Are you a sheep walker or a sweet talker?
Sheep walkers walk with the sheep. They do what everyone else is doing. They follow.
Sweet talkers do what works. They make a connection with the audience (in the context of speaking and Toastmasters).
Here are three tried and tested techniques for sheepwalking Toastmasters who want to be better than just OK.
1. Abstract - > Concrete
2. Telling -> Reliving
3. Narration - > Dialogue
These three techniques need to be embraced as a ‘set’. I don’t believe you can choose one of these techniques and apply it well as a standalone technique. Use all three.
Abstract - > Concrete
Many speakers fall back on a teachery, preachery style. That is, to talk about the theory with not much practice. For example:
“To better manage your time, focus more.”
“Be positive in the face of adversity"
“Think of others first”
These statements are fine only when supplemented by lots and lots of practical examples and stories. A speaker that fails to add this necessary elaboration will fail to connect with an audience in the same way most of our teachers and preachers fail(ed) to inspire us.
So, abstract must lead into the concrete. Or, it could be the other way around.
Telling -> Reliving
Have you heard a speaker tell a story and found yourself wondering:
* Did they make it up?
* Were they really there?
* Did they read this in an email and pretend it’s their story?
I have. Many times.
So, when you go into your practical examples and stories, take your audience there. Presuming you were really there at some point in the past, recreate the scene for your listeners. Use language to stimulate the senses, use your voice to convey the mood and use all that you have to relive the moment, rather than just tell your audience about it. That means using the present tense.
Compare the following (you’ll have to imagine the vocal variety):
“It was a dark and stormy night. I was driving down the road and I could see lots of lightening. I started to feel afraid.”
“It’s pitch black, the rain is coming down in sheets. Out of the passenger window, I see three bolts of lightening followed by the most thunderous thunder I have ever heard. I feel my heart thumping and realize I am afraid…very afraid.”
The second version uses lots of visual, sensory language in the present tense. The first version is strictly for sheepwalkers.
Narration - > Dialogue
“So I told her that I was afraid and she asked why. I thought about it and replied that it was because I feared failure. She did not look surprised. She smiled and told me that was completely normal.”
This is narration. Boring! Baaaa!!!
If you are to relive your story, you’ll need to add dialogue.
Take that piece of narration and try turning it into dialogue. Do it now.
It’s not that difficult, is it? And when you deliver dialogue, you are reliving the moment and you’re able to use your characters, your voice and the stage to create an emotional connection with your audience. You simply can’t do that with narration.
So, there you have it. Three techniques to help you become a sweet talker.
Sweet talkers do what works. They make a connection with the audience (in the context of speaking and Toastmasters).
Here are three tried and tested techniques for sheepwalking Toastmasters who want to be better than just OK.
1. Abstract - > Concrete
2. Telling -> Reliving
3. Narration - > Dialogue
These three techniques need to be embraced as a ‘set’. I don’t believe you can choose one of these techniques and apply it well as a standalone technique. Use all three.
Abstract - > Concrete
Many speakers fall back on a teachery, preachery style. That is, to talk about the theory with not much practice. For example:
“To better manage your time, focus more.”
“Be positive in the face of adversity"
“Think of others first”
These statements are fine only when supplemented by lots and lots of practical examples and stories. A speaker that fails to add this necessary elaboration will fail to connect with an audience in the same way most of our teachers and preachers fail(ed) to inspire us.
So, abstract must lead into the concrete. Or, it could be the other way around.
Telling -> Reliving
Have you heard a speaker tell a story and found yourself wondering:
* Did they make it up?
* Were they really there?
* Did they read this in an email and pretend it’s their story?
I have. Many times.
So, when you go into your practical examples and stories, take your audience there. Presuming you were really there at some point in the past, recreate the scene for your listeners. Use language to stimulate the senses, use your voice to convey the mood and use all that you have to relive the moment, rather than just tell your audience about it. That means using the present tense.
Compare the following (you’ll have to imagine the vocal variety):
“It was a dark and stormy night. I was driving down the road and I could see lots of lightening. I started to feel afraid.”
“It’s pitch black, the rain is coming down in sheets. Out of the passenger window, I see three bolts of lightening followed by the most thunderous thunder I have ever heard. I feel my heart thumping and realize I am afraid…very afraid.”
The second version uses lots of visual, sensory language in the present tense. The first version is strictly for sheepwalkers.
Narration - > Dialogue
“So I told her that I was afraid and she asked why. I thought about it and replied that it was because I feared failure. She did not look surprised. She smiled and told me that was completely normal.”
This is narration. Boring! Baaaa!!!
If you are to relive your story, you’ll need to add dialogue.
Take that piece of narration and try turning it into dialogue. Do it now.
It’s not that difficult, is it? And when you deliver dialogue, you are reliving the moment and you’re able to use your characters, your voice and the stage to create an emotional connection with your audience. You simply can’t do that with narration.
So, there you have it. Three techniques to help you become a sweet talker.
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