Speak Easy

Barry Gibbons is a legend. Recognised as "Turnaround Champ" by Fortune magazine (he appeared on the cover twice), he was Chairman/CEO of Burger King in the USA. So successful was he that Burger King overtook McDonalds as market leaders. He is the author of Dream Merchants and How Boys and If you Really Want to Make God Laugh, Show Him Your Business Plan. His client list for speaking at business conferences reads like a Fortune 500 list. All this and he supports Manchester City.

1 Just say No. It's natural to think that, if you are developing yourself - or your career - as a speaker, every opportunity is 'right'. At worst, surely, you will get low risk practise in handling a crappy audience or badly managed event? 2 Ask not what your clients can do for you From the moment you have agreed to give a speech your mind becomes focussed on how you will impress the audience -in-waiting. That's an early - and potentially grave - mistake 3. So, is there anyone here from outta town? I knew a professional speaker who was short-sighted. He told me that, if he took his glasses off and got the lighting turned down a bit, then all audiences looked the same. He thought this was a brilliant way to conquer stage fright and concentrate on his material. He failed as a speaker. 4. Brief Encounters If your speaking 'market' is the male-oriented rugby/cricket/golf club after-dinner circuit where the objectives, in no particular order of priority are: a) for everybody to get rat-arsed; b) for event revenues to exceed costs thereby funding the purchase of new balls and c) to hear behind-the-scenes tittle-tattle about some C-list sports celebrities, you, as a speaker, will not feel the need for a pre-speech briefing. 5. It's all in the timing You will find different day parts - and programme positions - suit you and your material best. 6 Sitting in the back row: All the research and briefing in the world will not provide you with the real thing 7. Sermons and snippets The length of your speech is likely to be determined for you - at least, that's what the organisers think at the outset. But sometimes you can change it, and some times you might have to change it - so it is as well to know your own best time span. 8. The feng-shui factor You probably won't be able to choose the venue for your speech. However, if you put your mind to it, you can affect most of the other variables affecting it. 9 Life with lecterns There are only two alternative speaking 'positions' - fixed and flexible. A fixed position means you are anchored to something (e.g. a table, a microphone stand or a lectern etc.), and thus severely restricted in your movement. The flexible speaking position has no restrictions of substance associated with any of the above. 10 Testing...testing Progress in communications technology over the last generation or so has not missed microphones and sound systems. They are potentially more effective and efficient than ever. 11 Speaker flies undone I am a serial scruff-bag. When I'm travelling to a speech, I often get given small change at transport termini. When I arrive at a location, if I'm getting an advance 'feel' for the stage, or doing a sound-check, I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards. When I start my speech, however - no matter wherever and whatever the venue or circumstances - all of the above is gone. I will be suited up, and accessorised with collar, tie, shiny shoes and cufflinks. 12 And with us tonight ... There is one key variable affecting 'lift-off' that most speakers assume is beyond their control or influence - which is their introduction by a third party. They tend to just grin and bear it - or, rather, in many cases I have witnessed, wince and bear it. 13 Another opening, another show There are about a thousand books on public speaking. The majority of these books contain an idea that they have plagiarised in common - the old adage that you should 'tell 'em what you are going to say, say it and then tell 'em what you said'. The first bit should not be confused with the opening of the speech. 14 One step at a time It's time to talk about the structure of your speech content. I want you to forget about words, stages and microphones - and try and remember the last firework display you saw 15 A funny thing happened to me on the way to the crematorium Most speakers look back on their own speeches with a critical eye, but if you are good at your game, the audience will not have noticed them most of your bloopers. There is, however, another category of error that can have devastating effects in the way an audience receives your speech. 16 Laugh? I thought I'd never start Whatever the main purpose of your speech (sharing information and/or motivating and/or selling something) you have a single additional RESPONSIBILITY: to entertain. 17 Give yourself a hand Even in a TV interview, where the subject is in close-up, you will be able to see the head, neck and upper shoulders of the speaker. Now, the next time you see one (tonight?), check out how many times another body part makes its presence felt on the screen - at least one hand and arm. Of course, for a waist-up, or full length vision of the speaker, you can see them anyway. 18 Moving target This section would have been entirely different if it had been written ten years ago. What has happened in that decade is that the march of microphone technology has enabled the public speaker to add another potent weapon to his/her armoury: mobility. 19 Hello Honkies With some trepidation, I will now venture into the subject of including slang and/or swear words in your speech. Most reference books are crystal-clear in their advice: leave it out. I differ. 20 Did everyone hear that? This chapter is about dealing with hecklers, and is unlikely to apply to you unless you are considering a career in stand-up comedy. Just in case: 21 Don't leave it on the training ground People have often come up to me after a speech and told me how 'lucky' I am - probably due to Irish genes - to be able to stand up and give an 'impromptu' speech to large audiences. I have never given an impromptu professional speech. 22 It's a wrap The audience is ready. Your mind is full of trigger words and phrases. Right there, right then, the organiser comes up to you and asks you to cut fifteen minutes ... 23 I'm sorry I'll read that again I never refer to notes during a speech. But I always have them, specifically written for that speech, in my inside pocket. So should you, and you should have no qualms about using them. 24 Marvo the memory man To stand in front of an audience and speak confidently without notes impressive. But it is not mandatory. 25 Can you tell what it is yet? It's time for me to talk out of the other side of my mouth. After 24 chapters of trying to convince you to work without visual aids, I am confessing that occasionally - and I do stress that last word - I quite like speaking accompanied by a flip chart. It's the Rolf Harris in me. 26 Ish a pleasure (hic) to be here I enjoy my pint(s), and have been known, on occasion, to get myself outside rather too much claret. The issues of managing and responding to the excesses of alcohol, however, are important for a speaker - and are getting more so. 27 Hands up those who ... A speaker provides a multi-dimensioned offering to an audience - encompassing sight, sound and movement. There is one more dimension that is available that can also impact an audience - its own involvement 28 You're so vain Public speaking is a performing art. The speaker is a performing artist. The combination works best if some of the real world is left at the stage door. For the speaker, that can include an anti-gravitational level of self-confidence. 29 Here's an example I found right here in my hotel room The march of technology has had a tremendous impact on visual aids. Before we cover that, however, I want to spend a bit of time in the visual-aid equivalent of the Stone Age. 30 You can look at me or you can look at that As a lifetime Manchester City fan, I look on all visual aids as I do Manchester United. In my mind, the world would be a better place without them - but I have to acknowledge that they do exist, that a lot of people actually like them and that, sometimes, they do a good job. 31 Here's a picture of our new product upside down 35 mm slides or A4 sized acetates remain popular with speakers who struggle at home with the TV remote control. 32 Come in Houston Advances in software and communications technology have almost made obsolete the use of 'physical' slides to support a speaker. Armed with relatively cheap equipment, a solo speaker can now put on an audio visual show that has a lot in common with a U2 concert. 33 I seemed to have moved from 33-45 rpm There are some - thankfully rare - occasions when a speaker must have control over the word-by-word content and/or exact timing of a speech. 34 Dreading the wedding There's one speaking challenge like no other. I refer to making a speech at a formal family occasion - the most popular being a wedding. 35 Food glorious food A growing trend in this hurried world is for events to include 'working' meals. The organisers will insist that the agenda continues while the meal is going on - and the guest speaker is usually the easiest to fit in this awkward slot. 36 As I am sure you will have read in Hansard A successful speaker gains the respect of the audience. Part of that will come from the speaker imparting specialist knowledge on his or her chosen subject(s) - but that, in itself, is not enough. Speakers lose the respect of an audience if they show themselves to be out of touch with the world outside. Silly mistakes, obvious areas of not-done homework and poor awareness of the audience's world can send even the most expert specialist speaker sliding down a snake. 37 Unaccustomed as I am The main goals of a speech centre around one, or a combination of the following: a) To sell something (e.g. products, services, ideas); b) To pass on information c) To motivate or inspire 38 Does my bum look big on that? Speakers are increasingly finding video recording equipment present at events. 39 What's REALLY important here is . . A speaker may have to perform without the aphrodisiac of an audience. These occasions involve performing solo, or being interviewed, in front of a camera, in a studio setting. 40 As God once said, and I think quite rightly I am writing this bit with a deafening row going on in the background. It is the international debate as to how much the post 9/11 world must trade-off personal liberty in order to sand-bag our lives against the threat of terror. Legislation is rushing through assorted democratic assemblies to inhibit and/or prohibit offending anything or anybody. Public speakers are removing all material that hints at religion and/or politics. I'm not. 41 Uh-oh! It is a little known fact that one of life's Universal Laws is named after my beloved soccer team. A subsidiary of Murphy's famous Law, named Manchester City's Law, states that if it can go wrong it will go wrong. Thankfully, for the speaker, any such occurrence need not end in tears. 42 And so, in conclusion ... There is wide disagreement among speakers, and those who write about speaking (who are not necessarily the same people), about HOW you should end a speech. There is little disagreement, however, about the fact that it is the most important part of your performance 43 Over now to the Russian judge A built-in conflict inhibits many speakers from improving. There is an element of the 'ham' in all speakers, and a self-confidence that occasionally meanders towards vanity. These, in the right amounts, are important characteristics for the sure-footed speaker - but they are not famous characteristics for being receptive to criticism. 44 Same time next year? This section is for those speakers who want to do more of it. For some folk that may be because it is a full or part time profession. For others it is rewarding in different ways. For all of them, there is no better time than the immediate aftermath of a successful speech to secure further bookings. 45 You at the back. Yes, sir, you Many speaking invitations include a Question and Answer session at the end. If I get one, I see one of my first tasks as trying to talk the organisers out of it. My experience tells me that these sessions are high-risk, low reward interludes for everybody involved. 46 Here's one I prepared earlier I decided to shock you by calculating how many presentations/speeches etc. I have 'received' in my lifetime. I gave up counting. I then calculated how many 'hand-outs' I might have received with these speeches, and I figure that to be between five and ten percent of whatever the first figure was. I then calculated how many of these 'handouts' I actually wanted and, how many I actually read when I got back home. No inaccuracy or guesswork here: the two answers are zero and zero, respectively. 47 Team A will be on the settee by the Fire Doors It may be that your first or most frequent occasion to speak in public is NOT via a solo spot - but as part of a group exercise. Your success criteria and occasion dynamics change profoundly. Speaking solo, when it comes to what you want to achieve with your speech, you can aim as high as you want to. Quite simply, the only limitations are your (self-defined) powers of persuasion and perceived credibility. 48 Ich bein ein Berliner There is a possibility that, as your prowess and reputation as a speaker grows, you will be asked to address an audience whose primary language is not your own. What fun. 49 Thieving magpies Most speakers collect silly bits and pieces of information and prose. They don't have a collective name for them, and they don't really know why they do it. They just know these things come in useful at various times in a speech. I'm a bit more scientific. I call them 'ells'. That is because the roles they perform in a speech generally begin with the letter 'L' - i.e. Looseners, Left-fielders, Lighteners and Links. 50 Me and my airbrush Demand for good speakers is extensive and growing again. That's always the case for gifted amateur speakers - they are always wanted. The market for professional speakers, however, tends to correlate with the economic climate - and that looks to be coming out of the dark times at the turn of the millennium. That's the end of the good news because, although demand is growing, the supply of gifted speakers is keeping pace with it. 51 I'm obviously earning 20% too much If you've got this far, you are serious about speaking in public - and probably serious about doing more of it. If you are really serious, you will need an agent to get you more speeches and to represent your contractual interests. 52 These guys are good No speaker should fail today because of lack of advice, or guidance, on the subject. If you go into one of the modern 'Mega-Book Stores', you will find substantial acreage (and probably a small coffee bar) dedicated to direct writing on the topic of speaking in public. In addition, I have found that there are countless indirect sources for help and inspiration on the subject. It is impossible to digest them all, and you shouldn't try.