When You Speak, Plan to Be Spontaneous

Here's the problem.  Too many speeches are over planned, overloaded, and over scripted.  The results?  To audiences, the speakers come across as robotic and remote.  Big turn off.

 

Audiences don't want words and pictures.  They want you.  A real, flesh-and-blood person.  If the audience wanted just words and pictures, your speech would be an article in print or on the Web.

 

One thing you can depend on is that audiences love good stories.  Stories organize and illustrate big, complex ideas -- and make them memorable.  So plan to tell stories that wrap around your big ideas.

 

But don't script your stories!  Instead, just tell them -- as if you were having a conversation with your best friend.

 

Let's say your big idea is "becoming your customer's trusted advisor."  To show how this works, tell a story from your own experience.

 

Your script has a line like this, highlighted in yellow: (Tell the "customer-who-couldn't-decide" story).

 

Since this is your story, tell it in your own words.  The words don't have to be smooth, polished, and honed to perfection.  In fact, a little rough-around-the-edges is an energizing change of pace for the audience.

 

But when you come to the moral of the story -- your big idea -- have that line scripted.  "So, early in my career, I learned an important lesson from that customer who couldn't decide.  In the end, the customer is in the driver's seat.  My job, as his trusted advisor, is not to grab the wheel -- but to help navigate around the pitfalls and get us to the right destination."

 

Audiences like a story.  They like it even more when it's your story.  Tell it to them in your own words.  That's how your story becomes authentic and memorable.  And that's how audiences remember your big idea.

 

Comments

[Terry Gault]

Pete,

You are absolutely right: one of the best ways to seem genuine, accessible, and interesting during presentations is to use personal stories.

Using stories in presentations are beneficial in numerous ways. For instance, stories help you get into the “zone” of presenting. You are intimately familiar with the material and it’s easy to be more animated with an energetic, expressive voice and gestures when telling a story. I always suggest that you practice telling the story to friends and family members in informal settings. Continue to refine it to its most compact, crystallized form by selecting the pertinent details and then letting those details vividly delivered with expressive non-verbal behavior do the work. I GUARANTEE that you will find that storytelling will transform your professional and personal communications in powerful and pleasurable ways.

One thing to watch out for with telling stories is that you need to make it relevant. One way to do this is to weave your background and resume into a story. You will get to tout your experience while also gaining attention and building rapport. Use personal stories to make points. These are the elements that can make a story effective.
• Common reference points
• Characters
• Recognizable archetypes (Cheerleader, Office Gossip, The Grouch, Office Clown, Geek, Petty Gatekeeper, etc.)
• Conflict
• Details
• Dialog between characters
• A good segue back to your topic

Another good ideas is to fashion personal stories that show you in a vulnerable light (when you were struggling as a young sales rep, at your first job out of college, etc.) They will help you gain empathy and get the audience rooting for you.

Thanks for the post!

[Terry Gault]

Pete,

You are absolutely right: one of the best ways to seem genuine, accessible, and interesting during presentations is to use personal stories.

Using stories in presentations are beneficial in numerous ways. For instance, stories help you get into the “zone” of presenting. You are intimately familiar with the material and it’s easy to be more animated with an energetic, expressive voice and gestures when telling a story. I always suggest that you practice telling the story to friends and family members in informal settings. Continue to refine it to its most compact, crystallized form by selecting the pertinent details and then letting those details vividly delivered with expressive non-verbal behavior do the work. I GUARANTEE that you will find that storytelling will transform your professional and personal communications in powerful and pleasurable ways.

One thing to watch out for with telling stories is that you need to make it relevant. One way to do this is to weave your background and resume into a story. You will get to tout your experience while also gaining attention and building rapport. Use personal stories to make points. These are the elements that can make a story effective.
• Common reference points
• Characters
• Recognizable archetypes (Cheerleader, Office Gossip, The Grouch, Office Clown, Geek, Petty Gatekeeper, etc.)
• Conflict
• Details
• Dialog between characters
• A good segue back to your topic

Another good ideas is to fashion personal stories that show you in a vulnerable light (when you were struggling as a young sales rep, at your first job out of college, etc.) They will help you gain empathy and get the audience rooting for you.

Thanks for the post!

[Terry Gault]

Pete,

You are absolutely right: one of the best ways to seem genuine, accessible, and interesting during presentations is to use personal stories.

Using stories in presentations are beneficial in numerous ways. For instance, stories help you get into the “zone” of presenting. You are intimately familiar with the material and it’s easy to be more animated with an energetic, expressive voice and gestures when telling a story. I always suggest that you practice telling the story to friends and family members in informal settings. Continue to refine it to its most compact, crystallized form by selecting the pertinent details and then letting those details vividly delivered with expressive non-verbal behavior do the work. I GUARANTEE that you will find that storytelling will transform your professional and personal communications in powerful and pleasurable ways.

One thing to watch out for with telling stories is that you need to make it relevant. One way to do this is to weave your background and resume into a story. You will get to tout your experience while also gaining attention and building rapport. Use personal stories to make points. These are the elements that can make a story effective.
• Common reference points
• Characters
• Recognizable archetypes (Cheerleader, Office Gossip, The Grouch, Office Clown, Geek, Petty Gatekeeper, etc.)
• Conflict
• Details
• Dialog between characters
• A good segue back to your topic

Another good ideas is to fashion personal stories that show you in a vulnerable light (when you were struggling as a young sales rep, at your first job out of college, etc.) They will help you gain empathy and get the audience rooting for you.

Thanks for the post!