21 Questions: Is This The Year You Communicate Effectively?

Andrew Dlugan — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:30:56 +0000

Is this the year you become a more effective speaker?

Is this the year you conquer your fear?

Is this the year you customize every presentation for the audience who will receive it?

Is this the year you worry less about ums and ahs, and worry more about connecting with the audience?

Is this the year you realize its not the quantity of information conveyed, but the quality of how you convey it?

Is this the year you eliminate the phrase “I don’t need to rehearse”?

Is this the year you stop driving people to tap on their Blackberry and iPhone during your speech?

Is this the year you stop letting poor communication skills stand between you and the career that you want?

Is this the year you solicit honest feedback after every presentation?

Is this the year you act on the feedback received?

Is this the year you not only read and talk about Presentation Zen and Slide:ology, but actually put the lessons into practice?

Is this the year you stop putting people to sleep?

Is this the year you study storytelling techniques?

Is this the year you stop allowing your colleagues to commit communication suicide and give them honest feedback?

Is this the year you realize that a lengthy Q&A session is not “stealing time” away from your presentation?

Is this the year you stop using PowerPoint as a crutch?

Is this the year you realize that eye contact and gestures mean nothing if you don’t have a clear message?

Is this the year you find your voice?

Is this the year you use it to communicate whatever message resonates in your heart?

Is this the year you lose your ego and have a conversation?

Is this the year?

This is the conversation I’m having in front of a mirror on January 1st.

What conversation will you have?

This may help: 5 Habits to Achieve your Public Speaking New Year’s Resolution

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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Author of this article: Andrew Dlugan
Category: Speaker Habits
Article tags: career, lists, public speaking resolutions
© Six Minutes, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments so far

5 Habits to Achieve your Public Speaking New Year’s Resolution

Andrew Dlugan — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 06:27:03 +0000

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if simply making a New Year’s resolution guaranteed success?

Lose weight. Pay off debt. Quit smoking.

Easy, right? No, not really.

Most resolutions fail because they are wishes, not goals. Often, the best way to achieve a long-term goal is to focus on the supporting habits. For example:

Resolution	Supporting Habits
Lose weight	improve nutrition, drink water, exercise regularly, get consistent sleep
Pay off debt	use cash instead of credit, supplement your income, “pay yourself first”
Quit smoking	use “the patch”, chew gum, reduce stress, find a buddy

By focusing on the supporting habits (and keeping the end goal in mind, of course), we put ourselves in an excellent position to succeed. The same strategy applies to all other New Year’s resolutions, including another popular one: becoming a better public speaker.

Becoming a better speaker is not going to happen quickly and it is not going to happen without dedication and hard work. Nobody can master the 25 skills every public speaker should have after just one speech. To put yourself in the best position to succeed, develop the public speaking habits which give you the best chance of success.

For general advice, check out 14 Tips For Resolutions That Stick in the New Year. For your public speaking resolutions, these five habits will bring you to your goal:

Habit #1: Join Toastmasters.

The cost is minimal, and is one of the best ways to invest in yourself. If you are not already a member of the world’s leading communication and leadership organization, then look up a club in your area and join today. Toastmasters provides a supportive environment in which you will conquer your public speaking fears, develop your presentation skills, and become an effective communicator.

As a bonus, sticking to this habit will help you stick to the other four habits on this New Year’s Resolutions list for public speaking.

Habit #2: Practice. Practice. Practice.

Integrate public speaking into your daily and weekly routines. Toastmasters is once a week, but speaking more often is better. Actively seek opportunities to speak. Chair a meeting. Conduct a seminar. Teach a course. Emcee an event. Speak up at your next volunteer organization meeting. Introduce another speaker. Whether you speak for 30 seconds or 30 minutes, consistent practice will grow your skills over time.

Habit #3: Study great speakers.

Seriously. Study them. Learn from the video critiques on this blog. Watch the many excellent TED presenters. Search YouTube. Take notes the next time you are listening to a speaker. Emulate their strengths. Avoid their mistakes.

Habit #4: Study yourself too.

Many people shy away from recording themselves while speaking, but there is no better form of feedback. You can use a digital voice recorder or a video camera (or a camera phone, or …). Watch and listen with an objective view.

Seek out feedback from others to help recognize your strengths and weaknesses, which leads me to the fifth supporting habit…

Habit #5: Find/Hire a public speaking coach/mentor/buddy.

Build a relationship with a public speaker who you admire. Ask them for advice. Find someone else who shares your goal, and work together with them to improve your speaking skills. The buddy system works for exercising, it works for quitting smoking, and it works for public speaking too. Make it a regular ritual.

To accelerate your growth, hire a coach! Hire me. Hire Lisa Braithwaite. Hire Joan Curtis. Hire Rich Hopkins. Hire one of thousands of speech coaches to help you achieve your goal of becoming a great presenter. Hiring a coach won’t eliminate the need for hard work, but one-on-one coaching is an excellent way to elevate your skills and discover your unique voice.

Let 2008 be the year that you become a great public speaker, a skill which helps you achieve your other resolutions too.

Six Minutes » public speaking resolutions