This blog is for your questions, comments and tips about seminar design.

If you didn’t attend and still want to join in we welcome your positive participation.

Kind regards

Yvonne

(and it’s THIS Friday, 3rd Feb 2012)

I have to admit to feeling a bit nervous about Friday’s workshop, “My Winning Seminar Design” because I’m baring all.

I need to practice what I preach – so I’m giving away everything.

Everyone attending on Friday will walk away with:

• absolute understanding of the Do’s and Don’ts of delivering a seminar
• absolute Do’s and Don’ts when speaking at Athena or other networking group
• MY actual MIND MAPS used to design this seminar (there’s at least 5!)
• MY actual SCRIPT used to deliver this seminar (yup – every word)
• a TEMPLATE for designing your seminar (regardless of length)
• a TEMPLATE for a feedback/testimonial form
• a WALLET to hold all of your recipes from this workshop so you can always find them
• EMAILS for the next MONTH to support and solidify your learning
• a ‘no-brainer’ of an offer to continue working with me

This is no ordinary 2-hour workshop – this is the essence of what I’ve been doing for 20 years and what you can become as a speaker and seminar leader.

My reputation is on the line and I don’t intend to screw it up!

That’ it – the stops have been pulled out.

Now all you need to do is decide whether being seen, being heard and being understood is important to you.

I’m disabling the PayPal booking link at 12 noon on Thursday in order to have time to prepare for exact numbers.

Those of you who’ve already booked – I hope you’re excited – I am (and just a little bit nervous.)

Kind regards

Yvonne
The Verbal Copywriter®

Knowing how to control an audience through structured exercises will take the pressure off you as well as allow their collective knowledge and experience shine through.

Sometimes the less you give the more they take away.

Note: This is a women-only event.

£65 Athena Members

£85 Non-Athena Members

For information on these women-only London workshops visit our London page at www.TastyTalksBiteSize.com/London

One of the things that crops up over and over again is the reluctance to talk about experience and credibility.

If you are giving a presentation there will be people in your audience who will need to know some stats and facts about you before they’ll listen.

It doesn’t have to be a long drawn out affair – in fact the tighter you can keep it, the better.

Faulty speaker assumption #3

“I can speak at my normal speed when presenting.”

Why is this assumption faulty?

The standard rate of Western speech is between 120 to 160 words a minute. That’s a vast range to work with and so the fault in this assumption is there really isn’t a ‘normal’.

Test how quickly you speak at your next networking event. Prepare your 60-second elevator pitch and limit the total words to 120. If you go overtime you speak slowly, if you have time left, you speak quickly. If you hit the mark, well…

Use this test to help you decide whether you consciously need to slow down when preparing your next presentation. Nervous speaker tend to speak more quickly than normal whereas with confident speakers the opposite is usually (but not always!) true.

This all becomes a somewhat irrelevant concern however for people who work with me. For any 15 minute presentation I suggest preparing only 7-10 minutes of input.

Why?

Because even in a short presentation you should get your audience involved by including an activity.

That’s right – Get Your Audience to Do the Work!

Truly great presenters are humble enough to know that the collective experience of any group is greater than their own. Working with this collective experience, rather than worrying about proving your credibility through an information dump, is what elevates you from a takeaway talker to a gourmet gabbler.

Earlier in the year I began a series looking at faulty assumptions that speakers often make – here’s #2.

“I don’t need to practice out loud.”

I’m a great believer in visualising events prior to them actually occurring. So before a presentation  it’s invaluable to spend time ‘thinking it through’. However, even for the most experienced speaker that’s not enough.

Why? Here are four reasons:

1) We think much faster than we speak. Only thinking through a presentation can give a false sense of timing. What happens then? You include too much information and run over time.

2) Written and spoken language is different and what reads well doesn’t necessary sound conversational. Practising out loud will help you edit your language.

3) Often it’s the physical act of standing in front of an audience that brings on a rush of nervous energy. By standing and practising out loud you are preparing yourself for the physicality of presenting which will help to control your nerves.

4) And finally, think of all of the environmental factors…notes, slides, flipcharts and my favourite, exercises. Speaking your presentation out loud, while shuffling notes and writing on the flip chart is crucial to mastering your timing and your supplies.

Musicians, athletes and actors all practice, why should speakers be any different?

Practice helps with fluidity, timing and comfort levels. Each time, say it differently, so you become comfortable with your structure and reduce dependency on notes.

Peter Drucker said, “Spontaneity is an infinite number of rehearsed possibilities.”

Just thinking your way through a presentation is a bit like imagining a steamy romantic encounter – it all seems to flow so smoothly. But add the reality of elbows, knees and button fly jeans and well, that’s a whole new kettle of fish!

There are a number of assumptions that speakers often make…actually let me add other word into that sentence.

There are a number of faulty assumptions that speakers often make and I’ll cover some of these in my next few blogs.

#1 “I can present information about a topic that has taken me months/years to learn in a 20 minute presentation.”

There is a tendency for speakers to want to look like an expert in their field. This can sometimes mean they want to over compensate and give their audience an unrealistic amount of information. Otherwise known as a data dump.

I’m sure you’ve been on the receiving end of one of these and know yourself that as an audience member you can only absorb so much information at a time.

I often use the packing for holiday example to help speakers select their content. Most people pack more than they ever need so here’s the guideline – pack it all then take out two-thirds. This will give you room in your suitcase for all the trinkets you want to bring home.

The same applies for a presentation. Write an outline including everything you want to cover – then take out two-thirds. This gives your audience the bare bones of what they must know and leaves time to get them involved with exercises and a Q&A session.

A Q&A session is a great way to listen for opportunities to solve problems, which is what business is all about.

Are you sometimes uncertain if they understand or believe what you are saying?

When you want to create impact with an audience – let them do the work!

Knowing how to control an audience and get them to participate takes the pressure out of any presentation. It allows the collective knowledge and experience of your audience shine through which then reflects on your overall performance.

Sometimes the less you say the more they take away.

£65 Athena Members

£85 Non-Athena Members