Here’s an audio snapshot just below about presenting at Blogworld (or a written summary follows soon after on Blogworld reflections and questions about speaking in public):
‘A’ Game as public speakers (and you?)
There’s a big adrenaline rush on this end of the webz to head out to NYC for the Blogworld East New Media Expo. I’m thrilled to co-facilitate a workshop this year about empowering women to bring their ‘A’ game as public speakers with the motivating and motivated Aliza Sherman.
We’ll approach the session from a few angles:
how to develop speaker proposals and submit on a regular basis to conference selection committees (plus some coping mechanisms for those icky rejection notices);
how to enact a practice plan to strengthen as a speaker (and specifically practice your key message and assert public conversations long before it’s time to officially engage an audience from the stage).
At Blogworld Expo East this week? Here’s an invitation for you!
Have a super time at Blogworld and know you have a hearty invitation to join us Thur, May 26th at 9am for our session officially called: Speak Up – empowering women to find their voice. Our session’s specific hashtag is: #BWEvoice
Your favorite tips and strengths as a speaker: would you share?
What favorite tips do you practice in preparing for a speech — when organizing content or delivery or any aspect of stage preparation?
And what are your favorite attributes as a presenter? As in, do you love the sound of your voice or vocal range? Do you get an addictive kick out of storytelling and make an audience feel at ease? Are you a maestro at creating media decks or stimulating a sense of momentum in your narrative?
DISCLAIMER to readers: Darth Vader was not harmed in this recording.
She just gave a great speech on the benefits and stress from having so many available choices.
She has resolve, success, and a great depth of reflection.
She’s got one heck of a sense of humor, is a Women Grow Business blogger — and she’s a clear winner too.
This ’she’ is Ann Bevans, a business owner and prize winner of this year’s case study competition for the Hot Mommas Project.
The Hot Mommas Project is an online mentorship library for women and girls, comprised of case studies accessible for free. People from across the globe submit case studies reflecting their life experience about entrepreneurship and different professional industries.
What challenges did they face?
What decisions or fears or obstacles helped to crystalize their success?
These questions are often framed and answered in the most personal and triumphant ways in these case studies.
Ann’s case study won top honors this year, revealing her sense of purpose for her business and resolve to look at specific choices.
In this video talk: Darth Vader talks shop.
And Ann shares more on what compelled her to write her case study. Her potent acceptance speech was a hot topic too, looking at the trials of choice in & beyond business — all this from the Hot Momma’s Awards Ceremony earlier this week.
It was a fantastic evening last night where I presented on favorite tips and mindsets for preparing persuasive speeches. This was my first time to present to a great membership forum here in Washington, DC — the Fabulous Women Biz Owners founded by Sarah Massey.
This was such a rejuvenating night — great, tenacious folks.
Here’s 13 minutes from my talk that includes:
a 4-prong approach to preparing persuasive presentations plus using vocal flexibility and understanding the impact of silence.
I co-hosted the workshop with the fantastic Jessica Solomon, founder of Spark Creativity. She led a segment on creating an authentic elevator pitch (or what she calls ‘cocktail line’) with some really reflective, thought provoking recommendations.
Hello!: Want today’s post via audio cast instead? Just click the embedded player immediately following or read on for the written post.
One thing struck hard and lingered on my mind from last week’s IgniteDC event. And that is: few things resonate with an audience like a story that’s difficult to tell.
That’s not to say at all that the easy story lines aren’t effective or don’t appeal with those listening.
Difficult stories provide emotional scope and depth that often forges trust.
For instance, telling an audience about your daughter’s favorite purple dress relates on a lighter level than a more emotionally expanded scope. That may seem so obvious yet at the same time, when it comes to crafting a speech, emotional clarity and honesty can be game changers. As in – a more resonant emotional reach could come from sharing a story of, say, how for seven months last year your family could only afford two new dresses for your 10 year-old because money was that tight.
Certainly selecting stories and anecdotes depends on what the audience craves (and which parts of your experience can meet that craving). Yet achieving the audience’s needs still involves a human exchange.
Emotional honesty is core to our human infrastructure. And within that premise, sharing what’s hard to emotionally disclose often more freely creates allegiance between a speaker and audience.
Facing educational failure, death, and psychological trauma.
That was the range of subjects which made up last week’s IgniteDC lineup; at times the speakers’ vulnerability was palpabile. That emotional openness drew us all in as we identified with the scary ground the speakers had walked. It was the most compelling night as a whole of content for an IgniteDC (there have been five other programs hosted before this one).
3 other byproducts of telling vulnerable or difficult stories:
1. It makes your uniqueness clear as a speaker (especially with a speaker slate where numerous will present).
2. It provides context and contrast to the arc of your speech. That contrast is a natural mechanism for capturing the audience’s attention.
3. It creates common ground between you and the audience (haven’t we all felt emotionally raw or like failures or angst-ridden?).
Not every speaking opportunity is naturally conducive to the stories you may want to impart. What the audience desires to learn is paramount. Delivering to them also means observing their emotional state in general (so certain venues may not be the place to disclose a life threatening illness, as example).
Yet if there’s a chance to authentically increase emotional resonance, an audience will most always appreciate your honest risk.
What the heck is an IgniteDC event? And why is it so snazzy?
a 15 second story: Live Your Talk is a grateful sponsor of this fun night and here’s a 15 second audio story below about Ignite’s energy and great mission – warning: there’s some vocal playfulness involved…
…an on-the-go photo from tonight’s workshop led by CompassPoint CEO Nicolette Pizzitola. Topic: process to set service and product pricing.
Great crowd and questions with super research & formula ideas from Nicolette. Meeting up at these Fabulous Women Business Owners events is regularly a useful, fun time.
It’s been an ongoing meditative exercise since giving the TEDx talk last Tuesday…pondering questions like:
What worked while preparing for this TEDx talk?
…with a more vulnerable follow-up question: what was excruciatingly difficult to prepare (and why?!)?
There was a lot of pure nuts-n-bolts process to this speech; at the same time – it was one of the most fulfilling yet absolutely gut wrenchingly difficult speeches to deliver. Heck, not just deliver but to cull out.
For starters, there was a huge mental wrestling with the TED brand plus internal feuds with my ego; there were so many re-writes that it seemed moving to Alaska to instead cut wood for a living would be the best career move (…vs plugging along in what seemed a sea of obscurity in discerning a story arc); there were many brainstorms with speech coaches; there were unexpected decisions with slide decks.
Whew Nellie!
Some parts of this were expected but so many aspects of preparation I did not foresee.
And it all comes down to an unforeseen mind game where my perceptions of storytelling came head-to-head with the daunting TED brand.
It was all humbling and energizing all at once. Not to mention that through the whole experience, the patience of my husband was crystalized in renewed vibrance.
The recesses of my brain are sorting out core details to this strange, satisfying, wrestle-of-a-process. And I look forward to conveying more (and learning from your thoughts) in the next week.
TEDx communities across the globe will convene independent programs in honor of TED’s first TEDWomen Conference (which will be held next week in Washington, DC); the speaker slate is dynamo to say the least.
Do you plan to attend DC’s event or a live streamed program of motivating discussions and ideas worth spreading?
A TEDx story and how the social web inspired introductions:
During this year’s WomenWhoTech Telesummit, I had the pleasure of meeting Janie Hermann on Twitter; Janie founded the TEDxPrincetonLibrary series and expressed interest in celebrating TEDWomen through a locally hosted program. She and her team then put ideas in motion!
I can’t wait to participate in a day of robust conversation at TEDxPrincetonLibrary’s event and present about the night’s timely theme: women and technology in the age of conversation.
The beautiful Princeton Library will host (where TEDWomen will be live streamed and discussed throughout December 7th and 8th).
This particular TEDx event (or @TEDxPrincetonPL on Twitter) will also include a lightning speaker round on 12/7th, showcasing tremendous business leaders Holly Landau, Katie DeVito, Hilary Morris, and Melissa Klepacki. Each will share how they cultivate socially aware brands.
Wait!
…there’s more that night: the smooth, lyrical voice of Sara Donner will perform too.
Want to join us? Please do!
RSVP right here for a super meeting of the minds and enjoy the TEDWomen Conference via live stream. Participate in (and energize) discussions addressing how women and girls are reshaping the future. All this is complimentary to the public at TEDxPrincetonLibrary so please RSVP while seats last (there’s a small fee for dinner, should your appetite get inspired too).
Participating in the superhero-like TEDxPotomac this year with curator Michelle Hoffman created the most incredible memories. I look forward to more ideas worth spreading at this TEDx next week.
If you had 18 minutes, what would be your one big idea to share?
