Maxims

MAXIM #1: "Speaking is show business!"

First, never, ever forget the following truism: Speaking is show business! Again, unless you're delivering a funeral eulogy, announcing a corporate "downsizing" to a group of the downsized, or speaking at a similar somber event, people want to be entertained as well as informed. Even if you're making an ethos-based presentation, remember the words of Marshall McLuhan: "Education has to be fun, and fun has to be education." In my seminar, "Presentation Skills for the 'Unprofessional' Speaker," I examine this premise within the context of what I call "The Jolson Principle" which is: (1) give 'em what THEY want, (2) give 'em some more, (3) leave 'em wanting more.

MAXIM #2: "Be mediocre!"

Second, this doesn't mean that you have to be another Woody Allen or Sammy Davis, Jr., nor do you have to be a clone of Zig Ziglar or Tony Robbins. Keep in mind, within our context of "unprofessional" speaking engagements (meaning you're not making a living at this stuff), the following: Your audience will most likely be thrilled if you're just not boring! Honest!

That's an amazing statement, but absolutely 100% accurate...your audience will be satisfied if you aren't boring. If you're speaking at a Kiwanis Club meeting, a technical symposium or some other function in which the presenters are essentially "unprofessional" speakers, the audience does not normally have very high expectations. In fact, in most cases, they expect to be bored to death. Therefore, you can significantly exceed their expectations simply by not being boring. If, in fact, you're actually entertaining, they'll love you! Believe it or not, before long you will have attendees that will be willing to PAY you to speak!

MAXIM #3: "Your audience doesn't care..."

The third and final observation on this topic is the following (and this may hurt a little, but it's true): Your audience doesn't care about YOU...they care about themselves! As David Burpee of the Burpee Seed Company said, "I always try to remember that people really aren't interested in my seeds. They're interested in their gardens, their tomatoes, and their lawns."

Remember to give 'em what THEY want.

Web Site: www.BrightPath.com