Some of us ancient ones might realize that the video camera that all of us carry in our pockets to make riveting talkies of our friends getting sloppy drunk are infinitely better than the most expensive studio cameras just a few years back.

I have an idea that might give those cameras another valuable use — shoot yourself.

If you are serious about becoming a better presenter (and who among us doesn’t want that?) then your handy video camera/phone is a super valuable tool for practice. Use it.

Here are 5 wonderful things (gleaned from my upcoming course) that will happen when you fire up your camera and use it as your practice buddy.

One. You will see things you have not seen before. All the weird gestures, ticks, repetitive phrasing, filler words – all that nasty stuff will be front and center. You never saw it before. Now you cannot unsee it. Which is good. Now you can fix it.

Two. You will hate it. Nobody, even the vainest among us, likes to see themselves on video at first. Too bad. So sad. Do it anyway. It will keep you humble and if you don’t totally give up, it will make you so much better. (Don’t give up.)

Three. You will actually take your practice sessions more seriously. You will practice like you mean it and make it as real as possible.

Four. You will get comfortable with you. After your initial shock at how you look and act and after you have started to clean up a few things you just might not like, you will see that you are not so bad after all. You will find your groove – that place where you are comfortable with who you are, faults and all. That’s a good dose of confidence, baby.

Finally, five. You will become a much better presenter and create much better presentations. Becoming more confident and competent as a presenter is a process. Using video will turbo charge that process.

It is not for the faint of heart. But it might be for you.

Go shoot yourself.

Ready? Aim? https://ready2speak.com

Tom

Short and sweet today.

My very hip friend, Keith Schroeder, is a DJ. He has the cool to be a rock star club DJ, but he works the party space — specifically for kids.

And he knows that there is one thing that he has to do to make sure his parties are a roaring success.

He has to get them up and dancing. Not just the kids, but the parents and, if all goes well, the grandparents.

Dancing early and often. Don’t let them off the floor. That’s his definition of success.

If you are a speaker, there is a definition of your success embedded in that mantra somewhere. Is it involvement? Buy in? Participation? Just keeping them awake?

That’s for you to decide.

For me I like Keith’s definition. When I speak, I want ‘em up dancing.

Learn to dance with your audience: https://ready2speak.com

Tom

The bumper sticker on the car in front:

“You laugh because I am different.

I laugh because you are all the same.”

Nice.

I was a child of scientists. I have a degree in some sort of traditional science. Both my daughters are scientists. Science runs in the fam.

So, my quick rant on evolutionary survival science is this:

We pay attention to “different” because it will kill us (think of a twig snapping in the woods). The “same” doesn’t. It is safe and BORING. We don’t pay attention to same.

As speakers we can use that hard-wired tendency to create interest. Different grabs attention. And we can use it in so many ways.

Different tone – loud versus soft.

Different gestures.

Different delivery – lone presenter versus showing a quick video. Or lone presenter versus an interactive exercise.

And maybe the best way to be different is to have a contrarian point of view.

Many of you on my list know of the great contrarian Alan Weiss. He has actually mellowed a lot since I first started following him. Although I think I am still on his bad side. He has made a wonderful career out of being cranky and contrarian. It is his natural state.

People follow him and send him oodles of money because he has a different take on things. That take is not so off the path that it doesn’t make sense. But it is a different way of looking at the world.

My contrarian view is that as presenters who want to get better, we often focus on stage skills. How we act and look and sound and move. How confident we are. To be sure these are important things. They should be mastered or at least improved.

But I have often thought that all that falls apart when we have a train-wreck of a speech. Unorganized. No through line. Way too much information. And the biggest deficit – little or no quality rehearsal.

My course focuses on that. Create a perfect presentation (for you) and you will become better just by having it in your tool kit. Your confidence will soar. And your skills in front of the room will dramatically improve.

The best carpenter is only as good as his tools. You need better tools. You need a killer speech. So good (and maybe with a little contrarian twist) that they cannot ignore you.

So, don’t be the “same presenter”. Be brave. Be different. https://ready2speak.com/course

Tom

Another hapless presenter stood in front of the crowd and sputtered and stammered. We all squirmed in our seats. Probably because we have all been there. Or maybe because it was of the appearance of that toothless troll who lives in the back of ever presenter’s mind.

I speak about that evil beast: FORGETTING YOUR STUFF. Yikes. I shiver just thinking about it.

It is, of course, one of our biggest fears. It is a real problem. It is a speaker’s Achille’s heel that does not lend itself to a quick fix.

But there are tools and techniques you can take to quell this monster that destroys speakers.

Everyone has a secret cure, a technique, a trick.

Here is one solid, proven solution I know works. Actually, here are two of them.

The first is serious practice. Lots and lots of practice. I will not dive deep into this at this point. I will say, I spend a lot of effort inside my course helping folks build a solid, logical and very effective practice routine. I call it by the catchy name of Intelligent Practice. Here’s a hint: start earlier than you think you should.

The real point I want to make is something I heard recently from my good friend and mentor and superstar speaker, Ron Chapman.

This is so simple, but so effective.

He said if he needs to burn a presentation into his brain, he takes a walk. It is only one part of his practice routine. (By the way, professional speakers practice the way professionals do in any other business – all the time.)

Back to his walk. He takes off and repeats parts or all of his material over and over. He might take a few notes with him if necessary. But the words have to come from his understanding of his topic not from a script.

He doesn’t hesitate to mix things up either. New words and phrases. New order. He tries everything until he gets a good fit. Then he practices some more.

It’s a big commitment.

But if you want to play big, like Ron, you better be committed.

Wanna play big? R U Committed? Jump on my waiting list: https://ready2speak.com/course

Tom

We presenters are an insecure lot.

When we are not sure that we have mastered our content, we tend to pile it on, droning on and on and overwhelming our listeners. Or we add slide after slide, bullet after bullet until our audience members give up their souls and lie bleeding in boredom on the floor.

When we have not rehearsed enough or are otherwise not confident of our thoughts, we tend to repeat our ideas or ramble endlessly, thinking that we surely must have covered it adequately by now.

All of this sabotages our best efforts to communicate clearly to the audience in front of us.

Another great diffuser of clarity is the tendency to put more than one image or photograph on a slide. After all, if one image tells a story then 6 should do it so much better.

The fact is one image commands 100% of your viewers attention. Additional graphics and photos on a single slide split their attention to the point where there is no impact. It’s just a jumbled mess.

A few points:

• Try to use only one image per slide to communicate your idea. Get the right image. Two weak images don’t add up to a strong one. They just look like two weak images. Or worse they confuse and turn off your audience.
• Get the best images you can afford. Be prepared to pay if necessary. Photos and graphics should reflect your professionalism and convey your point quickly and cleanly.
• If you have a progression or a build on a slide, then carefully consider adding more images.

Often a large image with a few added words will perfectly communicate your point on a single slide.

Try for that.

Protect your audience from dreaded PowerPoint induced sleeping disorders. This guy knows how to do it: https://ready2speak.com/coaching

Tom