Another Yogi-ism ... So, So True for Speakers

Half this game is ninety percent mental.

- Yogi Berra

Beware of the Written Word!

So, let me guess what you’ve been doing when you prepare to speak: You crack open your laptop, create a new Word document, and you begin writing a magnum opus. You choose every word carefully, spending quite a bit of time creating pages of brilliant, gorgeous prose that will become your talk. Am I close? Probably. Is there a problem with that? Typically, yes.

All too often, what writes and reads as perfection to your eyes isn’t equally speakable as perfection for your mouth. All too often, well-written talks will sound like what they are … essays. And all too often, you, the speaker, will find yourself so committed to your beautiful words, sentences and paragraphs that you either 1) read from the paper, eyes down, and lose connection with your audience; or 2) you try to balance reading with audience connection and you end up flustered because you lose your place or leave something out when you look up.

What to do then when you prepare to speak? Crack open that laptop, but talk while you type. Test yourself by reading out loud what you wrote to make sure the sentences are deliverable versus just readable. Hint: if they’re deliverable, they’re usually short and crisp, without a lot of clauses and punctuation. Try bullet points, and trust yourself to fill in around those well-chosen points while you’re speaking.

However, if you are someone who absolutely has to have a full-text speech in front of them, then make sure you give yourself a hall pass if you end up deviating from your beautiful script; you are unlikely to deliver exactly what you wrote. Even folks with bullet points deviate. Deviating is okay, because it’s usually a sign that you are staying present with your audience. And the audience is, after all, what it’s all about!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

The best way to navigate around a tricky audience or tricky situation is to ask questions. For example …

Feeling awkward in one of those networking meetings or events? Ask questions.

Looking to fill the awkward silence on the elevator with the big boss? Ask questions.

Not sure who’s in charge of the meeting and what the expectations are? Ask questions.

Delivering a talk and not sure you’re connecting with the group? Ask questions.

Suffering with incredible nervousness at the start of a speech? Ask questions.

If it’s an audience of one or one hundred, you can and should ask questions. The larger the group, the more daunting it seems, but it’s actually not daunting at all. It’s doable and it’s really quite endearing to an audience. Try it!

You Have Them at Hello

Audiences typically pay attention to and retain what a speaker says at the beginning and at the end of a talk. If you do it right, you have them at hello! The opening and closing count for a lot, so work it …

In the opening, you have the opportunity to condition or prepare your audience for what’s coming; you have a chance to grab their attention and set a filter in their brains for what you will be covering and how you hope they'll receive it. Use that opportunity. Tell them exactly what you want them to pay attention to and why.

In the closing, you have a chance to reinforce, leave a lasting (positive!) impression, and even offer up a call to action. The closing is arguably even more memorable than the opening simply because it’s at the end. Don’t squander that chance either … and don’t, whatever you do, ask “Any questions?” for your closing (see last week’s blog post!).

The middle – the body of your talk, probably where the meat is – is where your audiences drift, space out, lose focus, check their mental to-do lists. Sad and kind of ironic, because that’s where your topic is covered, the very topic you were invited to address!

You will have them at hello and be more likely to hold their attention in the middle if you give some thought to bookending your talk with a powerful, here-it-is-in-a-nutshell opening and a nice clean finish of a closing that sums it all up so your audience doesn’t have to do all that mental work on their own.

So, here's my advice ... if you have no time to prepare, use your few seconds or minutes to decide how you’re going to open and close, and then wing the middle (ugh, did I just say that?)!