Life Lesssons

How do you build your dream home? You begin with identifying your basic requirements. The number of halls, kitchens, bedrooms and your garden with few tall palm trees surrounding your swimming pool. After daydreaming for some time, you are bound to face reality. You have a limited budget. Welcome to speech writing! Building your speech is just like building your dream home. You need to plan it in view of your allotted time and your audience’s needs and requirements.

Your Key Message. What is your main message? Once you identify it, your whole speech should support delivering this message to your audience. This will be your reference point when it comes to adding or removing supporting materials. Your message should be simple and focused. Here are three questions for you: Is your message Tweetable? Is your message digestible? Is your message repeatable? If it is not, refine it further to make it clearer. Let us assume that our main message is: A heathy mind is in a healthy body.

Your Supporting Materials. As the name suggests, what supporting materials or points you could use to support delivering your key message? These could be stories, case studies, surveys’ results or your own observations and experiences. For our key message: A healthy mind is in a healthy body. My main task would be talking about how to have a healthy mind by having a healthy body. To accomplish this, I will speak about two main points. First, the importance of nutrition. And second, the importance of exercise. Each of these could be dissected further but I should always consider my main constraint: Time.

Your Transitions. This is the most ignored aspect of speech writing. How do you move from one point to another in a smooth and connected manner to hold the audience’s attention? You should tease your audience about what is coming next. They should be eager to listen to what you have to say next. This is your homework. Listen to radio channels of your choice and see how they tease the listeners by having teasers about their upcoming stories. Think about teasing and revealing your material?
Your Q & A. Your Q & A is one measure on how well your speech went. When the audience is engaged in this session, it is a sign of success. Again, do not get carried away, you should stick to your allotted time and make way for your closing remarks. Indicate to the audience how much time is available for the session and let them know when you are taking the last question to close your speech. As a courtesy, tell them that you will be around after the speech to answer any further questions.

Your Introduction. As suggested in an earlier article, start with a bang not a whisper. Grab the audience’s attention at once by asking a question, a startling statistic or a story. Now, after having decided on your supporting materials to support your key message, think carefully about your introduction. Experiment with few versions of it and try to link it to your first point in the speech. Test it for the transition effectiveness and decide on your best version to use. To continue with our example, you may say: Complete this phrase, a healthy mind is in a healthy … And then, continue your introduction.

Your Conclusion. After you have laid out your key message, supported it with your carefully chosen supporting materials, and you handled your Q & A Session like a maestro, it time to close to drive your key message home to prompt the desired action. It could be this: A healthy mind is in a healthy body. Yes, you know about it. But what are you doing about it? According to a London Business School study, living more than 100 years will be the new normal. You may live to 100, but will your life be normal. Make the right choices today. Eat well, exercise and enjoy the rest of your life.

Building your speech is just like building your dream home. Take the time to plan your speech structure. Think about your key message, supporting materials, transitions, handling the Q & A session, the introduction and the closing. When you do this, you will have a solid speech that will surely achieve its objectives to inspire your audience to take the required action.

In 2007, I gave an entire workshop on how to effectively deal with Questions & Answers (Q&A) sessions. Before delivering my final remarks, I opened the floor for the questions. I had to face the music. I had to practice what I preached.

A delegate asked me: “How do you address tough questions?” I replied instantly: “Thank you for the great question, your question requires a lot of response time and answering it would deprive the other delegates from the opportunity of to ask. Let’s meet after I end the workshop to talk about it. Next question please.” As the microphone was being handed to another delegate. I looked back at him and continued: “That’s how you address tough questions.” The audience erupted with laughter as this was totally unexpected!

It was that simple. I acknowledged the delegate, thanked him and promised him that I will address his question later on. This is one of the techniques to temporarily escape the hot seat.

For the purpose of this article, let’s assume that you are an investment banker who is about to launch a roadshow to raise funds for a mega project and you will do various presentations for prospective investors. Here’s I how I would suggest you prepare for facing the music using the Before, During & After (BDA) Formula.

The B deals with the old adage: Preparation prevents poor performance. Before hitting the road with your slides, reports and your expensive black suit; start a War Game. Invite your colleagues and other trusted advisors to a demonstration presentation with one purpose in mind: Gathering what questions did they have about your presentation assuming that they were an aggressive audience. Once you get the questions, prepare possible answers and practice them diligently. When you get them during your actual presentation, you will be able to answer with poise and confidence.

Let’s move to the D part of the formula: Addressing the questions from the audience. The first thing to do is to set the expectations of the audience. Tell them that you will have a dedicated session for Q&A so that they do not irrupt you during your presentation so that you remain in control and do not lose your chain of thoughts. In addition, you could say: We have time for three to five questions and if you do not get the chance to ask during the session, I will be around after the presentation for addressing your questions.

Secondly, listen attentively to the questions from the audience. You must get the questions right to give the right answers. If with all the attention, you did not understand the question; ask the delegate to paraphrase the question to get it right. Then, thank him or her, repeat the question for the benefit of the audience and give your answer. Be brief and do not ramble on because you might trigger more questions from the audience.

Thirdly, be patience with the audience. No matter how you try to simplify the answer. They may not get it. Once, I was speaking in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) Roadshow, a business journalist asked me a question. I answered him in three different ways and he just could not get. Ultimately, I told him: “We will have a private session to discuss the matter.” And he never followed up. Perhaps, he likes speaking in public!

Fourthly, here is how do you answer back when the audience throws two or more questions. First, answer the first question, briefly. Then, turn to the audience member, point at him and say: “You had another question.” By doing this, you tell the entire audience that you care about them and their questions and that you’re in full control of the session. The delegate will immediately repeat his or her second question.

Now, before we move to the last part of the BDA Formula, let’s address dealing with tough questions. When the going gets tough, I need you to get going. You can use an escape strategy just like the one I used above to move on without answering the question especially if you know that the audience members is trying to corner you. Or else, you could admit the fact that you don’t have the required details to answer back with a promise to communicate with him or her at a later stage.

Sometimes, you don’t have to answer at all. For example, I once was asked a very sensitive question regarding the company I used to work for as a Chief Financial Officer. I retorted: “I can’t give you any answers because I will violate the disclosure requirements of the Central Bank.” He simply couldn’t come back because he was an erudite investor.

The last part is A. It deals with what you should do after you’re done with your presentation and the Q&A session. Here are two suggestions for you. First, review your entire performance in the Q&A session. Did you address the questions of the audience effectively and adequately? How could you answer better next time? To take this to a higher level, record you presentation and listen to it again and again to uncover the areas of potential improvements. Moreover, you could ask your colleagues who are attending with you to provide you feedback about your performance. The bottom-line, what gets measured, get improved.

Now, with the application of the BDA Formula, you will be better equipped and prepared for facing the music. You will dance to the tunes and build your credibility as an effective speaker. I wish you all the best in your next presentation.

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.

Shut up. Sit down. Get out. These were some of the sentences we kept hearing from few of our schools teachers. No wonder, we hated their classes and wondered away; far away. The preaching and teaching days are long gone! If you’re a leader who constantly wishes to lead his or her team into action, you better avoid issuing instructions and directions. You better start your journey with storytelling.

Think of great leaders in the present and past who led thousands and often times millions of people to take certain actions, good and bad, ugly and not. One such leader who is constantly in my mind is Kevin Havelock who I met when I worked for Unilever between 2001 and 2004. He was a great Chairman who always moved and motivated us with his words and stories. We were on fire and we accomplished great business results!

So, how can you become a more effective storyteller? Your stories will be memorable to your audience if you use the 5 C’s of Storytelling: Circumstance, Characters, Conversations, Conflict and the Carryout Message. If you examine eloquent speakers’ speeches, you’re bound to find these five elements. For example, you could watch Bill and Melinda Gates Commencement Address at Stanford University of 2014. You will find all the elements in their stories. Now, let’s explore the 5 C’s.

1. Circumstance. When did your story take place? Where was is it? Describe the circumstance for us.
2. Characters. Who were the characters in your story? Describe them to us.
3. Conversations. Don’t narrate the story. You should relive it so that we relive it with you. Bring your characters to life by giving each of the character a voice. Let them talk and let’s listen to them.
4. Conflict. If you don’t have conflict in your story, you’re doomed. It will not grab the attention of your audience. The conflict could be between you and one of the characters, the characters themselves or it could simply, between you and yourself!
5. Carryout Message. What’s the point you’re trying to make by telling us this story? What’s the carryout message?

Here’s a quick story incorporating all the 5 C’s:

“In the summer of 1998, we escaped the humidity and the scorching heat by having a gathering in my friend’s house in East Riffa. It was me and my friends: Nawaf, Abdul Rahman and Talal. We were sitting around the dining table chatting and having strawberries, green grapes, pistachios, almonds and of course tea and coffee. We were having so much fun. We told jokes, we made fun of each other and we made fun of others! Late in the evening, Talal stood up, rolled up his sleeves and said: “Mohamed, let’s do for a pushup challenge!”

Now, before I continue I should tell you that my relationship with Talal is just like that of Tom and Jerry. He is Tom and I am Jerry. And I always win. On that night, Talal wanted to take revenge from the many times I beat him and what a better circumstance; he had two witnesses, Nawaf and Abdul Rahman, and he is been working in out in the gym for months. He told me: “Come on, be a man. Get down on the floor and do pushups.” I replied: “No man, we’re supposed to have fun; not pushups.” He retorted: “Come on, be a man.” I said: “Ok, but you go first.”

And he agreed. Talal struggled to do six pushups. When he finished, I started. With each pushup I shouted: One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Then I stopped, looked Talal in the eye, laughed and said: Talal, you lost. Abdul Rahman, Nawaf and I laughed so loud. We fell from our chairs. And Talal, was frustrated. He failed, miserably!

Ladies and gentlemen, the lesson here is simple and clear, never ever underestimate your competition. We should always up our game by constantly innovating to bring new products to our customers before the competition does. Let’s go to work!”

Here is the thing: You don’t necessarily need to have a profound story to make it work. You can use everyday situations. Many speakers think that they should have great stories with great triumphs and conflicts such climbing Mount Everest or fighting with a shark. It doesn’t have to be like that! Start thinking about the stories in your life so that you could create a story file to keep it handy for your future speeches.

Your takeaway, don’t be a teacher or a preacher. Become an effective storyteller and you will be able to inspire your team to get the business results you desire.

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.

They have a saying in the real estate industry: Location, location, location! In speaking, it is: Delivery, delivery, delivery! No matter how good your content is, your delivery will be the deciding factor on whether your speech is a success or a failure. So, let us discuss how not to get a ‘D’ for your Delivery in your upcoming speech!

One of the common mistakes speakers make is moving on the stage like tennis players. They confuse moving around with being dynamic. Instead of just moving for the sake of moving, think and plan your movements so that you use them to illustrate your points more effectively. For example, if you are telling an audience a story, you could use the stage as a timeline indicating the different segments or scenes of the storyline or the placement of characters on the different areas of the stage. By doing this, you could use call backs and gestures to refer the characters and scenes. One caveat is worthy of noting. Do not over plan your movements or else you will appear like a robot!

Another mistake is to step on the thoughts or laughs of the audience. One of the way of engage the audience is to ask questions so that you trigger their thinking process about the points you are sharing with them. When you ask a question, pause briefly to provide the audience with an opportunity to think and reflect. They would appreciate this because you are giving them a chance to think on how to apply the concepts you sharing with them back in their businesses. Similarly, when you pull the trigger on a punchline and the audience laughs, pause and let them laugh. Do not step on their laughs. Let them have fun! They will love you for that. I use this strategy constantly and one time I got a 14 seconds laugh and I have it on video!

Now, let us talk about a mistake that not a single audience will tolerate and appreciate which is to sync your lips to your PowerPoint slides. It is the unforgivable act of reading your slides to the audience. All the audience will be wondering: “Why didn’t he or she just send the slides in advance; we all can read!” If you have encountered this situation before, it means you have not prepared well and you are abusing the slides to overcompensate for your lack of confidence and preparation. Use the slides as a visual aid not a teleprompter to help you deliver your speech. They are there to help the audience to grasp the speech and tap into their visual senses and nothing else.

The fourth common mistake is putting your audience to sleep. Yes, this could happen if you speak in monologue at the same rate and volume your entire speech. Think about it, how do you put an infant to sleep? Simple, you sing a lullaby. You sing with the same low volume and rhythm until the infant falls asleep. Do this in the bedroom not in the auditorium! When you speak to an audience, vary your tone, pitch and rate to keep the audience engaged and interested throughout your speech. One of the best ways to have this come naturally to you is to include more stories in your speeches so that you give your characters a voice and show their emotions when the say their respective lines in the conversations.

Finally, this is a mistake that I have observed many times by many speakers especially the novice ones. They imitate the speaking style of other speakers who they admire. They copy them in everything! I am sure you heard and read this phrase countless times: “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” There is nothing wrong with emulating the best of the best. However, instead of copying them, reach out to them. Ask them questions: How did you develop such a massive and impressive vocabulary? How do you develop such a vocal variety when you speak? And then, develop your own speaking style and personality and remember this: Be inspired by many but be a copy of none!

Remember, you are not like most speakers who commit deadly mistakes when it comes to their speech delivery. Now, you know better! Here is my promise to you: Avoid the common mistakes and apply the delivery techniques I shared with you and your audience is bound to give you an ‘A’ for your delivery! All the best.

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.