What a day!
Last Friday was the first ever public speaker bootcamp for my business LiveYourTalk to host.
What’s a public speaker bootcamp?!
There are many iterations available in the industry, with some offered to very large crowds. Generally the bootcamp’s intention is to provide immersive training and resources to participants about public speaking skill.
People have been inquiring to LiveYourTalk (and myself to facilitate and coach) for a particular bootcamp experience which:
involves a very small number of participants, no more than four;
clarifies points of view and potential messages to represent as a public voice;
offers expert training to exercise more confidence as a public speaker (and to build off their inherent strengths as communicators) ;
teaches ways to utilize and manage anxious energy;
trains on use of stage space, vocal variety & strength, breathing technique, and avoidance of inarticulates like the dreaded ums/uhs;
provides technique for persuasive speaking skill, basic media training, and on-camera work.
This type of client insight and curiosity has been critical; and after shaping curriculum – LiveYourTalk’s first bootcamp went live last week.
And it was a blast.
It was a day of teachable risk, training, and speech history.
It was an addictive forum for me to teach in; and I can’t wait to host the next one!
First bootcamp debrief: (4) factors that stand out
1. Group support framed one-on-one attention.
It was a small enough group (3 bootcampers) where each received the benefit of group interaction, group stimulus, support, and also one-on-one attention from myself as coach.
2. A multi-tiered curriculum worked.
Curriculum was based on (3) values for shaping resonant public voice:
—> all of the above tenets with an emphasis on point of view and message discovery;
—> use of group feedback, anxiety management, theatre training, and on-camera work;
—> all set to the unique speech-history backdrop of Washington, DC, where the bootcamp took place and included a speech history excursion to two historical venues.
Was this too aggressive for a one-day bootcamp?
That was my initial concern.
The day included a brief excursion to two historical sites in Washington, DC which have heavily influenced my thinking toward powerful public voice. It was motivating to engage with bootcamp participants in this way. Then the day culminated with an onsite video project where each bootcamper applied technique in timed conditions.
3. Trust was a conscious part of education.
As in, the bootcampers Lisa Byrne, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, and Nakeva Corothers chose each other to participate in the program together. They trust eachother professionally (they are friends too), and viewed this trust as a useful ingredient to their bootcamp results.
This shared trust made the bootcamp dynamic.
The program’s rigor & vulnerability invite a ton of emotional investment. It invites focus. And their confidence in each other made the difference toward achieving their bootcamp goals.
4. Anxiety was a useful asset to building strength.
Based on their feedback so far, there was a balance of content engagement, theatre work, play, and critique.
Each segment enabled them to exercise a key principle: anxiety is useful energy for engaging audiences if utilized (and managed) well.
By the time the final video project rolled around, there was a strong group focus to assert and conquer.
I’m still butterflies-in-belly exhilarated, and look forward to the next one.
Scenes from the day:
Engaging at the National Building Museum -pictured above too- during the bootcamp’s speech history excursion (first leg, with transportation supported by Uber DC).
Heading to the wonderful Willard Hotel to relive a moment in speech history related to the day’s training (second leg).
Lisa, Tinu, and Nakeva arrive at the main conference room …armed and ready with their LiveYourTalk ‘idea kit and archive’ complete with an (11) page resource-template guide.
Tinu asserts the day’s main video project, with great success.
“Bootcamper down! Bootcamper down!” Nakeva asserts the video project with great success, and celebrates in playful collapse.
The first ever LiveYourTalk Bootcamp graduates(!)
Congrats to all of you for your accomplishments (during the bootcamp, and beyond too). Thanks also for investing your unique voices and self-assertion through your day.
Have you ever experienced a public speaker bootcamp, or something like it?
Washington, DC offers rich archives about oratory, rhetoric, and the power of ideas.
It’s all gone down here: presidential inauguration addresses, worldwide movements (& the voices who marched them forward), and states of the union that comprise our nation’s history. I love this city so.
When near the US Capitol today:
I was a few hundred meters from where Elizabeth Cady Stanton first delivered her Solitude of Self speech to Congress back in 1892.
Her persuasive ideas and what stood out:
There’s ample room to analyze this speech (her ultimate appeal for women’s suffrage to the Senate hearing committee). What keeps coming to mind is her focus on ‘individuality of the human soul’ and a pointed focus on the nature of self-dependence.
A favorite excerpt:
“The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread — is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty. Because as an individual she must rely on herself. To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of property is like cutting off the hands. To refuse political equality is to rob “the ostracized of all self-respect…”
What voices have influenced your thinking about access to opportunity and self-reliance?
Happy Women’s History Month!
And here’s to self-dependence, self-assertion, and celebration of progress.
More resources and ways to celebrate International Women’s Day:
Have you ever had that “hmmm” moment or moments where the idea of giving your TED talk plays out in your mind?
During the TED Full Spectrum live conference on Wednesday, 2/29th, many folks in the audience will ponder just that (me too!). People will gather to watch the Full Spectrum event via live stream in Washington, DC (thanks to the kind folks at TEDxPotomac). And I can’t wait for the tremendous exchange, conversation, and ideas.
A nudge toward self-reflection
Is some part of you waiting for a particular nudge or external deadline before preparing your TED-calibre story (sometimes that’s a productive block in my work or what clients confront too)? Which begs the question: what really keeps us from recognizing and shaping our prized ideas – and share with others whether it’s a TED community or other engaged, valued listener?
What really prevents us from preparing our ideas beautifully, honestly, and clearly for future yet-to-be named audiences?
A word about time & the talk of your lifetime:
From my TED/TEDx collaborations so far, a TED-calibre talk takes 30 to 200 hours of prep depending on the speaker’s starting point of clarity and available stage time for the talk itself.
So I vote we start.
Right now.
No matter what stage or type of audience you envision for this ‘talk of your lifetime,’ engaging your own preparation on your own time – right now without facing an immediate deadline – can be incredibly crystalizing. That type of initiative can bionically empower your ideas and self-expression — stimulating greater readiness for serving future audiences.
Great!
Also: Clarity puts the mind in a position of presence and ownership — two pillar qualities for guiding an audience through an irreplaceable experience.
So let’s start our own guerrilla prep work right now.
Are you in for 30 minutes?
The primary purpose at this point is to assert an idea and start.
That’s it.
As in the mission here is to make tangible progress on your TED “idea worth spreading” — plus ultimately get your TED / TEDx talk in draft form.
These (4) steps will guide our exercise with an emphasis on asserting perspective and escaping fear of imperfection.
Only criteria: get a first draft down in 30 minutes by continually producing and resisting self-criticism in this timeframe.
1. Set the timer for 8 minutes.
Then start putting notes on paper (please put electronics in another room; the pen and paper keep the mind in a stronger meditative state). Just start writing in response to this consideration: consider what motivates you – and how that motivation is teachable. And as it helps your brainstorming effort, let yourself consider these brainstorms in different types of context and impact: professional, personal, spiritual, analytical, and creative.
Task 1:
Then write down a one-sentence assertion about a belief which you hold true. If it helps, add the phrase “I believe” before your assertion – with an example as: “I believe public speaking is a timeless community builder.”
Please remember: encourage selection (and de-selection).
Perfection is not the end game. What is? getting on the board with your ideas. If you have more than one assertion (again just one sentence in length), certainly write them down. Then choose one to champion for the sake of this draft exercise and carving out your TED “idea worth spreading.”
Check-in:
Do you have a one-sentence, teachable assertion written down now about what motivates you? Great. That’s your potential TED talk’s main idea. That’s the journey you’re taking a future audience on. Nice!
2. Set the timer for another 8 minutes.
Now it’s time to think in story-based scenes. Ask yourself: what moments have shaped your one TED idea? What risk or discipline, what huge or subtle decision, what unforeseen experience, what trajectory, what observations, what research, what pivotal conversations, what gift, what anecdotes, what teachings – what is “the what” which influenced the teachable truth in your asserted idea? Reflect quickly but with permission. Write.
Task 2:
Then select (3) to (5) of these story-based scenes.
Please remember: storytelling relationships
View stories/scenes as the audience’s potential road map to understanding your asserted idea. Each story should exemplify and relate to your idea in some way. So your favorite memory of riding a sweet Shetland pony in the 5th grade should relate to your idea. If not, gently coach yourself to let it go. The Shetland pony will only distract your audience from your idea’s impact and merit.
Creating structural integrity with relatable content is key here.
Check-in:
As you continue beyond this exercise in the days ahead, there will be ample chances to further flesh out, critique, and change your course as needed. For now though, the goal is to start thinking in scenic terms and to build a story archive from which to draw from. Build, build, build this archive for your storytelling power. Storytelling is rich, compatible food for the human mind. Done with keen attention by the storyteller, it can give the audience a chance to absorb, engage, and punctuate thought right along with the speaker every step of the way.
3. Set the timer for the next 8 minutes.
Revisit the stories/scenes you just selected. Now consider them in the context of useful, teachable conflict. As in, do one or a few stories reflect difficulty in some way? Is challenge, risk, pain, or potential disappointment revealed or acknowledged? Or simply, is consequence of what could happen if your idea is rejected apart of your perspective?
Task 3:
Be as honest and willing as possible to disclose a story that is difficult to tell.
Please note: The goal is not to be falsely dramatic or emotionally manipulative. At the same time, framing a core idea and point of view with 100% happiness or sense of perfection can disengage. It can compel the audience toward boredom or mistrust.
If conflict or some layer of contrast can be shared with your audience — it can be an irreplaceable trust builder and clarifying agent for your TED-calibre idea.
Please remember: honesty and clarity
Always be asking yourself with these stories/scenes: are they shaping enough context for my idea to be understood?
Check-in: a word about inspiration
It may be temping to refer to favorite TED talks to observe their voice, their perspective or creativity. Resist this. This exercise is the chance for you (us!) to see our truest conviction clearly even when an audience does not exist. This process must be authentically owned by our own desire to express and to achieve clarity of expression. Lean on your own inner reservoir of clarity, drive, and desire to understand (and to be understood).
4. Set the timer for the final 6 minutes
Consider your main idea, the scenic stories, and the compounding impact of what they mean. How do they uniquely convey meaning literally? Does the structural framework create a sense of journey? Does the structural integrity frame or undermine your intended meaning? How can your ideas create a sense of arrival for your audience?
Task 4:
Write down a vision of impact for your audience. Resonate’s Nancy Duarte (Holy Smokes an incredible resource and philosophy) calls this ‘the new bliss.’ As in how do you envision the ideal result, the ideal benefit, the ideal hope, the ideal outcome of your adopted idea and supportive material?
A kinder, more empathetic world? An accessible education for every human being? A sustainable standard of living for the disenfranchised? Violence replaced by social entrepreneurship?
Please remember: warts are apart of creativity.
Throughout this creative digging, possibly inner voices may crop up i.e. “This is dumb, a waste of time, I’m no Al Gore on TED’s stage, who do I think I am, I hate this rough draft, where is my IQ?!”
Please consider those thoughts as mental warts — and a useful indicator.
They indicate a sense of ownership.
They exist as a knee-jerk reaction to imperfection or a lack of clarity or both. Roll with it and continue. These creative warts indicate a sense of ownership for being clear. It’s a rough gig, the clarity business (…neat phrase from Content Rules). But that’s the business we are in when it comes to recognizing, asserting, and carving out ideas. It’s not a surface exercise.
Let us dig deep and true.
Check-in: Our audiences owe us nothing.
Keep going with your reflections, uniqueness, and process — empathizing with the audience’s experience 150% of the time.
Always be asking: Is there enough context in my talk to frame my conviction and deliver meaning?
Are you delivering as unconditionally as possible? Or do you really, really want the audience to think you are smart and inspirational and brilliant and the new Steve Jobs?
Our audiences owe us nothing.
I invite you to consider:
We as speakers are here to serve audiences with our clearest, most original, most resonant, most integrity-rich best.
I invite us to share ideas in this light, for an unconditional offering of a cherished idea is a beautiful thing.
Congrats for diving in and realizing the talk of your lifetime (I’ll dive in too!).
Really, really exciting.
What would you add to get your ideas off the ground, and into talk-of-a-lifetime shape?
That hilarious 80 second video is just one part of Social Media Week’s story!
It’s a worldwide festival where at least 12 cities across the globe are hosting events online (and offline too), looking at this question:
How have societies, cultures, and economies become more integrated & empowered through a global network of communication?
Want to learn more?
No matter where you are in the universe – if you have web access at your fingertips, you can engage with conversations and festivities by following #SMW12.
Look out! This is the inaugural year for DC as a host city. The dynamic team at iStrategyLabs is leading the way. And I’m excited to be an advisory board member too.
And are you in DC, ready for fun this week on Feb 15th?!
Please join Women Grow Business editorTinu Abayomi-Paul and good ole Live Your Talk this Wednesday, Feb 15, as we go offline to get social and have some fun in honor of the week.
How to RSVP for a soiree!
We’re celebrating women’s leadership in DC business and co-hosting a happy hour soiree.
and co-host Tinu Abayomi-Paul, longtime entrepreneur, founder of AskTinu, also doing strong work at the top ranked blog community of Women Grow Business hosted by Network Solutions.
…with congrats and appreciation to Bonnie Shaw over a iStrategyLabs who has been a leading DC voice for the festival (and a great steward for the advisory board here).
Look forward to seeing you along with these vibrant business minds!
And no matter where you are this week, enjoy – and please remember there’s a place for you in these worldwide events.
A 10 minute video tutorial on persuasive speaking, laughter, & yoga too…
After sifting through LiveYourTalk’s video archives, I edited one of my workshops into a shorter version. It’s based on a 4-prong approach to preparing persuasive presentations, plus tips for using more vocal flexibility and understanding the impact of silence.
Are you attending Blogworld this year? If so, by golly join us!
It will be a highly fun, highly interactive session and inspire results for any woman wanting to take the stage.
And wait – there’s more!
Think fun, prizes, and learning to:
Identify your strengths as a public speaker and how to articulate your expertise;
Learn how to craft a strong speaker proposal;
Strengthen your public speaking skills in a fun, supportive, and feedback-rich environment.
Then the second half combines the chance for attendees to practice their pitch in a fun American Idol-esque environment. For this part of the workshop, we’ll invite participants to pitch to the audience for a few minutes — then receive motivating feedback and ideas to take your proposal to its next level of success.
Going to BlogworldLA?
Then I (Aliza too) welcome you big time to this workshop.
And whether or not you’re going to Blogworld…
Have a great week….and in the spirit of our workshop, ’speak up’ and exercise your voice for the greater good wherever you may be.
What a great experience!
A long time goal has been to speak at Ignite, specifically the unique community for IgniteDC. This short-form style is a blast; the DC crowd is supportive and energetic. And I’ve enjoyed coaching clients on this format with my business sponsoring local events.
Ignite is flat out fun.
Have you ever participated in an Ignite event?
Ignite’s mantra is: “Enlighten us but make it quick.”
It’s a vibrant public speaking event with many venues across the globe. Sixteen speakers get to present at each — all giving a talk within the same format: 5 minutes about any topic using 20 slides. And the kicker: each slide automatically advances after 15 seconds.
Do you have favorite tips for preparing short-form presentation like Ignite?
Here’s an approach I often rely on:
TIP #1: focus on your spoken content first and the slides last.
Why? to avoid ‘conjunction-caption speak.’
Focusing on the spoken content first helps to establish a cohesive structure and arc for the talk.
What is your core message or messages?
How does one idea transition and support the next?
Where does the audience end up?
It addresses all those questions.
And it avoids an unintended problem many Ignite speakers have described when they focused on making their slides first: they ended up giving an Ignite talk that is a set of conjunction-caption-like phrases that come across as run-on sentences (vs a cohesive storytelling experience for their audience).
Fuzzy bunnies: an example of the unintended conjunction-caption-sounding result when speakers focus on preparing slides first (vs focusing on a story-centric whole):
“Fuzzy bunnies are happy and cute, see aren’t they cute? and fluffy and they bounce and then they eat a lot and I wish they could fly and drive space ships and they make great cartoons too.”
Have you heard a presentation that sounded this way?
Fuzzy bunnies with context:
Or here’s an example of focusing on the spoken content first and giving the audience a specific point of view (and then crafting slides after the fact to support your spoken content):
“Fuzzy bunnies are a great greeting card icon for 3 main reasons: they evoke sweetness; they’re fun; and they are innocently playful too which makes them ideal images to help celebrate children’s events.”
I’m having some goofy fun here with the bunnies, but the point:
Focusing on your spoken-word content first creates a clearer way for your audience to relate to your ideas.
TIP #2: Knowing the word count for a 5 minute talk.
I focused on a draft that was app. 640 words in length for a five minute talk.
After timing it, I divided app. 31 words to each slide and crafted the slide deck based on that.
Factoring in a reasonable speaking rate and pauses to give the audience a few seconds to absorb along the way — a 640 word draft worked.
Footnote:
Certainly speaking rates vary for all of us!
You may comfortably articulate at a swifter rate and speak closer to a 150 word per minute rate. But after testing and timing some of my past speeches, this is a comfortable rate on my end – with time for pauses factored in.
It served as a really useful framework for the spoken-word draft.
Speech history really fascinates me so I chose (3) speeches to share about and then wrote, edited!, and re-wrote.
Ignite invites a wide range of passions — philosophy, tech, education and how-to, and personal experience.
What’s topic drives you the most?
TIP #3: Rehearsing each section with a recorded audio device.
This really helped to understand and maintain timing along the way (and ensure the right messages and images were on the screen as desired). For rehearsals, I timed without slides first — via audio a few times to ensure the 5 minutes (or 4:55 for a buffer window). Then after making the slides, I timed a few sections via audio again to see if a particular section was overly delayed and needed editing.
What do you think? Is it time to dive into your next Ignite talk?! What other tips do you have for prep?
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?