Powerpoint is Evil Webinar for LexBlog
Tomorrow, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time, don't miss my free webinar "PowerPoint is Evil: But If You're Going to Use it, Use it Well" for LexBlog.
My Favorite Speeches
Today I gave my favorite 3 hour Powerful Public Speaking training seminar for the New Mexico Bar Association. At the program an attendee asked me what my favorite three speeches of all time were. Believe it or not, I've never been asked that question.
It is actually very hard for me to narrow my favorites down to three speeches for several reasons. First, I don't remember every speech I have heard or read, even the great ones. Second, there are many many speeches I have found to be off the charts fantastic at the time I heard or read them, but I have never actually sat down and created a list of my own. I have several books, however, listing and re-publishing the top "xx" speeches; I guess it's time to go back to them.
Off the top of my head I cited two of my most favorite speeches, both of which have occurred in the last 50 years.
1) Martin Luther King's, "I have a Dream," given in 1963 at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington. If you'd like to hear it, or read it, you can find it in a million places online, but my favorite isAmerican Rhetoric: "I Have A Dream."
Not surprisingly on American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches list, MLK's "I Have a Dream" also ranks #1. That list was created by some of the most famous and esteemed faculty of Communications, Martin Medhurst and Steven Lucas. I recall working from both of their texts back when I was studying for my Masters in Communication and when I was teaching undergrads how to speak in public.
The original publication of Lucas' andMedhurst's Top 100 Speeches list can be found at the University of Wisconsin - Madison's website.
I'm not going to go in to why I love MLK's I have a Dream speech right now, maybe later. I will just say - read it. Listen to it. Then read it again. Sometimes the audio recordings aren't great. But when you read it, you'll see his use of rhetorical techniques. The turns of phrases he uses are poetic and they make the listener think. Not just his use of repetition, but also analogy, metaphor, antithesis. He was a brilliant speaker, no question about it. And this is my favorite speech.
I recently read a very interesting book about the history of this speech in particular, written by the son of someone in one of my audiences. I am traveling right now, but as soon as I can I will find that book and give you the information.
And my second favorite speech? (At least right now)
2) Obama's nomination speech of John Kerry when Kerry ran against Bush W. Great speech, great delivery, made his political career skyrocket right into the presidency as I expected (though several terms before I expected it).
I didn't have a third speech to offer up today when asked the question, but I should have. And, like all good speakers, I though of it after the fact.
I don't know if this is my all time #3 speech, but it's up there. It was delivered in the 1800's by Abby Kelley Foster.
Abby Kelley was a suffragist before the famous suffragists. And she was an abolitionist before she was a suffragist. She was courageous, outspoken and a pioneer. You can read Abby Kelley's bio on Civil War Women Blog.
Her "Bloody Feet" speech was moving and powerful. I don't have it here either since I am still in New Mexico, but will write more about it at a later time. The quotable quote from that speech is,
Bloody feet, Sisters, have worn smooth the path by which you come hither.
There was a great book written by Dorothy Sterling about Abby Kelley quite some time ago called "Ahead of Her Time."
It's worth the read.
Upcoming ABA Premier Speaker Series Free Webinar
On Monday December 19th at 1:00 Central Time, Rick Levin and I will be presenting a webinar entitled "Powerful Public Speaking In and Out of Court."
This is for the ABA's new Premier Speaker CLE Series and is free to ABA Members. 1.5 CLE units are available.
Sign up for their announcements if you are a member of the ABA. They expect to have some outstanding speakers during the next 12 months.
Cross post of recent speech analysis on Forbes Blog: She Negotiates
For a quickie analysis I did of President Obama's debt speech yesterday (given September 19, 2011), see Victoria Pynchon's blog post: "Yes You Can! Speak Better than Obama."
Victoria is one of the authors of the Forbes blog She Negotiates. Check out Victoria and Lisa Gate's website, She Negotiates, for great negotiation skills seminars and training.
CLE Speakers NEED Public Speaking Training
This past week I spoke at a State Bar convention. I had a great audience (with a few of the usual exceptions, to be blogged about next), and I had fun giving the presentation.
I presented a shortened version of one of my attorney speaking seminars "Improving your Public Speaking Skills." The host of the event invited my company to exhibit in exchange for my presentation, which was great because I (and my staff) stayed for a great deal longer than usual and we had much more interaction with the event attendees as well.
While walking around the exhibit hall for 2.5 days I chatted up a bunch of the attendees. And, unfortunately,
the consensus was that the vast majority of speakers at the annual convention needed public speaking training - before they presented their CLEs to the bar attendees.
I know this is a pretty common issue, since I used to be a practicing attorney and I know how bad CLE programs can get. Additionally, my company puts on 60 - 70 CLE ligitation skills training programs per year; so I even know that some speakers are resistant to public speaking training and suggestions for improvement.
What I don't understand is why bar associations don't make the investment and offer training programs, or DVDs, to the attorneys who are going to speak at the bar's annual event. It's a small investment compared to the event budget and income and the rewards always outweigh the cost.
I understand that not all of the speakers will take you up on your offered training, but enough of them will to make a difference and to cut down on attendees' dissapointment and complaints.
Not surprisingly several attendees told me they weren't sure they would return the next year due to the quality of presentations they saw.
Here is an open plea to bar associations:
You don't have to hire me to train your CLE speakers at your annual events, but you do have to hire someone. Or at least license someone's training program to distribute to your speakers.
Or maybe even just buy Garr Reynold's Presentation Zen or Nancy Duarte's Slide:ology in bulk and send them off to all CLE speakers booked for your annual event. Yes, I really wish I'd written one of these books 20 years ago when I first started complaining about Power Point.
Seriously, do something!
Word of the Day: Meanderthal
Today when I was reading Entrepreneur Magazine, I came across this word listed under their Jargon column:
Meanderthal: a person who has great difficulty expressing themselves succinctly, often giving long, unfocused presentations.
It got a great laugh out of me! I LOVE it! And like all good magazines that provide examples of their newly defined words, Entrepreneur provides this one:
I want to gouge my eyes out every time the office meanderthal pulls up a Power Point.
Too funny!
Not sure I have to comment much on this, other than to use it as an illustration of the fact that people:
- don't like it when others take forever to get to the point, especially in a business setting, i.e. meander all over the place
- don't like it when others use Power Point to take forever to get to the point
If this sounds familiar to you, as in you might be guilty of communicating in this fashion, it is time to learn how to be organized and succinct. It is also probably time to give up the Power Point addiction, even if everyone else uses it. Trust me, your colleagues and audiences will thank you and will like your presentations a lot more.
Improving your Public Speaking: State Bar of California Convention Long Beach
On Friday September 16th I am presenting a 90 minute speech that will help attorneys improve their public speaking skills, in or out of court.
This is the second year in a row that the California Bar Association has asked me to speak at their annual convention. Handout materials, including 1 page tip sheets, are in the State Bar's handout book for the convention. I'll be raffling off 2 Public Speaking DVDs and I have chocolate:
70 LSP
Public Speaking for Attorneys
Back by popular demand - Faith Pincus will present this essential workshop on public skills. “There's always room for improvement” and a lawyers' public speaking skills should be at the top of that list. Learn ways to improve your presentation skills, and how to use your voice, words and body to enhance your legal presentation style.
Friday, September 16, 2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m
CLE: 1.5 Hours
Long Beach Convention Center. See signs or registration materials for room location
We will also have a booth in the exhibit hall: Booth #430. I will be doing free public speaking coaching sessions while I am at the booth.
We will also be raffling off:
- CLE programs
- Finz Case Summary Subscriptions
- Public Speaking DVDS
And, we'll have a maseusse there to give foot massages in the afternoon on Thursday and Friday.
Lexblog Client Webinar on Delivery 9/14
As LexBlog's Founder, Kevin O'Keefe, is fond of saying, one of the goals of blogging is to get more speaking engagements. Unfortunately, most people are not taught the skills they need to present effectively.
Join the LexBlog's Director of Client Services, Lyda Hawes, and me, at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) on September 14 for a free program on "Improving your Delivery." This free hourlong program is the third in a series of four webinars that I am presenting to LexBlog clients on public speaking for attorneys.
"Improving your Delivery" will touch upon:
• Tips to help you improve your delivery style with a more dynamic and effective delivery.
• Using visual aids to your advantage.
• The best use of handouts and how to avoid speaker's death by handout.
• How your image and style affects your audience.
• And, if time, the best way to handle questions and answers (in or out of court).
Rhetorical Techniques: Sample Analogy
Now that I'm on a Rhetorical Technique roll, here's a great sample of an analogy I found while reading The Week on the plane to Boston last Saturday in an article by Charles Fishman. The article is an extract from Fishman's 2011 book, The Big Thirst. It appears in the July 29th Print Edition of the news aggregation magazine called The Week, in their column called "The Last Word."
This is a paraphrase of the analogy, since I managed to misplace the page I ripped out of the magazine. But the fact that I can remember even a paraphrase of something I read on a plan 10 days ago, when I can barely remember what I ate for lunch these days, shows how effective the analogy is:
The United States uses 5.7 billion gallons of water every day, to flush the toilet. 5.7 billion gallons of water every day. That's a hard number to get your mind around, so what does it mean? It means that the United States flushes the same amount of water every day that the UK and Canada, combined, use for all of their daily household water needs.
Why is this a great sample?
Because the author is dead on. It's impossible for the average human being to have any grasp of the meaning of that quantity of water. 5.7 Billion Gallons a day? What does that look like?
By telling us what it means - what it looks like - we can understand the concept and we can appreciate how devastating a number like that is.
Americans flush more water down the toilet every single day than all of the UK and Canada combined uses for all of their household uses? Seriously? 
That's a pretty significant comparison. Enough to make me think about an issue that I rarely thought about before.
And it is a comparision that is guaranteed to have an impact upon its readers (or listeners).
That's the type of comparison you want to use when talking with an audience about numbers that are incomprehensible. Create an analogy (research your facts and get it right) so that you bring the incomprehensible down to the knowable and relateable in your speech and you will keep your audience with you instead of losing them.
Oh, and the first person to pull out the Antithesis in my prior blog post and note it in the comments below gets a free copy of my Public Speaking for Attorneys DVD (worth $395). I just want to see if you're paying attention. :-)
Why do I need to say this: Don't chew gum when speaking in public. Really?
I just wrapped up a 10 day business/speaking trip in three cities: Boston, Chicago and Toronto. And if you have to be away from home for 10 days, those are great cities to visit!
I gave three presentations during the trip - two at ACLEA (the American Continuing Legal Education Association) in Boston and one at the ABA's National Convention in Toronto. And I mean it Australia... I'll waive my speaking fee if you pay my travel - you're on my bucket list to visit!
Anyway, I had a blast!
Speaking in public is what I love to do and this particular trip was especially fun. I met a ton of great folks and had some wonderful, interesting conversations. A judge from Toronto stayed after my program to chat for almost an hour about speaking skills and teaching younger students at law schools. And there were at least five or six international attendees, including Spain, France, Poland, Australia, Italy and I can't remember where else.
International bar associations take note: For the next year or so, I''ll waive my speaking fees just for the fun of getting to travel internationally again, if my travel is picked up for at least 4 days.
But back to the point of this blog...
I received a follow up email earlier this week from the Managing Editor of a large legal publication, who will remain anonymous. He was very sweet in his compliments about my program and then he went on to write something hilarious and a bit surprising.
He said:
You offered a terrific program. It’s very interesting how the structure of a good oral presentation is the same as a good written article: short statement to start; a cogent intro; the main body in which one makes specific points followed by examples; and then a strong conclusion.
Unfortunately, after attending your program, I was attuned to spotting only the flaws in the other presentations, and it became very, very painful.
Please inform future classes that they must never chew gum or use the word “like.” It is impossibly irritating.
Ok, I'll admit, I added the bold.
Yes, someone at the ABA National Convention was actually chewing gum while speaking to an audience and someone else was saying "like" enough during their presentation to irritate my new colleague.
I could go on and on about why you shouldn't do either of these things, but that would be kind of silly. Frankly this is one of those times when it is obvious and and while I strive not to be snarky on my blog, all I can think to say is...
chewing gum while speaking.... really? seriously?
