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.

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?

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.fm or cinchcast.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?

This post was first published as a guest posting at the Spin Sucks blog. For strong and plentiful discussion about the social space and all facets of PR (…with plenty of humor too), Spin Sucks is a great online hub headed-up by Gini Dietrich and Lisa Gerber.

Shireen Mitchell, Nakeva Corothers, Lisa Byrne tech out while listening to conference speakers.

Posted via email from jillfoster’s posterous

Last week I spent time (great, wonderful time!) with the TEDx Princeton Library community, or @TEDxPrincetonPL on twitter, and keynoted their event supporting TEDWomen.

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.

In the meantime, what was your favorite TEDTalk from TEDWomen?

Image Mind Game by Claudio Schwarz, Creative Commons

It was fast, furious, fun, and a great conversation.

Image Conversation in Black by Pensiero, Creative Commons

It was the first time the #wgBiz hashtag trended in the DC region!

“It” is last week’s #wgBiz twitter chat where for one hour many from the Women Grow Business community talked shop on public speaking tips — all at warp twitter chat speed (full transcript here). Thanks to #wgBiz editor Shonali Burke for the fantastic chance to be a guest and guide the chat.

Energy from all the chatters could fuel Chicago for a week!
And below is a handful of questions and ideas that helped drive the discussion (with the full transcript per above link providing a strong road map to the entire conversation too).

Question 1:
What are the top 3 challenges presenters face when preparing for presentations/speaking engagements?

Answer 1: A few things come to mind — misunderstanding the audience; avoiding that nervous speech energy; pursuing perfectionism; and over emphasizing slides (vs really crafting a story for the speech narrative).

Question 2:
What are some favorite ways to help prepare for presentations?

Answer 2: Really hone in on knowing your audience and then construct a clear, brief, purposeful key message that addresses the audience’s need. There’s a favorite way that mobilizes this process: imagine you had just 60 seconds to impart value to an audience. What would that 60 seconds look like? Would you relate immediately with energized, precise content — or spend 45 seconds thanking the audience and expressing how glad you were to be there? Hint: Convey gratitude through valuable content and authentic, natural delivery. A list of thank yous inspires an audience’s brain to disengage.

Quick footnote:
Storyboard on a whiteboard answers to this question: what’s one story that exemplfies your key message and leads into key points?

Question 3:
What really influences a persuasive delivery, especially for women?

Answer 3: Speaking with vocal strength/versatility and good posture increases persuasiveness a lot, especially for female speakers.

Question 4 – from a chat participant: Where do I put my hands while speaking? What are ways to control gestures overall while on stage?

Answer 4: The most authentic suggestion to this I find is to step back briefly and consider your one-on-one conversation style. As example: when explaining a point of emphasis when the audience is just one or a few, how would you naturally underscore the point? Would you naturally clasp hands together? or would you actually use silent pauses to frame the specific point and draw more attention to the statement? Or would your voice slow and deepen, excluding hand gestures completely?

Footnote:
Even though the energy exchange is much more aggressive and accelerated when speaking to a group, re-connecting with natural conversational gestures can be more natural than ‘forcing’ a particular gesture or approach to emphasize key points. Let gesturing unfold along with the story’s build in the speech.

One huge factor brought up in the chat was relating to audiences authentically and with sincerity. Many folks shared great wisdom about audiences and how they can quickly detect an insincere speaker.

Bottom line: If presenters don’t convey authenticity or sense of care, then why should an audience care or be convinced?

Question for you:
What experiences or favorite tips do you have that have shaped your public speaking strength?

Thanks for a fantastic time and brainstorm at last week’s!

More resources:

• Presentation Zen (thanks Nakeva Corothers for that reminder)
• Olivia Mitchell’s blog at Speaking About Presenting
• Public speaking tips referred by Lynne Phillips

And reminder to save the date:
The next @wgbiz chat: Dec. 13, 12-1 pm ET with featured guest and Chief Troublemaker Joanna Pineda with Matrix Group International.

This post was submitted as a guest write-up to Women Grow Business.

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?)?

After hours of strong, resourceful, on-fire conversations – by the end of the day not even the sky could stop the momentum of ideas at this year’s WomenWhoTech Telesummit.

Image Orange Sky by Nick Humphries, Creative Commons.

Holy Awesome Event Batman…and some recaps

Last Wednesday, Allyson Kapin hosted the third annual WomenWhoTech Telesummit that left hundreds of women leaders, technologists, and business professionals enlightened worldwide. Fantastic and deep recaps of the experience now fill the blogosphere with as example: Liminal States and the ever insightful and inclusive view from Jon Pincus ) and Sue Anne Reed’s key takeways, plus Shellie Holubek’s own standouts and content suggestions for next year. Techcrunch CEO Heather Harde plus Tara Hunt, Cathy Brooks, Shireen Mitchell, and 20+ other awesome presenters joined the speaker slate and knocked all our conversational socks off.

Tips: taking on perfectionism, public speaking, and the pitch
Lightening talks launched #WWT this time i.e. four, 10 to 20 minute consecutive conversations. I was ecstatic to co-present the day’s opening discussion with Allyson: tools for public speaking in our Web 2.0 environment.

…with a debrief:

2 tips to transcend that public speech perfectionism
Does waiting for the perfect fund of knowledge derail your assertion to speak in public? Some ideas to assert this:

• 1. Engage your own stage 15 minutes weekly with social media tools. Start free-form talking to yourself into a smart phone’s audio device or casually interviewing peers via mobile audio platforms like Utterli or with accessible video cameras like the Flip. Podcast steadily. Keep this practice content published or unpublished, whichever.

  The goal: Gain confidence in and awareness for your public conversation ability.

• 2. Commit to regular, impromptu Q&A with a trusted peer(s) regarding topics that compel you. Confront that feeling of “deer-headlights-don’t-know-answer.”

  The goal: Strengthen flexibility in your impromptu engagement style. Develop the ability to own it publicly when an answer is unknown and continue to lead the audience dynamic despite this.

5 tips for pitching to speaker selection committees

• 1. Commit to submitting steadily to panel and conference speaker selection committees — even if they thank you with rejection emails. It’s the Olympic numbers game here…pitch, pitch, submit, submit.
• 2. Invite known industry leaders to join your panelist slates.
• 3. Know at the beginning of the year (well before conference season) the industry conferences / events at which you want to be a featured speaker. Then document submission due dates for speaker selection committees (engage and learn from past speakers at said events and past selection committees if possible).
• 4. Create and publish shareable clips of your public conversations. Whether presenting in live audiences or conversation in podcasting talks, capture that content – even if it’s casual/social – and submit to selection committees.
• 5. Request endorsements for your public speaking ability and publish on LinkedIn and main online hub. Former audience members – even mentors or colleagues – are open game to solicit and publish great reviews.

  The goal: Execute a strategic approach to public speaking. Make your skill and champion topics visibly accessible for pitch decision makers.

2 tips on mental fortitude and public speech

• Perfectionism isn’t the end game, but participation is.
• At the heart of public speaking (and thus conversational leadership) is a willingness to give and receive attention – through content you give a distinct damn about.

There were added suggestions and recaps in the above cited event posts too.

What an energizing exchange and day.

What do you think?

What would you add?

Posted via email from jillfoster’s posterous