What business leaders say about
Darren Fleming’s
Presentation Training Programs
Darren ensured that the content and outcomes were what we were after
I recommend anyone needing to provide this line of training to his
workforce to give serious consideration to Darren and his team as they
fulfilled my expectations and made a real difference to our team.
Michael Brown, Manager,
Group Professional Development,
LJ Hooker
Very useful tools and techniques for all public speaking events
The executive teams appreciated your innovative ways to design
and deliver presentations and are looking forward to applying the
techniques they have learned
Regina Sutton
CEO and State Librarian,
State Library of NSW
Darren made me professional and memorable
Like most senior managers/executives, I was employed in my position
based on my technical expertise and experience. For some unknown
reason, everyone expects me to be an exceptional public speaker. But
that is not on my resume! Darren Fleming provided the guidance and
coaching so that my presentation was professional and memorable.
Nic Szuster, CEO
Local Super
We will continue to work with Darren and you should do the same.
Customers of Remunerate are senior people in the largest companies
in Australia. It was critical that our event was executed perfectly, and
that the launch presentation itself was compelling, relevant, and
definitely not boring. We engaged Darren Fleming of Executive
Speaking to help bring that vision to reality, and he delivered.
Philip Evans,
Managing Director,
Evanscorp
I would certainly recommend this course to any similar organisation.
In particular we appreciated the way you modified the content to suit
our particular needs and circumstances.
Brad Tully,
Regional General Manager,
Haymans Electrical & Data Supplies
Possessing this knowledge has given each and every member of the recent
course considerable confidence in public speaking scenarios
Participants of the course were provided with a good amount of
extremely useful techniques as well as knowledge to enable them to
deliver an effective public address at relatively short notice.
Geoff Le Cornu
State Manager Vic/SA/Tas
ALS Environmental
Gino’s confidence has also grown tremendously as when interacting with out
clients and customers
Not only have I, but our whole team has noticed a huge improvement
in Gino’s presentation skills and techniques.
Mark Knox
Director of Sales & Service
L3 Communications
Last month my $ figures where 2nd in the company (we have in excess of 400
Brokers) unbelievable!!!
I have gone from when I met you 5 months ago converting under
50% of the attendees to now over 90% of attendees. I findthis
staggering as I still get a bit nervous up on stage however, I do feel a
lot more in control and more aware of how that fine tuning works,
the proof is in the pudding.
Rory Murphy,
Mortgage Broker,
Loan Market
The Secrets of
Highly Effective
Speakers
Darren Fleming
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
Copyright © 2011. Darren Fleming. All rights reserved.
Author:
Darren Fleming
Title:
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
Contact:
www.executivespeaking.com.au
Publisher:
Darren Fleming
ISBN
978-0-646-56173-8
Copyright Restrictions
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the writer.
Disclaimer
The contents of this book are provided on an ‘as-is’ basis. The Author, Publisher,
any of their agents or associates do not represent or warrant that the information
contained in this book is accurate, complete or up-to-date, that this book is free
of defects or that any defects will be remedied. Further, the Author, Publisher,
Reseller and their agents and associates shall not be responsible or liable for
any damages of any kind whatsoever arising out of, caused by or related to your
use of this book.
Other books by the author
Speak, Motivate & Lead. How Real Leaders inspire others to follow.
Table of contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 7
‘What Do I Do With My Hands?’ ....................................................................... 9
Impromptu Speaking ........................................................................................ 12
Opening ............................................................................................................ 15
‘I’m Not Good Enough’ ...................................................................................... 18
Presenting at a Conference .............................................................................. 21
The Adrenalin Rush........................................................................................... 24
Handling the Q&A Session ................................................................................ 26
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.......................................................................... 29
Mindset for Starting .......................................................................................... 32
Speak to One .................................................................................................... 34
The Close .......................................................................................................... 36
The Conference Session ................................................................................... 38
Beating the Ummms… ..................................................................................... 40
Your Voice ......................................................................................................... 43
About the Author .............................................................................................. 45
6
Introduction
M
any books on presentation skills and public speaking skills
come from a position of fear. They take the approach of
‘curing your fear’ of speaking in public in the same way that a doctor
cures you of an illness. This approach will get you through a speech
or two, but it won’t give you the skills you need to become a great
speaker.
I have never considered the fear of public speaking as something
that needs cureing. Unless there is an underlying psychological
reason that creates a fear of speaking in public, most people simply
feel uncomfortable when speaking.They feel uncomfortable because
they have never been shown what to do, how to do it and when to
do it. As with anything in life, if you don’t know what you are doing,
you’re going to feel the pressure!
This book is designed to explain away the reasons for feeling
uncomfortable at the front of the room. It explains why you feel
uncomfortable and what you can do about it. Many of the common
problems new speakers have about what to do with their hands, or
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
how to handle the feelings of ‘nervousness’ can be easily addressed
and overcome when you know how. This book shows you how.
All great speakers share the same techniques. This book now shares
them with you.
Enjoy.
Darren Fleming
Australia’s Corporate Speech Coach.
8
‘What Do I Do With My
Hands?’
Highly Effective Speakers know that if they take care of the content, their
hands will take care of themselves.
W
hen delivering a presentation, you may wonder what to
do with your hands. Should you keep your hands still at
your side or use them to gesture as you speak? You are not alone
in thinking about the hand problem – many people do. However,
you are signalling discomfort when you fixate on what your hands
are doing during your presentation. In worrying about positioning
your hands, you are focusing on the symptoms of your discomfort
rather than addressing the true cause of this anxiety.
There can be various underlying reasons for why you feel
uncomfortable when presenting to a group. It may be the particular
situation, the quality of the presentation you are delivering, or
the way you feel about yourself. You may not be confident about
your presentation’s strength or accuracy, your ability to deliver the
intended message, or your personal qualifications. Regardless of the
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
specific cause, your discomfort arises from not feeling in control of
the situation. When you feel that you lack control over a situation,
you will search for something that you can control. Often, this can
lead to you looking inward and focusing on what your body is doing.
This introspection can translate to you asking the same question of
yourself: ‘What should I do with my hands?’
Throughout your usual day, your body moves naturally to complement
your words. When you converse in everyday life, you never worry
about what message your hands are conveying, or where you should
place your hands for maximum effect. During phone conversations,
you do not feel awkward or uncomfortable using hand language in
the natural manner, even though the only people who can see your
hands are people who are not involved in the conversation. In your
daily interactions with other people, you feel comfortable because
the situations, the subject, and the people are familiar to you. If
you prepare properly for your presentation, you will feel a similar
familiarity.
If you do start to feel very conscious of your hands and what you
are doing with them, take stock and start looking elsewhere for the
source of your discomfort. Ask the important questions instead. Do
you have the right information? Are you delivering the right message
for this audience? Are you delivering the message in the right way?
Have you completed enough research? Do you feel confident in
the message you are delivering? Adequate preparation is crucial to
taking control and reducing your anxiety, so make sure you know
10
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
your subject matter thoroughly, understand your audience and are
comfortable with the structure of the presentation. When you have
these aspects of presenting sorted, you will move your hands fluidly
and naturally without thinking about it. Then problem of what to
do with your hands while you speak will disappear.
Highly Effective Speakers control and prepare their content, message
and presentation so that controlling their hands comes naturally.
11
Impromptu Speaking
Highly Effective Speakers use what they know to make impromptu speaking
look easy.
H
ow do you handle impromptu speaking situations? If you
are at an industry event, a social function or an important
birthday party, and someone asks you to stand up and say a few
words to honour the occasion, what do you do?
First, don’t panic. This advice may seem rather simplistic; after all,
most people will panic when asked to give an unprepared speech.
Why? A natural reaction is to feel under pressure to deliver an
excellent speech, and, if this fails, to feel that those present have been
disappointed. However, the truth is, you can relax. Your audience
does not expect a great oratory performance; rather, they want you
to get up and speak from the heart.
The second thing to remember is to fall back to what you know and
relate stories that you are familiar with, ones that you have told before.
This is the easiest way to look as if you have prepared in advance. If
you have told the story before, you will remember the content – this
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
is the equivalent of practising. You can retell something that you
have told even just a few times previously. Choose stories that you
have shared in the past with friends, family, or acquaintances. If you
have shared the story before, and had a good reaction, use that story
now.
Third, try to apply some sort of structure to your impromptu speech.
Use a simple structure such as chronological (past, present and
future), comparative (the pros and cons of the subject), or the six
W’s (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How). It’s entirely your
choice as to what structure will be appropriate to your presentation
- just as long as some structure is there. Structures help you to keep
on track with what you intend to say, while making your speech easy
for the audience to follow.
Include an introduction and a conclusion to make your speech flow.
If you introduce your subject in an engaging way, you will have
the audience’s attention from the start. Your introduction could be
something as simple as, ‘When I met Jim, we were only eight years
old’. Follow up with a few stories about your experiences with Jim
over the time that you have known him. You do not need a groundbreaking or long conclusion; say something as simple as, ‘Great
friends are worth keeping’. Encapsulate your message in one or
two sentences at most. Use a short opening and conclusion to give
your speech an organisational structure with which your audience
is familiar.
13
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
When you have some familiar stories and a basic structure to fall
back on, you will have direction for your impromptu speech. This
will enable you to feel in control, more relaxed and ready to deliver
your message in a way that connects with the audience.
Highly Effective Speakers use familiar stories, organised in a basic
structure, to make impromptu speeches look easy.
14
Opening
Highly Effective Speakers grab the audience’s attention from the start of their
presentation.
W
hen faced with creating a presentation, people often worry
about how they are going to get started. After all, the
beginning of a presentation is crucial to gaining the audience’s
attention, so it deserves some consideration. However, many people
don’t progress their presentations until the introduction is complete,
wasting valuable time. They also find themselves trying to force the
body of the presentation to fit their introduction.
So, what is the answer? Put the opening aside until you finish the
main body of your presentation. This way the introduction will
almost write itself. You will also have a solid understanding about
the important points of your presentation and what you will be
speaking about (as opposed to worrying about what you could speak
about). Knowing what you are going to say will make it easier to
open the presentation and lead into your main message.
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
At the start of any presentation, the audience wants to know what’s
in it for them. Build your opening around making your subject
pertinent and crucial to the audience. There are several ways of
doing this. You can create a sense of urgency and relevance about
your message by referring to an article from the day’s newspaper
that relates to what you’re saying. Linking your presentation to
current events demonstrates the immediacy of the message you are
delivering. If you want to establish yourself as an authority on the
subject, make a claim when opening your presentation that you then
support with the rest of your message. Also think about opening a
presentation by using stories, statistics, or questions.
Never begin a presentation by saying, ‘Hi, thank you very much. It’s
great to be here today. I’m going to be speaking at your organisation
today and I am truly blessed by the fact that all you people have
turned up to hear me’. This type of opening is boring and focused
on you rather than the audience. Those present are interested in your
presentation’s meaning to them, not how you feel about speaking.
If you feel compelled to include some salutations and thank your
audience for being there, by all means do so, but don’t make it the
very first thing you say. Begin your presentation and go into the
salutations and acknowledgements later.
For an example of an effective opening, watch TV shows like CSI
and Law & Order. Rather than opening with the credits and list of
actors, they open with a scene that includes a dead body right away.
The show opens halfway through a scene with a couple of people
16
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
talking...they open the door and, bang! - there’s a body on the floor.
Once they have your attention they then go through the necessary
credits before going back to the story. Apply the principle of getting
on with the story straightaway to your presentation.
Highly Effective Speakers construct the bodies of their presentations
before the introduction. They draw the audience’s attention in with
an effective opening.
17
‘I’m Not Good Enough’
Highly Effective Speakers are not perfect.
M
any presenters fear that they are not good enough at
speaking to be standing in front of an audience. When you
are presenting, keep in mind that your audience does not expect to
see Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or Tony Robbins on stage; they are
expecting you. If audience members were expecting someone else,
they would be elsewhere. As long as you deliver your message in an
engaging manner, your audience will excuse a few mistakes and a hint
of nervousness. If you shuffle your notes a bit more than necessary,
or stumble over a few words, or drop your slide ‘clicker’, you will not
lose the audience’s attention or devastate your presentation. Your
audience will be there for you.
Consider your presentation from the audience’s perspective.
Most of those present will be grateful that you, and not they, are
the one presenting. Many will have presented in the past and felt
uncomfortable about it. They have empathy for you, and understand
the stress you may be under.
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
Your audience, like any audience, wants to watch a good performance.
People won’t be there because they are interested in seeing you fail,
and they don’t want to see a boring, terrible presentation where the
presenter freezes on stage. When you go to the circus, it’s not because
you are hoping to see the tightrope walker fall or clowns that will
not make anyone laugh. You go to see the entertainers deliver a fine
performance. If the juggler drops a ball, this does not dampen your
enjoyment of either the circus or the juggler’s performance. Your
audience feels the same way about your presentation. Remember
that your audience wants to see you succeed, and does not expect
perfection.
Once you realise that your audience is forgiving, you can bring more
of yourself to the stage. Branch out and take some calculated risks.
Using the juggler analogy once more, when the juggler drops his
ball, he either picks it up with a flourish or lets it roll away while he
continues on. He never stops juggling to apologise to the audience
or to look ashamed of his mistake. He recovers from his mistake
and continues to perform his act. Models who take a tumble on
the catwalk get back on their feet and continue walking. You can
take the same approach. If something does go awry during your
presentation, you pronounce a word incorrectly, you lose your train
of thought, or something you say seems to fall a little flat with the
audience, recover gracefully and move on. It happens to the best of
speakers.
19
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
Be yourself, do the best presentation that you can, and relax. You are
in control of your presentation and you are good enough to deliver
your message.
Highly Effective Speakers know that their audience is empathetic,
and will forgive minor mistakes.
20
Presenting at a
Conference
Highly Effective Speakers demonstrate their expertise by having the right
material presented in the right way.
W
hen asked to present at a conference, take the opportunity
to show your expertise as an industry leader. Take time to
prepare your presentation so the audience receives your information
the way they need it.
To prepare for a conference presentation, you need three versions
of your presentation; your slides, notes, and paper. This is not a
trebling of your workload; it makes it easier for you to deliver your
message and for your audience to digest it.
The first material to prepare is your paper. This is included on the
USB sticks given to delegates so they can view your message after
the conference. The paper encompasses everything included in your
presentation and then some. It sets out the in-depth knowledge that
you have on the subject, this knowledge usually being the reason
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
why you have been invited to speak. The paper provides the detail
to support your presentation and forms the backbone of the next
version of your presentation – your slides.
Your slides will be what the delegates see when you present. They
are displayed behind you during your presentation and act as visual
stimuli to enhance your message. Prepare your slides as simply as
possible; make them symbolic of the rest of your message. Your
slides are not your script – you have separate notes for that. They
are not an opportunity to continually show your logo – you have a
business card and handouts for that. Do not number your slides as it
causes people to wonder how many slides there are still to come. Use
your slides to emotionally engage your audience. Pictures are great
for this, as is a completely black screen.
Think like the great nature documentary maker David Attenborough
as you construct your slides. His documentaries share a wealth of
information and are instantly recognisable without using bullet
points or logos. The images he uses complement the words that he
says, creating a strong bond with his audience. Use pictures on your
slides instead of bullet points and logos. Your audience will engage
with the pictures and your message.
The last version of your presentation to prepare is your notes. Most
people put these up as bullet points on the screen. Prepare your
notes from your own perspective - display them on your personal
computer screen or write them out by hand. Handwritten notes
22
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
make it easier for you to recall the information you want to speak
about.
Many presenters provide hand-outs to the audience before beginning
to speak, so the audience can follow the presentation. An audience
with notes, however, tends to read ahead, anticipate the subject matter
and may disengage from the presentation. Consider handing out
your notes at the end of your presentation. You need the audience’s
full attention when you speak and this may be a better approach to
get your message across.
Highly Effective Speakers create three versions of their presentation
– the paper, the slides and their notes.
23
The Adrenalin Rush
Highly Effective Speakers embrace nervous energy.
S
peaking in front of a group can be a daunting task. You may feel
your heart start to race, palms become sweaty and your mouth
dry. Many speakers call this nervousness. The Highly Effective
Speaker knows that this is the physiological reaction the body goes
through when it is preparing to perform at its peak.
Top performers, such as Elton John, Pink and Mick Jagger, experience
similar symptoms before they go on stage, despite being in the
entertainment industry for decades. They rely on these feelings as
part of their preparation so much that they say that the day you don’t
get the buzz is the day you need to stop performing. No matter who
you are, how long you have been presenting and how many people
you have presented to, physiological reactions occur to ensure you
are ready to present.
The key to decreasing anxiety is to understand that what you are
calling nervousness is a natural reaction. Your body is preparing you
to perform. The shaky hands and tendency to speak too fast are
symptoms of the adrenaline pumping through your body. Rather
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
than viewing this adrenalin rush critically, consider it a strength that
you can use to improve your performance. When you guide this
energy in a positive manner, it stops being nervousness and becomes
an additional strength that will assist you to be at your best.
You can apply a number of techniques to control nerves. Before
your presentation begins, take a few slow, deep breaths. Taking deep
breaths helps you bring your body back from the peak effects of
the adrenalin. You don’t, however, want to reduce your adrenalin
response entirely; you need to feel some adrenalin to perform at
your best. You just want to take enough edge off your reaction to
regain control of your thoughts and rate of speaking.
Next, decide to enjoy the experience. Changing your attitude to your
presentation will change how your body reacts to the adrenalin. If
you can’t do this, ask yourself if you are the best person to deliver the
presentation. If you’re not, get someone else to do it.
When it’s under control, the adrenaline rush will help you to concentrate
on your presentation. It will give you the energy to perform as you
need to. It will enable you to be the best you can be.
Recognise that your nervousness is a physical response, take deep
breaths to gain control of your nervous energy, and use that energy
to engage your audience and concentrate on your subject. When
you focus on these tactics, you will learn to embrace the nervousness
you feel before presenting.
Highly effective speakers take advantage of their nervous response to
enhance presentations.
25
Handling the Q&A
Session
Highly Effective Speakers set the stage for successful Q&A sessions.
A
t the end of every corporate presentation comes the dreaded
question and answer (Q&A) session. Usually, after a presenter
has finished he or she will write a question mark on the board and
ask, ‘Any questions?’ A bit of shuffling ensues in the audience but
no one raises a hand. After an uncomfortable silence, the presenter
prepares to exit, believing that the presentation has gone admirably.
Unfortunately, what actually happens is that the presentation ends
in a dull and boring manner, with the audience remembering very
little of it.
Let’s look at the Q&A session from the audience’s point of view.
After listening to a presentation for the last 20-30 minutes and
trying to assimilate all of the information that you have delivered,
audience members are asked to stand up and participate in one
of their greatest fears - public speaking. Is it any wonder people
don’t participate? During your presentation, every member of the
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
audience will have, at some point, mentally wandered off (we all do
it) and some may have even fallen asleep. To get them to stand and
ask an unrehearsed question in front of their peers and supervisors
is just unfair. If you want audience participation in a question and
answer session, prepare your presentation in a way that encourages
questions.
First, when you get to the Q&A session, set the stage. Direct the
audience to form small groups to discuss the information they have
just heard. Give them 30-60 seconds to do this. Tell the groups
that if they have any questions, concerns, comments, or require any
points of clarification, they can each ask a few questions.
Organising audience members this way allows them to interact
and identify questions in common. This encourages each person to
know that he or she may not be alone in having a question or point
to clarify. This alleviates the embarrassment of asking what may be
perceived as a dumb question, and permits audience members to
comfortably speak.
For example, when Bill talks to Mary and discovers that Mary also
did not understand a point you made, Bill feels more confident about
asking a question to clarify his concern. Additionally, talking with
Mary gives Bill a chance to rehearse before presenting his question
in front of the group. Often, when audience members want to ask
a question they have not had an opportunity to practise, they will
stand and convey an idea for a moment or two before actually asking
it. During this time, they are attempting to put their question into
27
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
words. If you allow the audience the time to formulate questions
within a small group, you will save valuable presentation time while
still encouraging dialogue during the Q&A sessions.
Enabling the audience to discuss your presentation within small
groups promotes audience engagement and inspires questions and
comments. An active Q&A session demonstrates the audience’s
comfort with contributing to the conversation, and interest in your
presentation.
To get the most out of the Q&A session, Highly Effective Speakers
use small group discussions to ensure the audience has clarified and
rehearsed questions.
28
Lies, Damn Lies and
Statistics
Highly Effective Speakers engage their audience by explaining the story
behind the numbers.
E
very corporate presentation contains statistics. Whether you
are presenting sales figures, gross revenues, or the number of
widgets sold last month, you will find statistics everywhere.
However, statistics are more than just numbers. For every dull
statistic, there is a story that can bring it to life. What do the
numbers mean? What are the implications of the numbers? Why do
the numbers matter to the audience? When you talk about statistics,
clarify what your numbers mean. When you do this, the audience
will remember the figures and remember your presentation.
Each month, the Reserve Bank of Australia meets to determine future
interest rates. The statistics that the bank is ultimately concerned
with is what the cash rate will be set at. Yet, when the evening news
broadcasts the bank’s decision, the reporter announces the decision,
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
and then builds a two or three minute story around what the statistic
means to the viewer. The viewer is interested in the story behind the
statistic, not just the numbers. The viewer wants to personalise the
number, to discover what the number means for business, home life,
car sales, home sales, loans, and anything else that will affect his or
her life.
If you are interested in a game of football, you want to watch the
game. The score at the end is important, but you are interested in
more than just the numbers. You want to know what happened
during the game to produce those numbers. You want to know what
went wrong and what went right. You want to know what those
numbers mean in terms of who won the game, who lost, and how
they have affected each team’s placement in the competition.
The numbers alone mean little to the audience. It’s only when you
explain the statistics that the audience appreciates their power.
Engage audience members by explaining the meaning behind the
numbers and clarifying the impact those numbers will have on them.
The more your statistics appeal to a person’s self-interest, the more
he or she will connect with your message. Telling your audience the
statistics without including the story is wasting the value of those
statistics.
If you’re not sure what aspect of the statistics are relevant to your
audience, consider the details of the numbers. If sales have increased,
explain why and what that means for your company. If sales have
decreased, explain this, and talk about what you are doing or how
30
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
you can work together to improve them. Illustrate to your audience
how their efforts can change the numbers. Let them know which
actions will increase sales, and which actions will decrease sales. The
more you can involve audience members by demonstrating the value
of your statistics to them, the more likely it is that they will leave the
conference with a lasting understanding of your presentation.
Highly Effective Speakers use statistics effectively, so that audience
members realise the impact of the numbers on their world.
31
Mindset for Starting
Highly Effective Speakers are in it to win it.
W
hen an athlete prepares for a race, he trains not just his body
but also his mind. In his mind, he hears the signal to start.
He visualises running down the track, passing his opponents by. He
sees himself crossing the finish line and winning first place. He sets
himself up for success before the race even starts.
A proper mindset is important for anything in life, and your
presentation is no exception. Visualise yourself talking as you
prepare your presentation. Be positive about how you see yourself.
If you believe that you are a poor presenter, your audience members
will sense your lack of confidence, and they will lose faith in you as
a leader. If you don’t believe you are good at what you are doing,
neither will they. Begin your presentation with the belief that you
will engage your audience and deliver a great presentation. Your
audience will pick up on your confidence and trust that you are an
effective speaker who knows what you are talking about.
When you begin your presentation with an apology for your
nervousness or your lack of ability as a speaker, you deliver the
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
wrong message to your audience. You are implying that you do not
care enough about your subject or the people who have gathered
to hear you. If you do not appear to care about your subject, your
audience will not care about you. If you do not appear to care about
your audience, it will lose interest in you and your message.
Another important aspect to approaching a presentation in the right
frame of mind is to separate your personal problems from what you
are doing at the present time. As with any job, you have to leave
your problems at the door and perform the duty before you. The
impression you leave with audience members will influence their
opinion and trust of you, and their willingness to take on your
message. If you tell them you are feeling tired, ill or uncertain they
will question your expertise. Your audience neither cares that you
have been on a flight for the last eight hours, nor does the audience
want to know that you were only given 30 minutes to prepare for
this presentation. Those present are expecting a presentation given
by an expert in the field, and they require you to be competent and
self-assured.
Set yourself up as a leader from the beginning of your presentation.
Show your audience that you are prepared and that you care about
delivering your message. Demonstrate that you are in control of
yourself and your presentation. When your audience sees that you are
confident and self-assured, they will listen to what you have to say.
Highly Effective Speakers set themselves up as leaders by beginning
presentations with the right mindset.
33
Speak to One
Highly Effective Speakers personalise their message.
I
magine if you could speak to every member of your audience
individually, tailoring your message to each person. You could,
no doubt, deliver your message in a perfect manner every time.
Unfortunately, it’s not going to be viable to do this in reality.
Nonetheless, you can use some of the techniques that you would
use when speaking to individuals when you present to a large group
of people.
How do you do this? A valuable tactic is, when speaking to a group,
to still speak as though you were conversing with one person. Make
each member of your audience believe that you are directing your
message to them alone. For example, rather than asking the audience,
‘How many of you have been to Sydney?’ ask, ‘Have you been to
Sydney?’ This minor change in wording personalises your question.
Why does this work? Consider the presentation from the audience’s
perspective. Even though you are in a one-to-many conversation,
each audience member is in a one-to-one conversation. You are
speaking to a group, but they are listening to one person. For each
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
of them, you are the only other one in the conversation. If you
were in a one-to-one conversation with a colleague and asked,
‘How many of you have been to Sydney?’ they would look at you
as though you’d gone mad. Instead, it would make more sense for
you to ask, ‘Have you ever been to Sydney?’ and your colleague
would answer the question accordingly. The idea of conversing with
one person applies when you are making a presentation to a group.
If you address the group as if you were talking one-to-one, your
word choice will make sense to those present. Use the word ‘you’ in
your presentation. This creates a connection between you and each
member of your audience. Each person will feel as though you are
talking directly to them. The audience will latch onto what you are
saying and will be more likely to buy in to your message.
You can use the same technique when sending an e-mail to a group
of people. Even though you are emailing many people, personalise
the message by using the word ‘you’. When the recipients read the
e-mail it will appear as though you intended the message to be for
each of them alone. This will generate a much higher rate of buy-in
for your message than a generic e-mail addressed to a group. This
connection can happen even when the reader sees the different e-mail
addresses at the top of the e-mail. If you just address the group,
the individual can fade into the background unnoticed. When you
individualise an email, you are telling each recipient that you need
a response from them.
Highly effective speakers choose words carefully so that audience
members feel that the speaker is talking directly to them.
35
The Close
Highly Effective Speakers close their presentation with a deliberate point.
Y
ou began your presentation with the right mindset. You engaged
your audience with meaningful and relevant content, your slides
matched your message and your question and answer session was an
overwhelming success. Now that you have taken your audience on
this journey, you need to give them the next steps to take.
The conclusion is your reason for speaking. It is your opportunity to
influence thinking or behaviour, or to give your audience instructions
for what you want them to do. This is ultimately where you deliver
your call to action. You may want the audience to do any number
of things; buy your product, agree with your argument, adopt a new
strategy, change behaviour. Without a strong call to action in your
conclusion, however, you audience won’t necessarily know what you
want done. To avoid ambiguity, and to persuade the audience to
respond positively to your presentation, your conclusion needs to
be precise, relevant and structured. This gives you the best prospect
of achieving your desired outcome.
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
To achieve a strong conclusion, close the presentation by refreshing
your major points. Just restate the main points concisely – there’s no
need to expand on them again or go into any detail at all. You will have
done that already. Repeating the key themes of your presentation will
elicit the same emotional response from audience members that they
experienced earlier in the presentation. This is what you want. The
audience already knows the details that you provided previously to
accompany your main ideas; repeating those key points will reinforce
that information in the minds of audience members.
Once you have reaffirmed your main points, you need to tell the
audience what you want it to do. Whatever action you’d like to
happen, spell it out so the audience knows. Don’t assume that, just
because you have conveyed your key themes effectively, the audience
will connect the points of your argument and reach the desired
conclusion by itself. Make your call to action clear and unambiguous
so the audience is left with no doubt about your expectations of them.
Give audience members a strong focus and sense of direction so they
leave your presentation knowing exactly what you need them to do.
Remember that, by this time, your audience will have been listening
to you speak for quite a while. At this point, audience members
may naturally be starting to feel a little restless. So, choose your
concluding words carefully and make them impactful. Ensure that
the audience leaves the room with a positive and lasting impression
of you.
Highly effective speakers close their presentations by refreshing
major points and including a call to action.
37
The Conference Session
Highly Effective Speakers relish the opportunity to demonstrate their industry
leadership.
B
reak-out sessions at industry conferences are a great way to
demonstrate that you and your company are industry leaders.
Take advantage of these opportunities to promote what you do
and how you do it. Unfortunately, every speaker at a conference
will have the same plan. Therefore, you need to be unique in your
presentation so that you stand out from the crowd.
You can begin to distinguish yourself from the rest as soon as you
learn that you will present at the conference. Usually, you are
required to submit a paper some months before the conference
session. The audience is given this paper as a handout to review after
your presentation, usually provided on a USB stick. This is your first
opportunity to stand out from the other speakers.
Most speakers simply provide their PowerPoint slides as their
conference paper, adding little value to their presentation. Instead
of producing a paper that mimics your presentation, write one that
enhances and elaborates upon what you intend to say, incorporating
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
details and examples that are not in your presentation. This gives
the audience a more meaningful insight into your message and
reinforces the perception of you as an industry expert.
The second way to stand out at the next conference is with your
introduction. Most speakers stand up and allow the chairperson to
introduce them by reading their résumé. Most résumés list jobs in a dry,
dull manner and have little or no relevance to the audience. To stand
out from the other speakers, avoid the usual stale introduction and
establish your introduction to appeal to the audience from the outset.
Finally, when you start to speak, have slides that are different to
everyone else’s. Most speakers will have a first slide that lists their
name, the date, the conference name (just in case the audience
forgets where it is), their company, and the all-important company
logo. They will then launch into a slide deck that has seventy-three
identical slides, save for the amount of text on each one.
Establish with the audience that you are not an average speaker by
using interesting slides. Display intriguing pictures that enhance your
presentation and evoke an emotional response. Your audience will
connect with these visual stimuli and engage with your message at
the same time. Don’t use bullet points, don’t use words and don’t use
your company logo. Everyone else is doing that. If you do it too you
won’t stand out. If you don’t stand out, you won’t be remembered.
Highly Effective Speakers stand out from the crowd by writing
comprehensive papers, creating unique introductions, and engaging
their audience with intriguing slides.
39
Beating the Ummms…
Highly Effective Speakers eliminate filler words from their presentations.
T
here is nothing more annoying to an audience than a speaker
repeatedly using filler words during a presentation. Filler words
such as ‘um’, ‘er’, ‘uh’, ‘like’, ‘you know’ and ‘I guess’ add nothing
to your speech. Constantly using unnecessary words may cause an
audience to doubt your authority on a subject and silently question
your veracity. The audience expects an expert to speak with the
confidence of an expert.
Many people have learned to avoid saying ‘um’ or ‘uh’. They often,
however, replace those filler words with even more irritating phrases
such as ‘you know’ or ‘I guess’. ‘I guess’ is a particularly poor choice
of words because the phrase implies uncertainty. From the audience’s
point of view, there is no reason to believe in someone who appears
to be taking a guess.
Speakers mainly use filler words for two reasons. The first is
that speakers can be uncomfortable with being silent during a
presentation; for example, when they stop and think or when they
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
are in-between words. The second reason is that they do not have
self-belief. This is not really about doubting the accuracy of what
they are saying; rather, it’s about not believing that they are the right
person to say it.
There are two great techniques for eliminating filler words. The first
is the ‘No N’ technique. This method teaches you to slow down
your speech and eliminate filler words by inserting an additional
cognitive filter into your speaking. The ‘No N’ technique is used to
practise speaking – it’s not something to use in a real situation.
The main principle of the ‘No N’ technique is to not use words
beginning or ending with the letter ‘N’. Practise this throughout
the day, for no more than a minute at a time. This technique causes
you to reflect on and change the words you would normally use. For
example, instead of saying, ‘Let’s leave now’, you could say, ‘Let’s
leave right away’. Instead of saying, ‘Have a good night’, you would
say something like, ‘Have a pleasant evening’.After practising the
‘No N’ technique a few times, you will form the habit of speaking
more slowly and considering your choice of words, without being
tempted to use filler words.
The second technique relates to how you classify words. When
you speak in public or at important meetings, it doesn’t take too
much effort to avoid using swear words. It is just something you
do without thinking. Swear words fall into a category of words that
you simply don’t use in certain situations. Include filler words in this
category and you won’t use them either. How do you add them to
41
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
this category? Simply think of them as swear-words. It is amazing
how this technique works.
When you remove the filler words from your speech by practising
these techniques, you will speak more smoothly and fluently. The
audience will find it less grating to listen to you and will have more
confidence in what you say.
Highly Effective Speakers use strategies such as the ‘No N’
technique and categorising words to control their speech so that
filler words disappear.
42
Your Voice
Highly Effective Speakers use a speaking voice their audience wants to hear.
Y
our speaking voice can engage the audience members or turn
them off. Many speakers use a low monotonous voice when
they present that is quiet and hard to hear. In an attempt to sound
sincere, they use an even tone, a steady pace, and an unwavering
style. Instead, this can bore the audience, lulling them to sleep in
the same manner as a hypnotist. Other presenters mumble when
they speak. Often, they don’t realise that they are mumbling until
someone points it out to them. If you are mumbling or speaking
in a monotone voice, your audience will have trouble hearing you,
and connecting with your message. Listeners will lose interest and
mentally leave the room.
It can be easy to train your voice to produce the highs and lows of
pitch, volume, speed and cadence to create speech that your audience
wants to hear. To do this, imagine people’s voices on a graph with
a scale of 1 to 10, with 5 being the average. Most people speak in a
range from a 4 at the quietest and slowest to a 6 at the loudest and
fastest. To project your own voice differently, practise speaking at a
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
level that is 1 or 2 on the graph. This is a quiet whisper. Then practise
taking your voice up to 9 or 10 on the graph. This is shouting at
the top of your lungs. Obviously, you will never use this full range
when speaking at work; this exercise is about developing your range.
If you are comfortable dropping your voice down to 1 on the scale
when you are by yourself, you will be comfortable speaking at a scale
of 3 (instead of the usual 4) when you are with colleagues. This adds
another dimension to your message.
You can teach yourself to enunciate while varying the volume of your
voice. Grab a broadsheet newspaper, such as The Sydney Morning
Herald, The Age, or The Financial Review, and read it aloud. Pay
special attention to pronouncing the words, and exaggerate your
reading. Practise speaking in a low and soft tone, then lift your
voice and speak as loud and high as you can. Talk as quickly as you
can while still retaining clarity; then, speak slowly. Try altering the
rhythm of your voice as you speak. Take your voice to the extremes.
This method will help you to use your whole mouth, including your
lips and tongue when you speak.
Although you will never exaggerate the range of your voice in this
way in real situations, practising these extremes will give you control
over your voice. It will enable you to develop and feel comfortable
using a broader voice range. This will improve the quality of your
voice and make it easier and more interesting to listen to. Ultimately,
you will deliver your message to the audience more effectively.
Highly Effective Speakers develop the full range of their voice so it
is easy for the audience to listen.
44
About the Author
Darren Fleming is Australia’s Corporate Speech Coach
A
s founder and director of Executive Speaking, Darren Fleming
has spent the last 7 years transforming business leaders into
highly effective speakers.
Using his own distinct and unique speaking system he has trained
thousands of business leaders’ right across Australia. These students
have gone on to deliver tens of thousands of presentations right
around the world leaving no doubt that Darren’s Executive Speaking
system works.
Darren’s students include some of Australia’s most powerful CEO’s
from some of Australia’s most powerful and influential organizations’,
to managers and staff that have all wanted the same thing – to
transform their nervousness and uncertainty into confidence and
control when they speak.
Darren’s process takes his students from nervous and boring to
confident and interesting, from dull and lifeless to captivating and
The Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers
inspiring. In the process their nervousness vanishes and they take
control of the stage.
Not only a successful and proven teacher, Darren is also a master
of speaking, having won numerous speaking competitions over the
past decade including two time national champion for ‘Impromptu
Speaking’.
Darren has delivered over 500 presentations, been featured in
respected and prominent media including the Sydney Morning
Herald, BRW and Management Today. He knows what it’s like for
his students - he’s ‘been there’ and he’s been able to help transform
their speaking ability. He can do the same for you.
46
There is a common thread with all Highly Effective Speakers. They do lots of little things
right. Whether they are speaking from the front of the room, across the table or on the
‘phone, Highly Effective Speakers use small techniques to get their message across.
In this book you will learn:
P What to do with your hands
P The 1 best way to open any presentation
P The 2 techniques to get rid of Ums, errs and ahs
P The 3 things you should do if presenting at a conference
P How to speak at a moment’s notice
P How to turn nervousness into an adrenaline rush
This analysis of public speaking is great. It gives strategies and approaches to
resolve many problems speakers face. These skills and insights are very helpful
to someone beginning on this journey, or someone who has already started.
Well done Darren!
Mark Hunter
2009 World Champion of Public Speaking
Darren is a rock star speaker and the tips he gives in this book are spot on. If
you want to be a rock star speaker, presenter, or simply the best communicator
you can be, you have to read this book now!
Cathey Armillas
Author, International Speaker and Non-Traditional Marketing Specialist
This book contains well thought out and superb advice. I can already see how
these ideas will help me to communicate within my workplace when sharing
my ideas and aid in my promotional prospects.
Dr Susan Pearce, PhD, BEng (Mech), BSc
This book offers a treasure-trove of advice, presented in easily-digested
chunks. Each principle is first summarized succinctly and is then expanded with
explanation and practical strategies. Realistic advice mixed with reassurance
will encourage readers to have confidence in their ability to present.
Shelley Dunstone, LLB, B.Mgt Mktg,
Thought Leader
Innovation Strategist
Darren Fleming is Australia’s Corporate Speech Coach. As founder and director of
Executive Speaking, he has spent the last 7 years transforming business leaders into
highly effective speakers. His students range from some of Australia’s most powerful
CEO’s from some of Australia’s most powerful and influential organisations’, to managers
and staff that have all wanted the same thing – to transform their nervousness and
uncertainty into confidence and control when they speak.
Darren is a master of public speaking having won three National Championships for
various speaking styles over the last 5 years.