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Tools you can use to improve your presentation skills. |
| Most Monotonous Wins |
How about a giveaway to break the monotony, or in this case to cause some monotony? We have 25 copies of my CD, Visions, to give away. It's a $20 value and you can claim your copy by making a simple call.
Do this: between the hours of 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Eastern time, dial 800-336-2693 and read the passage below in your best monotone. You have 20 seconds to leave your name and address, and read this passage in a monotone:
Grethel, however, ran like lightning to Hansel, opened his little stable, and cried, "Hansel, we are saved! The old witch is dead!" Then Hansel sprang out like a bird from its cage when the door is opened for it. How they did rejoice and embrace each other, and dance about and kiss each other!
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| $1 Million Awaits |
Please drop me a note about why you deserve a copy of my book, The Million Dollar Toolbox. Each month during 2005, our 25th anniversary, we will select 25 people to receive a copy.
Go here
to see who has already won a copy.
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| About Us |
Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems changes lives by helping lifelong learners hone their natural communication tools.
We work primarily with people at Fortune 1000 companies in the areas of public speaking, presentations skills,
personal improvement and leadership development.
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Share the wealth!
Tell your colleagues about us!
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Hello. Monotony is the number one killer of presentations. We'll talk about that this time in Zipline. We have a special offer tied to monotony, too. Read about it in the left hand column. And, our second article is something Pat and I wrote for CEO Refresher.
Let's get going.
Ty Boyd
ty@tyboyd.com
Monotony Most Foul
Monotony should be on the FBI's most wanted list. It has killed more presentations than any of the deadly distractions. Everyone, not just those trained to perform critiques of speeches, picks up on monotony in a presentation.
You don't find any best-selling songs that use only one note, do you? Nor do you find great one-note presentations. However, monotony is not just speaking in a monotone - that is using just that single note. It is a lack of variety in every element of your presentation.
The antithesis of monotony is variety. You can add heat, color, excitement, emotion and expressiveness by bringing variety to your presentations.
First, let's talk about the vocal elements.
You should vary the notes, the sound level, and the flow of your words. Vary between a whisper and a shout. Speak slowly, then more rapidly. Use your voice to work up and down the register. Take advantage of silence, too. Use precise diction to underline a point. Change your voice to fit your content. Paint a picture by emphasizing certain words. Use your voice to be unpredictable. Keep the audience a little off guard and they will stay with you to the end.
Face has its place in fighting monotony. If you are practicing vocal variety, a deadpan face causes dissonance. Your face should match the content of your presentation, as well as the vocal qualities you are employing. Happy? Then, smile! Thoughtful? Show it.
Make eye contact with various audience members. Picking one person to stare at is just wrong. It makes everyone uncomfortable.
Movement and gestures also add variety. We don't want you to pace and wander all over the stage, but it is OK to step out from behind the lectern. Move toward or away from the audience to make a point.
Use your hands to punctuate a point. Make a fist. Sweep the room with your arm to draw in your audience. Point. But with gestures - as with everything else - make sure they have a point and fit into the context of what you are saying.
Remember monotony kills. Variety can bring even a dead audience back to life.
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CEO Style
By Pat and Ty Boyd
When Thom McKinney booked speakers for a national cable TV conference, he knew he could count on a great turn-out for one presenter -- Ted Turner. The former CEO of Turner Broadcasting would take the stage and "you'd have no idea what would come out of his mouth," McKinney recalls. "If we put Ted on at 7:30 am, 3,000 people would turn out in New York City to hear him. They knew Ted would give them more than the party line."
Maybe Turner's unpredictability isn't your style. But if you're a CEO, chairman, or other high-level executive, you're facing more pressure than ever to deliver rousing - and believable - speeches and presentations.
Years ago, CEOs might have gotten away with being imperial figures, unemotional on the podium. But after Enron and other corporate scandals, employees, customers, shareholders and stock analysts are all demanding more from corporate leaders.
The stakes are high. Fifty percent of a company's reputation is attributable to the CEO's reputation, according to a 2003 Burson-Marsteller study. A key way to demonstrate who you are, and what your company values, is through presentations. Your presentations reflect upon everyone in your business, whether your company is public or private.
CEOs are called upon to speak more frequently than they once were, often to larger and more diverse audiences. Your presentation may be to your employees. But it will be only hours until word gets to Wall Street. People listen intently to what CEOs and other top officials say. Where there's big news, every paragraph might be parsed for hidden meanings. It's all the more important to be clear about what you are communicating.
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