What does speaking well in public have to do with leadership?  Everything!  This weekend I was interviewed by leadership coach Judy Nelson about good and bad speeches and things that leaders can learn to make their communications better.   Here’s the link.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CoachJudyNelson/2009/05/16/Jean-Palmer-Heck-

I heard a very good speaker at a luncheon a few weeks ago, who gave us insights into the economy.  CNBC pundit, Joe Battipaglia, was the speaker.  A large man with a large personality, his energetic approach, even with the grim news, kept the audience interested.  Despite that positive assessment of his speaking style, I still have some comments that could improve his presentation … tips that you can put into use in your speeches, also.

He started his presentation with a  joke.  I really don’t like speeches that begin with jokes.  They can put an audience ill at ease.  You never know whether it will be funny, edgy, offensive, or delivered poorly. And, unlike Jay Leno, David Letterman and Joe Battipaglia, not everyone can deliver jokes well.  

Your own stories are better than a canned joke.  Later in his presentation he told about some interactions he had with his family about the economy.  They were much funnier and captured the audience attention better than his opening remarks.  

The other public speaking tip that applies to everyone relates to the use of audio visuals. He did not use any, but I wished he would have, especially because of the topic.  Joe dealt with very heady issues about the economy.  Those in the audience with financial backgrounds were fine with his information, but those in the crowd who did not have that expertise got lost a few times.  Some visual aids would have helped the audience retain the information much more easily.

And the audience is what public speaking is all about.

I heard a speaker at a United Way Tocqueville Society luncheon yesterday, who gave us insights into the economy.  CNBC pundit, Joe Battipaglia, was the speaker.  A large man with a large personality, his energetic approach, even with the grim news, kept the audience interested.  Despite that positive assessment of his speaking style, I still have some comments that could improve his presentation … tips that you can put into use in your speeches, also.

He started his presentation with a  joke.  I really don’t like speeches that begin with jokes.  They can put an audience ill at ease.  You never know whether it will be funny, edgy, offensive, or delivered poorly.  He did deliver it well.  But it was too long.  It took several minutes to tell.  And the punch line dealt with sex, always a no-no in speaking. 

Your own stories are better than a canned joke.  Later in his presentation he told about some interactions he had with his family about the economy.  They were much funnier and captured the audience attention better than his opening remarks.  

The other public speaking tip that applies to everyone relates to the use of audio visuals. He did not use any, but should have.  Joe dealt with very heady issues about the economy.  Those in the audience with financial backgrounds were fine with his information, but those in the crowd who did not have that expertise got lost a few times.  Some visual aids would have helped the audience retain the information much more easily.

And the audience is what public speaking is all about.

It looks  like we’re in for 4 years of lessons on public speaking from the White House.  President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress last night and once again gave us a lesson on how to give a speech. This one was a tough speech for tough times.  What did he do that made it exceptionally good?

1. He practiced.  His delivery was better than usual, with lots of vocal variety in the tone of his voice, the volume and the pacing. Even the commentators said they could tell he had practiced his speech.
2. The speech was written to be spoken. The sentences were short, just like the President talks. It wasn’t filled with flowery, poetic language like his inaugural address. That was not the purpose of this speech. It was to have a tough conversation with us. And it was meant to motivate. The result of the way it was written made it easy to read off a TelePrompTer. (If you’d like more advice on the use of TelePrompTers, go to my previous blog http://real-impact.com/on-television-here-are-some-hints-on-how-to-look-good .)
3. He wasn’t afraid to share his emotions. Too many business speakers hide behind the facts and put on a dispassionate affect. Your audience wants to know you have a human side.
4. He used many references with scenarios to which we could relate. 

“You don’t need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day. It’s the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It’s the job you thought you’d retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that’s now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope.”

There will be many more examples I will analyze in the years ahead. These are NOT political comments. They are the assessment of the president’s speaking skills and style. And they are lessons that you can put to use in your business presentations.

Disclaimer:  This is a NON-partisan blog.  Its purpose is to point out the good, the bad and the ugly of giving speeches.

Day 1 of GOP convention

Best speaker:  Fred Thompson.   Worst speaker:  Bill Gross

If you have any uncommitted time, google “Fred Thompson’s GOP Convention Speech” and watch it.  He is a master, as you might expect from this senator-turned-actor-turned-presidential-candidate-turned-supporting-politician.  He gets an A ++.

Here are the positives you need to think about in your speeches before large crowds.  And some of these pointers might surprise you.

1.    He used “but,” “uh,” and “and” throughout his speech.  While there are speech coaches worldwide who will tell you to eliminate those words from your speech persona (and I do, too, if they’re an annoying habit) … his speech sounded so conversational with these 3 tiny words included.   Reason: There are very few people who never use these words in every day conversation.

Surprised?  These little touches show humanity.  I’d guess that the But’s & And’s were added to the text of his speech.  HINT:  Very easy to add “but,” “and,” “well,” “so,” & “therefore” to your speech text at the beginning of sentences.

The Uh’s were probably a part of his own “acting” technique to make it sound like he was speaking extemporaneously.   HINT:  It takes practice to be able to use “uh” and “um” effectively to give that effect.

2.    He coughed and wiped his lips with his hand.  This was good.  Surprised?  In its analysis, MSNBC made it sound like his coughs were mistakes that should have been technically corrected by giving him a microphone cough switch.  Come on!  This cough was real. It was NOT a nervous habit.  He obviously had some kind of tickle in his throat and probably spit while he was talking.  Ever happen to you?   HINT:  If you are a confident speaker, you can get away with this.  If it is a nervous habit, you’d better overcome it. Videotape your speeches and see if it is a problem for you.

3.    Lots of humor throughout the speech.

And I can say without fear of contradiction that she (Sarah Palin) is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose … with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.

Also here tonight is John’s 96-year-old mother, Roberta. All I’ve got to say is that if Roberta McCain had been the McCain captured by the North Vietnamese, they would have surrendered.

Now, John’s father was a bit of a rebel, too. In his first two semesters at the Naval Academy, he managed to earn 333 demerits. Unfortunately, John later saw that as a record to be beaten.

4.  He moved from funny to serious very well.

Humor first:

He never violated the honor code. However, in flight school in Pensacola, he did drive a Corvette and date a girl who worked in a bar as an exotic dancer under the name of Marie, the Flame of Florida.

Thompson slowed down the pace of his words, lowered his pitch and gently eased us into the description of horrible events.

And the reason I’m telling you these things, is that, apparently, this mixture of rebellion and honor helped John McCain survive the next chapter of his life:  John McCain was preparing to take off from the USS Forrestal for his sixth mission over Vietnam, when a missile from another plane accidentally fired and hit his plane.

5.    He also knew that it was important to bring the audience back up after relating somber/serious/emotional part of a speech.  HINT:  a semi-funny part of the story helps the transition.

He was beaten for not giving information during interrogations. When his captors wanted the names of other pilots in his squadron, John gave them the names of the offensive line of the Green Bay Packers.

6.    He used irony to make his point.   WARNING:  Brain research shows that older people don’t process irony as well as they did in younger years.  Know the age of your audience members.

Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they are not going to tax your family. No, they’re just going to tax “businesses”! So unless you buy something from a “business”, like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small “business”, don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you.

7.    He made use of a technique all of us can and should use—visual analogies.  In this speech:  Bucket of money = bucket of water.   Money = water.

They say they (Democrats) are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the “other” side of the bucket! That’s their idea of tax reform.

8.    Lots of variety in the pacing of his sentences.  Lots of variety in the pitch of his sentences.  Lots of variety in the length of his sentences.   Just listen to the first minute of his speech and you’ll understand what “vocal variety” means.

Listen to this part of his speech where he changed the pace to rev the crowd up.

This man, John McCain is not intimidated by what the polls say or by what is politically safe or popular.  (Thompson speeds up here.) At a point when the war in Iraq was going badly and the public lost confidence, John stood up and called for more troops. And now we are winning.

Here’s the example of how he went from complete sentences to phrases.

So then they put him in solitary confinement…for over two years.
Isolation … incredible heat beating on a tin roof. A light bulb in his cell burning 24 hours a day.
Boarded-up cell windows blocking any breath of fresh air.
The oppressive heat causing boils the size of baseballs under his arms.
The outside world limited to what he could see through a crack in a door.
We hear a lot of talk about hope.
John McCain knows about hope. That’s all he had to survive on.

9.  Finally, he used a very tried and true technique; he asked the audience questions.  HINT: By asking questions, you re-engage the audience and make them part of your solution.

It’s pretty clear there are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, “Who is this man?” and “Can we trust this man with the Presidency?”

On second thought, I’ll give him an A+++.
More tomorrow on lessons learned from speeches…and a  review of the worst speaker on Day 1 with hints on what YOU should avoid.

If you’d like an analysis of your speaking style, please email me at  Jean@Real-Impact.com, or call me in the U.S. at 317-873-3772.