Tools Of The Speaking Trade

Wireless Mike, overheads or slides, laser pointer, excellent
handout materials -- these are some of the tools of the speaking
trade.

Are they the most meaningful tools in your toolbox? I think not.
Yes, they matter. They matter a lot, as do other implements. But
they're not the most meaningful tools. The 7 most meaningful
tools of our trade, tools that help you get more bookings at
higher fees, are these...

1. Your empathy:

Your empathy for the concerns of the decision-maker who hired
you, for the interests of the organization paying your fee, for
the needs and wants, hungers, longings and fears of your audience
members.

2. Your attitude:

Are you there to make a dollar or to make a difference? Are you
delivering your standard program much like what you delivered
yesterday somewhere else? Or do you go the extra mile researching
this organization, this industry, the trends affecting this field
now, and so forth? Do you interview outside industry experts and
key executives within this organization -- and, most important,
some of the lower echelon folks who are to be present? Do you ask
deep questions about the core issues interesting each of these
constituencies? Then, do you probe further for emotional issues
that may affect the whole direction of your program?

3. Your program design:

Do you weave your insights and findings into a tapestry of wisdom
and hope, of ideas and guidelines, of recommended actions? Do you
share new information, AHAs born during your research for this
event? Are you a conceptual artist -- like Michelangelo painting
the Sistine Chapel ceiling -- i.e. do you interlace and clarify
what others find hazy until the moment you speak? (Do you make
the ephemeral visible?) Do you articulate palpable words and
images so those present better understand -- and know how to deal
with -- the goings-on in their world now?

4. Your passion:

Are your ideas throbbing with aliveness? Does your body language
match your words? Do you gaze deeply into the eyes of different
audience members, connecting one-on-one with each if only for a
few seconds? Do you radiate an emotional intimacy with your words
-- and do you express that intimacy by the look on your face? Do
you use the power of the pause, the eloquence of silence, to let
your ideas sink in?

5. Your state of being:

This is your primary message. It's what your audience members see
and feel first. They get it subliminally. They get it instantly.
They see it in your stance. They sense it in your glance. And
they persist in getting it every second of your program. Are you
up? Your audience knows. Are you here now, are you present? Your
audience knows. Are you emotionally attuned to your topic? They
know.

6. Your mental acuity:

Can you turn your talk on a dime if the audience mood so
indicates? Do you respond brilliantly to spontaneous
questions...saying enough to satisfy, landing on your feet and
staying on your track? Are you sensitive to the various cultures
present in the room -- to their perceptions, their expectations
and entitlements, their differences and similarities? Are you
careful not to offend?

7. Your physical energy:

Do you arrive fully rested, on your toes, eager for this
opportunity to speak? Do your eyes sparkle with aliveness as you
move through your presentation? Are you light on your feet as you
move about? Do you think tall as you stand before your audience?
Here's an easy way to do this: Picture a silken thread at the
crown of your head gently pulling you up-up-up. This
visualization aligns your bones and muscles into perfect order.
It often makes you look taller, more in command. It helps you
tingle with energy.