Fast Results through Powerful Communication
There are endless tips out there to help you give a successful speech so I thought I’d take a different approach with this article. Instead of giving you tips that may or may not help you give a great speech, I figured I’d point out ten things to avoid – each of which would almost guarantee that your speech is failure.
1: Don’t practice:
Not everyone has the luxury of time when they’re asked to give a speech. Perhaps they’re working on an important project at work and then asked to make a presentation to “sell” it to other parts of the company. Or maybe they are a business owner and get to spotlight something exciting about their business to the local community. Whatever the case, we often lack the time for taking a class, joining Toastmasters or finding a speaking coach. So what can you do?
Write it out:
A couple weeks back I pointed out some excellent websites by people who I feel really know their stuff about speaking. These folks are not only speakers that speak about speaking (I know, that sounds confusing) but their material is good — in other words, if you follow their advice you’ll become a better speaker.
There’s another site I wanted to share with you by someone who knows a lot about things that can go wrong during a talk. Lee Potts writes a blog called “Breaking Murphy’s Law” where he shares advice, tips and stories to help presenters avoid making those critical mistakes. I first “met” Lee back when I hosted a blog carnival; he was the first one to submit a post for the first carnival I did. He’s got a lot of great information on his site, so check it out.
The answer is an absolute “Yes.” I’ve been to far too many networking events where job seekers have attended unprepared. Yes it’s good to bring a stack of resumes with you (and even better to keep them in your car and/or have one handy at all times) but having business cards are especially helpful.
Why Business Cards:
Business cards are small, easy to carry and most people in the business world are used to dealing with them. Some people have Business Card Scanner
that can scan them into their contact management system. Others have a filing system for them.
I’ll never forget that night. It was several years back and I was sitting in a hotel lobby preparing for a talk I was about to give. I opted to skip dinner that particular evening because the nervousness set in and my stomach wasn’t up to any food at all. It was my first event after taking over a year off from speaking, so I was a bit anxious, even though I was prepared. While I sat there in that busy lobby, my mind started to wander and those doubtful questions started to rear their ugly heads: Why am I doing this? Why subject myself to all this pressure?
