audience

Call To Action: * What are your thoughts on the parties who surround us as speakers? Let us know in the comments below. * If you enjoy 2-Minute Talk Tip, please leave a rating or review in the iTunes store * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or family member * Don't get best...get better

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2-Minute Tip: Prepare 5 Questions We all want an engaged audience. Sometimes that doesn't happen. To deal with it, have a plan before you start. Instead of scrambling for ways to engage your crowd on the fly, choose 5 questions before you start that you know you can ask. It gives you a chance to engage a quiet group in a more confident way.

Post Tip Discussion: A Pair of Fives This week, I decided to address two, intermediate-length topics. If you often present on the same or similar topics, you don't have to build a new slide deck every time. And you don't have to get it to "finished" status, either. Instead, think of your slide deck as a living document that will evolve to meet changing needs over the coming days, weeks, months, or years. There are 5 advantages to this approach.

The perfect does not become the enemy of the good.
You save time building your next deck.
It's easier for other folks to edit and revise it.
You can build an archive of slides.
Good writing is never finished.

PowerPoint has a bunch of features many folks never use, even though they are valuable. Here are 5 of them.

Ink annotations
Layouts
Presentation mode
Export as JPEG
Mobile app

Call to Action: * How do you like this approach? Are there items missing from these lists? Let us know in the comments below. * Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative. * Prep 5 questions before your next session. * Treat your deck as a living document. * Explore PowerPoint. * Don't get best...get better.

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2 Minute Tip: Say Thanks When we conduct a successful presentation, audience members will often give us a compliment. When they do that, say, "Thanks. I appreciate that." Don't tell them they're wrong, and don't deflect the compliment. Simply accept it with grace and thank them for their kind words.

Program Notes 1. 2-Minute Talk Tips now has a Facebook Page. You can like us and comment on episodes on Facebook, if you prefer to interact there instead of this web site. Visit 2 Minute Talk Tips on Facebook today. 2. 2-Minute Talk Tips now has a YouTube channel. Now you can read along with episodes by enabling closed captioning as you listen. You can visit use on YouTube here. 3. This week, I join Jon Clarke on Caffeinated Comics on the Radio Misfits Network to talk about Star Trek: Discovery. Last week on 2 Minute Talk Tips, I talked about what speakers can learn from the premier. This week, Jon and I mainly debate its awesomeness.

Post Tip Discussion: Building a Talk Through a set of circumstances I was invited to give a short talk to a group of Physical and Occupational Therapists. This week I talk about two key lessons I learned while preparing the talk.

Say Things out loud to people
Behold the power of Facebook

I also included a draft of the short talk I gave where I discuss achieving goal, an alien spaceship and neuroplasticity.

Call To Action 1. Was the talk valuable? Let me know in the comments below. 2. Share this episode with a friend or colleague. 3. Subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite Podcatcher. 4. Say, "Thanks," when you get a compliment. 5. Don't get best...get better

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2 Minute Tip: How to Use a Lavalier A lavalier, or "lav," is a small microphone a speaker will clip to their blouse, shirt, tie, collar, or jacket. That microphone usually connects to a battery pack/radio transmitter the speaker wears on their belt or waist. Usually the sound quality isn't quite as good as a high quality hand held mic, but it can still be excellent. I like using a lav because of the freedom it gives me to use my hand and move around the stage. Here are 3 tips to make most effective use of a lav.

Turn from the waist, not the neck, when you want to look at something. Otherwise your volume level will fluctuate widely.
Run the cord from the battery pack inside your clothes. This way there is no unsightly wire dangling in front of you, and you are less likely to accidentally yank it off.
Always assume your lav is turned on. Even if it's not broadcasting to the room, it may still be broadcasting to the sound tech. This can be embarrassing if you have a private conversation or visit the lavatory. If you want to be sure it's off, don't just trust the switch on the battery pack; unplug the mic cord from the pack.

Post Tip Discussion: Learn from Star Trek Discovery Star Trek: Discovery is the latest entry in the legendary franchise, and it premiered on September 24. I'm two episodes in and so far it's pretty awesome. I'll be talking more about it on a future episode of Caffeinated Comics. This week, I want to talk about 4 lessons speakers can learn from the premiere

Light the beacon: A simple, repeatable mantra can be a powerful tool for a speaker who wants to encourage buy-in and promote retention.
Don't confuse race with culture: All companies and audiences, despite the common characteristics of their members, have a unique culture. A speaker ought to do the work to understand the unique characteristics, views, and hot button issues for their audience
You cannot save lives that have already been lost: Despite how effective your presentation is, you will not convince everyone of every point. If you have a point that is just not landing with your audience, you may need to walk away from it to focus on other points. Don't waste your time focusing on losing points; doing so makes it more likely you'll turn your winning points into losing ones as well.
When you look for stories, you will find them: When you need a story, analogy, or idea, simply start looking for them. Keep that thought alive in the back of your mind as you go through your day, and you'll be surprised by what you come up with.

Call to Action: * How do you feel about Star Trek stories and metaphors? Let us know in the comments below, or leave voice feedback at 650-TALK-TIP * Like the 2 Minute Talk Tips page on Facebook * Share this episode with a friend or colleague * Use a lav the right way * Watch Star Trek: Discovery and pull your own lessons from it * Don't get best...get better.

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2 Minute Tip: Confirm Value At the end of a presentation, I like to ask the audience, "Was this helpful?" or "Was this valuable?" Usually there is still a lot of energy in the room and folks will answer with an enthusiastic, "Yes!" Obviously, this is great for my ego, but it also does a couple other things. It gives the audience members a chance to acknowledge their own approval. They have now acknowledged that yes, this session was a good use of their time. They are also more likely to remember that it was valuable because they experienced saying it was valuable. Further, once folks say something out loud among other people, they are more likely to continue to believe it.

Post Tip Discussion: Avoid Offensive language Among the updates to the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is a change to pronouns. They now consider "they" and "their" to be acceptable 3rd person, singular, gender-neutral pronouns. This got me thinking about the evolution of language. Words and phrases that may have been common and acceptable a few years ago may no longer be appropriate in a professional context. It's important to remove those words from most presentations. They may be racially charged, ableist, homophobic, or offensive to another marginalized community. Whether you see this as the growth of social justice and awareness or political correctness and oversensitivity run amuck is irrelevant. Using inflammatory language in your presentation, even unintentionally, can make you a less effective speaker. It can distract from your message and if you don't land your message or your call to action, then what was the point? Mark Horstman of the Manager Tools podcast is fond of saying, "Communication is what the listener does." The intent behind your words doesn't matter because the listener assigns value to your words based on their own experiences and point of view. If you must include inflammatory language, do it intentionally, not accidentally. Do it because you have a specific goal you want to achieve with those words. Don't let simple neglect undermine your message. And make sure you know your audience and that your word choice is appropriate for it.

Call To Action 1. Was this valuable? Let me know in the comments below, or leave a message on the listener feedback line at 650-Talk-Tip. 2. After your next presentation, ask your audience if they found it valuable. 3. Watch your language for potentially offensive terms and purge them if need be. 4. Don't get best...get better.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition

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2 Minute Tip: Purge Stale Material If you do a lot of public speaking, it's likely you have some go-to lines or jokes that you like. Eventually the can stop resonating with your audience. Times change. Technology changes. Speakers grow and change. It's important to periodically step back and maker sure your quips and comments are still relevant and getting the reaction you want. If they no longer work, then purge that stale content.

Post Tip Discussion: Introduce Yourself Introducing yourself to your audience can be an important way to establish credibility with tem. It's an opportunity to tell them why the should listen to you. This week, we talked about four types of introductions:

No Introduction
Basic Facts
Story Telling
Host Led

They all have advantages and disadvantages, though I tend to favor an intro that involves telling a story.

Call To Action 1. How do you introduce yourself to your audience? Let us know in the comments, or leave a message on the listener feedback line at 650-TALK-TIP 2. If you don't have an intro or professional bio, start working on one today 3. Review your stock material and purge the stuff that no longer works 4. Don't get best...get better

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2 Minute Tip: Bring Candy Fun-size candy bars, Hershey's Miniatures, Jolly Ranchers, and other candies are great, inexpensive treats to bring for your audience. You can toss them out as little rewards and incentives for folks who participate. Despite the low cost, folks often become enthusiastic at the prospect of winning a little treat regardless of their income level. Use this to your advantage to increase audience engagement. Post Tip Discussion: Read Storytelling with Data Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic ( @storywithdata) has written a great book in Storytelling with Data, and I highly recommend it. In it, she talks about using data visualization to make you a more effective author or presenter. There are four themes that resonated strongly with me. 1. Do your prep work 2. Plan your story 3. Make sure your graphs and charts tell the story you want to tell 4. Get rid of stuff that doesn't matter

Much of this week's episode is a deeper look at key passages in this book. You can learn more about the book and go deep on other data visualization topics at storytellingwithdata.com Call To Action 1. Check out Storytelling with Data 2. Visit the website storytellingwithdata.com 3. Share your thoughts on data visualization in the comments below 4. Bring candy to your next presentation 5. Practice creating and refining your own data visualization 6. Don't get best...get better

Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

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2 Minute Tip: Sit Up Straight Generally it's best to stand while you speak. If you're running a webinar, presenting on a conference call, or going through a phone screen interview for a new job, st6anding may not be feasible. In that case, it's important to sit up straight, just like your kindergarten teacher told you. When you slouch or lean back in your chair, it changes the quality of your voice. It actually alters the way air flows through your chest and voice box. In my case, when I sit back, my voice develops more vocal fry and loses resonance. You can actually see the difference in the audio wave form here: The section to the left of the red line is what happens when I slouch. To the right is how it looks when I sit up straight. So when you speak from a chair, sit up straight.

Post Tip Discussion: Tell a Story This week I told a story about the importance of an LED Backlit keyboard to a laptop customer. Here are four reasons I like to tell this story:

It changes the pace of a presentation or training session.
It demonstrates the emotional power of stories
It illustrates how we all matter. No matter what our job, we can have a profound impact on people's lives.
It illustrates the difference between features and benefits in a sales context, or the importance of WBTU and WIIFM in a presentation context (Why Bring That Up and What's In It For Me).

Tips to become a more effective Storyteller:

Identify 3 stories a week and write down a one line summary of each one.
Listen to the stories other speakers tell and ask yourself why those stories do or don't work.
Share stories with your colleagues so everyone has more stories to tell
Choose one of your stories each week, and write it out in detail.
List 5 speeches, situations, or circumstances in which you can tell that story.
List out the emotions or feelings that story evokes.
For your next talk, challenge yourself to incorporate at least one relevant story

Call To Action 1. Work on your own story telling skills using the tips I talked about 2. Do you have any favorite stories you like to tell? Let us know in the comments below or leave voice feedback at 650-Talk-Tip 3. Sit up straight in your chair for your next important phone call 4. Subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app 5. If you found this topic interesting, please share it with a friend or colleague 6. Becoming a great story teller takes work, but remember…don't get best. Get better. See you next week

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2 Minute Tip: Take More Pictures Images are often better than text in PowerPoint Slides. You can use them to support a point you are talking about, to make an analogy, or to make a humorous aside. But how do you get this pictures? The best source can be your own photo library -- if you have enough pictures in it. You already own the rights to those images. Your audience hasn't seen them before. You have a personal connection to them. The best way to grow your library is to take more pictures. It's really that simple, Set a personal goal to take 5 pictures a day. Don't try to take amazing pictures; focus on quantity. Photograph things you find interesting, funny, or unusual. Or even just things that make you think. You might not have a use for that image today, but it may find a home in a deck you build 2 years from now. Program Notes This week, I appear on Caffeinated Comics. I'm on the August 21 episode. You can find it in your favorite podcast app or on the Radio misfits Podcast Network. This week, I launched a page of my recommendations. It's a collection of Amazon links to public speaking resources, stroke recovery resources, and other neat stuff. Post Tip Discussion: My Stroke Recovery and What Speakers Can Learn From It On June 3, 2017, I broke my basal ganglia. I had a stroke and lost the use of my left arm and leg. I immediately put everything in life on hold and spent June and July focused on my recovery. Along the way, I learned a lot about biology, neuroplasticity, and the worlds of physical and occupational therapy. In this episode, I talk about some of the lessons speakers can learn from this process. 1. Tell personal stories. 2. Understand your priorities 3. Use caution on the road 4. Relish the power of yet

Call To Action 1. Know the symptoms of stroke and the fast analysis 2. Make sure everyone in your household knows the symptoms and what to do if they observe them 3. Know your numbers -- BP, blood sugar, cholesterol etc. Get them from your Doctor. If you don't have a doctor, get one 4. Make the lifestyle changes you need to make to reduce your risk 5. If something does go wrong, be it stroke, heart attack or something else, make the decision to get better 6. When terrible things happen in life, try to find ways that you can extract some positive value from them 7. Finally, no matter what, don't get best. Get better.

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2 Minute Tip: Memorize Your Intro Think back to a recent presentation you saw. Do you remember how it started? What do you remember about the speaker's effectiveness? Do you remember more about the beginning of the presentation or the middle of it? The first 2-3 minutes of a presentation are critical. That's when you have to hook your audience so they'll join you for the rest of your journey. You can make your intro stronger by memorizing it. With a memorized introduction, you: * Already know how the words flow together * Don't waste time on filler words like "um" and "ah" * Project more confidence * Make eye contact with more people

Plus, as you memorize your intro while you prep your presentation, you can continue to revise and sharpen it further. When you memorize your intro you put yourself in the best position to be successful. Post Tip Discussion: Learn from Lincoln In light of the Memorial Day weekend we just had, I decided to take a look at the Gettysburg address. Lincoln gave his famous speech at the dedication for a cemetery for veterans of the Civil War killed during the Battle of Gettysburg just a few month earlier. President Lincoln wasn't even the featured speaker that day, but his short speech has endured in the American consciousness. What can speakers learn today from what the President said in 1863? * Be brief * Keep revising * Tie everything back to your theme

You can learn more about the Gettysburg address in this Wikipedia article. The closing music on this episode is the Molly Lewis Song, "Our American Cousin" from the album, "I made you a CD, but I eated it." Molly has links to her various albums, projects, social media and more at MollyLewis.wtf Call To Action: * Tell us your thoughts on the Gettysburg Address or on other historic speeches where you find inspiration in the comments below. Or you can email Bill @ 2MinuteTalkTips.com. You can also find me on Twitter @CurrentlyBill * If you liked this episode, share it with your friends through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or the social network of your choice. * Check out Molly Lewis and her music at MollyLewis.wtf * If you heard anything incorrect about the Gettysburg Address, please let me know, and edit the Wikipedia page as appropriate * Memorize your next introduction * Learn what you can from President Lincoln * Don't get best...get better

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2 Minute Tip: Where Can We Learn More? It's highly unlikely any of us as speakers will be in a situation where someone wants us to tell them absolutely everything we know, along with the background on all those details and to do it in one super long session. They may still want the information; they just don't want to sit through it all and neither do I. To make things easier for your more enthusiastic audience members, include a slide or develop a handout that tells your audience members where they can go to get more information. That information can go well beyond the details of your presentation, and it can come from a wide assortment of sources like: * Books * Websites * Social Media Feeds * Podcasts * Archived Interviews * ...and many more

By pulling together the resources that informed your recent project you are also curating content for your audience, establishing your credibility, and becoming a great digital citizen. Post Tip Discussion: Manage Audience Expectations In every presentation, there are expectations. Whether it's a successful presentation or not really depends on who defines those expectations. As a speaker, you want that to be you. If not, your audience will set expectations, and you won't know what they are. There are five areas to consider when looking at expectations. They are: 1. Teach your audience to listen to you 2. Set basic expectations around the logistics for short and long sessions. 3. Manage the expectations in your content 4. Use the BLUF technique 5. Understand the risk of holding back for a big reveal.

The BLUF technique, or "bottom line up front," is one I learned about from the folks over at Manager Tools and Career Tools. They're both excellent podcasts worth checking out. Call To Action: * Tells us your thoughts on managing audience expectations in the comments below, or email me at Bill @ 2minutetalktips.com. You can also reach out to me via Twitter @CurrentlyBill * If you liked this episode, share it with your friends through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or the social networks of your choice * Check out Manager Tools and Career Tools * Don’t get best…get better

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2 Minute Tip: Use a Call To Action If you've ever left a meeting and wondered, "What now?" the speaker probably did not use a Call To Action. The Call To Action tells the audience what the speaker would like it to do. That could include things like: * Take concrete steps * Consider some new ideas * Implement a plan * Develop a plan * Change its mind * ...and more.

As a speaker, you want to start with your Call To Action, and then build the rest of your presentation around it. This makes it easier for your audience to know what it should do and to act on your presentation. Post Tip Discussion: Prepare for Losing a Laptop In the Spring of 2017, the US began banning laptops and tablets from the passenger cabin of US bound flights on certain Middle Eastern airlines from certain Middle Eastern Airports. According to Bloomberg, this ban could extend to all flights originating in Europe. There's always the potential the ban could spread further. All laptops and tablets will need to go into checked baggage. Most airlines, however, do not accept responsibility for electronics in checked bags. If a laptop or tablet is stolen, lost, or damaged in checked luggage, the airline is not responsible. Plus, even if a laptop arrives safe and sound, it's still possible to have a hardware or software failure before a big presentation. A speaker to have contingency plans in place in the event they can't use their laptop. One way to organize these contingencies is to split them into Content Solutions and Hardware Solutions. * Content Solutions: + Know your slides so well you don't need them + Store your deck on a flash drive + Store your deck in the cloud + Email your deck to an on-site contact + Export your deck to JPEG

Content is only half the solution. It needs to be paired with a hardware solution. * Hardware Solutions: + Consider a "burner" laptop + Make a late night retail run + Borrow a PC + Use your smart phone + Ship your gear on ahead

Call To Action: * Use a Call To Action for all your presentations * Prepare for losing a laptop -- just in case * Add your favorite laptop loss contingency plans to the comments below * If you liked this episode, share it with your friends through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or the social networks of your choice * Don't get best...get better

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2 Minute Tip: Practice without Slides No matter how much we plan, things go wrong at times. When they do, we may not always have time to correct them. If your computer crashes while you're in the middle of a presentation, would you be able to continue without using your slides? It's important to practice delivering your content without any slides so that if things go wrong, you are prepared. As a side bonus, this helps you learn your material better. When you know your material better, you are more confident, and you can focus more on your audience. You won't be distracted wondering which slide comes next. Post Tip Discussion: Deal with your Writer's Block Writer's block (or writers' block depending on the exact context or mood of my Facebook friends) is something all content creators have to deal with at various times. This week, I talk about ten ways to deal with it: 1. Go Small 2. Use a picture 3. Go back to your outline 4. Pretend you are answering a question 5. Try a different medium 6. Engage your audience 7. Write badly 8. Take a nap 9. Ask yourself if you're done 10. Once you break thru, keep going

One of my favorite techniques for dealing with my writer's block comes from Robert Pirsig in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." When stumped about writing an essay about a street in a town, a character learns to write about just one brick in one building in that town and then move on to the next brick. It's a powerful tool. Call To Action: * Check out "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" * Share you favorite tips for dealing with your writer's block in the comments below * Share this episode with your friends with the "Share this:" option below * Practice without your slides * Deal with your writer's block * Don't get best...get better

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2 Minute Tip: Bring an Extra Shirt Stuff happens as we go about life. We spill (and sadly waste) coffee. Our co workers spill things on us. We perspire more than we'd like. And, yet, we still need to stand up in front of a crowd and speak. That's why is so important to have a spare shirt in your office, car, or presentation bag. You never know when you'll need a quick wardrobe change. Even if you never need to use that spare shirt, you can be more confident just because you know it's there. Post Tip Discussion: Use the Tools Available Amplification, Teleprompters, and Wheels are great innovations that can help us be more effective speakers. Of course, they're only useful is we actually use them. Too many speakers avoid these tools because they say they don't need them. Often, this is ego. They don't want to be seen as needing these tools. That's just silly. These tools help the audience. They give the audience a better experience. They give the production team a better experience. And they make the speaker more effective. That's what matters most. For additional tips on how and why to use a teleprompter, check out Dallas Prompter. Call to Action: * What devices help you to be more effective? What other thoughts do you have on this topic? Let us know in the comments below * Subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in you favorite podcast app, and tell a friend * Bring an extra shirt * Use your tools * Don't get best...get better.

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This Week's Tip: Do you Need that Animation? PowerPoint has lots of amazing animations and transitions. Unfortunately, many slide authors use too many of them. When a slide deck has too many animations it looks cheesy and amateurish. It can also cause problems if you want to print slides or present via a webinar. If you want to use transitions and animations in a slide deck, first ask, "Why?" or ask, "What will this animation do for me?" Think about how it will help you make your point, or think about how it will help your audience understand what you are telling them. If it doesn't contribute to your message -- if it doesn't make you more effective -- leave it out. Post Tip Discussion: Speak Deliberately Many of things we do, we do on autopilot. We walk, talk, drive, watch TV, and snack without actually thinking about it. It's like we have background computer scripts running in our brains while we focus on other things. This can be helpful for some tasks, but it's not helpful for others. A speaker is more effective when they speak deliberately. That means they should: 1. Break rules deliberately 2. Move deliberately 3. Use silence deliberately

Being deliberate means thinking about the things you say and do one stage and doing and saying those things for a reason. And that makes you more effective. Call To Action: * What are your thoughts on acting deliberately? What scripts often run in the back of your brain? What are you favorite deliberate steps to take? Let us know in the comments below * Subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in you favorite podcast app * Tell a friend about 2 Minute Talk Tips * Speak deliberately * Make sure you need that animation * Don't get best ... get better.

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This Week's Tip: Plan to Punt It would be great if speakers always got the amount of time they thought they would get when they arranged to speak. If they did, they could easily cover all the content in a well designed presentation. The problem is that often, the amount of time a speaker has will change at the last minute. To effectively manage your public speaking engagements, know ahead of time what to punt. Whether you lose time due to other speakers going over, the audience needing a break, or even an awesome question, you can be a more effective speaker if you know what to cut ahead of time. Have a plan so your audience doesn't see you scrambling. Remember, it's better to cut material and give the remaining material the attention it deserves than it is to burn through slides in a blur. Break Comments This week (April 17) I joined Jon Clarke on his podcast Caffeinated Comics. If you enjoy geeky and nerdy stuff, check it out. We talk about Doctor Who, Star Wars, MST3K, and more. You can learn more about Caffeinated Comics on Facebook here, and you can check out the blog and all the episodes here. Post Tip Discussion Spring time is the start of convention season. Whether the conferences that pop up are fan based, industry based, or corporate based, they are a great chance to get together to learn new things and meet new people. A staple of the convention is the panel discussion. A panel discussion is a different type of public speaking. Usually 3 or more speakers or experts will be on the stage at a table, while one person hosts and moderates the panel. The job of the moderator is to keep the conversation moving, to ensure the speakers can share their perspectives, and to manage the audience Q&A. It requires a specific set of skills. This week, Jon Clarke returns to 2 Minute Talk Tips to teach us how to moderate a panel. Jon is a freelance writer, director, and copywriter with nearly 20 years of experience in the advertising industry. His portfolio includes work for Verizon, Lenovo, Jim Beam, and some of the country’s leading pharmaceutical companies. On weekends he is Bono for Without U2, the popular Midwest U2 cover band. As a pop culture expert, Jon has moderated panels at science fiction conventions, written a comic book, produced YouTube videos that have reached hundreds of thousands of viewers, and performed as a Stand-Up Comedian in New York. In 2013 he launched the Caffeinated Comics podcast, reporting on all the geeky activities in the Chicagoland area. He previously appeared on Episode 003 of 2 Minute Talk Tips. You can learn more about and engage with Jon here: * Twitter: @notinmybook * Caffeinated Comics Podcast Blog * Caffeinated Comics on Facebook * Without U2

Here are 10 tips Jon shares in this interview: 1. If the panel is about the history of a topic, be sure to pick out a few dates you can go to if you need to move the discussion along 2. If it's a stylistic panel, and the conversation is going in only one direction, try flipping it around and asking, "What's the opposite of that?" 3. Before the panel, make sure you check Google or Wikipedia to see what they have to say about the other panel members 4. Remember, it's not your place to tell stories. It's your place to listen to stories 5. Be in the moment 6. Don't ask questions just because you wrote them. Follow the actual conversation 7. Limit follow-ups during Q&A so the audience member doesn't become an unofficial member of the panel 8. Wrap up the panel buy summarizing the common theme that's come out of it because a conversation has just been created. What will we take with us? 9. Ask the guests, "How do we find you online?" 10. Thank the audience

Call to Action * What do you think makes a great panel host? What has been your favorite panel discussion? Tell us in the comments below or leave a voice mail at 650-Talk-Tip (650-825-5847) * Subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app and tell a friend * Consider what to punt before your next presentation * Don't get best...get better.

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This Week's Tip: Count Filler Words Filler words are the ums and ahhs and likes and verys of a speech. One or two are okay, but a bunch of them will annoy an audience. We usually say them while our brain tries to catch up with our mouth. An effective speaker uses few of these since they don't help the speaker. To get rid of them, you first need to understand how many of them you use. Listen to a recording of one of your presentations and count how many times you use a filler word. Alternatively, you can ask a partner to listen to one of your live sessions while you speak, and they can count them for you. Next, divide the number of filler words by the number of minutes in your speech. This will give you the number of filler words per minute which makes it easier to compare your performance from a 10 minute presentation to a 30 minute presentation. Once you have that key metric, then you can set a goal to reduce the filler words that you use. Post Tip Discussion: Raise your Energy Level We're all familiar with the high energy presenter who bounces around the stage, waving their arms, and loudly celebrating every slide. That's not the only type of high-energy presenter, though. A speaker can also demonstrate high-energy through a more intense, focused, and quiet style. It's not about being shy or low-key. It's about being quietly, intensely, deliberate in conveying a message. That's good because high energy of whichever type is important in a speech. Higher energy levels show the audience you care, make it easier to take the audience on a journey, keep the audience awake, facilitate audience connections, and make the speaker more compelling. There are several things speakers can do to increase their energy levels. * Know your stuff * Pace, stretch, do Jumping Jacks or generally move around back stage * Refocus on a core message * Vary your pitch, volume, and pace

Call To Action: * What is your presentation style like? Why does it work for you? Let us know in the comments below. * Subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app * Count your filler words * Raise your energy level * Don't get best...get better

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This Week's Tip: Face your Audience It may seem obvious that the speaker should face the audience, but we're probably all been in sessions where the speaker keeps turning away from the audience to reach and watch their slides. Each time they advance the show, they turn their back to the audience again so they can read to their audience or just figure out what point to touch on next. An audience does not usually appreciate staring at a presenter's back for 20-90 minutes. To make sure you always face your audience, do 2 things. * Make sure your laptop display faces you while you speak to the audience. It shouldn't be against a wall facing the audience * Know your slides well enough so that you don't need to read them to make the point you want to make. A glance should be all you need

Post Tip Discussion: The Job's not Done until the Paperwork is Done The presentation doesn't end the moment the speaker leaves the stage. There is a lot of value a speaker can generate from their own post-event reporting. In this week's episode, I explore that idea in greater detail. 1. Why should you report on an event? 1. If there's no report, it didn't happen. Creating reports gives you greater accountability, confirmation to your supervisor that it happened, and opportunity to praise you team for their assistance. It's also helpful when you compile your annual review months down the road. 2. It helps preserve institutional memory of events. This is especially important for annual and semi-annual recurring events. 3. It's a great way to keep track of follow-up items 4. It helps you become a better presenter by keeping track of the things you can improve on 2. When should you compile your reports? 1. Immediately or ASAP. 2. Reports will not get any better with time. Details will start to fade after a few hours. 3. How do you compile data for reports? 1. Make notes during a session. 2. Review your slides. 3. Repeat the question when an audience member asks one. 4. Listen to a recording of your session. 5. Things about the folks who approached you after a session. 4. What should you include in your reports? 1. Logistics 1. Date 2. Place 3. Time 4. Presenter names 5. Number of attendees 2. Summary of the event 1. General description 2. Operational details 3. Stories of things that happened 3. Feedback 1. How the audience responded 2. Comments the audience made with verbatim comments 3. Opinions folks offered about your content or presentation style 4. List of questions 1. Questions you were able to answer 2. Questions you were not able to answer 5. Follow-up items 1. Each item you need to follow-up on 2. Post event To Do list 6. Pictures 1. Any pictures, videos, or multimedia from the session

Call To Action * What best practices do you have for post-event reporting? How do you compile reports? Please let us know in the comments below. * Please subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Face your audience. * Do your reports. * Don't get best...get better.

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This Week’s Tip: Manage your Handouts In many presentations, a speaker will start introducing themselves at the beginning and immediately start passing out handouts. The audience then begins reading those handouts during one of the most important parts of the presentation – the part where the speaker sets the tone for the rest of the session. Instead of doing that, pass out handouts only when they are relevant to the material. Then, you can take a moment and pause to let the audience read the material, and you can use that material to reinforce the point you are making at that moment.

Post Tip Discussion: 12 Webinar Tips Webinars are a popular way to speak with large groups of people while saving time and money. They are often not quite as effective as an in-person session, but the tradeoffs are usually worth it. Here are 12 Tips to make your webinars more effective.

Choose a quiet, distraction-free environment
Check the background
Stop streaming other stuff
Know your software
Streamline your slide deck
Disable background tasks
Arrive early
Use a welcome screen
Use a USB Webcam
Use and external microphone
Use the annotation tools
Work with a partner

Call To Action * What tips or questions do you have about webinars? Leave a comment on Episode 14 at 2MinuteTalkTips.com * If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating or review in the iTunes podcast store * Please subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast application * Practice your webinars * Manage your handouts * Don’t get best…get better

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This week's Tip: Sit in the back of the room Before you start your presentation, and before your audience enters the room, display your most complex slide, and sit in the back row. Then sit in a few other places in the room. Your goal is to make sure you can see and read your slides from all points in the audience. You actually need to sit in the chairs to get the angles right and understand exactly what the audience sees. If your slides aren't legible, or you encounter other things that make it tough to consume and experience your presentation, you have time to fix them before you start. It's all because you literally put yourself in the place of the audience. Post Tip Discussion: It's almost cliché now for a Public Speaking tip site to repeat the claim that people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of dying. Is Public Speaking really so terrifying that people would rather die than give a speech? No. That claim comes from a frequently misquoted study from 1973. You can read more about the study in this article: Is Public Speaking Really More Feared than Death? There are a number of different strategy for dealing with nerves and glossophobia. In "Your Perfect Presentation," Bill Hoogterp writes:

What you think of as nervousness is really just trapped energy… The harsh truth is this: Get over yourself. Forget yourself. The speaker doesn't matter. Your magic happens when you focus on how to get your audience to know something and do something. To feel something…when you stop thinking it's about you, that is when your greatness begins to emerge. It's about the audience getting your content.

In "Peak Performance Presentations," Richard Olivier and Nicholas Janni tell us:

Richard's father, Laurence Olivier, was a successful actor for over 50 years. A reporter once asked him, towards the end of his life, when he stopped getting nervous. He replied; "The day I stop getting nervous is the day after I should have stopped!" Being in front of a crowd is not a 'normal" occurrence; it is "special" and requires a special energy. Remember: Presentation is Performance. We use the image of "riding a tiger", with you being the rider and your nerves the tiger. If the nerves have you, it feels like you are being dragged off on a wild animal over whom you have no control, and whom you have good reason to fear. If you stop your nerves altogether it is like watching a tame, doped-up tiger in a circus (claws and teeth removed for safety). But there is no "bite" and no interest. However, if you and the tiger are "in flow" there is an exciting edge that others enjoy watching.

In the Harvard Business School anthology called "Presentations that Persuade and Motivate," we learn:

The only reason to feel nervous is to use that adrenaline to speak with more energy. Because presentations aren't about you, the speaker. They're about the audience. Good public speaking begins with respecting the audience. The moment you realize that it's not what you say that counts in the end, but what the audience hears, you will be on the road toward becoming a great speaker. And you'll forget about your own nervousness.

Ultimately, one of the best ways to manage the fear of public speaking is to prepare, practice, rehearse, and do it all over again. Focus on delivering your core message -- the message your are passionate about -- to the audience, and give the audience the best experience you can. And sometimes all you can do is be nervous -- be afraid -- and get out there and do it anyway. For especially severe case of glossophobia, the kind that prevents a person from living the life they want to live, other professional assistance may be a good choice. Many organizations have an EAP, or Employee Assistance Program, that many folks don't take advantage of and often forget exists. Call to Action: * How do you manage stage fright, glossophobia, or public speaking anxiety? Let me know in the comments below. * If you enjoyed this episode of 2 Minute Talk Tips, please leave a review in the iTunes store. * Please subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. * Next time you present, be sure to check out what the audience sees from the back row. * Don't get best...get better.

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This Week's Tip: Repeat the Question When an audience member asks a question during a presentation, be sure to repeat that question. There are several reasons to do this: * To make sure everyone hears it * To confirm the question * To summarize the question * To make it easier to answer

When you do this, your session is more efficient since the audience won't have to ask you to repeat a question they didn't hear. Plus, people will feel acknowledged. Post Tip Discussion: What I saw on my Cruise During a week long vacation I saw 5 things that can help public speakers: * Rituals * Repetitive framework * Own the stage * Power of the stage * Alternative timers

Exploring these areas can help you become an even stronger speaker. Relevant Websites: * JoCo Cruise * Pat Rothfuss * Paul and Storm * Mary Robinette Kowal * Wil Wheaton * Molly Lewis * Cards Against Humanity

Call To Action * Check out the JoCo Cruise website if a week at sea doing nerdy things appeals to you * Leave a comment about what you've seen other presenters do while you were on vacation * If you enjoy 2 Minute Talk Tips, leave a review in the iTunes store * If you don't already, please subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app * Repeat the questions in your next session * Don't get best...get better

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This Week's Tip: Record Yourself When you record your practice sessions or presentations, you give yourself a powerful tool for professional growth. When you're in the middle of a presentation, you have a bunch of important things to focus on. Number 1 of course is your audience. Plus you can't hear or see yourself the way your audience does. The physics of human anatomy simply make that impossible. By recording your self, you make it possible to go back later, perhaps with a little distance, and do a full assessment of your actual performance. If the recording it great, you now also have piece for your portfolio if you ever find yourself job hunting. Post Tip Discussion: An Interview with Tim Garber (Part 2) Tim Garber is a university trained public speaker passionate about health care, education, and consumer electronics. His professional speaking career began nearly 20 years ago recording retail store voicemail greetings before he moved on to teaching salespeople how to sell computers and servers while teaching educators how to use tablets and projectors in the classroom. He used his vocal talents in 2010 to host “The Info Desk,” a technology podcast by the National Sales Trainers at Toshiba, designed to help salespeople be more productive. Tim then moved on to a career in the medical staffing field, teaching regular courses to new staff to help them place the right medical practitioners with the right facilities. A passionate fan of the original Fallout game, Tim live in Dallas with his wife Angela and two, rapidly-growing children. In this episode, Tim and I talk what public speaking means to us and the deep impact it has on our lives. Notable Tim Garber links: * Facebook * LinkedIn * Fairy Realm Creations

Call To Action: * Did you enjoy this episode or find value in it? Let us know in the comments below * If you enjoy 2 Minute Talk Tips, leave us a rating or review in the iTunes store * Subscribe in your favorite Podcast app * Record your next rehearsal * Celebrate the passion projects in your job * Don't get best...get better

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This Week's Tip: Use Parallel Structure Parallel Structure is a term most often associated with writing, and it's a powerful tool for a presenter who wants to land a powerful message. We see it in famous speeches from world leaders. It's embedded in the Declaration of Independence. And it's a way that any speaker can more effectively land their points. When you use parallel structure in a talk: * You make it memorable * You make it important * You make it powerful * You make it more effective.

Post Tip Discussion: An Interview with Tim Garber (Part 1) Tim Garber is a university trained public speaker passionate about health care, education, and consumer electronics. His professional speaking career began nearly 20 years ago recording retail store voicemail greetings before he moved on to teaching salespeople how to sell computers and servers while teaching educators how to use tablets and projectors in the classroom. He used his vocal talents in 2010 to host “The Info Desk,” a technology podcast by the National Sales Trainers at Toshiba, designed to help salespeople be more productive. Tim then moved on to a career in the medical staffing field, teaching regular courses to new staff to help them place the right medical practitioners with the right facilities. A passionate fan of the original Fallout game, Tim live in Dallas with his wife Angela and two, rapidly-growing children. In this episode, Tim and I talk about the transferability of public speaking skills and some of the self reflection that happens with an involuntary employment change. Notable Tim Garber links: * Facebook * LinkedIn * Fairy Realm Creations

Call To Action: * How did you enjoy this week's interview? What did it make you think about? Let us know in the comments below * If you enjoy 2 Minute Talk Tips, leave us a rating or review in the iTunes store * Subscribe in your favorite Podcast app * Practice your parallel structure * Don't get best...get better

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This Week's Tip: No Eye Charts Eye charts are presentation slides will small text, lots of numbers, and/or detailed charts. They might look okay on the presenter's desk, but to the audience, they are illegible. A presenter will often apologize for the eye chart and simple state the point they want to make. The better option is not to use illegible slides at all. If the audience can't read it, there's no value in the slide. Here are some tips to avoid them: * Use only fonts larger than 24 points * Include only the most relevant part of a spreadsheet * Trim extra labels from charts * Break up a single eye chart into multiple, legible slides * Look at your slides from the back of the room while practicing so you see what the audience will see

Post Tip Discussion: Managing Q&A Question and Answer is an unavoidable part of a live presentation. When you manage Q&A well, you conduct a more effective presentation. We'll talk more about handling questions in future episodes. For now, there are four key areas we focus on: * You can take questions during your sessions * You don't have to take all the questions * You might get stumped, and that's okay * You can help your audience shine by taking their questions

Call To Action * How do you manage Q&A? Tell us in the comments below * What is the most challenging Q&A session you've had? Tell us in the comments below * If you enjoy 2 Minute Talk Tips, please leave us a rating or review in the iTunes store * If you don't already, please subscribe to 2 Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app * Avoid eye charts and practice your Q&A approach * Don't get best...get better

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This Week's Tip: Avoid the G-Word Many speakers have picked up the bad habit of referring to a mixed-gender audience as, "You guys..." Don't do it. There's not benefit to it. You risk alienating a significant part of your audience, and you get nothing in return. Using the G-Word can only make you less effective as a speaker. Post Tip Discussion: Fill Your Bag It's important to carry all the cords and adapters you are likely to need at an event. Start by understanding what video out options you have on your laptop. The 5 most common are: 1. VGA/RGB 2. HDMI/microHDMI 3. Display Port/Mini Display Port 4. USB 5. Wireless Display

Next, try to be familiar with the ports on your destination device. You can assume that the destination device will support VGA/RGB and HDMI. It may support both. Your strategy is acquiring adapters should be to ensure that you can get from each of the video out options on your laptop to both VGA/RGB and HDMI. Once you have your adapter strategy sorted out, you can add some additional gear. * A 6-12 foot VGA Cable * A 6-12 foot HDMI Cable * A 6-12 foot extension cord with 3+outlets * A roll of Gaffer's Tape

Call To Action * Stop using the G-Word, or don't start * Check which video out options your laptop has * Acquire the right adapter cables * Tell us what else you carry in your bag in the comments below * Please share this post by clicking the icons below * Don't get best -- get better

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This Week’s Tip: Empty Your Pockets We often fill our pockets with gadgets and wallets and keys and lint. Before speaking, take all that stuff out of your pockets, and stash it in your bag, desk, best friend’s pockets or someplace else. Speaking with full pockets simply invites distractions that you don’t need.

Post Tip Discussion: Prepare and Prewire Your Audience

Communication is the process by which shared meaning is created. -- Practically every Communications text book I’ve ever read

To maximize the effectiveness of your presentation, make sure the audience is ready to understand it. Prepare them for it by letting them know what your session will cover. This will help them focus on the topics you are discussing.

When you have the opportunity to prewire the audience, do that as well. When you prewire, you meet with attendees in advance. You can brief them on the topic of your presentation, understand any questions they may have, listen to their objections, research responses, and modify your plans. As a result, you will be better prepared for your actual session.

Call to Action: * How do you prepare and audience? Add a comment below. * Check out the Manager Tools prewire discussion here. * If you have other questions or comments, please leave them below, or call the listener line at 650 TALK TIP (650-825-5847). * Please share this post to your social feeds by clicking on the icons below. * Don’t get best – get better.

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This Week's Tip: Manage your Beam If you conduct a PowerPoint slide show through a data projector, you are likely shining a beam at a screen or wall. You need to be conscious of that beam while you speak so you don't block it, stare into it, or distract your audience. It's also important to make sure nothing unintentionally casts a shadow on the screen. You can use the "B" key on your keyboard to make the display in PowerPoint go all black, or you can use the "W" to make the screen go full white, in case you want to do shadow puppets. Post Tip Discussion: Enhance your Credibility Your credibility determines how much the audience believes you. If they don't trust you, then they are unlikely to trust the information in your presentation. There are lots of ways to enhance your credibility. Here are six: 1. Meet your goals 2. Respect your time limits 3. Don't tell them it was all a lie 4. Follow up 5. Say, "I don't know." 6. Meet your pre-event commitments (AKA Don't forget the donuts)

Call to Action: How do you increase your credibility? Leave a comment below or leave a message on our listener line at 650-TalkTip (650-825-5847), and I may include it in a future episode. If you liked this episode, leave a rating and review for 2 Minute Talk Tips at this link or directly in the iTunes app. Practice managing your beam and improving your credibility a little each day. Don't get best -- get better.

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This Week's Tip: Arrive the day before the event If a speaking engagement is important enough to travel for, it's important enough to arrive the day before. There are always unexpected challenges that can arise when you have an event planned, and throwing in air travel only multiples them. When you fly in the day before you give yourself the options and flexibility you need to deal with unforeseen circumstances. Post Tip Discussion: A Review of Carmine Gallo's "Talk Like TED -- The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds" In this episode, I discuss the nature of a TED Talk, the themes in Carmine Gallo's book, and the most important take-aways that I found as I read it. (Hint: it's his secret number 8, "Paint a Mental Picture with Multisensory Experiences.") The Home for TED Talks is TED.com. You can find the 25 most viewed TED Talks here. After I recorded the episode, I did a little more research and found out the J Peterman company parodied in Seinfeld is actually a real catalog company. That's my big surprise of the week. You can find them here on the web and check out their product descriptions. They might not be quite as epic as the ones Elaine dealt with, but they're close. I briefly reference Spoon Theory when talking about energy levels. You can read more about this valuable metaphor here in Wikipedia, and you can read the original story at ButYouDontLookSick.com Call to Action 1. Check out the TED talks on line, find a favorite, and then pay attention to how the speaker tells their story. 2. Check out Carmine Gallo's book. What do you think of it? 3. Comment on this article and let us know what your favorite TED Talk is and why. Also, if you've read Gallo's book, what do you think about it? 4. Finally, if you liked this episode be sure to subscribe in iTunes, Google Play Music, or the Podcatcher of your choice.

Thanks, and don't get best -- get better.

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This Week's Tip: Use the Cursor Keys When you are in slide show mode, you can navigate a PowerPoint slide deck by using the cursor keys. This makes it easier to navigate back and forth through your slides while speaking to a group. Post Tip Discussion We start by talking about the nature of PowerPoint. Many folks have learned to fear "Death by PowerPoint," and they blame PowerPoint for bad meetings. In reality, this is not a problem with the tool. It's the way folks use PowerPoint. If you don't want to use it, that's fine, and the reality is that in most organizations and meetings, not using it is not an option. * We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint * A 2004 email from Jeff Bezos explains why PowerPoint presentations aren't allowed at Amazon

The trick to successfully using PowerPoint is to use it to reinforce what the speaker is saying, not to replace the speaker. In many organizations, PowerPoint is the Word Processor of choice. If your organization is like that, make sure you do not use the same decks for email reports that you use to conduct a presentation. To be effective the deck should be written for the way you expect your audience to consume it -- from a computer at their desk or led by a presenter at a meeting. A deck is not a presentation. You cannot email someone a presentation because a presentation exists at a specific time and place. What are your thoughts on PowerPoint and how to use it properly? Post them here, or call the listener line at 650-TalkTip (650-825-5847)

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This Week's Tip: Don't Open with a Joke Humor is tough, especially in business. Jokes need to relevant, non-offensive, and funny. If you're a nervous speakers, trying to open with a joke just makes things more challenging than they need to be. Post Tip Discussion We have an interview with Jon Clarke. Jon is a freelance writing director and copywriter with nearly 20 years of experience in the advertising industry. His portfolio includes work for Verizon, Lenovo, Jim Beam, and some of the country's leading pharmaceutical companies. On weekends he is Bono for Without U2, the popular Midwest U2 cover band As a pop culture expert, Jon has moderated panels at science fiction conventions, written a comic book, produced YouTube videos that have reached hundreds of thousands of viewers, and performed as a Stand-Up Comedian in New York. In 2013 he launched the Caffeinated Comics podcast, reporting on all the geeky activities in the Chicagoland area. Jon talks about advertising, comedy, music, and importance of building a relationship with your audience. You can learn more about and engage with Jon here: * Twitter: @notinmybook * Caffeinated Comics Podcast Blog * Caffeinated Comics on Facebook * Without U2

Do you have any comments or questions? Do you know someone else I should interview for the podcast? Post them here, or call the listener line at 650-TalkTip (650-825-5847)

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This Week's Tip: Use a Timer Most presentations have a time limit, and exceeding that time limit is rude and ineffective. Finishing to soon can present other risks. While speaking or presenting, though, our internal clock is unreliable. Use a timer of some sort. Post Tip Discussion Preparation is the key to success in conducting a presentation. There are a lot of models for this, and I like to use this approach. Stage 1: Early Development In this stage, you determine your point, figure out what you know, identify the other resources you need to consult, learn about your audience, and confirm the logistics and timing of your presentation. Stage 2: Building Your Content Consolidate your material and make sure it still supports your goal and main point. A sample outline will include: 1. Theme 2. Introduction 3. Call to Action 4. Main Point 1 1. Details 2. Examples 3. Demos 4. Supporting information 5. Main Point 2 1. Details 2. Examples 3. Demos 4. Supporting information 6. Main Point 3, etc. 7. Conclusion and Summary

Confirm again that your content is the right content. Now, you can start building your slides. Stage 3: Practice Rehearse your presentation many times so there are no surprises when it's time to do it for real. How do you prepare for a presentation? Let us know below. You can add your tips or questions here or call the listener line at 650-TalkTip (650-825-5847).

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This week's tip: Hydrate The common wisdom we encounter on the web, from well-meaning relatives, from health fans, etc., is that we should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Or maybe not. It's become surprisingly controversial. Presenters should probably drink more. It's easy to become dehydrated while speaking, especially, if you'll be speaking for a while. Speaking and projecting means exhaling more moisture than standard conversation. It's important to replace that moisture by staying hydrated. * Water: How much should you drink every day? * 6 Reasons to Drink Water * Water: Do You Need 8 Glasses a Day? (Infographic) * Dehydration * 6 Unusual Signs of Dehydration * No, You Do Not Have to Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day * 12 Tips to Drink 8 Cups a Day

Post Tip Discussion The Goal for the Podcast Communication skills are more important than ever, and there are a lot of aspects to that -- spelling, grammar, email etiquette, small talk, introductions, and public speaking. My goal is to help you become a more effective public speaker. I often say, "Don't get best, get better." It's great if you want to become the best speaker ever, and that is a tough standard. It requires a tremendous amount of work, time, and practice. And it requires that others don't become better than you. Instead, I want to help you get a better. Just focus on being a little better every day. That's how you improve and become more effective. Just get better every day. The tips I introduce each week, and the deeper discussion that follows, will help you do that. Ground Rules Each episode will begin with a 2 minute practical tip that can make you more effective. I won't do an pre-roll ads, and you won't have to wait for a long intro to pass. If you have only 2 minutes a week, you'll get value from the podcast. After the tip, I'll include an introduction and then a 15-20 minute discussion that may include interviews, conceptual discussions, book reviews, or other discussions relevant to public speakers. Who am I? I'm Bill Monroe, a professional speaker and trainer with more than 15 years' experience teaching folks to be more effective in the their jobs. My background as a speaker goes back even further. When it comes to public speaking, I believe (among other things) in these five principles. 1. Anyone can do better. 2. Genuine passion matters. 3. Logic alone will not win. 4. Your audience wants you to succeed. 5. Preparation matters.

Do you have any comments or questions? What topics to you want to hear more about? Post them here, or call us at 650-TalkTip (650-825-5847) Have a great day.

2-Minute Talk Tips: Recent Episodes

Bill Monroe