An important consideration for any speaker or presenter is to stay true to their time allocation. Whether the time allocation is set by you or an event organizer you must ensure that you honour that timing. If you finish too early your audience may perceive you as being ill prepared and not living up to their expectations. We didn’t have enough material to fill the full time slot.

If you finish late the impacts can be even greater. When we go over on our time we run the risk of losing their full attention at a critical part of your speech or presentation; the close. When we go over the audience begins to focus on the time and not the message. The longer we go over the more intense the focus on time will be.

Knowing our material well and having a good sense of timing are key to successful speeches and presentations. If you have a choice between finishing a couple of minutes early or a couple of minutes late it is better to finish a couple of minutes early.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

It is that time of year again where we should make sure that we take time to reflect on what we want to accomplish in the coming year. This post is not about New Year’s resolutions. I am not a fan of resolutions. I am a fan of setting realistic goals for the things we want to achieve. What do you want to achieve in 2013.

It has been proven over and over again that individuals who document their goals have a much greater chance of achieving them. So write your goals down and refer to them daily so that they stay top of mind. This will keep them visible. However you have to take steps to act on them. What is your plan for achieving them? Are you giving them the priority they require?

Goals without actionable plans are merely dreams.

Happy New Year everyone. May 2013 be your best year yet!

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

A few years ago I had the privilege to attend a workshop conducted by Sam Horn at the CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers) in Toronto. During the workshop Sam talked about a concept she called “Ink It When You Think It”. This concept really resonated with me because I had, on many occasions, heard or seen a quote, an idea, an image, a book title, etc that caught my attention. However when I tried to remember them, even a short time later, they were gone from my memory. So the idea of writing it down as soon as possible really appealed to me. However, I didn’t have a solution for how I would do that.

Five months later our CAPS President, David Gouthro, did a workshop for CAPS Atlantic Chapter. One of things he provided was a small notebook that fit perfectly into my shirt pocket. I now had a way to ‘ink when it when I thought it’. I now have several of these note books and I have captured hundreds of ideas. I usually transfer them to my computer on a monthly basis.

Taking the concept of “Ink it when you think it” and pairing it with a tool, the small note book, created a powerful tool that can be beneficial to any speaker.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

I have a definition of communication that I use in all my public speaking training. There are multiple definitions that I could use. I chose this one. It gets everybody on the same understanding of what oral communication is. The definition is:

Communication is the giving and receiving of information, ideas and attitudes.

Most people will pick up on the fact that it is a giving and receiving process and most will acknowledge that we exchange ideas and information. Many will miss the fact that we also exchange attitudes when we communicate. We do that through our nonverbal message. Through our facial expression, body language, and our gestures. We also do it tone of voice. So it is important that we ensure that these are in synch with our message.

While we acknowledge that communication is a giving and receiving process most of us don’t put enough emphasis on the receiving portion. This is particularly true when we are speaking to a group of people. Depending on the size, most audiences will communicate solely by nonverbal. In these situations we have to condition ourselves to listen with our eyes in order to get the messages they are sending.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

If you speak publicly you will inevitably make a mistake or experience a blooper. If it hasn’t happened yet, it will. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be a show stopper if dealt with properly.

I get some of my best material and content when I make a mistake. I have learned, with time, not to react negatively to these. Instead I embrace them as an opportunity to show my personality. They are frequently a good source of spontaneous humour. I don’t do them on purpose and I don’t look for mistakes to happen. This make my response to them that much more genuine and effective.

The next time you experience a mistake or blooper don’t react negatively to it. Use it as an opportunity enhance your unique style.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

There are many situations where you might be required to formally introduce another person. It could be an association function, a family wedding, or a workplace activity.

I have witnessed many variations of introductions. Some very short with little or no information to the other extreme where there is too much information. The introduction should only be about a minute and should highlight aspects about the speaker that are relevant to the function and the audience.

I recommend letting the speaker know what you plan to say in your introduction. That way there are no surprises. The speaker may want to make some changes. Many speaker will provide their own introductions. If they do and they are longer than you feel is appropriate don’t be shy about cutting out aspects that aren’t relevant to the function. It is still good practice to let the speaker know what you have removed and why.

A well thought out and prepared introduction can make you look very professional.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.