Amy Boone of Ethos3 has an excellent article entitled, "How to Overcome Presentation Distractions." It's about how to minimize noise to improve the effectiveness of your presentations. One of the first things that struck me was research from the University of California Irvine. It found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to regain attention and focus after encountering a distraction. Holy cow! If you're making a 30 minute presentation, any distraction might cost you the full impact of your message. The article goes on to point out two types of "noise" -- or distractions. As presenters, we have more control over one than the other. In broad strokes, there is external and internal noise. External noise consists of: Environment - this is the physical room and the various elements in it (phones, alarms, beeps, burps) Message - this refers to unnecessary (or hard-to-understand) jargon Presentation…
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From an early age I learned I enjoyed public speaking. I don't remember the first time I stood in front of a group and gave a presentation. It might have been "show and tell" in kindergarten. As a kid growing up in a local church, it could have been reading scripture or praying during midweek services. During my teen years, I began participating on the speech team in high school and delivered my first sermon on a Sunday evening. Over the years, I've tried to be diligent about honing my craft. As a communicator, I realize I haven't communicated if all I have done is transmit information. When the audience understands the information and knows how to apply it ... then I've communicated. Just recently, I was reading an excellent blog post by Stephanie Scotti, author of Talk on Water. In it she writes about foundational beliefs every effective communicator…
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Having recently turned 50, I've set a goal of running at least one 10k during my 50th year - which ends on November 6, 2020. Although I'm in generally good health (or at least I think so), my wife and I followed wise advice and found a training program that progresses from not running at all to finishing a 10k. Following additional wise counsel, we each purchased a good pair of running shoes. So far, so good. But having a training program and a pair of running shoes does not make you a runner. Running makes you a runner. Although I was excited to start training for a 10k, I'll also admit to not enjoying the first few training sessions. My knees would agree - they didn't find it too enjoyable either. But after a few weeks of sticking with it, something interesting happened: I found myself looking forward to…
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As a student of public speaking, I'm always watching and analyzing how people communicate. Whether it's on television, at a play, or just sitting in Starbucks, there are certain key ingredients to effective communication. The list can be rather long: presence, voice, style, word choice, authenticity, structure, content ... we could keep going. One distinction I've been reflecting on lately has been the difference between communicating in order to influence and communicating simply to inform. As a pastor and preacher, my natural bent is to communicate to influence. That's not to say we don't inform. We certainly do. In fact, to truly influence requires solid information otherwise the influence will be short-lived, perhaps even harmful. Here's a mistake I see many communicators make: they desire to influence but simply inform. Every public speaker has to be clear about the goal of their speech -- if it is to influence or…
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Malcolm Gladwell has great hair. Beyond that, he is one of my favorite authors. He has written such great books as Blink, Outliers, David and Goliath, and Tipping Point. He's also a very engaging speaker. He has also given several TedTalks that you can find online -- certainly worth listening to. He was recently interviewed on the BBC Radio show, "Desert Islands Discs" and the host asked Gladwell about public speaking. In particular, he asked Gladwell what made a person a great speaker. Here is part of his answer: I like the challenge of standing in front of a group of people and being required to reach them … People have travelled to be there and what an audience wants is to be taken seriously. They will put up with a lot if they have the sense that you have thought about what you are doing with them in some considered…
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