There is nothing like sharing a personal story in your speech that ties in with something hot in the news. It accomplishes several things. It makes you human in the eyes of your audience which helps them connect with you. It let’s them know you are hip and current with your topic, and it insures that your speeches stay fresh and new for you and them.
Having said that you need to be careful of who is in your audience when your share your story.
Recently I have been sharing a story about the effect of the dog food recall on my wonder dog Bo. A few weeks ago I checked the attendee roster of my public speaking seminar and found two attendees were from a company that makes several products including dog food. I went out in the audience and asked them their experience and discovered they were grateful not to be on the list. I asked permission to share their story along with mine with the group and we ended up in this great discussion. What if they had been on the list and I had brashly shared my story?
Because Bo’s special sensitive stomach dog food has been recalled for “reformulating†(I assume that means they are taking the poison out from now on) I took the vet’s advice and I have been feeding him Gerber’s baby food. Yep, you guessed it. What is on the recall list today?, Gerber’s baby food! Guess I will have another story for my next speech.
I have had a rough two weeks. A lot of really difficult and challenging things have happened. But like all motivational speakers and all really good speakers on any topic, I have been trying to see what I can learn from these experiences that I can eventually share with my audiences. Bad things can make great stories!
As all these things were happening I realized that I had so many ways I could responded to them. I could break down, grieve and cry, I could sit on my couch and eat chocolate ice cream and watch old movies, I could call friends and I could take action and move through them. I chose all the above, but most importantly I did not stay in victim mode.
When you take action you gain control and momentum to move through the bad and out the other side. There is the wonderful Chinese saying you made have read, “Change is opportunity riding on dangerous winds.â€
The dangerous winds have been blowing through my life, I could let them toss me willy nilly, instead I think I will open my wings and fly to something better.
Were your dangerous winds taking you? Are your wings open?
Yesterday I recommended that you speak the truth, today I want to discuss with you how to respond to truths you may hear.
My first regular speaking client was the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. I did a three day workshop that had gone extremely well; I got back my critiques and discovered that most everyone had rated me as excellent but two officers rated me poorly. My mentor at the time Edi Walker, was the head of training for the FDLE and she told me that those mixed critiques told her I was an excellent presenter, because I had affected two officers so much that they didn’t like me. That I had made them question the way they had been presenting. Wow! What a radical concept. Sometimes when and audience member is offended it is because you made them think. But here is more insight: Sometimes when you hear something that upsets you, it is because the information is making you think.
Since that incident their have been many times I have heard information in speeches and even in my more interpersonal conversations that have made me emotional, and when I do, I pause and reflect. If I feel really angry or offended or threatened or insulted about what I am hearing I ask myself is it because that information may be holding a mirror up to my life so that I can see myself and some insecurity or fear I have.
I have a friend who is extremely smart, an officer in the military, 42 single and never married. She is truly a phenomenal woman. She shared with me that a man she met on the internet she liked then he emailed her that there must be something wrong with her if she had never been married. She said, “I was so mad I couldn’t respond to him for day.†I thought about how I would have felt hearing that message and all the issues that would have brought up for me as a single woman. His comment was offensive, but it made me think.
Recall right now about the last time you were mad or upset…and ask yourself was there something they said that would rock your world, your beliefs about your self and how you live your life? It is so easy to make someone bad or wrong or stupid it is harder to ask yourself if that person is sharing something that will make your life better.
I am addicted to the home improvement shows like Clean House, Mission Organization were they go in and clean up peoples houses. Sometimes the organizers share harsh truths and the home owners get really mad and upset. But the end result is always a clean beautiful house. Sometimes we need to listen to the truth, clean out the clutter, and get a new a more wonderful life.
I was reading a news letter from speaker Randy Gage. He just keynoted at the National Speaker Convention. He had a speaking experience that you may have had or may have with your audience. The majority of the audience loved him; about 10 percent were deeply offended by him.
Here is a truth: When you speak about anything, you have the potential for disagreement from your audience. And when you share information that goes against the status quo, when you make recommendations that that requires a paradigm shift in thinking, you really are putting yourself out there.
But don’t make the mistake of hesitating to speak with conviction on a controversial issue or make strong recommendations about things that matter.
I recall reading about the high ranking officials and experts that knew about the real risk of imminent flooding in New Orleans before Katrina, but when you read the transcripts of their speeches to the power that be about their research finding and recommendation they tip toed around making a strong stand. They let fear keep them for speaking the truth.
As a speaker you have a responsibility to speak the truth. On a personal level I know there is times a professional speaker on body language and interpersonal communication that I say things that make my audience members uncomfortable, because they know that if they believe what I am saying they have to change.
It’s wonderful to make audiences laugh; it is an even greater gift to help audiences think in ways that can produce positive concrete changes in their lives.
Your group is tired and bored and needs something to get them energized. Perhaps you have been working a while on a serious project in your meeting and now you need a humor break or exercise the get the creative juices flowing. Or maybe you want your team to bond with a really fun and funny team exercise.
Here is an exercise you could do in your programs or training. This was created by a first grade school teacher in Virginia. She presented each child in her classroom the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. They came up with hysterically funny answers. There answers are listed below this exercise.
- Handout the proverbs below.
- Ask everyone to come up with a remainder of the proverb that is in no way like the real ending. Tell them to be wild and outrageously you can even read them a few of the ending the kids gave to inspire them. You will notice that the kids took the first part of the sentence literally and then finished the sentence. You may want to create a few answers yourself to share, perhaps even ones that are associated with your team, business or meeting.
- Break them into teams and have them choose a leader and a scribe.
- If you have an introverted group give them the sheet to work on first before they break into teams.
- Give everyone sheets a copy of the proverbs.
- Tell them to go outside the room for five to fifteen minutes and find a place to meet.
- Each the team leader shouts out first part of the proverb.
- The scribe records the answers.
- They tweak and edit the answers.
- Choose three of funniest answers
- Have them come back in a share their top three with the group.
- Laugh hysterically.
1. Don’t change horses… .
2. Strike while the…
3. Its always darkest before…
4. Never underestimate the power of…
5. You can lead a horse to water but…
6. Don’t bite the hand that…
7. No news is…
8. A miss is as good as a…
9. You can’t teach an old dog new…
10. If you lie down with dogs, you’ll….
11. Love all, trust
12. The pen is mightier than the.
13. An idle mind is…
14. Where there’s smoke there’s…
15. Happy is the bride who…
16. A penny saved is…
17. Two’s company, three’s…
18. Don’t put off till tomorrow what…
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…
20. There are none so blind as…
21. Children should be seen and not
22. If at first you don’t succeed…
23. You get out of something only what you…
24. When the blind lead the blind…
1. Don’t change horses… until they stop running.
2. Strike while the…bug is close.
3. It’s always darkest before…Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power of…termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but…how?
6. Don’t bite the hand that…looks dirty.
7. No news is…impossible.
8. A miss is as good as a…Mr.
9. You can’t teach an old dog new…math.
10. If you lie down with dogs, you’ll…stink in the morning.
11. Love all, trust…me.
12. The pen is mightier than the…pigs.
13. An idle mind is…the best way to relax.
14. Where there’s smoke there’s…pollution.
15. Happy is the bride who…gets all the presents.
16. A penny saved is…not much.
17. Two’s company, three’s…the Musketeers.
18. Don’t put off till tomorrow what…you put on to go to bed.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…you have to blow your nose.
20. There are none so blind as…Stevie Wonder.
21. Children should be seen and not…spanked or grounded.
22. If at first you don’t succeed…get new batteries.
23. You get out of something only what you…see in the picture on the box.
24. When the blind lead the blind…get out of the way.