Strategies in Public Speaking: Presentation Goals

00:01 What is the goal of your presentation and your speech, by the way? Throughout this whole course, I'm going to use the term speech presentation talk. Powerpoint.

00:12 Almost interchangeably.

00:14 I really mean any time you're speaking to two or more people and sometimes even one, and it's not just idle chit chat, it's not just at the WaterCooler talking about last night's game.

00:25 You're trying to communicate something very specific.

00:28 So the first thing you've got to do, if you want to be an effective speaker, you've got to have a specific goal.

00:34 It's like that in any other aspect of business or life.

00:37 You're not going to succeed unless you have something specific in mind.

00:43 It can't be just getting through it alive or not looking like a fool.

00:46 That's too low of an ambition, so you need to have a specific goal in mind.

00:53 It could be getting that sale, getting that contract, getting.

00:56 Hired, getting budget approval.

00:59 What is it you want people to actually do coming up to you afterwards, asking for your card for more information about your service or your product or your business, getting funding for your startup, what is your goal? You need to have. A very.

01:16 Very clear sense of exactly what your goal is.

01:21 Then and only then.

01:22 Can you figure out what.

01:24 To say. So let me just cut.

01:28 Right to the chase. The number one problem.

01:30 Every single one of my clients has.

01:33 Everywhere in the world.

01:34 And I work with. People from six continents and.

01:36 Every kind of country, every kind of language.

01:39 The number one mistake everyone makes is they dump way too much data in their speech.

01:46 Their presentation is.

01:48 Sort of, here's everything I know.

01:50 On this topic.

01:51 Here's everything we've done for the last quarter.

01:54 Here's every sales figure for every week for the last two years.

01:58 Here's a PowerPoint with 29 bullet.

02:00 Points per slide and it's 72 slides.

02:04 So if you want to just hop right up to the advanced level now and not spend years and years and years of. Trial by air, all you have to.

02:10 Do is this one thing, and that is eliminate the massive, massive, massive amounts of data most people try to convey in their speech.

02:20 Here's what I recommend brainstorm on every single message point you would like to convey to this audience.

02:29 Then put it in priority and narrow it down to the top five.

02:36 Now, I'm a big believer that any time.

02:38 You're giving a speech, you should really focus on just.

02:43 Five. Key ideas, five messages.

02:46 Why is that? It's because I actually test audiences all over the world.

02:50 Here's what I've found.

02:52 Every time I go to an organization to do a public speaking training or give a speech in front of a large crowd, I always ask people, I say, Can you think of the best speaker you've seen in the last year, last, last five years? Now, can you tell me every message point you remember from this fantastic speaker? Not that they were funny or they walked.

03:17 Around the stage a.

03:18 Lot, but I want to know how.

03:21 Many messages.

03:23 Do you actually remember from.

03:24 This fantastic speaker? Now, sometimes I ask this question.

03:28 People say. Oh, T.J., I don't remember.

03:31 Anything, but he was funny.

03:33 Sometimes people remember one message, occasionally two, sometimes three. Every once in a while, someone will remember four messages. And once every six months someone.

03:47 Will remember five.

03:48 Messages from the best speaker they've seen.

03:51 That year. Or perhaps they're a lifetime now.

03:55 All the many years I've asked that question to people, I've never actually had anyone remember more than five.

04:02 Points, five main messages from a speech.

04:06 So that's. Why I urge you.

04:09 To focus on just five points.

04:12 Now, interestingly, the.

04:13 Very same. People I'm.

04:15 Training in person who say they.

04:16 Can only remember two or three or four or at.

04:19 Most five points two months.

04:22 Later, they're getting up to give their speech.

04:24 And sure enough, what do they have? Seven points on the first PowerPoint.

04:29 18 points on the second, nine points on the third.

04:33 And I always said, wait a minute, you just said the best speaker you've seen in your life.

04:39 You remember three or four.

04:40 Or five points. And now you're trying to convey.

04:44 72 points in this presentation.

04:47 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, but T.J.

04:50 my Audience is different.

04:51 Our corporate culture is different.

04:53 No, it's not.

04:54 You just proved it.

04:57 You're a part of your corporate culture.

04:59 And you don't remember more than three or four or five points.

05:02 So if you just follow.

05:05 This one tip.

05:07 You're instantly going to get to a very.

05:10 Advanced status as a public speaker, as a presenter, as a.

05:15 Communicator. And emotionally.

05:17 It's hard to do because people.

05:20 Feel like, gosh, T.J., if I don't.

05:22 Tell people every single thing we do, Smithers here might say, I left something out. Janet might complain that.

05:30 I was a. Superficial herald over here will complain that his pet project wasn't mentioned.

05:37 You know what? I better.

05:38 Play it safe and.

05:39 Just dump all the data and tell everything and put every point in there.

05:42 And then everybody will think I'm smart.

05:46 Now you know what everyone thinks when you do that, T.J. is really boring now.

05:54 Let me just check my email.

05:56 That's the only thing people are thinking.

05:59 So when you dump data, that's the real sign.

06:03 Of a very, very.

06:04 Insecure speaker.

06:06 Because what you're really saying is, I'm afraid people aren't going to like me and think I'm smart.

06:12 So I'm going to have to tell everybody everything I know and then.

06:16 They'll respect me.

06:17 That is complete, utter nonsense.

06:21 Too many people think of a speech as an.

06:24 Opportunity to get a giant wheelbarrow and sort of go around their office for two months, gathering facts, gathering data points, gathering old PowerPoint slides from other people.

06:35 And that's the day. Of the speech.

06:36 And they kind of wheeled that wheelbarrow into the.

06:38 Conference room and they just start.

06:41 Dumping and wow, look at the time.

06:43 There's not much time. I better.

06:44 Speak faster because I've got so much.

06:46 Data to dump. And it simply wears out the audience.

06:51 It numbs them.

06:54 You're not impressing anybody.

06:57 You're not making them feel you're smarter.

07:00 All you're. Doing is boring.

07:02 Them. Let's go back to our initial criteria of what we're trying to accomplish. We want to look comfortable, confident, have.

07:09 People understand us.

07:11 Have people remember.

07:12 Our message so they can take the actions they.

07:15 Want. Well, if you've bored people to death in the first few minutes, they're no longer. Understanding anything you say.

07:23 They're certainly not remembering it because they're not even paying attention.

07:28 So how in the world are they going to do what you want them to do? If they checked out long ago? And you know what? You're not even going to accomplish your first goal of looking confident, comfortable.

07:40 Relaxed, because chances are.

07:43 You're kind of wedded.

07:46 To a script. Or you're looking at a bunch of slides, so you're really not going to accomplish. A single goal.

07:53 So that's the great irony.

07:54 People say, We'll teach you, I need this.

07:57 Powerpoint with all these bullet points.

07:59 By the way, I'm not anti PowerPoint.

08:00 I'm anti a PowerPoint with lots and lots and lots of bullet points.

08:04 I'm not anti using notes.

08:07 I am anti having sheets and sheets of paper filled with lots and lots of bullet points. People say to you, I need this script as a crutch for me. And I try to politely tell them, A crutch keeps you from falling down and hurting yourself.

08:24 If you're injured, what you're doing isn't keeping you from falling down.

08:29 It's actually causing you to fail.

08:31 So don't tell me it's a crutch.

08:35 It's really a weight that's bringing down your presentation.

08:38 So that's my challenge to you.

08:41 And this is your first homework assignment.

08:43 You've got to come up with a topic.

08:45 For a speech.

08:48 The first thing I want you to. Do is write in one sentence What is it. You want your audience to do now? It's a little bit different.

08:58 If you're a student and you're giving just a book report on a classic, it may be what you want to do is motivate your other students.

09:06 To think This book is so fascinating that.

09:08 They want to go out and read it.

09:10 It doesn't have to be about getting more money.

09:12 Or getting a direct sale, but you should think of motivating your audience to do something. So in one sentence.

09:20 I want to know what your goal.

09:22 Is for this audience.

09:23 I don't mean your goal is. I want them to think I'm smart.

09:26 Your goal should be something you.

09:28 Want your audience to actually do.

09:31 Then I want you to write down every.

09:35 Message point that you could possibly.

09:38 Think of and then put it in priority and narrow it down to just five.

09:45 That is your homework assignment.

09:47 Come up with just five message points.

09:51 A message. Point is not a big theme.

09:54 With 72 points.

09:56 A message point is just one idea.

10:00 It should be something with one subject, one verb, one object.

10:04 It's not a long. Run on sentence with.

10:07 However, therefore.

10:09 But it's just one idea.

10:12 Don't be greedy.

10:15 Focus on one idea at a time and you should have simply five.

10:19 I want you to. Type those up on your.

10:21 Computer, write. It on a piece of paper.

10:24 But it's. Critically important you have.

10:27 This. Degree of clarity, because without that.

10:31 You're basically.

10:33 Absolutely destroying your ability to communicate.

10:37 Successfully. You need a roadmap for your presentation.

10:40 You can't drive from Los Angeles to.

10:43 New York without GPS and without a road map.

10:46 Typically in just follow.

10:48 Streets wherever they go, you'll end up all sorts of nooks and crannies and you'll just never get anywhere.

10:55 You need a road map for your presentation.

10:57 It needs simplicity.

10:58 It's going to. Be easier for you.

11:00 When you're giving the presentation.

11:02 You know who else. It's going to be easier.

11:04 For your.

11:05 Audience. They need something.

11:08 Easy for them to to follow.

11:09 So that's your first homework assignment.

11:12 Go ahead. Do it right now.

11:14 Five ideas.

11:17 And you need to eliminate the stuff that is only important to you but isn't important to your audience. You need to eliminate the fluff.

11:24 You need to eliminate the nice two no's and keep the half to note.

11:29 What is it that you absolutely, positively have to have your.

11:33 Audience. Understanding and remembering? So do that right now.