For years (YEARS!) an inner voice would critique how my approach to organizing material and thoughts for a speech excluded an official outline.
What would content prep for a speech look like instead?
ample sticky notes or
rainbow-colored index cards or
wall-sized adhesive note pads or
day dreams captured in swirly sketches and/or
favorite books at arm’s reach or
lots of magic-marked arrows meandering about on pages & pages of notes.
Then assembling and writing-like-a-bandit would begin.
But traditional, clearly structured outlines would not be a natural tool to organize ideas or research.
Have you ever resisted the outline when preparing for a presentation? Or is it a fluid, natural fit for your preparation style?
Even though desired content and intended meaning would come from this swirly process above, I would feel bad about the approach. Why? It’s unclear. But my theory is it felt like snubbing years of composition classwork.
In the last few years however, that inner concern has evaporated.
Replacing it has been a greater admiration for the creativity in speechmaking. And this creativity can take shape differently in people and in presentation styles.
Sure, precision of language and structure are core elements to the process too. Eventually it became clear that allocation of time influences the clarity and structural strength of a speech – more than any inherent magic of a ‘Formal Outline of Remarks.’
Can outlines be helpful in organizing material in general?
You bet, and for some of my colleagues – defined outlines support their process for preparing speeches consistently.
For my thinking/speech editing/teaching style however – outlines aren’t yet essential.
I wish I could write out an outline in linear form, with roman numerals and sub-points. But after the research [for a speech] I just start typing as fast as I can all of the things that are in my head—serious points and serious phrases.
Seeing this was strangely affirming, even after all these years.
Heck it’s not a contest between those that use or avoid outlines for presentations. Even still, Schiffren’s take resonated a lot.
What facilitates your creativity and sense of order, given this context?
The Friday Fiscal Tickle video experiment
A few years ago my husband and I really wanted to get our personal finances together. That commitment led to a renewed interest in world financial news. And at the time, I wondered if online video could make the whole approach to learning such subject matter more playful (and somehow digestible to my learning style). All this brought an informal (SILLY!) video project to life – called the Friday Fiscal Tickle series.
Over months of time, app. 22 mini video cuts shaped the ‘tickle’ series at roughly 90 seconds each. Each clip is a micro digest about global fiscal events where I play around on camera as a news anchor and multiple personalities.
It was an absolute blast.
The goal frankly was to somehow crack myself up with the camera on, to just have fun. I learned a lot. Strangely it was clear these videos were accessible online and public; but back then I don’t believe I fully internalized the fact folks would potentially watch.
Does that make a hill of sense?
Later as my business took shape, I re-allocated time toward that and away from this tickle-video playground. But eventually the series took on a whole new level of developmental impact, beyond the just-having-fun aspect.
What Friday Fiscal Tickle taught as a public speaker and speaker coach — is that loss of self-consciousness is a great, great liberator.
Every blue moon ‘tickle’ video would come to mind. Nice friends or colleagues would ask about it. Or (gulp…) sponsors at events where I’d be speaking would mention: “Hey that tickle series is fun.”
Then the mental games would begin in my head. And questions like these would swirl around in self-doubt:
-Is Fiscal Tickle video too goofy?
-Does the series send the absolute wrong image to prospects, partners, or heck – Mom and Dad?
Then the moment-of-clarity struck and this realization suppressed all other doubt:
“Holy Smokes, how liberating! Those videos were a blast. They were fun. And somehow, the fact that others were allowed to observe the goofiness was not a concern. Those cuts created a chance to not be so self-conscious, to storyboard concepts, to play, to create, to deliver.”
Is that not a vision of confidence for a pubic speaker?
…it is at least for this speaker and coach at this end of the netz.
It was a liberating realization!
So to celebrate this re-commitment to fun self expression, a Friday Fiscal Tickle episode will be re-published here at Live Your Talk intermittently.
What do you think?
What project or topic is so fun and stimulating that your paranoid sense of self slips away….and authentic expression takes over?
Silence flat out fascinates. When practiced and exerted, it yields a range of results (with distinct impact too when giving a speech to a doubtful audience). And earlier this year, practicing meditative silence became a priority. It felt good. It cultivated clarity of mind and inner ease.
That’s what this Silent10 video experiment is about.
On a weekly basis, I practice silent meditation yet honestly I’ve been inconsistent with publishing the video clips. Sometimes others participate too and record themselves being silent for just a few seconds.
Above my friend and business coach Nicolette Pizzitola participates in the project. For 10 seconds, she is quiet and looking head on to the camera.
That’s it.
In some way, this project is expansive and gratifying to me …if for any other reason - it crystalizes beauty.
Just looking at Nicolette, this becomes evident — for she is open, steadfast, and beautiful.
What do you think of this type of experiment?
What are your thoughts of spreading the benefits of silence through video, and making them more shareable online?
Have you ever been told your stage presence was “duller than a box of rocks?”
To clarify: it’s a special level of suck.
A straight-talking mentor gave that feedback years ago after seeing me deliver a speech. At the time my wounded ego just wanted to resign from public audiences altogether.
Studying stage presence and public speaking however became a fascination. And to this day, how to energize stage presence remains the most popular question from colleagues, students, or clients.
They are often bewildered at what to do.
…which is understandable. Causes could be rigid or feeble vocals, over accelerated pacing, anxiety management or a sundry of things. Or sometimes it’s purely a content issue where certain writing vehicles can add momentum to the presentation. But much of the time, the content is solid leaving stage presence as the item to tackle.
Energy, impromptu storytelling, & social apps
A colleague further framed this challenge so well and asked:
“How can I make my energy more consistent from a stage presence point of view?”
Presenting in front of a live audience and feedback community is stellar practice for stage presence – like Toastmasters or Ignite. But in lieu of those defined public scenarios, there’s another option.
An absolute favorite and results-inspiring solution is to practice a lot with social applications.
The goal?
Practice impromptu storytelling and externalizing your voice as often as possible with a few audio and video tools (smart phone apps included). Keep your recordings private if that’s preferred.
But just investing conscious energy in this exercise a few minutes a day can expand energetic capacity when facing live audiences.
Suggestions for social tools:
Audio apps: Audioboo.fmorcinchcast.fm are mobile and web platforms with reliable audio, a simple interface plus the ability to add other types of media to your audio casts. And both have apps for iPhone and Android;
Video and group apps:
Viddy is emerging as the Instagram of video: it enables 15 seconds of recording with visual filters. You talk about energizing your mind and vocabulary in a hurry! It’s a compelling tool with some major growth since its recent launch. And CloudTalk is a fascinating platform with both iPhone and Android apps – allowing you to share video, audio, text to public users or to a private group (this storytelling app, Blurb, looks fascinating but I’ve yet to toy with it.).
Perfection vs progress
When it comes to upping stage energy, nothing replaces the chance to practice in front of live audiences from a defined stage space. Yet waiting for perfect circumstances inhibits ultimate progress; so I vote for creating a stage-like dynamic with social tools like these. What do you think?!
Becoming your own best audience
Whether recording via audio or video, these tools (and you) become your own reliable audience. And the chance to practice impromptu storytelling or simply get your voice out of your head is an energetic exercise. From my personal work and through observing others too, this practice has fostered more fluid and energized presence from the stage.
Are you game to try these exercises?
What other ideas have helped you galvanize your own stage presence?
Sometimes breaking down a huge problem to solve can be daunting, especially if potential ideas to fix it are left unsaid. When everything stays swirling up in the brain – vs discussed out loud – I find a clear roadmap to a solution can be a tough, obscure process. You know that type of mental crossroads?
But Lauren Meling spoke her mind and shared a small story with big impact. It surprised her.
She’s online marketing manager at USA for UNHCR.
She was recently, pleasantly surprised about what small steps could be taken to make large degrees of impact in helping Thailand refugees. The Blue Key campaign helps to bring this awareness and resources to refugees worldwide; being involved with this program continues to educate me in unexpected ways.
Her encouragement, and what she observed directly in Thailand, unfolds in this brief conversation (video = 2 minutes).
Lauren along with her team ‘live their talk.’
Not to be too cheesy but Lauren confronts tough work and seeks to absolve dangerous situations facing refugees around the globe. Her ability to share this story out-loud-and-head-on made an imprint on my thinking.
Sometimes breaking down a huge problem to solve can be daunting, especially if potential ideas to fix it are left unsaid. When everything stays swirling up in the brain – vs discussed out loud – I find a clear roadmap to a solution can be a tough, obscure process. You know that type of mental crossroads?
