F For the Greatest Impact, Make it a Purposeful and Personal Story.
The simple formula for the Body of a Speech is:
Make a Point – Tell a Story.
Do this with three to five points.
Make the stories Purposeful and Personal.
You have information you want the audience to take away with them – Correct?
Make your points, and give them a personal story that uses that point “in the real world.”
“We can conclude that Public Speaking is a skill that can be learned!”
Example: I talk about the fact that Public Speaking is a skill that can be learned. I “prove” the point by telling this story: “I got a call on day from a doctor in New York who was going to move to my city, St. Louis, the following month. She is an OB GYN and told me she had a terrible Fear of Public Speaking. I could hear it in her voice.
She went on to explain that it was a great concern of her’s because she will be expected to give presentations to colleagues and will also be teaching a class and will have to speak to students. The doctor asked, “Can you help me?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, “Can I ask you a few questions?”
“Sure,” she responded.
“You’re an OBGYN, so that means you deliver Baby Boys and Baby Girls, correct?” I asked.
“Yes,” was her reply.
I asked, “Have you ever delivered a Baby Public Speaker?”
She chuckled and responded, “No.”
I continued, “You’re a doctor and and adult. You’ve dealt with death and it’s a part of life. Do you know of anyone who passed away while giving a presentation?”
Again, she laughed and said, “No.”
“Doctor,” I said, “You just proved a point for me!
“There isn’t a pubic speaking ‘gene’ that we’re born, or not born with. It’s also a relatively safe activity to engage in. We can make this conclusion: Somewhere between birth and death, it’s a skill that’s learned!
You weren’t born knowing how to drive a car, use a computer, or with any of the many other skills you possess and use regularly, were you?”
“Doctor,” I continued, “You went to Medical School! You can definitely learn presentation skills and lessen the Fear of Public Speaking!”
She GOT IT!, and went on to tackle her fear. She now gives presentations on a regular basis with much less anxiety than when we had that conversation.
Here are a few points about this, and other personal stories:
They’re true!
It really happened so it’s easy to retell to make the point that Presentation Skills can be learned and the Fear of Public Speaking lessened.
When they’re told, you haven’t heard it before.
Too many stories are about famous people who’s accomplishments we’ve heard time after time.
Edison’s persistance, Lincoln’s overcoming depression, Michael Jordon being cut from his high scholl basketball team, etc., are all great stories, but not new to many audiences.
Telling a story that others have heard is a good way to lose an audience.
The Key to having this story, and others used to reinforce a points of a presentation is to be, as they say in Yoga, “Always present and in the moment.”
When those stories occur, in real time, capture them, and place them in the hard drive of your brain, so when you need a personal story support a point, you can retrieve that file!
I’m going to close this Post with a Challenge and a Prediction: Here’s my Challenge: The next time you have a presentation, include Your Personal Stories to support the points you make. Do that, and my Prediction is this: That Presentation will be absolutely, positively – NO SWEAT!
For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you Two FREE Gifts: An Elevator Speech Template and an Elevator Speech Worksheet. (Who hasn’t struggled with their Elevator Speech!)
Go to: https://nosweatpublicspeaking.com/elevator-speech-template to receive it! (You may be asked to update your profile even if it hasn’t changed. Please do!)
About the Author Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and the author of the book, “No Sweat Public Speaking!” Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their Public Speaking and Presentation Skills. They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts. Perception is reality, and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know: Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities. Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities. Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to: Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with – NO SWEAT!
Fred E. Miller Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com nosweatpublicspeaking.com 314-517-8772
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