Speakers should make the first words of their presentations count. Use as a model Colin Firth's acceptance speech last night for Best Actor in "The Kings Speech:" "I have a feeling my career's just peaked." Don't spend opening seconds thanking the group for the opportunity, or talk about what a beautiful facility you are speaking in, or what a marvelous day it is. Choose opening words that make the audience want to listen. Significant speeches in our history illustrate how important the opening words are. Remember that Abraham Lincoln began his ceremonial speech on November 19, 1863, to honor the soldiers who lost their lives at Gettysburg by saying, "Four score and seven years ago...." Franklin Roosevelt began his Declaration of War speech in 1941 with these words: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941a date which will live in infamythe United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." Ronald Reagan eulogized the Challenger Astronauts on January 28, 1986 when he began with "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering." Begin with a sentence that makes the audience think. Begin with words that motivate the audience to listen. My after-dinner speech, "Be Present When You Are Present" begins with "The greatest single secret to success is paying attention." Another speech I deliver often is "High Bid." My opening words are the auctioneer's chant as I introduce my analogy that life is like an auction. We sell ourselves by what we say and how we say it." Your opening words need to relate to your topic and show why it is important to listen to what follows. There are various ways of doing this. You might open with a startling statement about a product the audience members produce or a statistic that demonstrates the quality of work of the people in the room. Perhaps you could open with a provocative question that stimulates discussion. Certainly words of appreciation to the audience for your being there are fine, but not in the opening words. For example, after you speak for a few minutes and the audience is really staying with you, you might say, "I really appreciate your careful attention and the way you have received me. Your reactions energize me as I speak." Or if you have a question and answer period at the end, you might begin by thanking them for the opportunity. That also gives the audience more time to think of questions. Never waste words in speaking, but especially make the opening words count.
Enhance Your Speech With A Great Introduction by Stephen Boyd | March 31, 2004 As a speaker, you may get nervous about being at the mercy of your introducer. If the person tries to tell a joke, has trouble reading the introduction, or leaves out key parts which you plan to respond to in your opening, you can have a tough time in the beginning of your speech. Proper planning of your introduction can eliminate unnecessary anxiety. You can have confidence that you will start your speech with a high level of enthusiasm and anticipation because of the effective job the introducer did. Write out your introduction and include the punctuation you want. When you want a pause, write [PAUSE]. Double space and type in bold font so that the person will not have trouble reading the script. Send her or him a copy a few days before you are to speak. Meet the introducer before the meeting starts and get acquainted. Say your name distinctly to clarify the correct pronunciation. Ask if he or she received the introduction and if there are any questions. Then say, "I would really like it if you would read it as I have written it because the early part of my speech plays off what you say in the introduction." Of course that is only if there is a specific connection to the introduction. Keep your introduction short. One to two minutes is the length you want. How well the audience knows you should determine how long the introduction is. The principle I use is only to put in your introduction what will qualify you as an expert in the minds of the audience. An audience does not care where you graduated from high school or where you grew up unless it is integral to your speech. One last tip is to look pleasant and eager to speak as you are being introduced. Audience members will be looking at you and forming judgments as the introduction is being given. Dont be writing a last reminder on your notes at this time. You can never predict what the introducer will say or do, but these suggestions can help ease anxiety by lowering the risk of the unexpected as you go to the lectern to speak.
Fourteen Introduction Tips by Speaking Tips | December 22, 2003 A good introduction should capture the audience's attention, bring them together as a group and motivate them to listen attentively to the speaker. Here are fourteen tips to help you do just that. 1. Identify yourself by name and title, unless this has already been earlier. Remember, the speaker also needs to know who you are. 2. Know the speaker's name and how to pronounce it. If it is an unusual name, help the audience learn it. 3. Know the speaker's title or position. 4. Be brief. Aim for between one and three minutes. Five minutes is too long. 5. Do not read the introduction. It will sound flat, unenthusiastic and convey the impression that you are unfamiliar with the subject. It is acceptable to bring notes to the lectern but keep them inconspicuous. 6. Smile and be enthusiastic in tone, gesture and choice of words. 7. Know enough about the subject to sound knowledgeable. 8. Announce the speech title as given to you by the speaker. If you have any questions about it, ask the speaker before the introduction. Many speakers select specific titles for a reason or for a pun. If the speaker is not using a title, make sure that your description matches the speaker's. 9. Introductions are no place to use slides, overheads or presentation software. 10. Anecdotes are good but should pertain to the subject and be in harmony with the mood of the presentation. Avoid using canned jokes. 11. If the credentials of the speaker are so outstanding that they must be shared with the audience or if there are publications the audience will want to know about, insert them in the program or prepare a separate commemorative handout. 12. Never use the old cliche that the speaker needs no introduction. If the introduction ties the speaker to the audience and the topic then each introduction is unique, plus there is always something new about every speaker. 13. You are the catalyst, not the performer. Do not try to upstage the speaker with your knowledge of the subject. Do not dwell on your relationship with the speaker, even (or perhaps especially) if they are your boss, relative or significant other. 14. Introduction of a panel of speakers is the same except the introducer needs to describe the structure and format of the panel (speaking order, length of time) and the various points of view and perspectives of the panelists. The introduction of the individual panelists can be done two ways: All at once or individually as the panel program progresses. Most audiences prefer a handout with the panelists' credentials so they can refer to it as the panel progresses.
ow To Organize The Body Of A Speech by Speaking Tips | November 17, 2003 A speech (or presentation) generally falls into three parts, the introduction, the main body and the conclusion (beginning, middle and end). Each of these serves an integral and essential role with it's own unique function. The body of the speech is the biggest and is where the majority of information is transferred. Consequently, it requires careful thought and consideration as well as some imagination to organize the body of a speech effectively. To aid in planning the body of your speech it can be helpful to make use of concepts and themes which run through the body of your speech providing structure and tying thoughts together in unified manner. This isn't to say that your delivery must be uniform throughout. For example, a speaker might use several characters from a popular movie, television series or play to illustrate how a proposal might impact people in various roles within an organization. The characters and the attitudes they portray may differ significantly but their common source provides a unifying factor that the audience will pick up on and appreciate. The time to consider the way to organize the body of your speech is after you have selected and ordered the points you want to make. The best "organizers" act as a mechanism for the audience to grasp and remember what you say. Organizers make it easier to provide continuity between opening, body and ending. They help you connect with the audience quickly and are an aid to remembering the points you wish to make allowing you to deliver the speech with minimum use of notes. Organization Ideas Here are a few ideas for organizing a speech. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses and some may work better than others for a given topic or setting. They can be used individually or in combination. The list is far from complete and you should feel free to get creative and come up with your own ideas. Acronyms: Organize your speech around an acronym with the individual letters representing a keyword which summarizes a component of your presentation. If at all possible, choose a word which is related in some way to your topic. Color: Color can be used to organize a presentation and then be coordinated with props, visual aids and handouts. As an added bonus, many topics have associations with a particular color (environment - green) or have color as an important component (fine art, interior decoration). In such cases, using color as an organizational aid is quick and easy as well as being intuitively clear to your audience. Issues: Issues can be financial, aesthetic, philosophical or political among others and can serve to simplify complex topics defuse areas where the audience has strong opinions or high emotions. Opinions: Many topics have distinct vantage points depending upon a number of factors including, but not limited to, factors such as age, gender, political affiliation, faith, job function, etc. Exploring different view points can be excellent for political topics or topics related to changes in the workplace. People: People can be actual, mythical, historical, political, or stereotypical. As with the illustration above, don't overlook well-known characters from literature, movies or television shows. You may also consider using characters based on stereotypical group behaviors. Examples of each of these include politicians, police detectives, teenagers and their concerned parents. Using characters can make for great entertaining speeches which derive humor from human frailties. Places: People have a strong sense of place and often make generic associations with specific types of geography or with specific locations. Many topics, such as travel or history, are place-specific. Problems and solutions: This is a good all-purpose organization and an excellent choice for emerging topics. It is flexible in that you don't necessarily need the same number of solutions as you have problems. Shapes and patterns: Use shapes such as circles, squares, or triangles for identification and to illustrate relationships and how things work. Storylines: Use a universal plot from literature, mythology, classic movies, popular novels or nursery rhymes. Alternatively, real stories and life experiences can make for powerful narratives. Time: Try using themes from the past, present and future for topics that change over time. Create a project time line and compare it to significant calendar units such as the fiscal year.
Pay Attention To The Words by Stephen Boyd | February 17, 2010 One of the most famous lines in U. S. history was delivered by Franklin Roosevelt in his Declaration of War speech the day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He began the speech with, "This is a date that will live in infamy." The line originally read, "a day which will live in world history." Roosevelt crossed out "world history" and replaced it with "infamy." The changed word made all the difference in making it memorable. Don't use words carelessly. I admire the wordsmith who can find just the right word to express an idea. Last summer on an Empire Builder rail vacation across country, I asked the server how long he had been a waiter on the train and his response was, "25 yearsa summer job run amuck." What a great word"amuck." When someone asked a sales person why an item was so expensive, the woman replied, "Let me explain the value of this product to you." Rita Rudner, tongue in cheek, said, "The word aerobics came about when the gym teachers got together and said, If we're going to charge $10 [probably $35 today] an hour, we can't call it "jumping up and down.'"" Pay attention to the words you speak. Think about words before you speak them. Is there a better way of saying this? Listen to words others use that explain an idea better than you could have. Are these words I can use in my speaking and writing vocabulary? Subscribe to Merriam-Websters online Word of the Day. ne word recently was "spurious," a word I had not often heard, but a clever way to say an action is not genuine. Even if you find the word that day is not of value to you, this discipline will remind you to focus on the words you use. Four years ago a movie was made that lasted only briefly in major theatres. But the title may have been one of the best titles for a movie because in four words you got the essence of the entire movie: "Snakes on a Plane." Of course that title told me that this was a movie I did not want to see! As Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." Hand Gestures by Speaking Tips | December 15, 2003 Experts tell us body language accounts for between 55% and 65% of our communication. Just what is body language? It is carriage, facial expressions, eye contact and gestures. All go into establishing your presence and making a connection with the audience. Gestures can be made with your hands, arms, shoulder, torso, legs, feet or a combination of these but hand gestures are probably the most common. When you are preparing a speech, what proportion of time and effort do you give to the movement and cadence of your hands? If you are like most people, the answer is not much. Yet appropriate use of your hands canb result in a marked increase in the understanding and retention of your message. Correctly used, hand gestures can help you say more in less time, show what you mean without having to resort to visuals, signal your conviction and confidence and add texture and dimension to your material and ideas. Avoid holding your notes in your hands since this effectively immobilizes them. If you are nervous about your about your presentation, stands with your hands relaxed at your sides. Stage fright closes down normal muscle coordination. Avoid making the audience nervous with gestures that reveal anxiety such as gripping the lectern, clenching your hands together, clutching an object, fiddling with clothing or accessories or touching a body part (pulling ear, wiping brow, rubbing chin). Once you have learned to relax in front of an audience, hand gestures can be used to emphasize the stucture of your presentation. This represents the best use of hand gestures and you should avoid using gestures as decorations. Begin by using your hands to illustrate your enthusiasm for being there. You can accentuate your point of view with a solid, intentional gesture and emphasize main points with deliberate gestures. Use your hands to indicate a new topic or transition with a forward or open gesture. Finally, signal the ending with a gesture indicating closure or departure. You can also use hand gestures to enhance your presentation by using them to respond to audience input with affirmative or encompassing gestures. Introduce humor by contradiction between your gestures and your words. Where appropriate look for opportunites to use your hands to express emotion or attitude, emphasize importance, demonstrate relationship or contrast, show shape, direction or location and signal recognition, acceptance, departure, or approval. Hand Gesture Caveats Lastly, here are several common "gotchas" that you should be aware of. Don't forget to add hand gesture notations to your speech notes Avoid using the same hand gesture over and over in a pumping action Don't animate or mime your entire speech Refrain from copying others, the best gestures are unique to you New gestures feel as strange to your body. Practice them until they are comfortable One-handed gestures are often more effective than both hands mirroring each other Avoid finger and fist gestures that may be insulting to other cultures Gestures are a physical activity, you can not learn to do them by reading Use a mirror to verify that your gestures reinforce your message
Improving Your Speaking Posture by Stephen Boyd | March 31, 2004 Slouching as you speak, moving from one foot to the other, or leaning on the lectern are not ways to engender an audiences confidence in you and your message. You may not be aware of your bad posture, but since you are the focus of the audiences attention, poor and uncertain posture will be obvious to your listeners. There are many aspects of delivering a speech which you as the speaker cannot control, but proper posture is certainly one variable you can control. Begin your speech by standing on the balls of your feet with your feet 7 to 12 inches apart. This will give you balance for the rest of the body and will help you to be erect without looking robotic. Treat the lectern as you would a hot stove. Touch gingerly but dont lean on it as though it were a post. As you introduce a new point, take your hand off the lectern and gesture to show you are changing direction. Or when you are ready to discuss another aspect of the topic, take a step away from the lectern and toward your audience. Purposeful movement of any kind will help insure a natural and confident posture. Avoid shifting the weight of your body as you speak. This can lead to standing on one foot or moving back and forth like a porch swing. Start out using the balls of the feet technique and occasionally take a step to show changes in the direction of your presentation. Consider the mental image of "planting your feet" as you begin to speak. This will help stabilize your posture and keep you from "bouncing" on your feet while speaking. Planting conjures up the idea that you will stay in one place for a while. Having your hands in front of you or at your side when you gesture and not in a pocket or clasped together will also make you have better posture and appear more poised. With good posture you have a promising foundation for showing confidence and being in control of your speaking situation.
Dog People vs Cat People Are there really personality differences? By Stanley Coren | Illustration by Rachel Gordon Email this page 31 I was having coffee with a friend of mine who is a professor of psychology. As we chatted, he brought up the fact that he had broken off his relationship with a woman he had been seeing. Im a dog person and shes a cat person, and they dont mix well, he explained. Were really like the animals that we love. Dogs have families and are grateful for what they get, while cats simply expect to be taken care of and show no evidence of thankfulness and loyalty.
My friends comments seem to reflect a common perception, according to a study conducted at Ball State University. Pet owners were surveyed about their personalities and their pet ownership. In general, the results showed that people believe that their own personalities are similar to those of the pets they keep. Cat owners saw themselves as being more independent while dog owners described themselves as being friendly. Virtually any discussion among pet owners is bound to reveal clearly that there are dog people and there are cat people. In some cases, the depth of feeling for their chosen species can be quite intense. However, according to an Associated Press/Petside.com poll, there are a lot more dog people out there; 74 percent of the test sample like dogs a lot, while only 41 percent like cats a lot. It also seems that some people seem to be quite exclusive in their preferences, liking either dogs or cats and loathing the other species. Cats appear to be much easier to hate: 15 percent of the adults questioned said they disliked cats a lot while the number who said they disliked dogs a lot was only 2 percent. There are sound reasons to suspect that the preference for dogs or cats reflects some underlying human personality differences. Certainly the relationship between cats and humans has always been quite different than the relationship between dogs and people. This reflects the behaviours that both species have kept from their heritage prior to domestication. In the wild, cats are usually solitary hunters and often are active mostly at night. Juliet Clutton-Brock of the Natural History Museum in London calls the cat an exploited captive rather than a domesticated animal. Cats are the least tame of our household pets but are surprisingly successful for a species that retains so much of its wildness. In contrast, wild canines are usually sociable pack animals that work in groups and are active between dawn and dusk. Our domestic dogs retain this need for social interaction to the degree that without a master and a family, a dog seems unhappyalmost lost.
Dogs will intrude on a persons ongoing activities if they are feeling lonely and want some company or play. Cats, on the other hand, are often invisible during the day, seeming only to appear in the evening, especially if that is when they are fed. Cats will occasionally engage in social activities or play with people, but their interest is limited. Usually, after only a few minutes, cats will abandon the game and wander away. Dogs on the other hand, will often engage in play, like fetching a thrown ball, for hours at a time, and it is usually the human that quits the game first.
Recently, Sam Gosling, a psychologist at the University of Texas in Austin and his graduate student, Carson Sandy, conducted a web-based study in which 4,565 individuals were asked whether they were dog people, cat people, neither, or both. The same group was given a 44-item assessment that measured them on the so-called Big Five personality dimensions psychologists often use to study personalities. Just on the basis of the nature of dogs being more sociable than cats, one might expect that the personalities of dog lovers would also reflect higher sociability. The results showed that dog people were generally about 15 percent more extroverted and 13 percent more agreeable, both of which dimensions are associated with social orientation. In addition, dog people were 11 percent more conscientious than cat people. Conscientiousness is a tendency to show self-discipline, to complete tasks, and aim for achievement. The trait shows a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behavior. In comparison, cat people were generally about 12 percent more neurotic; however, they were also 11 percent more open than dog people. The openness trait involves a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. People high on openness are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs while people with low scores on openness (dog people) tend to have more conventional, traditional interests. Goslings recent study seems to confirm the findings of research that I did for my book Why We Love The Dogs We Do (Free Press; 1998). I used a different personality measure, namely the Interpersonal Adjective Scale, because I was mainly interested in items reflecting social interactions and social tendencies. It gives scores on four scales; extroversion, dominance, trust, and warmth (which is close to agreeableness on Goslings measure). My study involved 6,149 people, aged 16 to 94. I attempted to get as many dog owners as I could, so this group included 3,362 dog owners, but also, 1,223 people who only owned cats and 1,564 people that owned neither a cat nor a dog. My results showed that people who owned only cats seemed to be somewhat different than dog owners or people who owned both dogs and cats in terms of their personalities. People who own both dogs and cats seem to be much like people who own only dogs. You should keep this in mind, since from here on, at least for the purposes of this discussion, when I mention a cat owner I mean someone who lives only with a cat, while, when I mention dog owners, I mean a person who owns a dog or both a dog and a cat. According to my data, cat owners were one third more likely to live alone than dog owners and twice as likely to live in an apartment or flat. Being married, living in a house, and having children living in the home, are all factors that are more likely for dog owners than cat owners. A single woman was the most likely individual to have a cat. Of the people who grew up in a house with cats as pets, 47 percent were likely to have cats today, while only 11 percent of people whose childhood years were spent in a house with a dog have only a cat as a pet. Turning to the personality profile of the person who owns only cats, we find a reasonable overlap with Goslings recent findings. To begin with, we find that people who own only cats tend to be relatively introverted (low on extroversion) and also reasonably cool (low in warmth or agreeableness) which is the pattern confirmed by Goslings more recent data. Looking at the other two measures, we find that cat owners are relatively low in dominance. People who are high on dominance are generally described as being forceful, assertive, persistent, selfassured, and self- confident. They are the people who stand out in social gatherings as opposed to people who are low in dominance that come across as being more timid, bashful, shy, and unaggressive. The final dimension that I looked at was trust, and cat owners appear to be fairly trusting. People high on this dimension are often described as obliging, modest, straightforward, and good sports. People low on this dimension can be more suspicious and manipulative. The general pattern that comes out of both studies is that dog owners are more social, interactive and accepting. One dog persons explanation of this was: You have to have a good sense of humor to successfully own dogs. Contrast this to cat owners (remember this is people who prefer cats exclusively) who are more introverted, self-contained, and interact less socially. A psychologist who is also a dog owner suggested, Maybe the reason that cat people tend to be more introverted and seem to prefer to be indoors is because they cant walk their cat. Perhaps one of the most telling differences between dog and cat owners is illustrated in a single comparison. I asked people who own only cats, If you had adequate living space and there were no objections from other people in your life, and someone gave you a puppy as a gift, would you keep it? More than two thirds of the cat owners (68 percent) said that they would not accept a dog as a pet, while almost the same number of dog owners (70 percent), said that they would admit the cat into their household when asked the same question but about a kitten. This suggests that most people who own only a dog are potentially dog and cat owners, while most people who own only a cat are exclusively cat owners. My friend sipped on his cup of coffee and continued to muse about the differences between dog people and cat people, and perhaps about his recently ended relationship. You know there is some research data that suggests that more cat people than dog people are atheists. You couldnt tell this based on my experience, which is that cat people seem to worship their felines like the ancient Egyptians worshiped their pharaohsas gods. We dog lovers just talk to our hounds like people. - See more at: http://moderndogmagazine.com/articles/dog-people-vs-cat- people/10716#sthash.vJeHUvNb.dpuf