3 Lessons to Accelerate your Speaking Life
Having spent over four decades in the world of public speaking, first as an agent and now as a speaker coach, I thought it would be fun--and valuable--to share some of what I have learned about what elements go into creating a powerful speaker.
I hope you will find these tips useful in creating your own speaker’s platform.
1. Name What You See and Hear
It is an odd sensation when everyone seems to be talking about the same thing, but it is exciting to see who gets there first. This makes me think of the book The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life by Dr. Robin Stern. Dr. Stern, a psychoanalyst, witnessed manipulative behavior while she was working with her patients, causing her to remember the 1944 film Gaslight starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Realizing that it was important to help people beyond those in her private practice, to understand their experiences and provide them tools to find a way through it, she published her book to critical acclaim. Then in 2017, when the word "gaslighting" was on everyone's lips, Dr. Stern re-released her book with a new introduction, which addressed the social phenomena of the term. Her Vox article is still one of the most referenced pieces on the topic.
What is the moral of the story? Pay attention to what you see and hear, and use your unique point of view to develop your ideas, so that you can bring them into the public conversation.
2. Reposition Your Expertise
Often I hear pundits talking about the events of the day, even though they do not have direct experience with the issues they are discussing. How are they able to do that? They understand that by drawing on their own expertise, they are able to extrapolate and offer observations that will shed light on what we are witnessing.
The first time I saw this happen was in 1991 during Desert Storm. I watched as all the authors I was working with had their book-tour media appearances canceled. The only exception was journalist David Halberstam. While his book had no connection to the Gulf War, since he was most famous for his reporting from Vietnam, Halberstam was able to keep all his interviews, and, in fact, he secured more interviews than had been originally planned. When he was introduced, they showed the cover of his new book, and then quickly moved onto the news. It was a win-win for everyone.
I think of this now, as often speakers are so focused on their specific ideas that they miss opportunities to broaden their reach and potential impact. If you are a speaker, I suggest you look at your expertise and explore how the knowledge you have can help people manage and understand the world we are currently living in, beyond your particular niche. In other words, think of the Big Picture. You are more than your topic.
3. Dig Deep
I always suggest to clients when we start working together that we begin with a review of their content & concepts. Recently I was meeting with Nancy Giles, Social Commentator for CBS Sunday Morning to help update her speaking topics. We started by making lists of all her commentaries, stories, and lived experiences, so we could identify the themes that ran underneath her work. Since I like naming things, I call this process ‘Intellectual Architecture’--discovering the legacy upon which ideas are built. This construct allows us to explore the basement (early experiences), the house ( recent and current experiences) and the roof (birds eye view or future projects). It is a fun, non-threatening way to help people be more open to discovering what they have to draw upon. In the case of Ms Giles we had a blast making lots of lists discovering a wide range of themes. Then she identified the three unique stories that would serve as the internal structure for each of her speaking topics.
The beauty of this process is it allows a speaker to see more clearly the breadth of their ideas. It reveals the wide and deep well from which they can curate their content. This creates opportunity for their ideas to resonate best with a variety of audiences. One of the other benefits of practicing Intellectual Architecture is that it also gives speakers self-assurance, so that if they get a booking for the next week, all they need to do is say yes to the job and deliver their best message.
I believe following just one of these lessons can help you expand what you have to offer and broaden your reach. I will help you do the inner work to make your presentation pop and go above & beyond what you can imagine.
If you are a speaker looking to develop or refresh your message, my public speaker coaching services will be of value to you.
If you are with an agency (Speaker, Literary or Public Relations), then I invite you to consider my talent development consulting services. Let’s find a time to talk and explore what you need to do next to elevate your voice.
“Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.”