7 and a Half Ways to Make Your Information Matter

If you're a regular person with a regular job living a regular life, chances are the only times you get asked to speak is to share straight information. Sales data, new product information, company reports - if you're lucky maybe training for new employees, or teaching new technology to the current staff. Even client sales presentations, if you aren't careful, can become massive information dumps.

Information isn't inherently bad. In fact, it is the core of any presentation, the essence of why a presentation must be made. Too much information, superfluous information, and information presented in a boring fashion, however - that's bad.

7 1/2 Ways to Make Your Information Matter

1. Simplify - you probably know what you're talking about, because you deal with it all the time. Your audience may not be as versed as you, however, and treating them like they are will leave them in a daze. Use accessible vocabulary - watch your industry jargon and define your acronyms. If they can't comprehend what you're saying as you say it, they'll get hung up, and you'll find them nowhere near where you're trying to take them by your conclusion.

2. Chunk It Down - once you've simplified your word choices, simplify your conceptual organization. Instead of bulldozing ahead with everything you have, or indiscriminately weaving from topic to topic like an out of control bundle of computer code, organize your information. Create a structure for your talk that will serve your audience, not your knowledge base or your ego. example: if you're talking about Theodore Roosevelt, keep your talk focused on a purpose (time period in his life, his political philosophy, or his family life), and make sure all you're including leads to that purpose.

3. Organize by Relevance - much like the top-down style of a classic newspaper article, start with what they need to know most, first, and fill in the details after. If they see the end result, the big idea, up front, they will be more attentive to the process it takes to get there.

4. Compare - either to a straight up competing product or service, to a similar device or concept, or to the item or process you're replacing/upgrading. By providing a reference point they understand, that is, accessing their old information, it will make your new information easier for them to handle.

5. Pictures, not Numbers - numbers, statistics, and hard data in general don't work well when displayed or spoken, in terms of memorability. If they are linked to pictures or simple charts, they become easier to assimilate. example: Instead of 'we sold 5,254,326 more hamburgers this year over last year, a 52.6 percent increase' as a verbal only statement, or as stark numbers on a screen, consider a graphic of a small stack and a bigger stack of burgers side by side in combination with the verbal statistic.

6. Use Humor - this goes for pretty much any presentation of any type. Humor done right builds connection and opens minds. Anchoring information in a humorous story is going to make it a lot more memorable than a straight-up information dump. example: telling someone about how you got your tongue stuck on the flagpole in kindergarten is a sure way to help them remember the concept of thermal conductivity.

7. Leave Behind - your information is important, which is why you're sharing it. It's also likely very specific, and may be so specific that you don't want to leave any room for error. Create a leave-behind that has your statistics, your research, your sources, even your slides, to give to folks AFTER your presentation. Giving it before opens the door for them to open the door, and walk out on you - either mentally or physically.

7.5. Notes Handout - unlike the leave behind, this is basically a combination of blank scratch paper and a partially filled out map of your presentation. Put blank lines, or partial sentences with key words to fill in, on a page or two and hand out at the beginning. You don't give too much away to begin with, while still giving an implied promise that you'll be giving enough information that notes should be taken.

If you want their full attention, tell them at the beginning not to take notes, that you have a leave behind - but be aware you might lose the attention of a few at that point, if they think they have permission to not pay attention.

Most of us do live a regular life. A lot of speaking advice, articles, and trainings, heck, even this blog, can overly-geared toward motivational/inspirational/storytelling type presentations. This isn't all bad - because much of the concepts in that type of speaking can be brought over to the 'regular life' of information sharing, sales-oriented, training type speaking that may be more prominent in your circles.

And vice-versa.

Take ALL the information...and then go out and Speak...& Deliver!

What Happens When the Win Anyway Guy Loses? Part I

Yesterday was a unique day for me, in terms of competing in Toastmasters at the District Conference Level.

I had qualified to represent my Division in both Table Topics (Impromptu Speaking) and the International Speech Contest. It was the 21st and 22nd time I had qualified for various contests at that level in the 3 different Districts I've competed in. Currently, I'm in D26, which is Colorado, Wyoming, and parts of Nebraska. I've also competed in D9 (Eastern WA, NE Oregon, Northern Idaho), and D15 (Utah, Southern, Idaho, Eastern Nevada).

Of the 20 previous contests, I had acquired fifteen first place trophies (8 in International), 4 second place trophies, and only once failed to place in a contest (Evaluation, 2003), but placed first in a second contest (Humorous) at that conference.

This time - for the first time - I came home without a plastic, plexiglass, or gold colored aluminum trophy in either contest.

This time, however, I failed to place in Table Topics at all in the morning - which, frankly, didn't bother me. I was the first out of six speakers, and didn't do well at all at answering the question. I felt out of rhythm, and at a bit of a loss for an answer to the question 'If you won $1000 and had to spend it on yourself, what would you buy?'. Walking off the stage I was pretty certain 3 of the next 5 speakers would beat that pretty easily.

No worries though - the real trophy was waiting for me in the evening. I'd never lost an International Contest at the District Level. A perfect 8-0. I had edited my speech down 100 words from the last level, changed a line or two (or twenty) during the day, which isn't unusual for me at all. I added a humor bit that called back to Keynote Speaker Tim Gard's presentation in the morning - and it got a big laugh. The speech was powerful, and well-received.

It was also 4 seconds....OVERTIME.

Which means I've still never LOST at District in the Int'l, but I have disqualified myself. Took the decision out of the hands of the judges altogether. And I knew it when I sat down, just like I knew it 10 years ago when I last went overtime, at the Semi-Finals in Oregon.

Let me say this - I have no idea if I would have won if I stayed in time. I may have. I may have placed. I may have been shut out as I was in Topics in the morning. DOESN'T MATTER. Even if I WON on the judging ballot, I didn't have the best speech because it didn't meet the criteria.

I made a rookie mistake, a mistake I've made before, and essentially BEAT MYSELF.



Congratulations to Greg Picone, 3rd, Place, David Meed, 2nd, and Kelsey Robb (pictured with Contest Master Andre Simoneau and District Governor Linda Rhea), returning to the District Stage after taking 2nd to me last year, who will represent District 26 in Las Vegas at the Semi-Finals.

The questions coming at me are now centered around 'what will you do next?' and 'will you compete again next year?' The results I encountered both at the conference and in my 27 Day Challenge, which ended yesterday as well, have put my 'Win Anyway' philosophy to the test, and put it up for a bit of scrutiny.

Overall, it was a great conference, and a unique experience for me. I do believe, at least for the International Contest, I managed to Speak & Deliver - even if I went a little long. At the end of the end of the day, that really is what matters. Or is it?

I'll be addressing these and other questions in Part II and Part III - which will show up in my Win Anyway Blog and 27 Day Challenge blog, respectively, later tonight.

Anatomy of a Speaker's Introduction Part III: Toastmaster Tips

In Part I of this series I covered 6 Key Components for you to use in your Introduction, and in Part II, I discussed What Could Go Wrong with your intro, and how to mitigate the damages.

For Toastmasters - all those tips and suggestions apply, but we also face our own unique challenges - so this post is specifically for you!

In my fifteen years with the organization, I have witnessed a severe deficit in our education program when it comes to introductions. In fact, googling 'Toastmaster & Introductions' brought only one article from the TI site itself, and it focuses on the Toastmaster of the meeting being in control of the intro more than you, the speaker.

In general, I rarely see speakers in TM clubs actually write their own introduction, and at best, it typically includes their manual/project number, their name, and the title of their speech. Occasionally it's brought in a typed format, but it's most often scribbled at the last minute, often handed to the TM right before the speaker is to present, setting the TM, and the speaker, up for a completely mishandled beginning to their speech.

Most of the time, however, there is NO introduction, and the Toastmaster for the day has to make something up on the spot, or simply intro the speaker and their title.

We spend so much time (hopefully) preparing for our speech - why do we do so little, or even nothing at all, with our introduction? If we're really preparing ourselves for the 'real world', we should add this particular skill to our repertoire, and put ourselves, and our introducers, in a strong position to succeed.

Of course, our organization, at the club level, has different aspects to what we may want to do in our intros, though, in general, the tips in Part I & II are still good for this purpose, and certainly any presentations we give at District, Toastmasters Leadership Institutes, or other special events.

3 Club Introduction Considerations.

1. Speech Requirements - every time we give a manual speech, we have requirements that need to be met. Some clubs have the evaluator mention the manual, speech number, and requirements before the introduction of the speaker. Some clubs have the TM mention them. Some intros mention them. And sometimes, no mention is made at all.

No matter how your club handles it (and if you have a different variation, let me know), I suggest you keep it these 'details' separate from your actual introduction, unless they are vital to the content of your speech. If someone else is not handling the introduction of this information, and you feel you must include them in your written intro, use it as a preface to the actual intro:

'Rich is giving speech 7, Research your Topic, out of the Competent Communicator Manual. Requirements include collecting information about his topic from numerous sources and carefully supporting his points and opinions with specific facts, examples, and illustrations gathered through research. His time is 5-7 minutes. (PAUSE)'

Then go into your actual introduction.

2. Audience Set-Up - In TM we often give speeches that are meant for other audiences. Your introduction can be a good place to let your audience know they need to be children in the second grade, conspiracy theorists, or rocket scientists. This way, they know how to receive the speech, and your feedback will be more directed and pertinent to your goals.

3. Credibility - This is a tricky one, as it can feel tiresome to continually put '2x World Championship of Public Speaking Finalist, a DTM, and father of six' in your introductions. Keep in mind, however, that that bit of credibility may not matter when you're giving a presentation about kids, or fictional characters, or really anything not speaking/Toastmasters related.

You have to decide which part of you lends credibility to your subject matter. Since we're constantly writing new speeches, we need new introductions, and different bits of credibility to match.

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Writing an introduction takes extra time, yes. You'll want to email it to your Toastmaster, as well as print in and bring it to your meeting. It will put your TM at ease when they see they don't have to make anything up. Remember to ask them to read it out loud before the meeting so you can make sure they know all the words, and have practiced it at least that once before introducing you.

It will also put your audience in the right state of mind to listen, and set you up to come on stage with power, and launch right in to your presentation.

If you make writing introductions important in your club, you'll be amazed how much more smoothly the speaking portion of the meeting will go. If you make writing introductions important to YOU, you'll be amazed how quickly you're able to create them. When you go out in the 'real world', you'll be happy you took the extra time to be prepared, and to prepare your introducer, before you go out to Speak....and Deliver. 

Anatomy of a Speaker's Introduction Part II: What Could Go Wrong?

In Part I, we looked at the different parts of an ideal introduction for a real world speech. So once you've created it, you're home free, right? Not quite. You'd be amazed what can go wrong once you're done writing your introductory masterpiece.

What Could Go Wrong?

The Dog Ate It

Yep, you sent it to them early, and they forgot it. Or you didn't send it to them, and YOU forgot it.

Vocabulary Hurdles

You've crafted a beautiful introduction, and when it's read perfectly, it's like a symphony of syllables. Unless they pronounce it Sim-PHONEY of Si-LOBB-els. Not everybody is a speaker, and not everybody is familiar with all the words you use.

Language Barrier

It's one thing when you put a few unfamiliar words in front of your introducer - it's another when English (or whatever the language you're speaking in is) is their second, third, or eighth language. Pronunciation, cadence, and understandability can go right out the window, without them ever intending it.

The Summarizer

Sometimes, the introducer thinks they just know better than you - and they'll skim through your intro, skip a few words, maybe try to add their own 'style' to it - which often disrupts the flow, and even the meaning on your intro altogether.

The All Out Ignorer

This is when they KNOW they're smarter than you, and go off script completely. They may make something up. They might read your bio straight off the program, because they think it's 'better'. Worse - they may know you, and think it's 'OK' to tell the audience about that time you were both in college and he caught you singing Billy Vera songs into your hairbrush as you pined away for a certain blue-eyed, blonde-haired co-ed.

Bonus: The Time Traveler

Maybe you're speaking more than once that day. Maybe you've gotten creative, and done separate introductions for each presentations, that even build on each other, creating a cohesive narrative throughout the event. Maybe they get them mixed up, and your 3:00 pm intro gets read at 8:00 AM. If only YOU could go back in time...

You can't ensure that your introduction won't be forgotten or just plain botched, even if you are a 50K speaker with a video intro - after all, tech problems are just as likely as human problems. You can give yourself the best chance to have a strong intro though, with a few precautionary Best Practices.

Best Practices

Double Up - send it to them AND bring it yourself. You are ultimately responsible for making sure that introduction is in their hands at the event. Heck, print two, in case they had it an hour ago and can't remember where they left it.

Go BIG - Print it in 20 pts or more - on one page, in an easy-to-read font, separated into paragraphs that will create the vocal cadence you want.

Get Hooked on Phonics - Phonetically (fo-net-ick-ly) write out complicated words - tech jargon, proper names, foreign words, anything that might be complicated.

Be a Detective - find out who your introducer is before you go! Email them, heck, CALL them. If you're at your venue, verify it's still the same person, and go find them. You can spend a few minutes, ask them to read it (even out-loud so you can advise on certain points), and make sure they have the intro with them in the first place.

Be an Encourager/Parent - your introducer may be nervous. This may be their first time speaking in front of this many people. Let them know how your introduction is designed to make them a success, even get them a laugh. Tell them how much you appreciate them. On the other hand, if it's your old college roommate, well, be a little firm and let them know how carefully you've crafted this introduction to help make this presentation for THEIR audience a success.

Salvaging a Botched Intro

When, not if, this happens, be ready. Pay attention when you're introduced so you can handle damage control. While the best move may be to just start your presentation, if it's botched badly enough, and the whole audience is in a state of laughter or discomfort, you can't just act as if nothing has happened.

Depending on the scenario, you may energetically apologize for writing such a complicated intro, or you might call back to an important mispronounced word to clarify (I actually coach PUBLIC speakers, not PUBIC speakers), or, if they've improvised and botched it, take the hit yourself, and say 'I knew I should have written my own introduction!'

Whatever you do, never put the introducer in a bad light. Always be appreciative, and take the blame, if necessary, even if it's not your fault. Like the proverbial elephant in the room, acknowledge it - then, quickly, launch into your presentation.

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I'm sure I haven't covered every scenario, and if you have a crazy intro experience, please share it!

In Part III, I'll be focusing on my Toastmasters brethren, and the importance of introduction to your experience as a member.

I'd still like to do a Part IV, showcasing or coaching up YOUR typical (or brand new) introduction. If you have one you'd like me to see, email it to rich@richhopkins.com.