chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Tune Up Your Personal Message

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

tonilamb — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:28:42 -0000

I can definately relate to your post. I've been learning Internet marketing for about a year now and I'll have to say that one of my most challenging lessons, is how I conduct myself online. I worry about what I say, if I'm using the right words, am I offending anyone, and last but not least, do I know enough about a subject to jump in a conversation on a social media site. If I've learned anything about Internet marketing is this: Your online presence is a big part of Internet marketing and this is one step that should never be labeled as not important! It's quite the opposite.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Brian Dodd — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:01:37 -0000

Having been a successful private speaker for 40 plus years, I joined Toastmaster.

There they teach you to speech from the heart and include personal stories; know your audience; speak at an 8th grade level; use good body language; vocal variety; and have a good opening, body, and conclusion.

A few observations I have are:

If you speak to much about yourself ... it sound Me Me Me.

Speaking at a grade 8 level, restricts talking more descriptively.

At times I like to step outside the box and talk about complicated subjects, to give the audience a challenge and get them thinking outside the box to. I may lose some of the audience, but I usually succeed in get the remained stimulated, whether they agree with me or not.

The part about knowing your audience, I feel by carefully choosing the title of your speech, you immediately set their expectations.

Of course, if I am talking to a group of middle school kids, or a group of senior citizens, I adjust my subject.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

LaTosha Johnson — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:59:28 -0000

Great post! Speakers sometimes are so focused on getting their point across they neglect to put themselves in the shoes of the audience. Thanks for sharing these excellent tips.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Lillian Koziol — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:13:49 -0000

Thanks, Chris. I really enjoyed this article. Everything you said rang true!

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

ML Vanessa — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:46:45 -0000

You never stop learning how to make your presentation of yourself better, and tweaking what doesn't work. It's also a costly mistake to assume that the same technique will work at every show or presentation. It's great to know your audience. I too agree that you should not treat your listeners as incompetent people but as knowledgeable individuals looking to further their understanding from you.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Renee A Hamilton — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:49:21 -0000

Chris, thanks for this post. I will be embarking on my first speaking engagement with 3 more closely following. I have been in the entertainment industry so am no stranger to speaking however I am a newbie in the social media space.

It's encouraging to see you still question and learn with each (incredible) session you lead. I'm hoping my past in stand-up comedy will make up for the holes in my tech know how!

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Sunday — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:18:26 -0000

Great post! I especially like the piece about being humble and understanding that you're audience is a lot smarter than you think.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Ellen Reddick — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:51:47 -0000

Thank you Chris, this is very important inforamtion for people today.
I coach and teach business etiquette and this article is perfect to pass along.
May I share with clients?

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Lucretia M Pruitt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:18:35 -0000

I always love your speaking posts Chris - there's always something I take away from them. Thanks - and yeah, every one of those people is amazing too. The coolest thing about speaking at any conference for me is that I also get to go listen to everyone else. You included! :)

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Jamie Favreau — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:57:22 -0000

You went back to the slides.

My question is do you have a concrete speech planned out and is it useful to have one? I have only really spoke publicly twice other then in college when I had too. I always just used the slides.

Is this what they teach you at something like ToastMasters? Just wondering.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Elizabeth — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:57:26 -0000

Another problem presenters face is audience participation--that is, if you want it. If you want do want it, a big part of presenting is asking the right questions at the right time. The art of asking questions crosses over into so many areas of work and life that it is one we should all improve on and try incorporating more into our presentations. Audience participation is definitely one way to keep them awake during your presentation!

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Karl Craig-West — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:25:16 -0000

An awesome post Chris.
This is becoming an increasingly difficult world to present in, especially when there are so many different media to have to navigate.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Mark — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:00:52 -0000

Chris, you wet my appetite for experiencing how dynamic and amazing the speakers you reference can be. When I followed a couple of links it was to a blog of the written word. Would have been better to link to a video that showcased the reasons for your admiration.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

shorespeak — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:45:11 -0000

Good points. For more comprehensive information about the art and science of speaking, folks should investigate National Speakers Association www.nsaspeaker.com. It is the association for professional speakers.
Rob
@shorespeak

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

businessethos — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:58:11 -0000

Chris,

You represent what we need more of...humble, giving professionals who yearn to learn. I love reading your blog posts--they are so down to earth, yet so insightful. Keeps me amped about learning and sharing what I know about the social web.

Public Speaking is an art--and each speaker is an artist. Critics hover around art...keep creating sound content...and your mindshare keep on growing.

Best,

Coretta Jackson, MBA
@businessethos
@corettajackson

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Katie — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:52:51 -0000

One of the best suggestions I've received (from another great public speaker like yourself - Ed Schipul - www.twitter.com/eschipul) is to connect with the audience before your presentation if possible. By asking what they want to get out of it, knowing some audience member names and already having some rapport with even just a couple of attendees, you're starting out your presentation with a much stronger and more personal audience focus.

The stressful side of this is sometimes you learn literally moments before that audience expectations of your presentation may not match what the coordinators had in mind. So then it's time to think on your feet and stay flexible. This has helped me SO much.

Love your tips!! Humility and shining the spotlight on others goes oh-so-far.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Mark Waterfield — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:37:17 -0000

Besides, the tips or thoughts on speaking - Thank you for the introduction to blogs with very useful info.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

williamarruda — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:19:57 -0000

Although speaking is ranked ahead of death in the list of fears, it is the best way to build your personal brand because it allows you to deliver a full communication. The best public speakers are authentic - they give themselves the permission and the mandate to be themselves - integrating their greatest strengths into their presentations.

If you are creative, inject that into your style and slides, if you are organized, structure your content in a way that impresses your audience, etc. When you are being yourself, you will deliver a great presentation and do a lot for your personal brand.

Thanks for the valuable post, Chris.

Best.
William
www.williamarruda.com

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Lisa Hickey — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:59:56 -0000

Hi Julia, before making any kind of speech or presentation, I always try to discover just what the audience’s knowledge level is. I’ve been known to get an attendee list ahead of time and look up every single person who will be in the room. I spend a bit of time looking at big picture experience levels and backgrounds, but even more helpful is to find out what the people in the audience has been *saying* about the topic at hand. Are people talking about the issues I’m going to be talking about? Are any of them out there asking questions I can answer? This forces me to look at the presentation as I would a *conversation*, instead of as a “here’s what I know, take it or leave it”. With smaller groups, I also try to ask a couple of questions up front that help me gauge their level of expertise, and I adapt what I’m saying accordingly. Finally, there’s a difference between being “insightful” and being “complicated”. No matter how savvy the audience, I try to distill my thinking into “actionable insights”. What can I give my audience that will create better results for them than what they were doing before? In fact, the more knowledgable the audience, the >less< I have to speak about the process that got me to those insights. Hope that helps! Good luck! Lisa

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Deirdre — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:18:05 -0000

Great post. I enjoy speaking and find that your list is very helpful. I also try to involve my audience as much as possible by asking questions and getting them to participate throughout the program. This helps with the sleep factor :) and also gets them to connect with your personality and what you're saying. Thanks for sharing your insight!

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Jean-Paul — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:21:12 -0000

Thanks Chris for sharing personal experience.
Yesterday I was at a conference and during networking time, I understood how important it is to be a good listener.Give to others the importance they deserve and they will give you back what you deserve too.Connect to people, stay natural and honest is the step before trying "deliver the goods" help me get people attention.
Next time, I will forget my namedropping at home :)

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Gina Kay Landis — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:52:35 -0000

I recall that with regard to how one carries oneself: a. being a dancin' fool in my younger days helps with body carriage, b. going to a little bit of modeling school helps with it too, 'specially that "catwalk walk" heh and c. Thanks to my sister, who, painfully shy throughout much of her life, despite being an extrovert personality, told me once - "always - ALWAYS carry your head high." Implicit in her advice: It doesn't matter where someone comes from, what they have or haven't done. Worth is intrinsic - exhibit the confidence that you are worthwhile.

Now, I don't know and don't venture to guess what advice you have received. There's all sorts of advice out there, some good, some bad. You're a smart guy who can winnow out the wheat from the chaff, to quote an old chestnut.

For me, I'm working on the fact that I have felt quite voiceless (nowhere to express vocally what I like, know, feel etc.) for the past few years. Much of my meaningful expression has been in writing. When I have an opportunity to speak at length or for moments at a time, I try to not push ALL of what I like, know, feel out at the same time, becoming breathless. Moderating tone, speed, breath all is important. I study a book on speaking, practice breathing and tone and range by taking singing lessons, teach or speak when I can and am merciless about reviewing how I did and how it could be better, all the while giving myself grace because I am, after all, human.

Also, I'm slowly losing these extra lbs I have accumulated. Exercising helps, even Facercising (via Carole Maggio), and am looking into no Lipo-Lipo self-care by Carole.

We can always look, perform, "be" better.

Being comfortable with ourselves, giving ourselves grace as we become what we envision is important, too.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Lara Dalch — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:15:52 -0000

Thanks for your thoughts on this, Chris. As someone new to blogging, I definitely need to think about some of your points...may have already stumbled a couple of times! But as you said, always learning. Looking forward to spending some time with the links/people you mentioned.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

JordanMercedes — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:27:25 -0000

Thanks Chris for the reminder and examples. Message: show up, connect, be present for and with
the other person. Nice.

Re: Tune Up Your Personal Message

Tyler Hayes — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:56:03 -0000

"It’s easy to sleep at events. Keep us up." Oh god it's soooo true.

Not to mention how it applies to any presentation platform: blogging, microblogging, speeches, interviews, etc. Thanks for "keeping us up" on your blog :)