10 ways to know if your speech sucks

ways to know if

SUCKS!YOUR SPEECH

10

Okay, you delivered your speech.

The audience applauded.

You feel like a rock star!

I hate to burst your bubble,

but..

Audiences always applaud(it’s good manners)

So if your speech sucks..

you won’t know

Here are 10 mistakes you want to avoid

#1 Thanking the audienceReally!? We know you’re happy to be there! Thanking the audience is self-serving - get on with what you came to deliver.

#2 Start too slow, finish too fastBig mistake. Practice your first five minutes and know when you need to be: 1/4 way, 1/2 way and starting your close.

#3 Making it all about youHeroic stories about parachuting to work after pulling a family of eight from a burning house are all about you.

Tip: Share when you failed and your audience will lean in.

#4 Forgettable contentD.U.F.A. (Don’t Use Forgettable Acronyms). Keep your core lesson to three points and make each lesson memorable*

* like ‘sharpen the saw’ and ‘seek first to understand’

#5 Uncomfortable momentsThree things to avoid early in your speech: asking for a volunteer, walking into the audience, or asking them to share personal information.

(Timing is everything.)

Long bullets, too much text, and free clip art make you look like an amateur. Use fewer slides, keep bullets to a minimum, and use big, bold images.

#6 Ugly Powerpoint

(Or no slides at all)Tip: Limit each slide to 3 bullets and only one line per bullet.

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#7 Reading your slidesBad enough your slides are crowded, don’t make it worse by ignoring your audience and reading them.

Tip: look at one person at a time and everyone will feel like you are looking at them.

#8 Using old materialDon’t tell the starfish story, Thomas Edison failed 5,000 times, or “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”*

(Get original content.)

*Marianne Williamson

#9 Too much contentInstead of piling on more content, use stories, get the audience involved, and slow down.

Fact: Within one hour your audience will forget about 50% of what you share. Art Kohn, Ph.D

If an event planner invites you to go overtime - don’t believe them. Delegates can read time and they want their breaks.

#10 Going overtime

(Finish on time. Period.)

Quick Summary (what to do)…#1 Launch right into your material#2 Pace yourself and never rush the ending#3 Be vulnerable, share when you failed#4 Deliver three memorable solutions #5 Build audience engagement#6 Clean up your Powerpoint#7 Look your audience in the eye#8 Use original material#9 Less content is more memorable#10 Don’t go overtime. Period

Photo Credits“Okay, you delivered your speech” www.flickr.com/photos/76349034@N04/18341478711 “Making it all about you” www.flickr.com/photos/23844045@N06/11939035745 “Forgettable content” slide www.flickr.com/photos/45173973@N02/9006109724 “Uncomfortable moments” www.flickr.com/photos/49752896@N07/10425544294 “Ugly powerpoint” www.flickr.com/photos/49752896@N07/10425985243 “Reading your slides” www.flickr.com/photos/45173973@N02/9006113844 “Too much content” www.flickr.com/photos/23844045@N06/11941347716 Audience applauding (this page) www.flickr.com/photos/95442476@N00/206971552

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Presentations & Public Speaking

10 ways to know if your speech sucks