December, 2007 How to Avoid LOSING Your Audience by Falling into 10 TRAPS!
	Quote of the month: "Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first 4 sharpening the saw." Abraham Lincoln		"A funny thing happened on the way to"... my writing of this month's newsletter on the letter K about Creating Keynote Speeches! Stay tuned for K later in the series, after I attend the CHAMPS' CAMP on Creating Keynotes in January. Have you ever lost credibility and interest in a speaker while he/she was speaking? Let's examine what the speaker may have done or not done to cause this and ways to remedy the trap into which they may have fallen.
	10 TRAPS a speaker can fall into and LOSE an audience. Not have a strong opening that will hook them and make them want to listen attentively. Get their attention with a quote, bold statement, story, unusual action and so on, while establishing a connection and inviting them in. Convince them that your message is worthwhile to hear. Have a very loose message. What is loose is lost! A confused, disinterested mind always says "No!" KNOW your message and can say it in one sentence. Be precise and concise with it, and your audience will listen with attention, Not connect emotionally with your heart and empathy through your personal stories. All too often, a speaker states a quote or a statistic trying to appeal to solely the audience's intellect and does not attempt to show how it affected his/her life. Recall the sights, sounds and sensations from which you have learned life lessons, then share them. You've got life lessons to teach and the audience has lessons to learn. Never bring your audience into your presentation. Ask rhetorical, reflective questions. Use the most important word "YOU" in your questions and pause while they think. Wisdom comes from reflection! Talk AT them by pontificating and preaching. Talk WITH them in a natural, sincere, conversational manner. Never bring in humour. Allow them to laugh at you and with you. Let them have fun at your expense; it shows that you see the lighter side of life. When people laugh, they relax, when they relax, they learn, when they learn, they remember. Never build HOPE into your presentation, leaving them down or confused. Show them the possibilities and benefits of taking action in thought, feeling, word or deed. Just like after attending a musical, leaving the theatre humming the tunes, you want them to leave with your key message. Make yourself the hero and ramble on with stories that are all about you and the great things you have done. You will be seen as arrogant and a "know-it-all." You will alienate your audience. Put the learning of the lesson on a pedestal, not you, the person. Squeeze too much information in and as a result, squeeze your audience out. If you ramble and never get to the point, they will tune you out. Ensure your content is what is key to your message. Less is more! Use over-used quotes and over-used stories without acknowledging your awareness that they are over-used. Give value, by adding a qualifier and bringing in something unique about them and how they affected your life. I challenge you to reflect on which traps you may have fallen into and spend time working on one new initiative at a time. By spending time and effort on 'sharpening YOUR saw' when crafting your next speech, you will avoid falling into a trap yet will succeed in chopping YOUR tree by preparing and presenting a POWERFUL SPEECH! Join me next month, when we'll discuss the letter M as it relates to: Mindful Movement on the Platform. kathryn@kathrynmackenzie.com 416.489.6603 If you wish to unsubscribe from these newsletters, please contact Kathryn at the above email address with the word: UNSUBSCRIBE in the heading. On the other hand, if you know someone who may benefit from these newsletters, please forward them. Thank you. www.kathrynmackenzie.com © 2007 All rights reserved