Change Speech Delivery to Speech Conversation

Yes, welcome to the biz communication show, I’m your host Bill Lampton the biz communication guy sharing with you communication tips and strategies that will boost your business. As a business leader, you have to probably make many presentations, some of them with in your organization, meetings, discussion groups, interviews with candidates, times when you yourself are seeking interviews, and you are facing a group, outside of your group, you possibly talk with civic clubs, you might talk to your chamber of commerce, you eventually rise to the point where you’re speaking to your professional organizations, maybe even at conferences and conventions. And some of you that are watching are listening to the biz communication Show. Today might even be professional speakers. Whoever we are, we make presentations professionally, to small groups are the larger groups. But two groups. And I’m sure that somewhere along the way, maybe in your higher education are even in grade schools, you took a speech course are if you didn’t do that, then you’ve done that, as a part of your continuing education, you read books about speaking. And I have to say that during my 20 years in management, there were many times that I made presentations, there were many times that I saw other people making presentations, and then I became a professional speaker, saw some of the best speakers you can imagine, heard them, met them, talked with them. And then also I became a speech coach so that I can help others enjoy the privilege. And it is a great privilege of sharing your ideas persuasively with audiences. during all that time, I noticed that much of the instruction we got you and I about public speaking, was it it was either bad at the time our it became outdated, or maybe it was both. So I tried to bring us up to date on what really works. And what we really should be thinking about when we prepare, and when we face an audience. So the term I want to talk about today is one that you’ve seen, and you’ve heard and you’ve been taught, and that is speech preparation and delivery. Speech preparation and delivery. Okay, I believe in the preparation. That’s, that’s essential. And that’s important. But what’s wrong with the term delivery? Why do I not accept that anymore? Well, to me, delivery should be left to these guys. They’re delivering packages, they’re delivering something that is fixed and static. And we’ve had the post office, we’ve relied on them for many years. And then along came Amazon and many others who deliver packages to us. And they rightfully can be called delivery people. But that’s not what makes effective speakers and clear and compelling presentations. What we want instead, we want to have a conversation with our audience, not delivering something, but having a conversation with our audience. And in just one minute, I’m going to tell you how you can achieve that. Do you wish
you felt confident about giving speeches? Do you want to deal with difficult people constructively? And what about becoming more persuasive and sales? Then keep listening now to Dr. Bill lamp than he spent 20 years in management, so he knows the communication skills you need for success. I urge you to call the biz communication guide today for a no call, but very valuable 30 minute discussion about your communication challenges. Call now 678-316-4300. Again, that’s 678-316-4300.
Okay, as I was saying, what we want to do with our audience is to have a conversation, and by a conversation, not to a group, but to a one on one situation. And so how do we do that? Well, there’s several tips that I can give, they’ve worked for me, they’ve worked for many of my speech coaching clients, I’m working with a client. Now and in our next coaching session, we’re going to be talking about this. There are several ways I want you to picture going to a networking event, as business leaders, we do that we find it enjoyable, we find it beneficial. And in many cases, we find it necessary. Now let’s picture when we get to a business reception, a networking event, let’s say we get there early, I always like to get the early myself because it’s easier to meet people one by one. And then as they come in, made some more and have more conversation. Okay, here’s what happens can happen. Typically, you walk in, you’re one of their early arrivals, and you start talking to one person, after a couple of minutes, somebody you know, walks in and joins the group or somebody this conversation partner knows they walk in, and next thing, you know, you got four people. And then if you’re there 10 or 15 minutes before long, you’ve got six or seven or eight people. Okay, let’s picture this, what changes do you make, because there’s a larger crowd, what changes at all, the only change you probably make, our should make is maybe you have to increase your volume just a little bit so that when they’re six, or seven or eight, everybody can hear you. But you don’t change your style. It’s still conversational. So this is what we want to picture. When we’re talking to a large group, what we’ve done is just elevate from the one on one style to the one on many style, and they’re not different. One of the most significant speech coaches I know is one who worked with people, and television broadcasting, and also at all levels of government. And near the end of his career as a Communication Consultant. He wrote a book about that. And it he said, The most effective speakers presenters that I’ve seen, wherever they were, whether they’re on national television, speaking in a football stadium, talking at a conference table, or meeting somebody at lunch, they never changed their style, they still had the personal style. So what are some other ways that we can help make this happen? I talked about a networking event where you meet people ahead of time, that’s a good thing to do. If you’re going to have an audience, meet members of the audience ahead of time, it’s a mistake to get to an audience of people you don’t know and just be introduced and you’re there on the platform. And suddenly, you’re talking to a group of strangers. It’s far better to meet and mingle ahead of time. And that way, you have people who are in sync with you, they know you already they feel identity. So think as well that when you have that audience, when you’re before them, you’re not talking to them, you are talking with them. One more tip here, which I’ve found beneficial for many years, is to find ways to involve your audience. Find ways to involve your audience. I’m talking now about interaction. Little activities little does discussion groups question and answer, group exercises. All of those get the audience being a part of the act. Now, one more illustration. The early years of radio and television were marked by broadcasters who were very, very stilted and formal, they thought everything had to be a lecture style. And then along came one who broke that pattern. And he became immensely popular. That was Arthur Godfrey. I can still hear Arthur Godfrey now on on radio was was the way I heard him the most and, and a very, very low key conversational tone. He would talk about his sponsor Lipton tea. It wasn’t like the very loud commercials we hear today. It was just Hey, friend, I’ve got this very good product. This very good tasting tea that I want to talk with you about. Arthur Godfrey changed the style of broadcasting for many. A final note here. Let’s realize how all styles have become more informal, when’s the last time a man wore a suit and tie are a lady an evening dress or a heels? When those were required and expected for a long time, we are now in an informal society. People want presenters who are authentic and the moment a real person who has great ideas, and just wants to share that ideas in a very personal way with the audience. So next time you have a presentation, whatever it is, think of it not as something you’re going to deliver, but as a conversation that you’re going to have with your audience. And again, let’s leave delivery. To those people who have packages, those people who have parcels to deliver, we’ve got messages and we just share them through our our verbiage. And we don’t have to be perfect with it. I’ve said that many times, you can even put the emphasis on the wrong syllable. So just talk with your audience be real, be yourself, share your message, one on one, and they will love you for it. I want to definitely thank you for being with me today on the biz communication show. It’s a privilege to host you whether it’s by video are you’re joining us on the podcast. And also since we have been together, I invite you to learn more about my services. Go to my YouTube channel, because on my YouTube channel, I have a number of videos many of them are when I’m hosting a business communication expert, you’ll find at least 50 of those on their top quality guests. And again, giving us tips and strategies that will help us in our business. After you’ve done that, please go to my website. I’m the biz communication guy. That’s my moniker. So logically is biz communication guy.com, you’ll find out about my services, corporations and leaders. And then please do give me a call so that we can talk about your communication challenges and your communication problems and how I can help you find solutions to them. And let me say that, as a speech coach, I would welcome the opportunity to work with you so that you can speak confidently. You can speak with persuasion, and you can even speak with enjoyment for you and for the audience. Be with me again for the next biz communication Show. I’m your host Bill Lampton the biz communication guy, wishing you winning words and ways