Back in 2001, at the Toastmasters International Convention, I was invited to deliver the opening keynote speech. In this 10-segment series, you view the anatomy of a keynote presentation. (1 of 10)
You will notice I have made comments on how I would give advice to the 2001 speaker…who is me!
Come out punching. The purpose of your opening is to arouse interest in your subject. This opening is stating an opinion. Enjoy.
“It never ceases to amaze me that intelligent, well-educated, and ambitious people, frequently overlook developing the number one skill that is guaranteed to position them ahead of the crowd. Namely, developing the ability to stand up and speak eloquently with confidence or at the very least stagger to their feet and say anything at all.”
Lesson: speak as an audience advocate.
“As Toastmasters, we are committed to being competent communicators, and…
Lesson: I said but. Now I recommend whenever possible, “Take the ‘but’ out of your mouth.”
Your relationship with your audience is a major key to your presentation success.
How do you speak with confidence? One of the secrets is to know how to build an astonishing relationship with your audience.
The first two ways you will connect to your audience of 5, 50, or 500 are intellectually and emotionally. Logic makes you think; emotion makes you act.
The intellectual connection will come from your content and the logic around how you make your case. When you use charts and statistics and report on the result of surveys, you are connecting intellectually.
Making an emotional connection is easier. There are three ways to connect emotionally with your audience.
One is through stories.
Second is with “you-focused” language, what I call the “I-You Ratio or balance.” How often do you say “I” compared to “you” or “us”?
“You” is your one-word advantage.
The third connection occurs by speaking as an audience advocate. Focus your content from the audience’s point of view; look at your message through their eyes. When you work on the principle that everyone is more interested in themselves than in us, you will not go wrong.
If an executive says, “Our new strategy will increase shareholder value” to employees who are not shareholders, the executive is not speaking as an audience advocate. If they say, “Our new strategy will increase revenue, which in turn leads to more job security,” they are on track.
Here are a few remarks to remove from your presentations:
“I am going to talk about . . .”
“What I would like to talk about . . .”
“What I am going to do first is . . .”
Instead, substitute “Great news! You are about to learn ten techniques guaranteed to make your presentations memorable.”
Make a list of you-focused phrases that would work in your presentations.
Here are several that I use to begin. If they work for you, please use them.
In your experience . . .
If I were to ask you . . .
You can feel confident . . .
How often have you felt, seen, experienced . . . ?
When was the first/last time you . . . ?
It might interest/surprise/amaze you to know/learn/discover . . .
Do you remember a time when . . . ?
What advice did your dad/parents/mother/first boss give you?
Think back to when you . . . frustrated/upset/ happy/enthusiastic/disappointed?
I helped a sales executive from a major hotel with a short presentation to bring a convention to San Francisco, a $500,000 event. They had strong competition from two other cities. When the competition is tough, the best presentation wins. I recommended a you-focused opening.
“In the next 8 minutes, you will decide that the best decision you can make for your association and your members is to bring your convention to San Francisco and the Fairmont Hotel.” That is 5 you or yours and one Fairmont. That creates a strong emotional connection.
Good luck making a strong connection with your audiences.
“I gave my speech last night… it was at least TWICE as good because of the day I spent with you. I didn’t realize during the day that you were making such a great impact… but mission accomplished… and quite an accomplishment on your part because it is nearly impossible for me to sit through anything for an entire day. I have already referred a couple of my clients to you.” Sally Pera, President, PR Connect
“Oh, my goodness, Patricia! The panel went so well! I received dozens of compliments about how engaging the panelists were and about my moderating as well. The expert panelists were extremely pleased. Your expert coaching was excellent and timely, as always. Thank you, Patricia, for your brutal honesty, for always steering me in the right direction, and for always challenging me. Words do not express my gratitude!” Angela Cockerham, Attorney and Mississippi State Representative
My brother Robert Fripp, is an internationally-acclaimed guitarist, founding and ongoing member of King Crimson worked in a hotel dance band while going to college. It may interest you to know that he took the job over from a friend who moved to London. His friend was Andy Summers, of the famed rock band, The Police.
In recent years, Robert and I have teamed up to deliver presentations. I share this story he likes to tell about what he learned from a rabbi while working in a hotel band in Bournemouth, England, during the late 1960s…
One of my favorite assignments is to work with sales teams and help them use stories to drive more sales. It amuses me to ask them, “Have you ever noticed that it seems as if our prospects are often trained to resist our sales presentations?” However, it is my belief that when we use well-chosen stories, examples, and case histories in our sales presentations, they become more memorable.
When we have strong competition, we must tell better stories. In this context we tell stories that relate to how we improve our client’s condition. You may call them examples or case histories. They are stories. The most important type of story is about your satisfied clients who are enjoying the benefits of your product or service.
The happy client story formulaissituation, solution, success.
Welcome to part four of a four-part series on the best formula for a presentation closing that resonates.
3 • “The End-of-the-Story Close”
This closing technique involves a story that’s told early in the speech, maybe even in the opening. As far as the audience is concerned, the story has a successful conclusion. In the closing, you reveal one more detail about the story, in effect revealing the next and concluding scene of the story.
Here’s an example from my good friend Hall of Fame speaker Tony Alessandra’s presentation on customer service. He opened with a story about a frustrating experience dealing with calling an airline for the second time, only to find that the cost of his ticket was now $600 more than 30 minutes before. He heard, “Sir, there is nothing I can do for you. The only suggestion is you could call the president of the airline” Case closed This was a very satisfying conclusion to the story. 45 minutes later, after his review, challenge, call to action, and Q and A, the audience loved his message. He then took two steps forward and said, “So, I called the president of the airline and said . . .” Everybody laughed because by now their mind was no longer on the opening. This was an effective use of the “End of The Story Close.”
Welcome to part three of a four-part series on the best formula for a presentation closing that resonates.
End on a high point. Options for Closing Techniques:
The last thirty seconds of your speech must send people out energized and fulfilled. This means you need to finish with something inspirational that supports your theme.
1 • “The Circular Technique”
As a discipline, it’s always wise to revisit your opening, whether you use this technique or not. In the Circular Technique, the opening and closing generate the same emotion or have corresponding circumstances or situations. For example, I opened my keynote to the American Cemetery Association with the story of my experience when my mother died. Using the circular technique, I led into my close with this:
“At the beginning of my presentation, you heard my experience when my mother died. Let me close with my brother’s experience that he wrote in the liner notes of his CD, Blessing of Tears. ‘Life is what we are given, living is what we do with it . . .’”
My opening showed my perspective, and my closing gave my brother Robert’s perspective.
Welcome to part two of a four-part series on the best formula for a presentation closing that resonates.
If you plan to include Q & A, indicate how much time has been allotted.
To keep the session flowing, I recommend that you say, “What are your short, specific questions?” Be sure to let your audience know when you will take two final questions. With virtual presentations, after each point of wisdom and before you transition to the next chunk of content, why not add a slide with a question mark on it. This reminds you of your flow, and it gives the audience time to engage. Up front, ask the introducer or moderator to tell the audience you will be doing this. If you are your own moderator, let the audience know to add their questions when they have them. My advice: If you have an audience of more than a handful, have a moderator. Not all questions need to be answered if they are off-topic. If three attendees ask the same question, they can be combined. It is a good idea to have a couple of on-point questions prepared in case none are asked.
If you speak on a complex subject, it is best to answer questions throughout your presentation.
Welcome to part one of a four-part series on the best formula for a presentation closing that resonates.
Every great singer opens with their second-best song and closes with their best.
In a perfect world, your close will be a highlight of your speech. This way you increase the likelihood that you will look out and see your audience leap to their feet applauding. Bill Gove, the first president of the National Speakers Association, told me, “A standing ovation says more about the audience than the speaker.” In other words, a mediocre speech can receive an ovation from a direct sales organization, whereas the best-crafted presentation delivered to enthusiastic accountants mostly likely will not.
There is, however, a surefire formula that you can rely on to close your presentation.
Six-step formula to captivate your audience at the end of your presentation:
Good communicators understand fat and skinny words
If your goal is to sound clear, concise, and credible, this advice is invaluable.
Nothing can turn your audience off faster than using fat words when they’re hungry for skinny ones.
Or vice versa. I learned this exciting concept from Dr. David Palmer, who was a Silicon Valley negotiations expert. He introduced me to “levels of abstraction.”
Unless you can match your message to the expectations of your audience or talk at the same level at which they are listening, you won’t connect as well as you would like. This is true whether your audience is one person, ten, or one hundred.
Suppose you write the word “automobile” on a pad.
A simple concept. Going up to the next level of abstraction, you could write above it that the car is a “wheeled passenger vehicle,” then “surface transportation,” then “major force in the world’s economy.” This is making the word “automobile” fatter and fatter, larger and larger. These big ideas and abstractions are “fat words.” They are great for conveying the big picture, for inspiring ideas, for motivating.
Now, let’s make the word skinnier.
Underneath, you might write “sedan,” “Ford sedan,” “red, four-door Ford sedan.” Eventually, you would be talking about a specific car with its VIN. Those are “skinny words.” They are essential for conveying instructions and solving technical problems.
No one holding a screwdriver, camera, or looking at a blank screen on their computer wants fat words. You’ll just frustrate them, maybe make them furious. They want to know minute details and the specific who, what, when, and how.
Many of my clients hire me to coach their sales teams.
After giving them the automobile illustration, they learn to be more effective at evaluating each other by saying, “Your words are too fat,” or “Those words aren’t skinny enough.” When you are presenting a sales overview to an executive or senior management, ask, “Should your words get fatter or skinnier?”
Upper management needs fat words.
After a successful initial interview with a company, you may be lucky or skilled enough to be invited to present your offerings to their management team. For this group, your ideas need to be brought down a level of abstraction by using skinnier words and phrases.
Let’s assume you were very effective and persuasive.
You made the sale. Now you are dealing with the individuals who make the technology or machine work. That is when the words and phrases need to get skinny. The who, what, when, how, and how do I troubleshoot problems?
At what level should you present your information so that you get your message across? It all depends on the audience.
For many years, as a professional speaker I asked my clients, “What do you want to accomplish from my program?” “What is the purpose of the meeting?”
Often, I heard very “fat” answers. “Get them to sell more,” or “Motivate them,” or “Get them excited about our new strategy.”
My reply would be, “How much are they selling now? How much more?” or “Motivate them to do what?” or “What are the reasons they would be excited about the strategy.” Over the years, I have become better at asking questions that drive the conversation to give me “skinnier” answers. Some of my favorite questions are “Can you give me a specific example?” and “How will you measure the results?” and “Can you help me understand specifically what you mean by that?”
Can you see the challenge?
When their words and instructions are too fat, it is challenging to know how to meet and exceed their expectations. With my questioning, I need to drive their comments and expectations down the level of abstraction I can understand.
How clear are you when you communicate? Have you developed the ability to move from fat conversations to skinnier?
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“Patricia Fripp is amazing. As a speech coach, you’ll never find anyone with her wisdom, experience, and ability. Once I began to work with her, she improved my speaking style immediately. Her ability to listen to what her clients want to say and instantly give them the right words to use is incredible. Patricia can take an average presentation and quickly transform it to become great.
She takes time to explain and teach her clients how to think about their speech structure and language so that they are equipped to apply the same strategy moving forward. Patricia truly cares a lot about her clients’ success. You get both a coach and a fan when you partner with Patricia.” – Bhavin Shah, CEO & Founder, Moveworks
Make more sales more often. Patricia Fripp can help.
Developing good public speaking skills helps you make more sales more often.
To sell you need technical skills, product knowledge, how you compare to your competition, territory management, a good relationship management system, discipline, and self-management. However, that is not enough. Too often the best presentation wins.
Earlier in my career when I was primarily a keynote speaker, a large food service company invited me to keynote their yearly sales conference. After my speech, Jennifer, the National Sales Manager, pulled me aside and said, “I liked your speech. However, I really loved how you delivered it. Can you teach our salespeople to speak that way? We sell quality food and uniforms to hospitals and healthcare systems.
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How to Present and Teach in the Virtual World…and More
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