Leaders – Get Laughs, Applause & Your Message Across

Jan 04

Be Brilliant at Panel Moderation

By Mohamed21 | 3D Speaking, Business, Leaders, Life Lesssons, Public Speaking, Speech Coaching | No Comments

During conferences, panel discussions could be boring or brilliant. They could keep the audience on the edge of their seats or make them leave their seats. The following are essential tips when you act as a Panel Moderator. And please note, when it comes to panel moderation, it takes all to tango!

Choose them. If you have an opportunity to influence the organizers of the event, convince them that you will select experienced panelists to participate in the panel. And by experienced panelists, I am referring to panelists who have relevant professional experience to the event and have the ability to convey their thoughts well to the delegates. In September 2016, I attended an event that had two panels. One was so dynamic and insightful while the other was so dull and boring thanks to the panelists!

Contact them. Never leave the chosen panelists at the dark until the last moment. Contact them early on to brief them about the event, its objectives, its theme and its topics. And most importantly send them the event’s brochure and official website. In 2010, I participated in a panel in an investors’ conference. Our panel moderator was brilliant, she emailed all the panelists and had a phone conversation with us to make sure that we have a brilliant show at the conference. And we did.

Educate them. As a panel moderator you have a big responsibility. You have to make your panelists look like credible as experts in their respective fields. Hence, you need to educate your panelists on how to write great introductions for you to use. Educate them that their protracted biographies in the event’s brochure are not necessarily their best speakers’ introductions. The introduction should be brief, interesting and make the delegates think: I better listen to this panelist and take notes.

Prepare them. Nothing beats diligent preparation. Nothing. Ask any professional whether in sport or in business. To be brilliant you have to sweat! Agree on the different themes or angles you will have at your panel discussion. Ask the panelists to suggest questions. They know their subjects best in terms of the latest trends and what should the audience get. Agree who would answer which questions in what order. You should have a staged panel performance without the delegates noticing this. Never start a panel discussion without this agreement. The outcome could be fatal.

Meet them. Meet your panelists before the panel to review the themes, questions and staging thereof. Stress the importance of adhering the time allocated to each panelist to give an equal opportunity to all panelists to address the questions you have and the delegates’ questions. Clarify any doubts the panelists may have. And finally, assure them that with all the diligent preparation you made you are bound to have a brilliant show and wish them luck.

Care for them. Coordinate with the organizers to provide bottles of water and glasses! You may think this is common sense. It is. However, recently, I attended a conference where no bottles were placed on the table for the panelists to drink from. The organizers only brought them when one panelist started coughing so loud and started looking for water. In addition, ask the panelists whether they prefer handheld microphones or lapel ones. Ultimately, make sure you make them comfortable to give a brilliant show.

Thank them. Thank them all the way. First, thank them when they accept to be panelists. Then, thank them for their time to prepare for the panel. After that, thank them when they take the stage. Then, thank them again for sharing their expertise with the delegates before your leave the stage. And finally, give them a call or send them an email to thank them once more. After all of these rounds of thanks, ask them what you could do better to have more brilliant panel discussions. With all the care and thanks, they are bound to share with you their thoughts willingly.

In 2014, I was blessed to moderate a 2-hours panel discussion at a Global Leadership Conference in Dubai with more than 800 delegates from more than 80 countries. I applied all the above essential tips and we had a brilliant show. It was the highest rated session in the entire conference. The delegates protested that we should not end the panel discussion because it was high energy, engaging and entertaining. The delegates were not at the edge of their seats but they were glued to their seats. Go ahead. Apply these tips. Be brilliant!

Sep 05

Start with a Bang not a Whisper!

By Mohamed21 | 3D Speaking, Business, Leaders, Life Lesssons, Middle East, Public Speaking, Speech Coaching | No Comments

“When I told few of my relatives and friends that I was planning to quit my job and study to attain a higher degree, they all told me to go to the hospital to check my temperature! I do not blame them because they see the present and I see the future.” These were the first three lines of my personal statement when I applied to King’s College London. I designed it in a way to grab the attention of the Admission Committee. And it surely did! I received the acceptance admission letter from this prestigious university!

This is exactly what you should do when you start your speeches – grab the audience’s attention at once so that they end their preoccupations and focus on what you will share with them in your speech. Be creative. Be different. Be profound. You need to think and rethink about your opening because it could make or break your speech. This is the case because the audience will decide in the first 30 seconds whether to listen to you or to tune out!

In December 2015, I was attending an entrepreneurs’ conference in Berlin. As part of the program, more than 20 entrepreneurs were trying to raise capital by delivering a three-minute sales pitch. They had interesting products and services but not so when it came to their speech openings. They all started with a whisper: “Good morning ladies & gentlemen, what a beautiful weather today, thanks for the opportunity to speak to you today about my project which is about …” What a lost opportunity to impact and influence!

So, how do you start with a bang and not with a whisper? There are number of ways of doing that and starting a firecracker is not one of them! We discussed the first way in the previous article: Getting Business Results by Telling Stories! Just begin with a story that has a conflict in it and the audience would be hooked to listen to how the conflict was resolved. Then, you can continue with the rest of your speech. To see an excellent example of this technique, watch President Obama speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

The second way is to use a shock tactic. Shock the audience with a startling statement. For example: “None of all the Prophets sent by God used PowerPoint. Yes, you heard it right. None of them used PowerPoint. They all used stories to convey their messages.” And then I could continue illustrating this point by sharing with the audience how to deliver their messages effectively to the audience without using visual aids.

Another great way to open a speech is to start it with a powerful quote. Here is my favorite quote by Martin Luther King: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” It is a great opening for a speech that promotes a charitable cause or for a fund raising event. In addition, the question could serve as a foundational phrase that could be repeated throughout the speech to stress the message. And not only that, it could be used as a powerful closing: “So, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you again: What are you doing for others?”

Let us continue with the theme of Questions. Asking Questions is an effective way for opening speeches because they engage the audience at a deeper level. They make your audience stop their chain of thoughts to focus on answering the question whether verbally or in their minds. To be effective the question has to be simple. For example, I used this question in one of my speeches: Are you hungry? That is it. Just three words. Then, I continued with my speech on the importance of being hungry at all times when it comes to personal growth and achieving your dreams.

These were four effective ways to open your speeches to grab the audience at once. I began this article by sharing the first three lines of my personal statement I sent to King’s College London. Let me end it with the quote I used to end the statement with: “Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.” Every time you speak to an audience you have an opportunity to come across as an effective speaker, prepare well and success will be on your side.

Mohamed Isa is an Executive Speech Coach and Writer who guides his clients in designing and delivering dynamic speeches so that they get laughs, applause, and their message across. He is the Co-Author of Amazon’s Best Seller: World Class Speaking in Action.

Sep 05

Meet Your New Best Friend: Mr. PARTS!

By Mohamed21 | 3D Speaking, Business, Leaders, Life Lesssons, Middle East, Public Speaking, Speech Coaching | No Comments

Who is your best friend? You must have few best friends who you met during different stages of your life. Today, I would like to introduce you to your new best friend when it comes to public speaking. He is Mr. PARTS and he shall assist you in creating compelling contents for your speeches so that they become dynamic speeches that speak to the minds and hearts of your audience. PARTS is an acronym for five tools to help in your speech development efforts. Let examine each tool briefly.

P stands for Phrase. What is your message? Can you frame it in a sentence or a phrase to make your speech repeatable, digestible and perhaps, Tweetable! Think very hard about this. Think fast and slow. Engage your active mind and sub-conscious mind to come up with this phrase. It is very important to leave your audience with a phrase. In 2005, I delivered a speech entitled: WhoZanGa! People who saw it still remember it and I bet you they will never forget it. Going beyond my speeches, I think the most memorable speech ever is the one delivered on 28th of August 1963 in Washington DC by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. entitled ………………… Yes, you are right! This is the magic of having the right phrase.

A stands for Anchors. How do you intend to anchor your message in the minds of the audience members? There are few tools that could help you do just that including acronyms. As I highlighted above, PARTS is an acronym for five tools that will help you in creating compelling contents for your speeches. Recently, I created ALI as an acronym for what a typical leader must do to be successful: (A) Anticipates the Future, (L) Learns Forever and (I) Inspires Others. What acronyms could you create?

R stands for Reflection. Whenever you speak, provide the audience with opportunities to think and reflect about what you are saying. Pause, often. My friend Rena Romano, said: “If there is no reflection, there is no connection.” The last thing you want as a speaker is to lose the audience. One way to have the audience reflect is using rhetorical questions. For example, you could ask: When was the last time you reflected about your personal and professional achievements? Or going back to your best friends, when was the last time you hanged out with them? We hang out regularly. We had dinner in a fine restaurant. The food was mouthwatering and our jokes were eye watering so to speak. We remained until the owner kicked us out at midnight!

T stands for Technique. Audience members love techniques. What useful techniques can you share with them? I still remember a speech made by an event management specialist on how to host successful events. He told us to answer the following five questions: When is the event? Where will it be held? Who will attend it? What will be the agenda? And finally, why it is being held? Now, whether you are hosting a conference or a birthday party, you can use this simple technique to plan your upcoming event. I ensure all my speeches have this element so that the audience picks up techniques they could use immediately. For example, I speak about the 3 R’s to employee engagement: Recognition, Rewards & Recreation.

S stands for the Sale. Every speech is selling something, a thought or a product or a service. So, what are you selling and how will you put it forward to your audience? I vividly remember the worst sale pitch in my life. It was 2004 and I used to live in Dubai, I saw an advertisement in a newspaper for what the clinic proclaimed to be an effective hair loss treatment. I made a visit just for fun! The Doctor was the worst salesman I met in my life. He tried to sell me a customized wig so that my personal confidence is boosted. He was wrong, totally wrong. Did I complain about being less confident due to my hair loss? Not at all. He wrongly assumed that. Always research your audiences’ needs and then frame your speech around meeting these needs; never use your imagination.

I hope you enjoyed meeting your new best speaking friend: Mr. PARTS. Rest assured he is a friend you can rely on all the time. He will help you in creating compelling contents for your speeches regardless of your speaking topic. Try him out! He will make your messages more memorable, digestible and Tweetable!

Mohamed Isa is an Executive Speech Coach who guides his clients in designing and delivering dynamic speeches so that they get laughs, applause, and their message across. He is the Co-Author of Amazon’s Best Seller: World Class Speaking in Action.

Apr 10

Diligence leads to Excellence: The Case of Doug Lipp

By admin | 3D Speaking, Disney, Doug Lipp, Event Management, Leaders, Middle East, Public Speaking, Speech Coaching | No Comments

In November 2013, I had the honor and privilege to meet Doug Lipp at Disney University event in Bahrain. Being the Master of Ceremonies, I interacted a lot with Doug Lipp to make sure the event becomes a grand success for the delegates, the organizers and ,of course, to the speaker! Today, as I reflect back, I am so pleased that I met “Diligent Doug” who proved beyond doubt that “Diligence leads to Excellence!” Diligent Doug is a great role model to emulate when it comes to speech preparation.

Doug Lipp

Who is the audience?

The moment I met Diligent Doug, he asked me an important question that I recommend you consider before speaking to any audience: Who is the audience? Doug asked me several questions about the audience: Tell me more about them, what do they like and dislike about speakers, what was the experience of other international speakers with them. As I addressed his questions, Doug took detailed notes on the audience to make sure he builds a strong connection with them to convey his key ideas and messages. Our discussion on audience took place before dinner, during it and after it!

I was particularly amazed when Doug asked me to teach him basic Arabic greetings like Salam Alikum (Peace Be Upon You), Sabah Al-Khair (Good morning) and Shukran (Thank You). He practiced saying them again and again. Before moving on to another discussion, Doug asked me to repeat the greetings while he recorded them in his iPhone so that he practice them again before sleeping to make sure that he implant them in his memory. Effective speakers always know saying few words in the local language delights the audience and takes the speaker-audience connection to a higher level; consider the Assassinated President of USA John F. Kennedy when he spoke German and President Barrack Obama when he spoke Persian.

On connecting with the audience, Diligent Doug wanted to get the maximum possible connection. That is why he interacted a lot with the audience during coffee and book signing breaks. Because of this, the majority of the delegates commented positively about his likeability factor and approachability compared to other international speakers who spoke in live events in Bahrain during the past few years. Do you talk to your audience members? If not, you are missing out! Through such little talks you get more insights on who the audience members are, get more stories for your speech and perhaps, more business opportunities!

Dynamic Speech Contents

Moving on to Doug’s speech contents. He never left any speech segment or activity to chance. He shared with me what he was planning to say and do with the audience; in essence, I became his sounding board to see how best to approach his materials. This included his fake bad speech opening to illustrate a significant point early on in the event. As a Master of Ceremonies, this helped me a lot in inserting relevant remarks between the sessions of the event. I challenge to ask any delegate on whether they liked it when Doug imitated the sound of the cartoon character Donald Duck and you are surely going to hear a resounding “Yes.”

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Z7D9Y9koJ9A[/youtube]

To become an effective speaker, you must become a great listener first. Diligent Doug was a great listener. When we were having dinner with the organizers’ team members, I asked Doug: “Do you know what’s the purpose of this dinner?” He answered: “No, tell me about it, I’m all ears.” And he was truly: All ears! I told him Ghalib Al-Oraibi, Founder and Managing Director of Leaders Events, always tries to engage and motivate his employees to enhance their job performance. Since you are speaking about good customer service and employee engagement, perhaps, you could use this in your speech. To my absolute delight, Doug used the dinner example to support and illustrate one of his points during his talk.

Astonishing Attention to Details

I could go on and on speaking on the diligence of Doug Lipp. However, I do not wish to make this post a scholarly article! Accordingly, I will highlight three more things that Doug did as part of his speech preparation. First, he asked whether he should speak at his normal speech rate or to slow down a bit for the benefit of the audience and the live translators. Secondly, he asked for back up lapel microphone just in case we face a technical failure and he tested the microphones all over the event’s hall and luckily we found a no-go zone where the microphone would not work properly. Last but not least, and this is something that amused me a lot. Doug had two versions of his slides; each one with a different contrast ratio to be ready for any type of data projection equipments.

To make a lasting positive impression on audience, please keep in your mind this:

Diligence leads to Excellence!