CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – AUGUST 16, 2021
Public Speaking Tips
Create a Clear and Specific Title or Topic
If you create a vague or general title, you will have a vague and general (hard to deliver) speech. Get specific and focused. For instance, instead of talking about “Last Year Financials,” talk about how “Cost-Saving Measures and Increased Sales Led to Higher Profit.” Remember in High School when you had to give book reports? It is tiresome to hear 32 versions of “Book Report about Julius Cesar,” but “Julius Cesar is a Metaphor for High School Peer Pressure” is much more enjoyable.
Limit Your Support to a Few Most Important Points
Once you have a great topic, prove that your point or conclusion is valid by using just three, four, or five essential support items. Spend more time showing your few points versus adding more and more and more additional points. Your audience will only remember a few things that you cover, so make sure they are the most critical points. If you have trouble determining what points to use or narrowing down to just a few points, go back to tip number one and adjust your topic.
Add Stories
Stories are easy to remember and easy to deliver to an audience, so your nervousness will drop as you relay stories to your audience. Examples also help you prove your bullet points in a way that makes it easy for the audience to remember.
Use Stories as Facts and Figures
Most presenters like to create a long list of bullet points with facts and figures. Instead, give your audience the story behind the number. For instance, (1) revenue increased 10% (2) closing ratios went up 3% (3) advertising costs decreased 15%, and (4) profit went up 15% is quickly forgotten and will take up a whole PowerPoint slide.
However, “At the beginning of the last quarter, we changed our advertising strategy and focused more on repeat business from current clients versus spending money to attract new clients. We stopped sending mailers to the mailing list that we used in the past, and we sent multiple mailers to past customers instead. We were able to cut the mailing cost by 15%. The sales team had fewer leads and were able to spend more time developing repeat business. This allowed them to increase their closing ratios by 3% and total revenue by 10%. Since the cost was down as well, the combination of increased revenue and decreased advertising cost let to a 15% increase in profit.” Much easier to remember, much more comfortable to deliver, and no bullet points needed.