February, 2008 Creating a "Killer" Keynote!
	Quote of the month: "Before you inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe." Sir Winston Churchill		HOT OFF THE PRESS from Orlando, Florida! Here are a few tips I learned from attending WCPS Mark Brown's and Craig Valentine's Boot Camp on CREATING KILLER KEYNOTES. Opening: Have you ever been asked or hope to be asked to deliver a keynote speech at a conference? Have you ever wondered how a speaker assembles a keynote speech? Promise: You will learn a handful of summarized yet significant tips on creating keynote speeches, which I have gathered from my mentors. These tips will set you up for success when you create a keynote speech. Roadmap: We will go through "The Create your Keynote Model" as presented by Mark Brown and Craig Valentine, by referring to style of delivery and content of speech.
	Key Points of a Keynote Speech I will highlight 8 points, 1 on style of delivery and 7 on content, which will help you hone your skills. First, let's start with a definition of a keynote. Webster's dictionary definition of a keynote is "the first and harmonically fundamental tone of a scale." In a speaking context, a keynote address strikes the "key" note in a conference and is a speech that can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour in length, promotes one central theme, and is motivational. STYLE OF DELIVERY In reference, to the "fundamental tone of a scale", I liken it to what a pianist and a keynote speaker have in common when it comes to their "performances". A pianist demonstrates passion for the art of music by playing from the heart. The pianist not only maintains the audience's interest but moves them emotionally and may even hold them spellbound. He/she does this by striking many notes, varying the tempo and the volume to create different moods. Similarly, a good speaker also needs to strike many notes within a conversational tone that connects with many people. If a speaker sustains the same tone or note throughout the entire speech, he/she would be flat, boring, or even irritating to the audience. You have and need to express many moods and emotions creating an engaging symphony of melodic verbal communication for your audiences. It is imperative that you remain authentic to who you are off stage. Replicate who you are in your everyday life, otherwise your false persona would be recognized as fake, over-rehearsed, contrived and definitely not conversational. You need to define and develop your own authentic style and then expand your style with your creative choices. For example, your stories, analogies, illustrations will allow you to create highs and lows of moods, of emotions, and of pace, pitch and volume. These creative choices will make your speech come alive since it will provide variety and make your speech interesting and dynamic for your audience, engaging them throughout. CONTENT 1.YOUR OPENING: (3 parts) START STRONG with "you" questions, a story, a quotation, or a profound statement get them committed and nodding their heads in agreement with you STATE A PROMISE Craig's 'BOB Formula'- Build on Benefits. Find Benefits that hit all 4 P's: Profit, Power, Prestige, and Pleasure so your audience members will identify with at least one. Get to the benefits quickly and your audience will buy in. Make your promise irresistible ie "In the next _ minutes, you'll have the opportunity to pick up…." or "For you, this means…" FOLLOW WITH A ROADMAP of where you're taking them If you refer back to my opening of this newsletter, I utilized all three of these parts 2. MODULES: Place each point in a separate module; each module is complete on its own but is linked through transitions. You may develop your own rule of thumb regarding the length of each module. 3. TRANSITIONS: Transitions are important links between your talking points. If done tactfully, you need to use a callback allowing them to review and relive the former point, and a tease to take them forward into the next point. 4. CALLBACK often to characters, events, message - repetition plus restatement helps them remember! 5. ANCHORS: After each point, anchor it with an anecdote, analogy, activity, or acronym; choose the best anchor to suit the point or message you're making. 6. 4 F's: Your Failures, Flaws, Frustrations, and Firsts. People need to trust you and they don't care what you've won as long as you tell them where you've failed and the process of succeeding. Put the process on a pedestal, not you. Recognize the 4 F's, resolve them and provide a message of hope for the audience. 7. CLOSE: The ultimate goal of a motivational speech is the call to action by stating the next step for them with a sense of urgency. This is done by your sincere, authentic emotions and your ability to speak with passion, compassion and conviction. Your task is to inspire the audience and lift them up with hope and encouragement. Dear friends and subscribers, whether or not you're giving a keynote, apply these same concepts on style of delivery and content to your own shorter speeches, as the same guidelines can and do apply. The above information is a drop in the bucket of what I have learned and what I can share with you in this newsletter. I will expand on other points in subsequent newsletters. I invite you to join me next month when we look at the letter "N" and discuss Nerves are Natural and Normal - Use them to YOUR Advantage! kathryn@kathrynmackenzie.com 416.489.6603 EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking, inspires you to create those magic moments with his DVD series. Darren LaCroix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, shares tips on how to get paid to speak in public. 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