250 Things You Wish You Know That Will Guarantee Your Speaking
Success
Humor is greatly appreciated by your audience. Have you ever hear someone
complain “This guy is way too funny!”?
- Tell a story, make a point.
- Tell another story, make another point.
Create a story bank. Each time something interesting happens - big or small -
write it down. You never know where you can use it.
Stories from Chicken Soup for the Soul don’t cut it. Original’s better.
Repeat after me. Original’s better.
- Follow the 80/20 rule - 80% prepared. 20% impromptu. Being prepared is
  extremely important but when you are too prepared, you take the fun out of a
  speech. The 20% spontaneity allows you to milk any situations that arises while
  you deliver your speech.
Don’t try to impress. Instead try to, share, help, inspire, teach, inform,
guide, persuade, motivate… or make the world a little bit better.
- Keep your presentation simple. One message, three points and a kick-ass call
  for action.
- Remember, less is more. Keep your speech short and sweet.
- What’s one story that only YOU can tell? Spend time creating that
  signature story.
- Start strong (always).
Start off with a video or cartoon, funny is optional.
Memorize your introduction because in the first 30 seconds, you are the most
nervous and your audience is the most skeptical. A memorized introduction will
help you stay composed.
Likewise, memorize your conclusions so that you end strong and remain memorable.
A fail-safe question to answer in your speech - What’s in it for me?
- Pictures tell a thousand words. Use them in your presentations.
- Your slides are NOT your notecards.
- Your slides are NOT for documentation purposes.
- Your slide is NOT your note page.
- Your slideshow is NOT the star. You are!
- Too many tables, figures and graphs may not be a good thing. Remember,
  everything in moderation.
Stop asking WHY. (Why am I so sucky in speaking? Why did the audience look so
bored?) Try asking HOW. (How can I be less sucky? How can I make the audience
interested in what I have to say?) Why gets you defensive and stuck. How gets
you moving forward.
- Public Speaking is the #1 fear for most people, surpassing the fear of
  death. At least you won’t be tormented with this unnecessary fear anymore.
I learnt this from Seth Godin: One message per slide. Part of the less is more
rule.
This one too: One story per point. The story doesn’t have to be long. Just make
sure it underscores your point.
Read ONE public speaking article a day. Try The Public Speaking Blog.
The two main arsenal of a speaker is his stories and analogies. The better his
stories and analogies, the more he get paid. (Thanks Darren La Croix for the
tip!)
Have social proof. Quotes from famous people adds a lot of credibility to your
speech.
- Being funny has less to do techniques and more to do with attitude.
- Always look at the funny side of things, ask yourself “What’s funny about
  this?”
- Pay attention to stories and things that happen to us. (funny stuff does
  happen)
- Jot them down and store them in a humor bank. This way, you can refer to
  them each time you give a speech. You can save money on joke books even!
- Audience laughed when they are successfully tricked. That’s the mechanic
  behind humor.
- People learn the best when they are laughing.
- Practice – test your humor in your presentation and conversations.
- Being funny starts from being creative. To churn your creative juices, get a
  journal and start free writing (at least up to 3 pages). In a diary, you think
  about what you want to say. However in free writing, you don’t. There are no
  filters. All you have to do is to keep your pen moving. If you are using a
  computer, then keep typing. This will help in speeding up your thinking ability
  too.
- Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to make a crowd of 100 laugh then a
  room of 10. This is because when you have more people, the audience feels more
  comfortable. And when they are comfortable, they laugh easier.
- Make sure you enunciate your words correctly. Diction is a tell tale sign of
  your ability as a speaker.
- If need be, speak S.L.O.W.E.R.
10 “You” for Every “I” in your speech! Remember, keep your speech
audience-centric.
- Always organize your speech. Start with a simple structure. It’s like the
  backbone to your speech. Without it, no matter how good your content is, it will
  fall flat.