Speech Advice - Be Heard

Last week I had the misfortune of attending a "lecture" on the Eichmann Trial, in Palm Desert.  

I don't remember who put it on and I'm not going to mention the speakers by name because I don't want to embarrass them.  At least two were sweet older gentlemen and a third was an academic from Loyola Marymount (who seriously needs speaker training).

I will say, however, that I walked out of the lecture mid-way, after the third speaker.  Can't remember ever doing that.

Now why would I do that?  Because the speakers weren't speaking, they were ranting.  And even worse, they were ranting to the wrong audience.  The audience of probably 100+ attendees was made up of 50 - 80 year old Jews.  This is an audience who already knows the damage of the holocaust and the evilness of those who perpetrated it.  Some of them were probably survivors and lots of them have family who didn't survive.

This was supposed to be a lecture and discussion about the Eichmann Trial itself. 

Instead what we got was as follows (at least until I walked out):

They started the program without telling us what was going to occur and instead just played video clips from you tube. OK, I'll play along for a minute or two, but unfortunately they didn't bother to download any videos to their computer, nor did they bother to download the links directly to their desktop.

So we got to watch them go into their email for video clip link after video clip link.  Yep, we got to see their email list, and each email that they went into to get the clip. Oh, and there was the nifty "so and so is now online" Skype pop up that entertained us every few minutes as well.

Unfortunately they tortured us with this silliness for about 15 minutes, the last 8 - 10 of which was just streaming download pauses and 10 seconds of video then another streaming download pause.  

The only thing more irritating than sitting at a speech/lecture and watching a video try to download is watching Oscar speeches.

Bad enough.... but then...

Speaker #1/MC: basically just told a story of his father's escape from Germany.  I'm guessing more than half the audience had heard similar stories from their own parents while growing up.  What was the point? 

Speaker #2: basically paced back and forth telling us how evil Eichmann was and how Hannah Arendt's "the Banality of Evil" was completely baseless.  OK... tell this audience something they don't know already.  And stop pacing, it's distracting.

Speaker #3: this lovely older gentleman was the worst, simply because all he did was rant about what a horrible person FDR was and how he was totally complicit in the Holocaust.  Still not sure what he was trying to do either. 

I walked out after Speaker #3.

What are the lessons?

• Organize your conferences even if you are an all-volunteer force. Your audience should be treated with respect and that means respecting our time. Even retired people get annoyed when their time is wasted.
• Prepare your audio and video in advance.  Either:
  • download the video onto your hard drive (preferable), or
  • put the direct link to the video on your desktop so we don't have to see all of your emails and wait for you to find the right link
• When preparing your audio and video clips in advance, you also need to
  • Make sure the facility has adequate streaming capability, or go wired, and still make sure there is adequate streaming capability.  
  • If there isn't, you have to download to your hard drive or find another source.  
  • Make sure you remember to kill all programs on your computer and turn off all alerts, so we don't sit there watching your email, Skype and IM alerts.
• Meet your audience's needs - not your own.  I've said this a million times before. If you make this mistake, you can't recover.  
• Prepare an actual presentation, with an outline and all, or at least a few talking points.'
  • Don't rant. We don't care about your rants.  Rants turn an audience off and make them uncomfortable.
  • Don't rant. Speak to us, be thoughtful, organized, easy to follow.  Have a point.  Have three main points if you want people to follow you.
  • Don't rant. What is the point of your presentation? Decide in advance and create one - don't wing it or you may end up ranting.

Moral of the Story:  Passion is good.  Ranting is bad.  

Ric Franzi's interivew of me, on Critical Mass Radio Show, is now available.  We discussed why and how I create my Continuing Legal Education business (which includes public speaking training), challenges along the way, plans for the future and a few regrets/mistakes I made that I recommend others watch out for.  

I also give a few top tips for improving your public speaking.

Ric Franzi is a great Peer Group Leader/business growth consultant with Critical Mass for Business, located in Orange county. I met him in a peer group I joined a few years back that helped me get through the recession.  I highly recommend peer groups for business owners.  Very helpful and also a great reality check.  It's good to meet monthly with people who have similar challenges, even if they aren't in the same industry.

(Ric is on the left in the photo below).

Yesterday I presented a webinar called "Power Point is Evil: but if you're going to use it, use it well" for LexBlog's clients as part of their free resource Webinars provided to their clients.

The recorded version of this Webinar, and resource handouts, are now available free on LexBlog's You Tube Channel.

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! 

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).

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?

Thursday, July 14 at 7 a.m., I will be interviewed by Cindy Rakowitz, a radio host at VoiceAmerica Talk Radio. The topics we will discuss include public speaking, how to organize a presentation, the importance of good introductions and much more. Ms. Rakowitz has been a talk show host for “Stars of PR” for over 5 years with an incredibly diverse audience. This is an interview you won’t want to miss!  Tune in online. 

It's funny; for years requests for my public speaking presentations focused on skills - organization and delivery primarily.  Yet since the beginning of this year I have been asked multiple times to give presentations focused on Public Speaking for Business Development (for professionals).

I have to chalk that up to one of the only positive outcomes of the recession!

Of course, I am interpreting this new demand to mean that more professionals are realizing the value of using public speaking as a business development tool.  Let me know if you think I'm mis-interpreting.

Tomorrow, May 19th, at the ungodly hour of 7:30 in the morning, I am giving a presentation on this same topic to a Century City ProVisors group.  ProVisors is a popular professional networking group. 

While I have not joined Pro-Visors (no time!), I have several friends who belong to various groups in the Los Angeles area who are big fans.  In fact, talk about ESP (or something).... as I was sitting here composing this blog post, I got a call from an attorney who just happens to be a member of ProVisors and who heard me speak about this topic two months ago for LexBlog. 

This attorney called to discuss whether or not I would be willing to put on a Non-Profit related CLE course for attorneys early next year.  He also emailed me, just prior to calling, with details of the program (he had emailed previously, me right after the LexBlog webinar, with his credentials).

Now this is someone who is taking my advice from that presentation to heart! I love it! 

And guess what, based on his credentials, topic proposals and outlines, and my conversations with him, we will probably book at least one of the four proposed programs in the spring of 2012 in Los Angeles.

Now, I don't do this particular speech as a way to get CLE speakers - we have a pretty full stable of speakers and generally speaking I only take CLE speakers by referral.  But it has been an interesting side-effect of doing the presentations.

Why do I do this particular presentation? For business development of course!  Somewhere down the road, a firm or agency will book me to teach public speaking (or this program) after hearing about me from someone who attended. 

So I practice what I preach and I believe in in wholeheartedly.

Can I point to business I have gotten from my various presentations (free and paid)? Yes, absolutely! I have been booked several times in-house at large law firms/agencies based soley on someone either attending one of my free speeches or someone attending one of our paid public speaking CLE seminars (open to the public) or watching my DVD.

Not only that, but the ABA has contracted with me to write a book (yes I need to finish it) on Public Spoeaking for Attorneys.  That came directly from my contacts at the ABA, where I established my expertise in the area by speaking annually, for free, at their National Convention. 

We'll be posting the webinar on this topic in about two weeks - on You Tube.  I'll also get a few blog posts going about it in June.

In the meantime, happy speaking! 

Update: Here is the link for the recorded webinar.

Next week, on May 18 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (god I hate mornings), I am doing a free webinar for LexBlog clients entitled: Creating and Organizing Your Speech.

One of the goals of blogging is to get more speaking engagements. But what do you do when you get one? How do you create and organize your presentation?

During this webinar you will learn about:

• The best and easiest ways to organize your presentation
• Catchy introductions – first impressions count
• Making your conclusions memorable

You can sign up at LexBlog's events center -- the password is "pincus." For those of you who are unable to attend, this session will be recorded and posted toLexBlog's support site within 24-48 hours after the session.

Not a LexBlog customer? Email me, or post a comment, and I'll see if I can get you the password!

Here's my soapbox... Rhetoric is good.  In the traditional sense that is.  

Unfortunately the press has abused the word for far too long and now everyone thinks "rhetoric" = "baloney" (that's the p.g. version). 

In reality, "rhetoric" is the art of persuasion.  That's all.  And rhetorical techniques are some of the most effective tools you can use to improve your presentation.  

I'll say it again, rhetorical tools are some of the most effective tools you can use to improve your presentation. 

And the good news is, you just have to use your brain to create them.  Compared to learning how to speak slower, or get rid of a monotone or mumbling, using rhetorical tools are easy!  I've been teaching and using rhetorical tools for more than 20 years.  And the techniques have been around since Aristotle.

Scared of rhetoric?  

Don't be.  You may even already use some rhetorical tools. For example, repetition is a rhetorical tool.  Think "I have a dream."  What you might not know is that there are multiple types of repetition you can use to enhance your speech. 

Another form is anthesis. Think "Ask not what your country can do for you, but...what you can do for your country."  

Bonus points for the first comments identifying the authors of both those quotes.  OK, that's pretty easy, I admit it.

But think to yourself... why do you know who said those quotes when they were both said nearly a half a century ago?  Because rhetorical techniques are some of the most effective tools you can use to improve your presentation. (yes, I'm using repetition here even though it's not a speech).

A lot of other bright people have already summarized and provided examples of the use of good rhetorical techniques, so instead of doing that here, I'm going to point towards two of them:

• Recently Nancy Duarte, of Slideology, posted a set of technique definitions and examples from Steve Jobs.

And.... 

• If you want to listen to some fantastic (and not so fantastic) audio examples of these techniques in use, go to the American Rhetoric web page.  It's my absolute favorite and I highly recommend it!

Don't be intimidated by the fancy Greek names for the rhetorical tools; you don't even need to know the names.  Just start thinking about how to incorporate the various tools into your presentations.

That's it.  Go forth and spout rhetorical tools.

Last week we held our annual Superior Court Boot Camp at the Arctic Hotel in Seattle (what a gorgeous restoration - can't believe it is a DoubleTree).

And I have to share a bit about our one of my favorite speakers to book.

Judge Paris Kallas retired last July after 15 years on the bench in King County. She is now a neutral at a small ADR firm called Judicial Dispute Resolution LLC in Seattle.

Judge Kallas is one of my favorite people to book at our seminars because she is a joy to work with and a pleasure to meet and chat with.  Yes, I'm ending in a prepositional phrase; live with it.

Judge Kallas cheerfully joins our planning conference calls, gives us her handouts and input in a timely manner and always has a smile for my staff and I on the day of our program.  Even the first time I met her a year ago it was like we were old friends.

There's something about that kind of warmth and welcoming presence that just makes you feel good.

And, in case you're thinking I only like booking her for her sparkling personality, she is a great presenter, provides practical, useful tips, and always gets great evaluations.  She knows her stuff when it comes to trial practice.

This isn't to say that all the other panelists on that particular panel weren't fantastic, they were. I enjoyed talking with and working with all of them.  Judge Tim Bradshaw has an incredible sense of humor, great advice, and he pinch hit for Judge Spector, so we owe him one.  Loren Dunn of Riddell Williams has spoken for us several times and he always works on providing an excellent, informative, practical presentation and a charming presence to boot.  Steve Fogg of Corr Cronin joined the gang like the old pro that he is and Judge Jim Rogers always has insightful, interesting advice to provide.  Glenn Draper substituted in for Matt Bergman, both of Bergman Draper & Frockt, and both worth listening to.

This year we were joined by plaintiff's attorney Mike Wampold, who managed to join us while in the middle of a trial - an impressive feat!  

What made the entire program work so well however, was the great interaction between the panelists.  They had fun, they joked with each other and the audience and they did it while presenting useful, practical litigation tips and strategy all the while.

Now that's a conference that makes me happy to be a part of.  Yep, another prepositional phrase. 

Just for fun, here's a picture of the seminar room.  For once I didn't mind not having any windows!  

Last night was the 83^rd Academy Awards.  Thank god for DVRs.  I get to see who wins, check out the fabulous gowns, listen to the funny hosts (not so funny last night) and… I can fast forward through the obligatory awful thank you litany in 99% of the acceptance “speeches.”  Woo Hoo!

So a few comments about the speeches.  First, a disclaimer – I didn’t listen to every speech. If the speaker started with a long list of thank you’s (very bad way to start) I promptly fast forwarded past it.  That said, here goes.

No stand out speeches last night.  Not one.  Totally disappointing.  Usually there are at least one or two folks who manage to say something poignant (more than “oh my god”) or meaningful.

Not last night. 

The hosts were even boring, though Annie Hatthaway was adorable and effervescent.  She couldn’t help it if the writing sucked.  James franco was boring and stiff.  Who knows, maybe they asked him to play it that way as a counter to Annie’s animated personality.  I want Billy Crystal and Steve Martin back. 

But back to the “speeches. “

The highlight of the evening as far as speeches goes, came from David Seidler, who won Best Original Screen Play for The King’s Speech.  And that's not saying much about the quality of speeches.

This was his first nomination and award.  In his 70’s, Mr. Seidler started off with a great quip:

"my dad always said I would be a late bloomer"

drawing a round of laughs. 

He went on to say, “I believe I am the oldest person to win this particular award. I hope that record is broken quickly and often” a not so subtle and important reminder about the tendency of Hollywood to hire and reward the younger crowd more often than not, despite the phenomenal talent and experience of people over the age of 35. 

Mr. Seidler then devolved into the usual thank you litany after that, unfortunately, but it was mercifully short.  He then ended with “I accept on behalf of all the stutterers of the world.. . we have a voice, we have been heard, thank you the academy.”

So, he started off pretty good.  But the problem with his ending is twofold: 1) who knew Mr. Seidler was a childhood stutterer? and, 2) was The King’s Speech really about giving “a voice” to stutterers world-wide?  

If it was, I think I missed that message in the movie.  I thought it was more about the relationship between the King and his instructor, and about the internal suffering the main character endured and about his overcoming the huge obstacle of stuttering, given his need to speak publicly so much.  To me it was a fantastic movie about overcoming the overwhelming barrier of stuttering, but it didn’t feel like it was about “giving voice” to stutterers.

What this means from an acceptance speech point of view is that you need to think ahead about what type of message you want to convey when you accept your award – it matters.  And thinking about whether your audience will hear that message matters as well. 

A better ending would have been to say “I accept on behalf of all the stutterers of the world.. . who now know they can overcome it, just like I did, and just like King George did.”

Next post will include some tips on how to handle acceptance speeches, even at the Academy Awards.

Check out any public speaking trainer's blog - like Andrew Dlugan's "Six Minutes" and you'll see us all saying the same thing: 

Know your audience!

That means when you are creating a presentation - in or out of court - you absolutely must find out who your audience will be, why they are there, and get some idea of what they want to get out of your talk.

Not doing this is one of the classic mistakes a lot of speakers - and attorneys - make.

So before you start preparing for your next presentation, stop and thing about the following:

• Who will be listening?
• What do they want to know about?
• Why are they there?
• How can I meet their needs?

Then, and only then, should you decide the purpose/thesis of your presentation, determine your three overriding main points, and create your presentation.

Lastly, try not to make assumptions without making an effort to find out more about your audience. For example:

Years ago I was doing a lunch speech to a large group attorneys who worked for the Los Angeles City Attorney's office.  When asked to speak, I assumed they'd want to get tips on better in-court presentations.  

Luckily, I took the time to ask the organizer to send a short, three-question survey to the intended attendees, who emailed me their answers directly.  

Their responses were enlightening.  The vast majority of my audience wanted to know how to give better presentations out of court, to lay people such as community groups, police officers, and others involved in public safety.

Had I not done my homework, the presentation could have been a disaster.