WAKE 'EM UP!
Business Presentations

A book on public speaking by Tom Antion

Learn how to use humor and other professional techniques to create alarmingly good Business Presentations.

Learn how to make $5000 as a public speaker.

Subscribe to Great Speaking ezine for FREE!

Pre-Program Research

20 Questions to Ask BEFORE Hiring Your Next Speaker.
Deep Penetration
Rapport
Listen to Everyone

20 Questions to Ask BEFORE Hiring Your Next Speaker.
Asking the right questions when interviewing a public speaker is very important to how effective your program will be. These 20 questions from my book on public speaking are designed to help you determine the speaker's skill level and speaking abilities.

Is the public speaker's topic right for my audience?
Does the speaker have good references?
Does the speaker have audio and/or video demonstration materials? These materials should show you what the speaker is like in front of an audience. Caution: Don't get hung up on the topical information on the demo tape. Remember that you are looking to see how the speaker or trainer works at the front of the room.
Does the speaker use only clean and appropriate humor? Off-color, racial, ethnic, gender, or even slightly blue jokes or comments can turn your audience off in a second. Ask the speaker's references about this.
Does the speaker offer any discounts on his or her fee? (For certain geographical areas, resorts, time of year, non -profit organization)?
Can the speaker fill more than one slot which will save money on hiring another speaker and paying additional travel costs?
What are the payment terms of the speaker's contract? Typically, a 50 percent deposit is required to hold a speaker's date.
Does the speaker customize his presentations? To what level?
Is the speaker entertaining and fun as well as informative?
Does the speaker do thorough pre- program research? Will the speaker be interviewing employees or members of the organization, or getting information about the organization and industry to prepare for the presentation?
Does the speaker provide handout masters and/or finished handouts? Often your organization's name, logo, and particulars can be incorporated in the handout.
Does the speaker involve the audience? Depending on the type of presentation (is this a lecture or a training workshop?), the speaker should speak directly to the audience, and encourage questions.
Can you arrange to preview the speaker at nearby functions to get a clear picture of the speaker's delivery, manner, language, and poise?
Does the speaker have materials for hearing and sight impaired audience members? (i.e., Handouts in Braille, audio tapes, etc.)?
Is the speaker accessible to all attendees before and after the event? Make sure the speaker is willing to arrive early and stay for a while after the event. The audience will want to shake hands, ask questions, get autographs, and ask about materials for sale. Tip: Always include a break after each speaker.
Does the speaker "hardsell" products from the platform?
Is the speaker's office responsive to requests for information? Will the speaker's bureau help you get answers to all of your questions?
Is the speaker easy to get along with (Determined from references and personal conversations)? Does he or she make very strict demands? Is he or she willing to make last-minute adjustments?
What is the speaker's fee?
Is the speaker's fee negotiable? If yes, what do you have of value to give in return for a fee reduction? Possibilities might be a video tape master, list of attendees, testimonial letter, referrals, extra night accommodations, choice of time slot, choice of date, multiple performance contract, extra publicity, spouse airfare and meals, products, or services.

In my book on public speaking, you will learn the skills necessary to help you pick the right speaker for the job. Don't settle for a speaker who doesn't have the style your looking for--it's worth the time and effort to find the right one.

back to top

Deep Penetration
People who know me are have read my book on public speaking, know that I am a real stickler about researching your program thoroughly before your presentation. When you do this in depth research you will be able to connect with the audience on a much deeper level.

There are many different ways that you can research material for your program. You can try reviewing professional trade publications, searching on the Internet, secret shopping retail establishments, and giving a pre-program questionnaire. I do most of these research techniques for every one of my presentations, but I feel that the telephone interview is the most effective source of information.

Try to interview at least 10-15 people before your presentation. If you are able to, talk with some people who are actually going to be at the meeting. If they all have the same rank and job responsibilities, make sure that you get cross section from geographics, short timers versus old timers and male vs female.

Be sure to get a broad range of views. Here are some questions that you can ask some variations of in your interview.
--What are the three biggest challenges you have in getting your daily duties done?
-- Tell me about the organizational failures.
-- Tell me about the organizational successes.
-- Tell me anything funny that has happened at work.

Once you have all your information it is time to assemble it and create your presentation. One of my overriding principals is to make the audience the stars.

One way to do this is to use a very positive or insightful statement that you got from your phone interviews and project it or put it in your handout in a prominent position.

A lot of times I customize my entire presentation around the quotes people I interviewed gave to me. I weave my material in and around what they have told me. I then give the overhead or disk to the person who gave me the information.

Overheads are much better for this because I have seen them hanging on the bulletin board in the organization. Of course, my name and company are on it too. Using your pre-program research will also help you build rapport and gain an 'insiders' position because you will be exposed to the terminology of the group. For example, you might have used the generic term manager, but instead you found out that the term 'team leader' is used by a particular company instead.

The information you receive can also be used to plant the seed for a future speaking presentation or to land you more consulting work. You might say during a presentation, 'Joe, also told me about XYZ. We don't have time to discuss that today, but it certainly warrants some attention.' Besides promoting you, it shows you did your homework and that you know what is going on in the group to which you are speaking. This is a very important skill to master from my book on public speaking.

back to top

Rapport
I want to give you an illustration of how important building rapport with your audience is. For example, let's say that you have read my book on public speaking, learned every aspect of public speaking but technically you are still a lousy presenter, you can still be great on the stage. By lousy, I mean that you mess up everything technically. You dress unprofessional, your grammar and speech are terrible and you might have dandruff.

Do not think for a moment that I want you to be this type of presenter. In fact, that's why I have a book on public speaking and training videos to help you not be this way. But I want you to see the bigger picture. If you give really great information that is targeted to the needs of your audience, and you do the things that build up rapport, but fall short technically you can still have a great effective presentation.

Remember, I am not giving you an out from becoming technically better as a presenter. I am just saying that if your information is lousy it does not make much difference how smooth you are with what you say. Yes, there are some people that slide by because they are entertaining, but substance and giving people useful information should always come first.

When planning your speaking engagement think about giving the audience immediately usable information. They will also need a long term plan, but if you give people something usable and an action plan that they can get excited about you will have done half your job already.

Half my job? ... Yes, the other half is to build rapport with the audience. Having rapport with your audience is vitally important to show them that you care about them and get them to like you. Showing them you care is an important part of what you will learn in my public speaking book.

Rapport

The big picture is that you must build rapport with an audience for them to get the message. I think of rapport as when the audience trusts you and feels that you care about them. Here are some ways you can build that trust and caring atmosphere:

Trust

Phone interview a cross section of audience members prior to your presentation. I cannot tell you how great this has worked for me over the years. People cannot wait to meet you and they tell others about the call. This really screams, 'I care about you!'
Know what you are talking about and admit it when you don't. BS will not cut it with the sophisticated audiences of today.
Have some credentials. Do something, write something, record something, help someone. i.e., do something more than talk.
Do everything you say you are going to do before the program, and do it in a helpful and timely manner.
The meeting organizer in most cases will tell the group, or let it be known that you walk your talk. Even if he or she does not, you will feel great about the way you handle things and it will show.
Make yourself accessible. As long as you are good on the platform, meeting planners love it when you come early and stay late, so that you can meet members of the audience.

Offer free follow up for the audience members via email or fax. If you are too busy to actually answer personally, have an assistant follow up with them. Do not brush this suggestion off too lightly, it is one of the main methods I use to deeply penetrate an organization. The people that do follow up for you are 'angels' in the company. They will tell you of other events or problems where you might be able to help.

So, you can be 'lousy' technically if you want to, but make sure the audience trusts you and build rapport and you will have a much better chance that your message gets through.

back to top

Listen to Everyone
Another tip from my book on public speaking is to listen to every presenter before you at an event where there are more people are speaking besides you. In particular, don't miss the keynote or general session speakers. When you follow this advice you are able to add a polish to your speech by incorporating something that was said previous or by not stating the same material.
This tip from my book on public speaking might also save you some embarrassment.

Many years ago I did a big presentation for a real estate company. We then went to the closing general session an hour later, and the big shot keynote speaker looked like a fool by using a lot of material that I had gone over already. People from the audience were looking at me and winking. He may have been an excellent public speaker, but he did not practice some of the important skills from my book on public speaking.

There were only two sessions going on and it would have been really easy for the keynote speaker to stop by and check out my presentation, or at least find out what I was going to be talking about.

In my book on public speaking you learn to make sure your material is really unique which will help guard you from embarrassing situations.

back to top

Check out our Great Public Speaking Blog for public speaking updates.

Home