The One Criteria for Building Your Signature Speech

Two events recently made me reflect on an audience and the impact of public speaking.

One was hearing a keynote address by tech entrepreneur and champion of Twitter Laura Fitton. The other was reading a quote from Gel Conference creator Mark Hurst.

Laura gave the opening keynote address at last year’s Blogworld Expo. She offered plenty of knowledge on Twitter applications and entrepreneurship. But that didn’t drive her speech.

What did:
Her passion for how an online social network made her and many others more connected – and in the end, the world is becoming a less isolated place in her view.

It compelled me to look at social networks in a different way. Her story of authentic enthusiasm came across like a unique ’signature of attitude.’

And then in Seth Godin’s fantastic ebook of insights by thought leaders in business, digital tech, and more – Mark Hurst said:

“People at events are hungry for authenticity. [As a speaker] …you have to build the talk around your passion.”

Sure it’s critical to know the specific audience before you as a speaker – the time requirements, good speech mechanics, stage tech, etc. The goal is not to give generic presentations to every audience. But what Mark conveyed (and what Laura demonstrated) is this:

It’s worth recognizing clearly what exhilarates us as business owners and relate to the audience through that attitude.

Three questions that helped me articulate driving passion in speeches for greater audience impact:

What is your driving motivator?

How can that motivation be described in a story (and then become your signature story that conveys what you believe in most?)?

How can that story relate to what your specific audience requires?

An example comes to mind from a professional photographer who described her workshops recently.

She said: “There’s a lot of technical instruction involved in my workshops. But what I really help my audience understand is how to give the world an archive of beauty!”

That’s her driving passion and I couldn’t wait to help fill her workshop with attendees.

What do you think? What does the passion in your signature speech look like?

Image Do Your Own Thing Pie4Dan, Creative Commons

Public Speech Mistakes and Re-building Trust with an Audience

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and images are everywhere reminding us to care.

In that spirit, have you ever seen a public speaker who came across like they just didn’t care?

I did recently at a conference. And their indifference was like receiving toothpicks for Valentines — it was technically still a gift of function but without making the recipient (or audience) feel special in the process!

At that recent event, the speaker – a business owner in a room full of business owners – said when advancing their slides:

“Oh this set of slides is meant for a different talk. I guess I forgot to change these.” At that point, another conference’s logo (not the logo representing our event) glared on the overhead screen. Without apology, the speaker continued.

This experience was a lost opportunity for audience and speaker alike. Every public speech is a chance to give value, forge trust, and build brand credibility with the audience.

Steps to recover trust that this speaker could’ve taken:

1. Show ownership and a solution quickly
A simple apology gains tons of ground! In this case, the correct slides could’ve been made available later via email or Slideshare. Neither occurred.

2. Offer a gift
Extend a discount on services or sneak peek on upcoming product launches. That’s not to suggest giving ‘away the farm’ just because of a presentation error. But it’s a tangible way to show value for that particular audience.

3. Welcome honest feedback
Convey value for the audience’s opinion and insight even if it means eating humble pie, with this statement as example: “Thanks for your time today and hanging in there when I messed up. I’m committed to improving value so I hope you’ll relay feedback on the event evaluation.”

4. Invite ongoing conversation after the event
The speaker-audience experience is a relational dynamic with all sorts of potential for leads, partnerships, and even community. The speaker could’ve shown their interest by offering to engage post-event through LinkedIn, Twitter, or other networks.

What do you think? Have you been in a similar situation? How else could this presenter have shown they valued the audience after the slide mistake?

Image Healing by Wolf Soul, Creative Commons

Do You Present Better Onstage or Online?

Fellow business owners and I met a few weeks ago to celebrate 2010. And social media came up – Twitter, Facebook, Posterous, and other platforms. We kept reveling in how easy it is to ‘just be human’ when conversing online and agreed it helps build trust with customers.

Then someone said:

“I wish I was more myself when speaking in public onstage as I am when on the Web.”

This resonated with many of us and we all paused to let his comment sink in.

Then the challenge to ourselves became: how can we better assert our development as public speakers?

Some ideas:

1. Observe your voice in relaxed environments when an audience doesn’t exist.
Social media tools used in certain ways can be great for this. Consider creating unpublished content to improve speaking skill. Use a smart phone’s audio or video device and regularly record two or three minutes of just talking to yourself (or to a willing peer). Then often review these recordings. If you want to make these informal casts public and online (like on Posterous) great! But going online isn’t the end game with these informal casts. It’s to help you recognize (and emulate) your voice when it’s relaxed and fearless.

2. Seek accountability partners and chances to speak in public.
Whether it’s through Ignite events, Toastmasters, or a small group of your trusted colleagues – commit to giving public speeches on a regular basis and receiving critique (this is separate from demos or client pitches, etc).

3. Include public speaking in your marketing strategy and developmental goals.
I suggest committing to quantity here if possible i.e. “Present five speeches in Q1.” Designate early in the year the conferences and meetups you/your team would like to present at to help pre-plan topic proposals. Here’s a diverse and per-month conference list from Susan Mernit that includes a collection of conferences dedicated to women in business – including the Women’s Leadership Forum, Blogher, NAWBO Women’s Business Conference plus those in entrepreneurship, social technology, and her interests in social cause marketing. Warning! It’s 80+ conferences that haven’t been updated yet on this post to 2010. BUT all citations link directly to conference sites that will have respective event updates as they are published (with great upcoming events announced at SCORE regularly).

How we present ourselves in conversation – online and off – is critical. The level of authenticity and skill we bring to both environments hugely influences how others respond to us (and the brand we represent).

How about you? What has helped develop your public speaking ability?

Originally published as guest blogger for SCORE Women’s Success.

Image Conversation by Rishi Menon, Creative Commons