What Do You Really Mean? Specificity Is The Key to Credibility

Presentation expert Patricia Fripp reminds her speech coaching clients that specificity is the key to credibility.
“Specificity builds credibility,” Patricia Fripp reminds her presentation skills coaching and virtual training clients.

What Do You Really Mean?

Every day in my role as an executive speech coach and the creator of FrippVT, I always say, “Specificity builds credibility.”

I listen to intelligent engineers, experienced leaders, and true experts in every field and find that too many are sloppy speakers. If you want to build your credibility, listen to what you say.

Here is a simple solution. You need to recognize both your strengths and areas to improve.

You Will Not Improve What You Are Not Aware Of

Record casual conversations and your side of a phone call or when you are leading a meeting. If you are like most of my clients and you will find out how often you use sloppy and not specific language.

Even my most intelligent clients fall into the trap of using the word stuff.

Stuff is rubbish. What do you really mean? At Thanksgiving and Christmas, I will give you a break if you are talking about the turkey.

Of course, in everyday conversation we don’t normally prepare what we’re going to say – so, it can feel natural to be non-specific. However, I guarantee that your important conversations and presentations will be much better if you examine your current speaking habits and then consciously build specificity into your everyday language.

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How to Save Time Preparing Your Presentation

How to save time in creating your presentation? An efficient creative process starts with a white board, flip chart, or yellow pad.
Do you know how to save time in creating your presentation? An efficient creative process starts here.

Are You Spending Too Much Time Preparing Your Presentation?

Have you thought, “Wish I could create a great presentation without spending hours on it!”?

Let me show you how to save time when preparing your presentation. Why not speed up your preparation process by learning from someone else’s 30-plus years of experience? After delivering 3,247 presentations in-person and online, coaching hundreds of executives, sales teams, engineers, and high-priced professional speakers, I can guide you through the steps to creating and delivering successful presentations. Not only will you master the basics of the creative process, speech structure, and opening with impact, but you will also develop greater confidence.

Don’t start by immediately jumping into PowerPoint to create your slides.

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How to Make Your Audience Interested in Your Presentation

How to Make Your Audience Interested in Your Presentation
Do you know how to make your audience interested in your presentation?

When you start to put together a presentation, what do you think about? You probably wonder how to make your presentation interesting to your audience.

I recommend that you begin by knowing your audience and understanding not only what they need, but also what they want. They need to have “buy-in” for your topic. This means you will help your audience see why your topic is relevant to them, how it benefits them, or how it can enhance their lives. I share more on capturing your audience’s interest in this brief video:

Let me help you deliver your presentation with knowledge and confidence.

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Why Is Rehearsing Your Presentation So Important?

Rehearsing Your Presentation Céline Dion Taking Chances World Tour in Sept 2008 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY on Long Island by Erin Nikitchyuk
Celine Dion demonstrates how rehearsal pays off.

Bruce Springsteen, Céline Dion, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Winton Marsalis, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Kristin Chenoweth… imagine how any one of these top performers would respond if you asked, “What role has rehearsal played in your career?” Without a doubt, rehearsal is essential to success.

You’ve crafted an amazing presentation. You know that it will grab your audience’s attention and keep it. You’ve incorporated techniques and strategies from trusted advisers, but you’re busy. You feel like you don’t have an extra minute in your day to practice your delivery, so why bother?

Rehearsal is critical to the success of your presentation. I explain why rehearsal is essential and how to work it into your whirlwind life in this brief video. Enjoy!

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What Is The Biggest Mistake Sales Professionals Make?

Patricia Fripp Shares the Biggest Mistake Sales Professionals Make
Patricia Fripp shares the biggest mistake sales professionals make and what to do to make your sales presentations powerful and persuasive.

“Patricia, what is the biggest mistake sales professionals make?” I was recently asked this in an interview. My answer?

Not rehearsing.

I expected to hear, “We lock the presentation team in the board room for a week. We go over our parts, video, and review. Then we bring in at least five different audiences of team members to listen and give their feedback.”

This is what he actually said, “We are lucky if we do a run-though in the back of Sylvia’s car before we walk in.”

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Why Video Matters & How to Make It Work for You

With current technology, you might not be surprised at how often I’m asked, “How do you use video in your business?”

As often and in as many ways as possible! We have a green screen, professional lighting, and great recording equipment, and my assistant has become highly proficient at adding backgrounds, images, and branding. This is no longer just for Hollywood and ad agencies. Small business and entrepreneurs can use to our advantage. You can even add vintage videos.

Videos are effective for promoting upcoming events, webinars, and for explaining how to make the most of an upcoming seminar or coaching experience. We record live speeches, cut them into segments

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Make Your Presentation a Success – Is Your Message Clear?

Casablanca Film Poster Is your message clear? Bill Gold [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Great films and good speeches have a message. Is your message clear?
What’s your message? Legendary Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn was quoted as saying, “If I want to send a message, I’ll send a telegram.” Yet, great films and good speeches do have a message. Some recent movies consist mainly of CGI explosions and chase scenes. They’re exciting, but at the end, the audience is usually left with a big “So what?”

In a speech, the funniest or most exhilarating story will be pointless if you don’t tie it into your theme and provide a lesson for the listener.

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How Can You Grab Your Audience? Expert Advice

Vivien Leigh grabs the audience from her first moment onscreen in Gone with The Wind. Wikimedia Commons image.
If you don’t grab your audience in the first 30 seconds and hint at more to come, you lose them. This is true in film and in public speaking.

Do you know how to grab your audience? The first thirty seconds of your presentation are critical, like the first page of a book or first seconds of a TV show or film. If you don’t make an impact and hint at more to come, you lose your audience.

Good movies, TV shows, and books, like good speeches, often open with a flavor scene, grabbing attention and positioning the audience for what is to come. Take a classic movie that has been a favorite for eight decades, Gone with the Wind. Neither the book nor the film opens with a discussion of the causes of the Civil War. Both start with Scarlett O’Hara sulking because the impending war might interrupt her social life.

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How to Stay Clear, Concise & Focused on Your Prospect’s Needs

prospect's needs must be central to your sales presentations from FrippVT
Patricia Fripp explains how to make your prospect’s needs central to your sales presentation through FrippVT.

Selling to large enterprises can be complex, but your sales presentation does not have to be. You are often speaking to the audience of your audience. In other words, your presentation will be repeated and discussed for months with individuals you may not have met.

When your message is clear, concise, and focused on the prospect’s needs or opportunities, you have their attention. Everyone on the presentation team must deliver a consistent message and be well rehearsed.

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Want to Connect with Every Audience, Every Time? You Need To

I am often asked, “How can I be confident that I’m connecting with my audience?” The answer is, “Make an emotional connection.” Whether you speak at a boardroom table or in a vast auditorium, your goal must be to connect emotionally with your audience. Emotional connection is key to ensuring your message is heard. Here is my best advice on how to connect emotionally with any audience. Enjoy!

Have you signed up for a trial of Fripp Virtual Training? FrippVT is an easy, convenient, cost-effective way to become a powerful, persuasive presenter. Sign up for your free FrippVT trial.

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