July 2011 NEWSLETTER
Welcome to my Monthly Newsletters on presentation and speaking skills. Each month we will explore a different letter of the alphabet as it relates or applies to a speaking skill.

Y - YOU is the most important word in speaking. Yes… YOU!
(Much of the information in this month’s newsletter is adapted from Craig Valentine’s lessons I learned as a Champions’EDGE member and as the ChampCamps. All quotations are his.)

Opening:

Have you ever almost slept through a speaker’s presentation, because you weren’t engaged and you thought: “So what? Who cares? What’s in it for me?”

On the other hand, have you ever been captivated by a speaker from beginning to end? What is the difference that makes the difference? Which tools did the latter speaker use to CONNECT with your own individual thoughts and emotions?

Promise:

Today, you’ll pick up a simple yet powerful strategy which will make you strides ahead of other speakers since you’ll know how to connect with and engage your audience from start to close

Roadmap:

  • You will discover:
  • - when to use “YOU”
  • - why to use it
  • - how to use it

Quotation of the Month

'The You-Turn'
- David Brooks

'I-You Ratio'
- Patricia Fripp

'The You-Focus'
- Craig Valentine

CONNECTION, CONNECTION, CONNECTION!! "Speak to ONE, Look to ALL"
Have you ever heard a speaker say: “How many of you…?” or “Has anyone here…?’ or “All of you may know that…” or “Does anyone realize…? ”or “Who here…?” and so on. When you hear those kinds of questions, to whom is the speaker speaking? To EVERYONE! (yet, in fact, to NO ONE!!) To CONNECT with each person, structure the content of a speech to create a one-on-one connection so each audience member can say: “Wow, he or she is speaking directly to me! HOW? Well, if you were talking to one person, you wouldn’t likely go up to him/her and say: “How many of you?” You would say: “Have you ever…?” Use the same wording when talking with a group. To connect and sell your point, have them at “HELLO” and also at “GOOD-BYE”. CONNECT with your audience BEFORE, DURING and AT THE END of your presentation.

When to use YOU

  • During your speech/ presentation

Why to use YOU

  • gets their attention  because their minds become engaged
  • makes them curious and excited to join you on your journey
  • provides them with a benefit for themselves as they know the focus is on THEM, not you, the speaker
  • gives them opportunities to reflect on their own lives
  • touches base with them periodically as you would in a conversation.
  • draws on similarities between you and the audience- avoids making you appear ‘special’
  • invites them into your stories/scenes (in a visual, auditory and kinesthetic way)
  • recaps the YOU-FOCUSED benefit
  • helps audience buy into your point and take action.

How to use YOU

  • i.e. "In the next few minutes, you’ll pick up/hear/discover/receive/get…."
  • "Raise your hand if……"
  • "It may interest you to know that…"
  • "Did you/ have you/ were you ever...?"
  • "When was the last time you....?"
  • "Did you know that….?"
  • "TRANSPORT them into your world."
  • -use YOU-FOCUSED statements and/or questions
  • i.e. “Can you relate to that?”
  • “As an (adult, engineer, parent, etc), you know that.....”
  • “And as you know….”
  • “If you own a house, you likely have experienced ....”
  • “I don’t know about you but….”
  • “Had you been with me, you would have seen….”
  • i.e. “When you explore and try new things, you’ll be amazed at the talents you will discover.”
  • “If you choose to adopt a consistent
    positive outlook, you’ll be surprised to see how people will gravitate towards you.”

When you use this slight, yet profound strategy, using the most important connecting word: ‘YOU’ in your YOU-FOCUSED statements/ questions, your audience will want to journey with you throughout your entire speech, since the focus is on THEM, not on you.

CONNECTION, CONNECTION, CONNECTION!! "Speak to ONE, Look to ALL"
Connect With Any Audience

“CONNECT WITH ANY AUDIENCE”

3 CD set + data disc from 7 World Champions

  • Craig Valentine 1999 World Champion
  • Ed Tate 2000 World Champion
  • Darren LaCroix 2001 World Champion
  • Jim Key 2003 World Champion
  • Randy Harvey 2004 World Champion

3-CD Set + DATA Disc ~ $69.95

What would it mean to you if you could "connect" with any audience? Would you have more confidence? Get booked more often? Have more fun? Seven World Champions explain how to read and react to people in front of you. You’ll never look at presentations the same way again! Learn more by clicking here.

Start Your Fall by Going from Good to Great as a Speaker!

Do you want to be 3x the speaker you are now by next year? Do you want to discover to help you speak better quicker? For whichever reason you want to go from good to GREAT as a speaker...you can!
Come and join other like-minded students of speaking discover keys to unlock the door to your speaking potential, keys you can use right away in your speeches. Save this date! Thursday Aug. 18th from 7:00pm-9:30pm For more details click here: Good to GREAT

Join me next month when we examine the letter “Z” as it relates to another speaking skill.

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