giving great speeches by emily green of yankee group research

© Copyright 2011. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved.1

Giving great speeches

Three steps to more impact

Emily Nagle Green

2© Copyright 2011. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

My big idea for you

Great speakers are

made, not born:

Plan, practice, and

polish

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Agenda

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1. What is a great speech?

2. Preparing the speech

3. Preparing yourself


What’s a speech?

‣ Founder pitching to an investor

‣ Salesperson presenting to a prospect

‣ Employee asking for resources

‣ Managers reporting updates

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What’s a great speech?

‣ Memorable.

• “Wow, he was awesome!”

‣ Impactful.

• “We decided to go with her plan.”

• “That presentation changed our view completely.”

‣ A speech needs both results to be great.

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Agenda

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Preparing the speech

1. Start the plan with a clear goal

2. Know your audience

3. Define a time budget

4. Use a simple structure

5. Guide your listeners

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Start the plan with a clear goal

‣ Muddy ambitions produce muddy presentations

‣ Clear goals begin with a sharp verb:

• Persuade ...an investor to buy into your vision

• Inspire ...teammates to believe they can make the deadline

• Scare ...prospects about life without what you offer

• Teach ...how to give a speech

‣ Make that verb shape your content and delivery

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Know your audience ‣ DON’T skip this step:

it’s a critical success factor

‣ Size and status determines how formal you should be

‣ Awareness of topic determines how much depth you go into

‣ Likely attitude should guide what proof you offer

‣ U.S. vs. international? Young or old? Many other dimensions affect results

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© Copyright 2011. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Define a time budget

‣ What’s right for this opportunity?

‣ Let that determine your length

‣ Don’t kid yourself: too long is never OK

‣ “Aim to stop talking before they stop listening.”

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Use a simple structure

‣ Theme (say what you’re going to say)

• If your audience only remembers one thing...

• A publicly-appropriate version of your goal

‣ Agenda (what you’re going to say)

• Just the 2, 3, or 4 points you need - no more!

• Make them short and lively

‣ Summary (repeat what you said)

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Structure example

‣Theme: • Acme Widgets are the only way

to capture roadrunners

‣Agenda:1.You have lots of problems

catching roadrunners

2.Acme Widgets deliver unique solutions

3.Coyotes have won with Acme

4.Next steps for Wile E. and Acme

‣Summary• Roadrunners are hard to catch

• Acme Widgets work

• All coyotes should use Acme12

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Content guidelines

‣ Bullets, not buckshot:

Maximum impact comes from minimal content

‣ It’s not about you: make it audience-centric

• “You” and “yours”, not “my” or “ours”

‣ Words matter.

• Use bold, powerful words, not fancy 5-dollar ones

• Avoid weasel words: “possibly”, “might”, “could”

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If you use slides...

‣ Keep them very simple

‣ Say what your slides say!

‣ Keep audience with you: Build, build, build

‣ Balance text and graphics

‣ Stay away from the cute stuff unless you’re Disney

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Graphs, charts, & data - oh my!

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‣They can provide very compelling proof

‣...but can become a dangerous rat hole• Impose cognitive load

• Can induce more debate than you want

‣Think of them as seasoning • Know what they mean

• Strip them back

• Preview and build

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© Copyright 2011. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Page

Our offline behaviors are changing fast

Source: Yankee Group Anywhere Consumer survey 2011, waves 2 (February) and 5 (May)

Do you ever use your smartphone to compare prices or find reviews while shopping?

Yes No

Eight-point rise in 4 months

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Guide your listeners

‣ Listener attention wanders constantly

‣ Tell them where they are regularly

‣ You crafted one key message to remember: so repeat your theme

‣ Do it identically every time

• It’ll feel weird to you

• But it won’t bother the audience... unless the theme itself is annoying

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My big idea for you

Great speakers are

made, not born:

Plan, practice, and

polish

18

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Agenda

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Preparing yourself

1. Plan your style

2. Practice the speech

3. Optimize your environment

4. Manage your nerves

5. Polish to eliminate other problems

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Plan your speaking style

‣ You want to be genuine, for sure

‣ But you already adapt behavior to situations

‣ Speeches aren’t one-size-fits-all occasions

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‣Think through style, posture, expressions

‣What will fit your goal? (remember your verb)

‣Imagery helps

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Practice the speech

‣ Talk it out alone; use PowerPoint/Keynote timing

‣ Revise!

• What order works best? Where do you bog down?

• Do you need more proof? Is there too much preamble?

‣ Make speaker’s notes for trouble spots, or for great phrases that work

• But don’t write it all out; it will limit how real you feel

‣ Get feedback from someone you trust

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Optimize your environment

‣ Always test the setup, and always have a backup

‣ Make sure you have space to move around

‣ Don’t wear your slides

‣ Don’t let the room go totally dark

‣ Don’t let your appearance be a distraction

‣ Keep clutter to a minimum

‣ Delay handouts

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Manage your nerves

‣ If you’re not nervous... you’re dead!

‣ It’s pure adrenaline: your fuel to be great

• Know the symptoms and welcome their arrival

• Memorize your first points, in case you panic

• Breathe slowly and deeply

‣ Collect survival stories to avoid feeling alone

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Polishing eliminates other problems

‣ Pacing makes the biggest difference in delivery

‣ Habits annoy or distract your listeners

• Pacing - or being frozen in stone

• Fussing with hair and clothing

• Repetitive words or phrases

• Rapid or inaudible delivery

‣ Be brave: ask someone what you need to work on

‣ Critique other speeches

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One last time: Avoid. these. mistakes.

‣ Too much content

‣ Too much preamble

‣ Too much text

‣ Too much multimedia

‣ Too much apologizing

‣ Too much fussing

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‣Too little thought

‣Too little structure

‣Too little practice

‣... too little impact

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My big idea for you

Great speakers are

made, not born:

Plan, practice, and

polish

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Summary

‣ Plan a clear structure with simple ideas and lots of repetition

‣ Practice, reorganize and tighten

‣ Polish your delivery to build real confidence

‣ Finally: come to a clear, confident close

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Thank you - and good luck!

Emily Nagle [email protected]

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