Tag Archives: public speaking tips and tricks

What We can learn from politicians about winning business

Every 4 years, I dust off and update my special presentation, Pennsylvania Ave. to Wall St.: The Best Communicator & Connector Wins (or Main St. or Silicon Valley, etc. – clients’ choice). I do it to show corporate audiences how the candidates for president use persuasion techniques to win votes and how business people can use the same techniques to win business.

So I’ve been absolutely fascinated by the reaction to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent speech on the House floor. Now, to appreciate and learn from the techniques she used, you have to leave your politics at the door.

Ok?

Ok, here they are…

First, it was under 10 minutes. She was given an hour. That’s one way to exceed expectations – to be given significant time to speak, then making it much shorter. Also it is hard to be short and succinct, while staying compelling – it’s much easier to speak for longer. When I did my TEDx earlier this year, I had 12 minutes. It took me a long time and a lot of work to get it right. So start thinking about how you can keep remarks short as well as engaging.

Second, it was very personal. She let us in a bit by telling us some things about herself, such as having had past jobs as a waiter and bartender. She told us a little about her parents and their expectations of her. These personal stories enable us to connect with her. She is now a member of Congress. So it’s aspirational, gives us hope that if she can do it, we can do it. Sharing some of your struggles is an excellent way to develop followership. No one lives a perfect life.

Third, this was a fairly formal speech and so she was able to utilize some fairly formal rhetorical techniques including repetition of a word or phrase to emphasize an idea and add rhythm to a speech. There are technical names for these techniques and have been famously used by Martin Luther King in his I Have a Dream speech and by Winston Churchill in his We Shall Fight speech. Not surprisingly, AOC used this technique more loosely. which is fitting for her, but it was just as effective.

Finally, her delivery – it was calm and deliberate. Her rate of speech was about 130 words per minute, which is good, moderate rate, giving people time to digest what she was saying. She used notes, which I always advise, and referred to them when she needed to, taking her time while glancing down, not using uhs and ums or other filler to fill the silence during those transitions. Instead, she was quiet. This  demonstrated a level of control and projected confidence.

These are just a few of the things AOC did that made for a successful speech – whether you agree with her or not. That isn’t my point. Here’s what is: Her ability to communicate has clearly opened doors for her, gotten people to pay attention. I guarantee if you get better at this it will do the same for you.

Invest in this Superpower, Empathy, for Big Payoff

Last month, I spent some time with a client and her fiancé, who is very big in the world of the mind and mental improvement. Upon being introduced, he posed the following question: “What’s your superpower?”  Without missing a beat, I said, “Empathy.”

Normally, I get tongue-tied with questions like this. Maybe it’s because of the framing, but this felt very clear.

I started thinking about why empathy could be considered a superpower or, in my own mind, a strength, and began to flesh it out. What I realized is that without this ability, we are too often left in the dust when pursuing our interests and building our businesses and careers.

For a long time, I thought of empathy as a quality whereby someone was able to put him or herself into another’s shoes and imagine what they might be feeling. Usually applied in cases of painful feelings, the empathizer would subsequently offer a solution that could work. The problem was the solution was something that would work for the offerer, NOT the “offeree.”

Soon, I realized the trick with empathy was not offering a solution that would work for you, but what might work for the person in need of your support. This is a lot more difficult to accomplish because it takes a lot more thought and a significantly bigger investment of time and emotion. Done right, however, the payoff can be enormous.

Here’s why:

When you offer a solution that doesn’t fit the person who needs to embrace it, the problem doesn’t get fixed. It festers and worse, it gets repeated, which ultimately takes up more time and energy than if it had been done correctly in the first place. If time is money, then making it work the first time by investing more completely, there is big upside potential:

1. Work gets done.

2. People are more cheerful. thus able to pay it forward and help others.

3. Not as much complaining and whining, and related negativity.

There are three things to keep in mind when deploying your empathy:

1. Some people (like me) are actually less empathetic when facing people with problems they’ve dealt with. This seems counterintuitive, but it goes right back to being about them, not you. So watch that.

2. There are people who’ll take advantage. Being empathetic doesn’t mean being a doormat. Watch that, too.

3. Empathy should not be reserved for difficult or painful things. It should be equally deployed for joyful things, too.

I would love to know your empathy stories.

How to Use A Speaker Introduction

I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of speaking lately. It’s been a big part of my marketing plan this year and, as you may know, I love it for a lot of reasons.

Each time I am asked to speak, I provide a written speaker introduction. And each time the designated introducer receives it, without fail, they say something like, “I’m not going to read it – I’m just going to say a few words.” Translation: “I want to do it my way.”

Umm. no. It’s not about you.

Truthfully, I used to acquiesce because I don’t like making waves and it always seems to occur right before I’m about to step onto the stage. This is because, more often than not, the introducer hasn’t given little if any thought to this until just before.

So I thought it would be helpful to explain why it’s important  and how to use the speaker introduction that he or she provides, and yes, even if it sucks.

As a speaker, I manage my brand quite carefully. I’ve worked long and hard to get where I am. My bio on my website is much too long for someone to read aloud and in any event, it’s written for the eye vs. the ear. Furthermore, no one knows my accomplishments better than I do, nor can they pick and choose the ones most likely to establish credibility with a specific audience. A well-written speaker introduction sets this all up by preparing the audience for what’s to come, confirming expectations, and reassuring them their time will be well-spent.

Unfortunately, not everyone can write a good speaker introduction, so what do you do if the speaker provides an intro that is so poorly executed you might even be embarrassed to read it?

First, don’t wait until the last minute to either ask for it or review it. Just like you have to say your presentation out loud, you have to read the speaker introduction out loud to feel and hear how it exits your mouth. Any awkward wording or incorrect grammar can be changed without the speaker’s permission. If it truly sucks, you should alert the speaker and ask them to revise and resend. If it still sucks, you’re stuck and that’s on them. They will learn, trust me.

Second, read it with enthusiasm. Do not use the corporate monotone or other affects that lack variety. As the introducer, it’s your job to talk up the speaker and get your audience excited to hear him or her.

Finally, if you know the person personally, it’s ok to first say a few things about your personal relationship and then segue into the official speaker introduction by saying something like, “And now, I’m going to give you Ruth’s official introduction.”

It took me some time to create a speaker introduction that hit all the marks, was easy to read, easy to listen to, and that I could use for years (with frequent tweaks), so let me share the qualities a good one should have:

  • 100 words or less
  • Highlights of speaker’s career, especially the ones that apply to a given audience (no law says you cannot have different intros for different audiences)
  • Something fun or funny
  • 14-16 point Arial font, double-spaced for easy reading

If you would like to see my current speaker introduction, email us.