The last time you spoke to a group, what was the first thing you said?  If you are a typical presenter, you uttered something brilliant like:  “Hello, my name is ________ and I’m here to bore you right from the start.”  You might not have admitted it in so many words, but that was the net effect. 

             Why is it that most speakers don’t get it?  Why don’t they understand their first obligation as an effective speaker is to grab and hold our attention?  Why do they prefer to start out by stating the obvious?  (We know who you are already!)  Why do they prefer to slide into their topic by saying something imaginative like: “I’m here to talk about _______.”  (You still haven’t told us anything we don’t already know!) 

            Then to top off their spell-binding opening remarks they find something to apologize for like how nervous they get in front of an audience or how difficult the slides are to read or how they wish they’d had more time to prepare.  Nothing like lowering our expectations right up front!

             When it comes to speaking, and especially when it comes to starting a speech, you have a lot you need to accomplish.  But the overriding responsibility is to get us interested in what you have to say.

             How do you do that effectively?  Get to know us first.  A little knowledge can go a long way toward figuring out how best to start.

            Then take a chance.  Risk applying a little imagination and creativity.  Launch by saying something unexpected yet relevant.  Ask a challenging question.  Tell us a brief story.

            But regardless of the your choice, prove to us this stuff matters to you.

            Remember, you didn’t have me at “Hello.”          

What I find most difficult to counter these days is all the negative coming at me.  Newscasts are especially brimming with the latest evidence of our dire circumstances.  Those details are generally followed by a thick layer of dire predictions for the economy, our nation, and your job security. 

Turning to others for relief usually proves to be a flawed strategy.  Our colleagues, neighbors, and friends are most likely drowning in their own negative thoughts/responses sprinkled with the dire details of someone they know personally who has just been laid off or lost their retirement nest egg.

So today I’d like you to join me by adopting or at least trying on a new strategy:  Become a harbinger of hope, a pundit for the positive, an advocate of advantage.  If only for a moment, suspend complying with the negative and offer up the opposite.

And you can start right now by quashing that negative response you were about to formulate.  Instead, think about “positive possibilities!”

By forcing - and I do mean forcing - ourselves to say something positive first, think about what that does for the recipient.  Think about what that does for us.  If we do it often enough, we might even start to lay the groundwork for developing constructive, real world solutions, and feel better in the process. 

We can do this!   W hat do you say?   

Moving from a meek, unsure, fearful public speaker to an energized, strong, confident, and appreciative one is a worthy goal for any business professional.  But the pay-off for such a transformation is far greater than we think.

As we head back out into the world today, what awaits us?  Lately, it’s been a barrage of numbers.  For days and weeks and months we’ve been battered with numbers: the skyrocketing cost of a gallon of gas, the ever-increasing number of jobs lost this quarter, the record number of foreclosures in 2008, the historic decline in stock prices, the mounting cost in human lives and taxpayer dollars to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I doubt if any of us can recall a time when the world has felt more hostile and out of control.

Not unlike stepping onto the platform to speak for the first time, we are uncertain about the future and our own ability to perform.  Will I screw up?  Is failure inevitable?  Where’s the nearest exit?

What I’m suggesting is this: confidence in ourselves in the midst of fear and doubt, the ability to function effortlessly under adverse circumstances, and the feeling that life is still an adventure despite mounting odds – are all choices for any speaker.  As a communications skills trainer and coach, it’s what I am dedicated to achieving with all my clients.  I’ve witnessed such transformations many times on the platform…and in just two days!  And I’m convinced it’s the kind of experience that can be transferred to all aspects of our lives.

If I may be so bold:  Become a better speaker.  Apply that same focus and approach to living your life.  Then go ahead and be happier!  We can live life afraid of what’s next or as a celebration of what is and what’s possible.

You don’t have to wait at the checkout stand of your neighborhood grocery store to benefit from Buy One Get One Free.  You can experience it in your life every time you make progress as a speaker.

Public speaking is tough enough.  If you’re not content with your content, it gets a lot tougher.  If you know or even suspect your content lacks something, your confidence will wane, your excitement will dissipate, and your fear of failure will escalate.

There are several ways to screw up content development.

#1 in my book is you don’t care enough.  You haven’t taken the steps necessary to convince yourself that your information matters.  That pretty much guarantees you’ll do a lousy job trying to make it matter to anyone else.  Can you say “business content?”

#2:  Lack of preparation.  Maybe the data isn’t fresh or up-to-date or even accurate.  In a business setting it’s not uncommon that the data was put together by someone else and you’re not as familiar with it as you should be.

#3:  There’s no point.  Information without a purpose leaves the listener crying out (usually within sixty seconds): “Why am I here?”  In a business setting, that’s deadly.

Some of the other more popular ways to screw up content include the data dump, the bare bones or no ornaments on the tree approach (no examples, illustrations, or stories), and one of my favorites (and your mother warned you to never talk to strangers!): The “I don’t know you and I’m about to prove it by telling you something you already know or explaining something you can’t possibly understand or even care about” approach.

In the business world, there’s nothing more exciting than talking to an audience about something they want and need to hear.  If you’d like to learn how to make sure that happens every time you speak, hire me to teach you.  At the very least, listen to your mother.

Why communication skills training?  Why now? 

Before I can answer, let me first ask you a couple of probing questions.   Are you feeling pressure to justify every dollar you spend?  Would you like to strengthen your current efforts to finding and securing new customers?  Could you be doing more to improve your relationships with existing customers?

If your answer is “Yes” to any of those questions, congratulations!  You have to keep reading!

So back to the 64-dollar question: Why communication skills training?  For starters, can you think of another skill set that guarantees results and is more critical to building and strengthening relationships than effective communication skills?  And isn’t selling and growing a business all about relationships? 

If you lack confidence in your ability to present to an audience or engage someone one-on-one, then every speech before a customer, every meeting with the board, every conversation with an employee turns into an obligation, not an opportunity.  Many of my happiest clients began with such a mindset.  Now they approach public speaking, running a meeting, or conducting interviews with genuine enthusiasm.  They fully expect to have a positive impact. 

If you want to invest your business dollars somewhere where the results are guaranteed, put your money where your mouth is…as well as your employees’, of course!