Kate's Voice

Two of the most important components of great communication are how you start and how you finish.  This is as true for a phone conversation or a WebEx as it is for public speaking.  In the first few minutes, your audience or conversation partners are making judgments about how and who you are and they will not hear what you have to say until they get that straight in their minds! As for the finish, often people finish with a dangling, “so…” or a hurried “go to my website,” and the effect is to leave the audience without a clear direction to continue or respond to the conversation.

Thus, I always tell my clients to create an opening and a close.  Period. Even if you are put on the spot to speak extemporaneously or are expressing your opinion in “a conversation that matters, “ delivering a real opening and closing help to ensure that your intention is in alignment with your content and both with your delivery.

I’ve created an acronym for each to help my clients create strong openings and closings. It will help you do the same. Practice this approach the next time you prepare an important communication.

Opening:
Here’s a way to think about an opening for a talk.  Make it NICE by including the following elements:

Name: Let them know who you are both with your name and with a personal reference such as a story or observation.
Intention: The purpose of your talk and perhaps what will be covered, or what you hope to accomplish
Call to adventure or discovery:  What you expect of them and something enticing or mysterious that they can expect to experience in your talk. (This is a term  I like that is used by Nancy Duarte in the book Resonate)
Engagement: A story or joke or interactive activity, or an unexpected provocative statement or challenge. Get them involved.

Closing: Bring it to a real finish by creating a close that has RICH elements.  Above all,  resist the urge to make “so” your final word!

Restate or summarize: Review what was presented or discussed
Inspire:  Ignite a desire to continue the conversation (motivational quote, personal statement, thought provoking idea)
Call to action: give them something to do next.
Help them on their way: Say goodbye, or simply move them along to the next activity by asking for questions, etc. If you host a Q&A, afterwards, reiterate the call to action an say goodbye.

Related posts:

How to start an important conversation

How to create a voice with executive presence

The other day, I attended a presentation at a two-hour “All-hands” meeting.  There were 200 people in the room.  There were 800 others listening or watching via IPTV. Most of the presenters went over time, and their presentations were full of data and slides that were hard to read.  People were squirming in their chairs, fighting to stay awake.   However, one of the presenters spoke about the quarterly results, and suddenly, people were held in rapt attention.  It wasn’t the numbers, because they were not remarkable.  It wasn’t the setting, because that was plain.  It wasn’t’ the lighting because that was terrible.  Later, an audience member wrote,

“Don’t know if it’s P.C. to tell your VP that he was rocking today on the broadcast, although today was one of those days!  I held my team call after the IPTV and EVERYONE was extremely impressed.”

How do you hold interest when you have no help from your environment OR your topic?  Here are 9 techniques that will turn your presentation from boring to bravo!

1. Vary the pace: Keep your overall pace between 140-160 words per minute so that people can follow you, but speed up or slow down for interest.

2. Vary the cadence: Ending sentences consistently open or closed is boring.  Make definitive statements, but also ask questions and invite response.

3. Vary the pitch: Varying pitch creates interest in the ear of the listener.  If you have a low voice, raise it in pitch from time to time for emphasis.  If your voice is high, bring it down when you make a definitive statement.

4. Vary the duration of the sound: Some words create a mental picture that is slow (like that one) or quick (like that.)  Let your voice paint that picture by drawing out the slow pictures and clipping those words that represent speed.  Try this with the previous sentence. Read it out loud and elongate “drawing out the slow pictures” and clip “Clipping those words that represent speed.”  In what other ways can you vary the duration of the sound for interest?

5. Highlight contrasting ideas: Not all ideas are the same.  Consider this sentence: On the one hand, we are interested, and on the other, we are not.  What can you do to make those two ideas sound different from each other?

6. Stress words that add meaning: First you must be in touch with the meaning you are trying to convey.  Once you are, it’s easier to relay that meaning.  But in any event, make some of your words pop out so that they don’t all sound the same.

7. Create some mystery: A hushed tone or a long pause can add interest by creating a sense of mystery.  It’s also a great idea to keep asking intriguing questions that you answer as you speak.

8. Let there be silence: Don’t keep talking without pausing.  Give your audience time to take it in or they will stop listening.

9. Tell stories: Personal stories help people relate to you.  Your story reminds them of their own and they feel connected to you.  Company stories can also do that, especially when the obstacle is apparent.  Everyone wants to know how to solve problems.  We all have them!

10. ______________________There is a tenth way, but what is it?  If you have a technique for adding interest, let us know what it is.  Please comment below.

Final note: You have about twenty tricks in your bag of vocal color.  How you think about your topic is key to keeping your audience’s interest.  You will automatically create more interest if YOU are interested.  Then you may find that you naturally sound more engaged.  Play with these techniques and see what you can create.  And let me know how it goes!

Related posts:

5 Colors for Vibrant Vocal Variety

How to create a voice with Executive Presence

From Information to Imagination: Delivering a good story

The case for expressive speaking, even on earnings calls