the top ten ways giving motivational speeches is like raising children
Topics: being a speakerIntroduction
I love being a motivational speaker.
I also happen find it incredibly stressful. I don’t sleep well the night before. I worry about whether I’ve prepared enough. My palms get sweaty.
The other day my friend Brad observed that it is interesting how something I love so much could also cause me such stress. I agreed that yes, that was what you might call a paradox.
But then I got to thinking and noticed a common parallel: Children.
I don’t yet have children of my own (to my mother’s great dismay), nor do I intend to anytime soon (to my mother’s even greater dismay), but from my observation, most children are to their parents both an object of nearly infinite love and a source of equally infinite stress.
Like how I feel about speaking.
Here are some more similarities.
the top ten ways giving motivational speeches is like raising children
10. You are always sharing life lessons and advice, but you can never tell if you’re getting through to them.
9. Occasionally you have to raise your voice for dramatic effect.
8. You are looked up to. Often too much.
7. It would be nearly impossible without coffee.
6. The first time you do it, it’s really scary and you feel totally inadequate.
5. You have to be fully present. They can always tell if your mind is somewhere else.
4. A big part of the job is coordinating rides and transportation.
3. In the early days, you rely mostly on formula. (Get it? Like baby formula?)
2. The goal is to better the world, to leave a legacy.
1. Some of them turn out better than others, and you never quite know why.
public speaking tips: how to speak to a smaller audience
Topics: being a speakerLast week I gave a keynote speech at Lead21, a conference of about fifty attendees. It got me thinking about the modifications you have to make in your presentation style if you’re speaking to a smaller audience:
1. More interaction
The smaller the audience, the more your speech needs to feel like a normal conversation. In a normal conversation, it would be annoying if someone talked to you for forty-five minutes straight without you saying a single word, right?
Of course it would. (In fact, this is one of the primary reasons I don’t want a girlfriend.) So when you are in front of a smaller group, you need to include frequent audience interaction.
(For more on this subject, read my post about audience interaction.)
2. Less intensity
In front of a smaller crowd, my normal jumping-around, waving-my-arms, kind-of-yelling-but-not-in-an-angry way style can be a bit overwhelming. So with an audience of this size, I start off at a lower energy level (not low, just lower), and then gradually turn up the intensity to full motivational speaker mode over the course of the presentation.
It’s like that thing about boiling a frog. If you throw a frog in boiling water, it will jump out. But if you put it in tepid water and slowly turn up the heat, the frog will just sit there and eventually, well, croak. (This metaphor breaks down on multiple levels, most notably in the implication that my objective is to boil the audience alive, which is rarely the case.)
3. More eye contact
Speaking of near death experiences, when you give a keynote speech at a large convention, all you can see is an incredibly bright spotlight shining in your eyes. A conference of just fifty people, though, tends not to be a large production with those sorts of stage lights, so not only can you see everyone in the room, you can feasibly make eye contact with each individual audience member several times during your presentation.
Eye contact is powerful. It gives audience members direct access to the emotion behind your words. When you’re in front of a small audience, it’s one of your biggest assets.
Testimonial
Now for some self-promotion.
Here’s what Jennifer Carter, Lead21’s meeting planner, had to say about my keynote speech:
public speaking tips: how to interact with the audience
Topics: being a speakerHere are some ways I interact with the audience during a typical motivational speech. You can use them in any presentation, whether it’s a sales call, a boardroom presentation, or a family meeting:
- Hand surveys. ”By a show of hands, how many of you have ever raised your hand in response to a question like this?”
- Brief conversations with individual audience members. “Sir, I saw you raised both hands just now. Are you an aspiring football referee or are you just ambidextrous?”
- Shotgun answers. “Here’s a question for everyone. What are a few examples of onomatopoeia? Just call them out.”
- Fill-in-the-blank. “I certainly don’t want this speech to bore you. After all, an idle mind is the devil’s what?”
- Ask for volunteers. “I need to take this call. Could I get a volunteer to come up on stage and give the rest of my speech?”
“Single Shoes” song
Topics: amputees, my lifePlease always ask what I do with my extra shoes.
I’ve always just put them in a box.
Until now.
