Today’s post is available via a 2 minute audio clip; or the written content follows too just below.

Frustration, frustration frustration.

A few colleagues and clients recently shared they were mentally caving to frustration. They were preparing for their next talk and realized: they didn’t know what to say.

They have deep funds of knowledge.

They have specific and creative expertise.

They’ve been speaking to public audiences on and off for years.

They are intelligent, driven people with plenty to offer a range of listeners.

Yet their ideas were stuck, as in really stuck…like an elephant caught in spandex. As in, no idea and no sense of permission were escaping the inner workings of their mind.

The ‘It’s Not Good Enough” syndrome: a common cause of blocked ideas
In each conversation with these great professionals one trait unified each person’s predicament: in every attempt to even casually brainstorm a point of view for their speech — each person immediately criticized themselves. Whatever idea they tossed out as a potential vantage point from which to develop their presentation – it wasn’t good enough to them.

Image Unstuck by MC, Creative Commons

Getting beyond cycles of criticism: a 20 minute exercise to help
Even with heaps of expertise to draw from and share, this often happens — that cycle of ideas/delete/ideas/delete.

This whirlwind of self-criticism builds off itself, making the self-perception of “my ideas aren’t good enough” as the only type of creative development possible.

This is a cycle to break.

For our ideas to progress as public speakers at this type of crossroads, the main goal (stat!) is to create a sense of permission with how we express (and assert) ideas.

Here’s a favorite exercise to get unstuck:

1. Set your timer for 20 minutes.
Your iPhone, Android, or old time tomato timer on the stove. Please grab it and set it for 20 minutes.

2. Commit to zero self-criticism.
Before diving into this exercise, dedicate your mind to a criticism-free zone. Grant full authority to your hand, the pen it is about to hold, and the paper it will write on.

2a. Which leads to: turn off your computer and find paper and a pen.

3. Start the timer.

4. Then write down at least (3) assertions in 20 minutes — one or two sentences each — about your expertise and related to the gist of your speech.
Keep writing until the timer rings.

Judge not, judge not, just write write write. And ideally: consider these assertions as points of view too. As in, write down what you hold true about your industry with your expertise in mind, again in one or two sentences per assertion.

Start each assertion with the words “I believe…” if that helps to dislodge thought.

Raw example:
“I believe public speaking is a self-assertion game and a clarity game…and it takes time to achieve both.”*

*Is that a run-on sentence? Yes. Is it perfect grammar? No. Is it an assertion that I hold true as a public speaking professional? Yes.

Does it satisfy the perimeters of this exercise? You bet.

Because the goal is to get unstuck, out of your mind, away from delete-every-idea-syndrome and onto the page before you.

Another raw example:
“I believe social content is an interactive and strong way to build community online.”
or… “I believe public relations means stimulating social voice around your company.”

How about you?
What tactical ways help you liberate creativity when preparing for a speech (and abandon self-criticism with ideas)?

More ideas you might like:

• 3 ways to prepare an Ignite talk with help from fuzzy bunnies, word counts, and passion;
• How to energize your stage presence with social apps;
• The sobering truth about what an audience remembers by Olivia Mitchell.

There are so many great ideas on how to start a video blog and express one’s self to the camera. From the perspective of growing as a public speaker, I heartily see videoblogging as a fantastic development tool.

It exercises our ideas, our vocal control, how we handle vulnerability (and can be a strong teacher for stage presence). Love me some video blogs. And this morning, new videoblogger Lisa Byrne published her first video with a lot of honesty.

I really enjoyed it because of her genuine, comical nature which she shared.

Her video also demonstrated these three tips for getting a video blog off the ground (which can apply to shaping your mindset when talking to the camera in general).

And the 3 tips are:

1. Seek honesty vs perfection.
The camera is a 100% truth finder. Faking it? It sees it. Doubting your ideas or words? The camera (and thus audience) sees that too. She (Lisa) didn’t shy away from the fact she was nervous about talking to the camera. Expressing her anxiety openly fit into the topic of her overall video blog.

2. Assert clear intent.
Did Lisa have a distinct message, as if giving a media Q&A? No and that was absolutely fine (and more natural). She did however assert clear, simple intent and purpose for the video i.e. to share her big goals to improve physically and professionally.

3. Create momentum through editing, a layered viewpoint, or storyboarded structure.
Stimulating energy in the cut itself can be done with different editing decisions. It can be achieved by showing enthusiasm and conviction for your topic. Choosing a specific content structure enables energy to come across too. This was Lisa’s approach: choosing a simple consecutive structure. Lisa conveys uncertainty about her structure in the video itself. It works however.

She relayed one-by-one different goals she wants to accomplish this year. That added vocal variety and thus stimulus from an audience’s vantage point (yet without losing focus on the main purpose of her cut).

What ideas and tips do you like to use when “getting your video blog on?”

More ideas:

• from Steve Garfield on YouTube’s editing tools and video’s impact;
• from Joanna Pineda and me where we talk shop on quick videoblogging tips (from her Matrix Minute video series);
• from Simple Vlogging Tips and their 7 editing tricks.

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.

As for this part of the world, I can’t wait for later this week on Nov. 4th in LA because….

We’re BACK!

Blogworld’s “Speak Up!” public speaking workshop returns to take BWELA by storm.
And I’m co-presenting it with the ever strong, supportive speaker and Media Egg founder Aliza Sherman.

Our workshop’s hashtag? #BWEvoice.

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.

So a few weeks ago, it was a wonderful thrill to speak at IgniteDC #8 with some great speakers.

3 tips to prepare: passion meets mathematics.

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?

Resources:

• Short-form presentations and telling the story that’s difficult to tell;
• the passionate hack-the-slides wisdom of Scott Berkin
• the 10 hour process from Olivia Mitchell
• the storytelling focus of Shonali Burke

Our human voices are riveting sources of sound.
What is it about the human voice that can capture attention and create allure like no other sound out there? It can express and evoke any type of mood or energy, a demand for attention, certitude, warmth — and at times, all that in a single conversation. Our voice, its tonal flexibility, and good ole inflection powers are addictive.

Image Orange Mood by Pensiero, Creative Commons

The voice and influencing conversations
The inherent enchantment of our voice can often be one of those traits that go unnoticed by ourselves. So the ability to assert conversational impact has a decent chance to being underused.

What could elevate awareness of how the voice can influence what we communicate?

3 scenarios to ensure the voice resonates intended impact

• 1. For when your voice sounds like a question when a sense of command is intended:
  

  Often I observe people (many are women) who have striking funds of knowledge and career achievement, yet in conversation (one-on-one or sometimes in public speech dynamics) – the ending tone of their voice communicates uncertainty. It sounds like a question is being asked – where that ending vocal note increases half an octave. Yet they are actually making an emphatic statement – not a query. This vocal practice or ‘uptalk’ can be perceived as neediness vs confidence in one’s own credibility.

  How to fix it:
  Is this something your voice exercises? If unsure, ask trusted listeners or audience members if this trait is apart of your conversational style. If so, practice making your voice a consistent tone by recording your voice via a smart phone audio device. Consciously focus attention on being present-minded when presenting; exert continuity of tone -or- decrease vocal tone to convey a more authoritative tenor.

• 2. For when your voice is critiqued as too soft or less authoritative.
  Have bosses or colleagues suggested after meetings (or live audiences after public speeches) that you could sound more authoritative? Years ago, I received such feedback and it’s an odd, vulnerable thing to hear.

  How to fix it:

  Learning how to exert your voice’s inherent flexibility is a great source of conversational leadership.

  Maintaining authenticity is certainly critical when projecting the voice; the goal is not to mutate into a different communications style and as example, start screaming at your audience.

  

  Image The Scream by NickeStamp, Creative Commons
  But gaining confidence in what your own booming voice sounds like can be a big game changer. Can you practice speaking from the diaphragm in an informal setting (or alone)? Can you role play with a trusted peer and practice this vocal assertion when stating professional opinions or presenting data or expressing a minority viewpoint? Record the different range and strength you can achieve with your voice.

• 3. For when your vocal pace during a speech hurries enunciation (and thus distracts from audience comprehension):
  A colleague and client recently admitted they often rush through enunciation when delivering public speeches, to the point key message and tone are often glossed over. She’s concerned about recent audience feedback and her perceived confidence.

  How to fix it:
  Rehearse your opening remarks yet in between each sentence – stop, inhale a deep, deep breath, exhale – then continue rehearsal of opening remarks. There’s another favorite exercise that may be morsels for another post. Yet what this initial practice puts into motion is a conscious cycle of exertion between enunciation, pause points, and breathing. It’s a method to remind the brain of its ability to manage conversational energy and thus, pace.

What’s your opinion?

What public speakers, presenters, radio hosts, or stage actors grip you when they speak?

How do they change or project their voice to make an impact (and what type of impact do they produce – more persuasive, emotive, alluring, assertive, or what else?)?

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.

Political speechwriter Lisa Schiffren said this about the process in the book On Speaking Well:

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?


Instagram photo by me.

]]> http://liveyourtalk.com/2011/07/quick-idea-for-writing-a-speech-scrap-the-outline/feed/ 1 http://liveyourtalk.com/2011/07/what-a-video-project-taught-about-getting-goofy-in-public/ http://liveyourtalk.com/2011/07/what-a-video-project-taught-about-getting-goofy-in-public/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:00:25 +0000 jillfoster http://liveyourtalk.com/?p=1858

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?


]]> http://liveyourtalk.com/2011/07/what-a-video-project-taught-about-getting-goofy-in-public/feed/ 0 http://liveyourtalk.com/2011/07/communicating-through-silence-a-10-second-video-experiment/ http://liveyourtalk.com/2011/07/communicating-through-silence-a-10-second-video-experiment/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:00:38 +0000 jillfoster http://liveyourtalk.com/?p=1872 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.

Then the practice inspired a curiosity.


Could practicing silence on video – for just a few seconds – create meditative benefits that were also shareable online?

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?

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