The #1 Mistake — Not Engaging Your Audience

This item was filled under [ Delivery, Rapport ]

Want to know how you can relate to your audience and command their attention? In the below video, Allan Kaufman discusses how to avoid making this mistake when presenting.

If you can’t see the video, click on the link below for the soundtrack of the video.

#1 Mistake-Not Engaging Audience

To celebrate the United States’ 234th birthday on July 4, we are offering a 15% savings on our coaching services. The savings applies to our No Sweat Speaking(tm) coaching to eliminate public speaking anxiety and presentation skills coaching. The offer will last until the end of July.

If you’ve been thinking about investing in a coach to significantly improve your presentation skills and confidence in front of an audience, take advantage of this significant savings opportunity now. Just complete our no-obligation coaching inquiry questionnaire. We’ll send you a proposal that includes your 15% savings on your investment. Click here now => http://bit.ly/nsscoaching

Tagged with: [ , ]

One Strategy for Handling Mind Blanks

This item was filled under [ Delivery, Mind Blanks ]

When your mind goes blank during a presentation, you know how painful that can be. In this No Sweat Speaking(tm) video tip, Allan Kaufman shares one easy to use strategy using light humor to handle mind blanks.

If you can’t view the video, you may listen to the sound track by clicking on the below link.

Audio: One Strategy for Handling Mind Blanks

To celebrate the United States’ 234th birthday on July 4, we are offering a 15% savings on our coaching services. The savings applies to our No Sweat Speaking(tm) coaching to eliminate public speaking anxiety and presentation skills coaching. The offer will last until the end of July.

If you’ve been thinking about investing in a coach to significantly improve your presentation skills and confidence in front of an audience, take advantage of this significant savings opportunity now. Just complete our no-obligation coaching inquiry questionnaire. We’ll send you a proposal that includes your 15% savings on your investment. Click here now => http://bit.ly/nsscoaching

Learn How to Think Funny

This item was filled under [ Humor, Preparation ]

If you want to be an effective speaker, you need to sprinkle humor throughout your presentations. This becomes easy when you learn how to think funny.

Find out how to do this in the below video.

———-

If you like this tip, there are 2 CDs full of audio tips to help you become a master business presenter. The CDs come with our book Presentation Truths Revealed–101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success. In the shopping cart, enter the coupon code HUMOR and you will save 25% plus you’ll get $77.00 in free bonuses. Woowee! This offer has been extended until June 18, 2010 so don’t delay.

Tagged with: [ ]

Humor You Don’t Need to Sweat for

This item was filled under [ Delivery, Humor, Rapport ]

Would you like to begin a presentation with some humor but you’re hesitant? Maybe you’re not skilled at using humor. Maybe you’re concerned that your humor will “bomb” and ruin your presentation. Here’s a No Sweat Speaking video tip about using a special type of humor in your presentations — humor you don’t need to sweat for. It involves little preparation, and you don’t have to be a humorist to deliver it successfully. The technique works like magic every time you use it. Watch the video and learn what to do.

———-

If you like this tip, there are 2 CDs full of audio tips to help you become a master business presenter. The CDs come with our book Presentation Truths Revealed–101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success. In the shopping cart, enter the coupon code HUMOR and you will save 25% plus you’ll get $77.00 in free bonuses. Woowee! This offer is good until May 11, 2010 so don’t delay.

To obtain our Audience/Program/Facility Survey form, go to http://tinyurl.com/aud-survey.

Tagged with: [ , , ]

Psych Yourself Up for Speaking Success!

This item was filled under [ Preparation ]

Athletes do it. Entertainers do it. You can do it too.

Use mental imagery to “practice” your presentations and psych yourself up for speaking success. See the video to find out how to do it.

To obtain our Audience/Program/Facility Survey form, go to http://tinyurl.com/aud-survey.

Tagged with: [ , ]

The YEA Formula

This item was filled under [ Delivery ]

Want to be a more effective speaker? Here’s an audio tip on how you can get your audience in the right frame of mind to accept your message. Just click on the link below and enjoy.

The YEA Formula

If you like this audio tip, there are 2 CDs full of audio tips to help you become a master business presenter. The CDs come with our book Presentation Truths Revealed–101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success. In the shopping cart, enter the coupon code YEA and you will save 25% plus you’ll get $77.00 in free bonuses. Woowee! This offer is good until February 9, 2010 so don’t delay.

Tagged with: [ ]

Make Boring Technical Presentations Come Alive!

This item was filled under [ Presentation Types, Technical Presentation ]

by Allan Kaufman

Many people make their living giving technical presentations. Unfortunately, presentations on technical subjects often are boring. To make your technical presentations and workshops interesting, consider spicing them up by doing the following:

  • Keep your audience continually involved — Increase audience participation as your presentation or workshop time increases. The days of audiences sitting by passively as speakers lecture to them are gone. In programs of 45 minutes or more, consider using individual exercises and group exercises to help get your points across. You could have every 3 to 5 people form a team. Give out a team exercise and then have each team appoint a spokesperson to report its findings to the rest of the audience.
  • Use the experiences and successes of some in your audience to illustrate your points — Your audience will related to “their” successes and you’ll develop powerful rapport, get more “buy-in” to your ideas, and strengthen old relationships and develop new ones.

I once coached someone who gave boring week long technical workshops. He feared for his job after he got very poor evaluations from the participants. After a coaching session, he added humor and workshop exercises, asked more questions, and lectured less. He got the best evaluations ever and saved his job. Do the same and you may even get a raise!

For coaching in this area, go to http://nosweatspeaking.com/coaching.html. Sometimes it takes only a small amount of refining your technique or style to make boring technical presentations come alive.

—————

We wish everyone a happy holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year. As our holiday gift to you, we are extending a 30% discount on all our learning tools  (does not apply to our strategic partners learning tools) at http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/tools.html. Just enter the coupon code “30off” (without the quotation marks) in the shopping cart upon checkout and you will save 30% on your total order. Our gift is good until January 3, 2010.

Tagged with: [ ]

Use Your Eyes to Connect with Your Audience

This item was filled under [ Delivery, Eye Contact, Rapport ]

Here’s an audio tip on how you can connect with your audience and develop rapport by using your eyes. Click on the link below and enjoy!

Use Your Eyes to Connect with Your Audience

Our Error Your Benefit!

In our last two posts, we extended an offer for our readers. Unfortunately, the coupon codes’ expiry dates in our shopping card were incorrect. So we are extending the offer for this post. Here it is.

Incredible Deal for Our No Sweat Speaking™ Ezine and Blog Readers!

We want to get our message out to a wider audience and give you an opportunity to acquire a performance-boosting learning resource. Invest in our Presentation Truths Revealed: 101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success book and 2-CD set.

You will get a $20.00 reader discount. The book and 2-CD set comes with 4 bonuses valued at $77.00 (read about bonuses here). Plus, you will get a bonus complimentary copy of Allan Kaufman’s The TEN BIGGEST Public Speaking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them! audio program (a $29.95 value).

Allan Misch’s wife recently took an Excel class. She purchased a workbook and CD for close to $50.00. She got nothing else and nothing free.

You get our book, 2 CDs, 4 bonus resources, and the audio program, a $185.95 value for only $59.00. You save an incredible 68% on everything!

Just enter discount coupon code “BLOG-3” (without the quotation marks) in our shopping cart when you check out.

You can order here. Just click on the “+ Add To Shopping Cart” button, or read about the book, CDs, and 4 bonuses and order here.

The shopping cart will list only the book and 2-CD set. After you order, we will email you the 4 valuable bonuses and a link to instantly download the bonus audio program.

Take advantage of this deal now and use the discount coupon code BLOG-3 in the shopping cart. The offer expires November 23, 2009.

Engaging Your Audience and Rapport—Part 2

This item was filled under [ Delivery ]

By Allan Kaufman and Allan Misch

(The Truths discussed in this article come from our book and 2-CD set: Presentation Truths Revealed: 101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success available on our website at http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/tools/ptr.html .

Two other Presentation Truths that will prevent snores, engage your audience, and build rapport are Truth Number Seventy-one…

To involve your audience, ask rhetorical or involvement questions, tell stories that evoke vivid mental images, or prompt them to do something.

And Truth Number Seventy-two…

Because audience attention spans are short, every three to five minutes show an interesting visual aid… use humor… ask a question… change your body position… use vocal variety… or tell a story or anecdote related to your point.

When you lead your audience to do something mentally or physically, such as visualizing what you are describing or responding to your prompts, you move them psychologically from being passive observers to active participants in your presentation.  Once they become participants, subconsciously they want you to succeed, because everyone likes to be on a winning team.

Also, from years of watching television, where every five to ten minutes there is a commercial, audiences have developed short attention spans. So every few minutes, you need to shift their attention in order to maintain their focus and keep them involved.

Using a visual aid… asking a question… demonstrating an idea using your audience… conducting an exercise… using mental imagery… using humor—these are effective strategies for engaging your audience. One word of caution—make sure that whatever you do, it should have a purpose and be related to your overall message.

Here’s an interesting observation. In a recent seminar, Allan Kaufman asked why questions are powerful in getting attention and engaging an audience.

After an uncomfortable silence, a participant in the back row raised his hand. He said, “When you ask a question, I pay attention, because I might have to answer it.”  Everyone laughed. But what an astute response!

And why Truth Number Ninety-six is important. It maintains that…

Questions help to involve the audience…to obtain, focus, and keep their attention… and to check for learning.

One powerful way to use a question is to follow Truth Number Ninety-seven…

Use a thought-provoking question to introduce or finalize a key point.

By introducing a key idea with a question, you force your audience to shift mentally and think about it. They may begin to answer the question silently, or if they don’t know the answer, remain curious to discover it with your help.

By asking a question after you cover a key idea, you cause your audience to review and restate your message silently or out loud.

Have you ever watched a news feature show where the host says something like this?  “When we return, our special guest will reveal three tips that could save your life.”

That’s called a teaser. It’s designed to arouse curiosity so you will hang around after the commercial and not switch to another channel.

Presentation Truth Number Seventy-three uses the same concept. It states…

To get your audience back from a break on time, tell them when to be back and include a “teaser” that arouses curiosity and motivates them to return promptly such as “Let’s take a break. Be back by 10:15. When you return from the break at 10:15, we will cover the three most important strategies to ensure a successful presentation.”

If you need to take a break during your program, follow this Truth. Your audience will be motivated to get back on time and you will keep your program moving and on schedule.

So take advantage of these Truths… Dress appropriately… speak your audience’s language… follow meeting protocol… involve your audience… ask questions… control your audience’s attention spans… and use teasers.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that a speaker must first establish trust and credibility, which he called ethos, from an audience in order to influence them.

When you engage audience members and they feel a bond with you, then you position yourself to influence how they will accept your message.

That is part of your success on the platform. The other part is how well you apply the Truths about delivering your message.

For more Truths, go to http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/tools/ptr.html.

But check this special deal first.

Incredible Deal for Our No Sweat Speaking™ Ezine and Blog Readers!

We want to get our message out to a wider audience and give you an opportunity to acquire a performance-boosting learning resource. Invest in our Presentation Truths Revealed: 101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success book and 2-CD set.

You will get a $20.00 reader discount. The book and 2-CD set comes with 4 bonuses valued at $77.00 (read about bonuses here). Plus, you will get a bonus complimentary copy of Allan Kaufman’s The TEN BIGGEST Public Speaking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them! audio program (a $29.95 value).

Allan Misch’s wife recently took an Excel class. She purchased a workbook and CD for close to $50.00. She got nothing else and nothing free.

You get our book, 2 CDs, 4 bonus resources, and the audio program, a $185.95 value for only $59.00. You save an incredible 68% on everything!

Just enter discount coupon code “BLOG-2” (in CAPS and without the quotation marks) in our shopping cart when you check out.

You can order here. Just click on the “+ Add To Shopping Cart” button, or read about the book, CDs, and 4 bonuses and order here.

The shopping cart will list only the book and 2-CD set. After you order, we will email you the 4 valuable bonuses and a link to instantly download the bonus audio program.

Take advantage of this deal now and use the discount coupon code BLOG-2 in the shopping cart. The offer expires November 2, 2009.

Engaging Your Audience and Rapport–Part 1

This item was filled under [ Delivery ]

By Allan Kaufman and Allan Misch

(The Truths discussed in this article are from our book and 2-CD set: Presentation Truths Revealed: 101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success.)

In his book The Shortcut to Persuasive Presentations, Larry Tracy, an executive speech coach and former head of one of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff briefing teams, writes:

“The most important aspect for you to possess to be an effective speaker is credibility. The speaker who is judged credible by audience members receives the most important element in communication—trust.”

The way to gain trust and credibility from your audience is by engaging them and establishing rapport with them. You can do this by practicing the Presentation Truths that will bring you a high degree of trust.

The first is Presentation Truth #67…

What you do in the first fifteen to thirty seconds of your presentation is crucial for making a good first impression. When you begin your presentation, recognize the audience unless protocol prevents this. Recognizing your audience will help you develop rapport with them.

A related Truth is Truth #69…

Follow your audience’s meeting protocol or you will lose rapport with your audience.

You have about thirty seconds to engage your audience’s attention and begin establishing rapport. Recognize your audience as part of your opening process if the meeting protocol allows it.

Recognizing your audience serves the same purpose as shaking hands or other greeting when you meet somebody. The recognition tells your audience, at the subconscious level, that you are friendly and care about them.

Also, be aware of the meeting’s protocol—what you should and shouldn’t do and say. You do not want to stray from the protocol. If you do, your audience will consider you outside the group and you will lose their trust. So if the protocol is that you do not greet the audience, follow the protocol.

One of the single most important ways to establish rapport with your audience is to…

Follow Truth #68…

Dress the same as or a little better than your expected audience to develop rapport and credibility.

Allan Misch was to give two presentations at a technology users’ conference. He asked the meeting planner how attendees would be dressed. She said they would be in regular business attire—for men, a shirt, tie, and jacket.

We thought that was odd. The attire at most technology conferences that we’ve attended or addressed was business casual—usually khaki pants and a knit sport shirt.

Allan arrived at the conference early to check out the venue. He wore a dark blue suit, white shirt, and red tie. Much to his dismay, attendees were dressed in business casual.

He knew that if he presented dressed this way, he might have difficulty establishing rapport. So, he took off the jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves to just above his wrists. This new look was informal and was a better fit with the way they were dressed. He had no trouble establishing rapport.

Besides dressing like, or slightly better than, your audience, another important way to sustain rapport is to…

Follow Truth #70…

To deepen rapport with an audience, speak their language. Learn their jargon and acronyms, but avoid using industry or organization jargon if it is unfamiliar to all or some of the audience.

When Allan Misch was in Spain, he was the only one among a group of twenty who could speak Spanish well enough to get along. Wherever he went, he established instant rapport with the locals because he could speak their language.

When you know and use your audience’s buzz words, audience members will think subconsciously… “I like you. You talk like me.”

Be aware, though, this could backfire if you use jargon to a mixed audience where some are unfamiliar with the jargon and acronyms. You can tell when this happens. Their eyes glaze over and you lose them. You may even hear a few snores.

Part 2 of this article continues in our next post. Apply these and other Truths from our book and 2-CD set, Presentation Truths Revealed: 101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success, and be amazed with the boost in your speaking performance.

But check this special deal first.

Incredible Deal for Our No Sweat Speaking™ Ezine and Blog Readers!

We want to get our message out to a wider audience and give you an opportunity to acquire a performance-boosting learning resource. Invest in our Presentation Truths Revealed: 101 Universal Principles to Propel Your Speaking Success book and 2-CD set.

You will get a $20.00 reader discount. The book and 2-CD set comes with 4 bonuses valued at $77.00 (read about bonuses here). Plus, you will get a bonus complimentary copy of Allan Kaufman’s The TEN BIGGEST Public Speaking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them! audio program (a $29.95 value).

Allan Misch’s wife recently took an Excel class. She purchased a workbook and CD for close to $50.00. She got nothing else and nothing free.

You get our book, 2 CDs, 4 bonus resources, and the audio program, a $185.95 value for only $59.00. You save an incredible 68% on everything!

Just enter discount coupon code “BLOG-1” (in CAPS and without the quotation marks) in our shopping cart when you check out.

You can order here. Just click on the “+ Add To Shopping Cart” button, or read about the book, CDs, and 4 bonuses and order here.

The shopping cart will list only the book and 2-CD set. After you order, we will email you the 4 valuable bonuses and a link to instantly download the bonus audio program.

Take advantage of this deal now and use the discount coupon code BLOG-1 in the shopping cart. The offer expires October 12, 2009.