Steve Boyd Presentations

Let's Stand and Meet

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, stand-up meetings are becoming common in some companies.  In one company, Atomic Object, employees follow these rules, "Attendance is mandatory, nonwork chitchat is kept to a minimum, and, above all, everyone has to stand up." 

            This trend says much about why we don't like to go to meetings.  They are too long; they often involve irrelevant information, they are boring.  Atomic Objects is a soft-ware development firm where their meetings last five minutes each morning.  We may think standing for a meeting is a little extreme, but the idea of speeding things along in meetings is positive.  Here are some tips in addition to standing up for a successful meeting. 

            Send out an agenda 24 hours before the meeting so everyone has a chance to prepare.  Take turns conducting meetings when they are held at a regular time each week.  This helps everyone have a vested interest in the meeting because each person knows his or her turn is coming soon. 

            Start by announcing the length of the meeting and remind the group toward the middle of the meeting how much time is left.  End the meeting by summarizing and then giving relevant information about the next meeting. 

            Start on time even if all members are not present.  Limit discussion time.  Encourage quiet people to participate by asking them a direct open question. 

            We are used to the refrain, "Let's stand and sing."  Maybe to improve morale and get work done more efficiently in meetings, we may want to say, "Let's stand and meet." 

Find It in an Obituary!

Great sources for new material in your next presentation can come from unusual places--such as obituaries!

I’ve always sought to find in nonfiction books original or creative stories or information that I might adapt to a particular speech, but my wife introduced me to the obituary as an additional source. She shared with me an unusual obituary she found in our local newspaper. The account was short, regarding the life of an 89-year-old lady from Covington, Kentucky. The statement that took my breath away was this: “Survived by many, remembered by few.” 

One can’t help but speculate on how this sad commentary came to be included in the obit. Perhaps the woman had requested the line before she died. Or maybe one of the few who did remember wanted to remind those who knew her that they had pretty much ignored her in life. Whatever the source, this piece of nonfiction could be applied to several components of human relations, including the importance of giving attention to our senior relatives and friends.

Audience members are attracted to material they have not heard before, and this is tough considering the ease of finding information on the Internet. To keep your material fresh, seek out unusual sources for material besides the usual sources such as biographies. Think of what intrigues you and might interest others.

Strolling through a cemetery has given me ideas for illustrations, including epitaphs on tombstones or drawings, such as a page from a hymnal, carved into the stone. Recently we found Bud Light Cans on each side of a gravestone.  One can only speculate on the significance of those.

Guides on tours of significant landmarks provide captivating lectures to share. As we passed through a small town in Alaska, the guide informed us that law enforcement agents used to check out the town occasionally because the place was so removed from civilization. When satellite television reception arrived there, several arrests were made in response to “America’s Most Wanted.”

Pick up a brochure when you visit a landmark. I learned much about Kentucky Bourbon from brochures while touring the Bourbon Trail in central Kentucky. When chatting with older people, ask what their childhood was like.

Seek information about a topic when you meet an expert on a given subject.  I learned much about coffee beans in talking to a key executive in charge of purchasing coffee for a large manufacturing company. Keep a pen and paper close by when you are watching a movie. Dialogue from the movie sometimes has great quotations you can use in a speech. For example, in the 1992 movie, A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks, as manager of the team says, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it weren’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”  I’ve used this quote for years.    

Another classic quotation I still use was from a homeless man I met in the Bowery of New York City. I told him where I was from and that we were sightseeing.  His response: “Ten years ago I came to see the sights, and now I am one of the sights.” 

Don’t limit your sources for thought-provoking information for your next presentation. You may find a memorable line in a simple conversation—or in an obituary.

 

Embrace Serendipity in Your Next Speech

Last week the Cincinnati Enquirer featured a story about a little girl who was sitting in her third grade class playing with about an inch-wide gold, heart-shaped locket. She took off the necklace and in the process fumbled the locket and the locket went down her throat. This made it very difficult to breathe and her chest hurt. Her mother rushed to school and then on to the hospital with her.

En route to the hospital, the family car hit a massive pothole. The jarring caused the locket to discharge from the girl's esophagus, forcing it to travel all the way down her throat and saving her life.

Usually you want to avoid potholes, but here the pothole was a life saver. This young lady was the recipient of serendipity! Good things happen by accident. If you look for good things to happen in a speech, you will be more alert to contextual factors that improve your presentation. Seek to make serendipity work for you.

One of the benefits of getting to the meeting place early and meeting some members of the audience is that you might learn something unexpected that could help you in your presentation. As I talked to people before one presentation, I found that several had had me in class at the local university. So I mentioned that early on to boost my credibility with those who did not know me and connect with those who did.

Be grateful for serendipity when there is no explanation. For example, once I was making the point early in my presentation that I hoped by the end of the speech each would have an "aha" so that they would leave thinking "Aha! I can use that tomorrow on the job."  When I said "aha" the audience broke out in applause. The initials of their national organization were "AHA."  They thought my play on words was great and at the time I had no idea what I had said that made them applaud. I just enjoyed the positive feedback and their immediate connection with me.

Don’t be oblivious to serendipity, but embrace it and use it to your advantage.

Hyperbole: Making a Point Memorable

            A hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration to make a point. For example, my father was very quiet and rarely joined family conversations. My mother would get frustrated with his behavior and would often say, "Paul never opens his head!"  When I think of someone speaking little, I think of this hyperbole. That is why the hyperbole is so powerful in a speech. You want to have lines that make people remember your point.

            In a speech to the Nobel Prize winners in 1962, President Kennedy said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of human talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House—with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."  As you can determine from this example, hyperbole is often humorous as well, which adds to the impact of the point.

            Watching Alan Alda in the movie, "Tower Heist," reminded me of his autobiography, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, when he was describing a movie flop he made. Note the hyperbole: "We finished the picture, and it was released directly into obscurity. I heard that it played on an airplane over Pittsburgh, and I imagined people strapping on parachutes and jumping to get away from it."

            You can certainly find examples on the internet that you might borrow, but developing your own hyperboles is a great way to show your uniqueness in a speech

            The hyperbole is especially valuable to show how important an idea is, or, in the Alan Alda example, how bad something was. To show extremes and to add punch to your next presentation, think about using the hyperbole. I’ve acquired millions of fans just by using a clever hyperbole!

Choose the BEST Word!

Earl Nightingale said, "If our vocabulary is limited, then our thinking will be limited." One way that we can continually become better presenters is to increase the amount and quality of our vocabulary. Words can cause problems.

In a rural part of my home state of Indiana there is the story of Ida Sue who passed away, so her husband Johnny called 911. The 911 operator told Johnny that she would send someone out right away. “Where do you live?" asked the operator. Johnny replied, "At the end of Eucalyptus Drive." The operator asked, "Can you spell that for me?"

There was a long pause and finally Johnny said, "How 'bout if I drag her over to Oak Street and you pick her up there?"

Johnny's problem was spelling the word, but we may need a different word because we can't pronounce easily the word that first comes to mind. An expanded vocabulary can help get around that problem. I've always found the word "statistics" difficult to pronounce, so I will usually say "numbers" instead.

Ideas can be clearer and more vivid when you pay more attention to your vocabulary. Instead of saying "I was confused," you might instead use words like "bewildered," "mystified," or "flummoxed."   Use thesaurus.com or some similar resource to add to the quality of your vocabulary.

Practice new words in conversation and you will more likely start to use them in your presentations. I remember a friend who would try to use a new word in morning staff meetings and in office conversations. He would write the word on a Post-It and then try to use it several times that day. I'm sure his staff picked up on that and would guess what his new word for the day was.

You can subscribe to  Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day  and learn the definition of the word for that day. Think about how you might incorporate the word in your message. Today's word is "onomatopoeia." In telling a story during a presentation, you might use onomatopoeia, as in words such as “hiss” and “dazzle.” If you want to use the word itself, you might stress that onomatopoeia draws the listener in when the word reflects the sound it refers to.

Work on your next presentation or conversation by developing your vocabulary. As Joseph Conrad wrote, "Words have set whole nations in motion…Give me the right word and the right accent and I will move the world.”

 

Silence is Golden

       Since I retired a few weeks ago from the university, I don’t talk as much. I don’t lecture up to twelve hours a week. I spend more time in silence; I have more time to think about my speeches and sermons. I spend a lot of time writing and preparing presentations in the quietness of the Cincinnati Mercantile Library in downtown Cincinnati or in the carrels of the Northern Kentucky University library.
         Even though my careers center on talking, there is less stress when I don’t talk as much. I don’t have to worry about saying too much or saying something I might regret because I did not think it through carefully enough. Not talking as much gives me more time to do other things. I find that I observe more closely and ponder more deeply.
         Ausonius said, “He who does not know how to be silent will not know how to speak.”  Solomon in his wisdom made the point that there is a time to be silent. I think all of us could communicate better if we spent more time in silence.
         Use silence to underscore what you do say. When I pause a moment, the person I’m talking to looks at me expectantly. (Unless it’s my wife; she’s more likely to take that opportunity to toss in her two cents worth.)
          Practice important conversations by going over mentally what you plan to say. Spend private time each day either anticipating your responsibilities for the day or pondering what you learned that day before you retire for the evening.  
          I wish our leaders would spend less time on camera talking about issues and spend more time behind closed doors thinking and studying issues. The decisions might be of higher quality.
          We pay the ultimate respect by a moment of silence. We honor a person’s life by a period of silence. We can be surprised to the point of silence.
           When I am silent, I learn more; I find out more about others and myself. I observe more, and I am less stressed. I have taught that in my listening seminars for years, but now I am even more aware of the truth of the importance of listening.
            The title of this piece is just part of the idiom. The entire quotation is “Speech is silver; silence is golden.” Maybe we should all seek a little more gold and a little less silver.   

Never Stop Dancing

An article in The New Yorker featured the career of Dick Van Dyke, who at almost 85 years old was singing and dancing in A Musical Memoir. One of the themes throughout the article was his high energy level. In fact, on Thanksgiving Day of last year he appeared at a mission on Skid Row, entertaining the residents while they ate. His comment, “I sing and dance. That’s what I do.” 
            I think that philosophy is critical whether becoming a better speaker or getting the most out of our lives. Never Stop Dancing is even the title of an excellent book by Gordon Livingston. I completed my career as a professor a couple of months ago and in advance I asked a colleague if she would dance out of the classroom with me at the end of my last class. She agreed.     

            As scheduled, she showed up and we danced down the hallway. What I did not know was that word had gotten out and about 150 students lined the hallway to watch the event. Our secretary filmed with her flip camera and you can watch us dance at Steve Boyd Fare Well Dance.
            I’ve been taking dancing lessons for 17 years and I don’t intend to stop dancing. I’ve been teaching and speaking for several decades and I plan to continue speaking as often as I can and experiencing as many new things as I can.
            This philosophy should guide our daily lives. For example, as a speaker I want to continue to improve. I believe my best speech is my next one. Each presentation I deliver gives me more experience. I urge all speakers always to seek to improve. Never stop dancing.
            You can always make improvement if you keep working at developing your skills. This is true whether you are learning a new technology or simply working on your golf game.
             Remember the life philosophy of Dick Van Dyke: “Never stop dancing.”

 

Have Fun with Words

I recently spent several days in London and Northern Ireland.  Even though English is the major language in both countries, many words have different meanings and some expressions, although they are words you know, have meanings that are different from in the United States.  For example, a pharmacist is a “dispensing chemist”, exit is a “way out,” and French fries are “chips.”  Trash is “rubbish,” a trunk of a car is a “boot,” an elevator is a “lift,” candy is “sweeties,” and athletic shoes are “trainers.”  And the list goes on and on. 

This experience made me think of some of the language challenges we have in our own country. For example, when I lived in Boone, North Carolina, mountain people had several different meanings for the word “poke.”   In that geographical region, poke was a type of greens you could fry and with proper seasoning make a tasty side dish.  A poke was a sack to carry your lunch in.  A poke was the front part of a sun bonnet that elderly women would wear.  Then there is the common meaning, as to poke someone with a stick. 

Here in Cincinnati, the word “please” means “I didn’t understand” or “Would you repeat what you said?”  In my home area of Southern Indiana, “please” was simply a proper way to ask a favor of someone. 

Don’t assume a word has only one meaning.  Engage others in a friendly discussion about the multiple meanings of certain words.  See how many meanings you can list for a particular word.  A good word to start this exercise might be “strike.”  Another is “fast.” What other words have multiple meanings? 

Give the Gift of Grace

When you present, you know that many things can go wrong. When that happens, give grace to the person responsible. Don’t be a prima donna; go with the flow. Be gracious when circumstances create difficulties in delivering your speech.

This was shown in dramatic fashion this past week-end in the gracious manner with which Rafael Nadal accepted defeat in the men’s tennis finals at Wimbledon. The media went to him immediately after the match and asked him agonizing questions such as, “Do you have any celebration tips for Novak?” (Novak Djokovic defeated Nadal in the finals.) Clearly, Nadal wanted privacy and time to deal with the loss. Yet he patiently answered each question with grace. Writing about this in the Wall Street Journal, Jason Gay said about Nadal, “He smiled. He breezed through a crushing loss with exceptional charm and grace, deflecting pain in a language that isn’t his first.”  He thanked the All English Club for making him feel at home. His response to the loss: “I tried my best, as always. Today, one player played better than me. I will try another time, next year.”  

What can you do as a speaker to do show grace in a difficult situation? You can anticipate the unexpected so that you are not easily surprised when the public address system gives awful feedback sounds or the dessert comes just as you start your presentation.

Get to the speaking location early so that you can correct difficulties that are correctible. Take a tour of the meeting room. Check to see if the equipment is available that you need to deliver your presentation. Talk to the person responsible for your being present to speak. Ask about any unusual circumstances that you did not anticipate.

Don’t panic if something unexpected happens. In the middle of your speech, the lights might go out. Simply pause for a few moments. Sometimes the lights come back on quickly. Just a few seconds of waiting will give you time to think of what you might say if they don’t come back on.

If the problem is not corrected quickly, have a line you can plug in with any emergency. This might work: “I’m sure this will be corrected shortly. Let’s just give the staff a little time to deal with …” or “We can easily continue on without …” 

We usually think of grace as a spiritual term, but it is also an important aspect of gaining the respect of audience members. Your graciousness confirms that you really are a credible source who cares about the principles he or she is discussing.

When you speak, you bring with you information that the audience needs to hear; remember to bring a little grace as well.

Stephen D. Boyd, Ph.D., CSP, is Professor Emeritus of Speech Communication, College of Informatics, Northern Kentucky University, near Cincinnati. He presents keynotes and seminars to corporations and associations whose people want to speak and listen effectively. Visit his site to read other valuable articles on effective speaking and listening.

Become a Better Communicator—Without Communicating

You don't have to be talking or listening to become a better communicator. For example, increasing your vocabulary will enhance your communication. I subscribe to the free Merriam Webster "Word of the Day" via email. The entry includes a definition, the word used in a sentence, and the history of the word as well as correct pronunciation. When you learn a new word, work it into your conversation. Find reasons to write the word or simply think about how to incorporate the new word into your speaking vocabulary. Any new word you can add will help you give a more accurate, vivid, and understandable meaning to your message. We have all had the experience of trying to think of just the right word;  this habit of adding new words will help you to do so.

            Develop a habit of thinking about a phone conversation or a discussion before it actually happens. Consider the words you may choose to use. Visualize the conversation in your mind. Think of how other people in the group may respond to your idea. Ask yourself, "What is the point I want to make?" and think of words that will help you accomplish your goal.

            Certainly actually speaking and listening are important ways to improve your communication, but these two approaches can improve your communication without actually communicating with someone else.