Email this article to a friend

NOTE from Darren: This is only the second time I have ever invited another author to write for Stage Time. We’re introducing a brand new book, and I thought this chapter by Patricia Fripp was particularly powerful. Read every word – this is somebody who coaches me!

Excerpt from Chapter 10 of the brand-new book:
Speaker’s EDGE ~ Secrets and Strategies for Connecting with Any Audience

Speak to Be Remembered and Repeated

by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
www.Fripp.com

Speak to be remembered and repeated. Isn’t that the goal of every communicator – to be remembered and repeated? This is a key idea I reinforce at every Fripp Speaking School. Actually, it is a key idea every time I have the opportunity to discuss speaking and presentation skills. Yes, it’s easier said than done. Here are a few key ideas.

Speak in Shorter Sentences

Edit your sentences to a nub. Remember, comedian and television actor Jerry Seinfeld said, “I will spend an hour taking an eight-word sentence and making it five.” In comedy, the fewer the words between the setup and the punch word, the bigger the laugh.

Choose the Best Punch Word

Here is an example. In the sentence, “You have to make an important decision today,” your punch word should be “decision.” So switch it around: “Today, you have to make an important DECISION!” If you have a sentence with two important words or phrases, put the more important word at the end. “Today, YOU have to make an important DECISION.” Or, “The important DECISION today is going to be made by YOU.” Just be careful not to step on your punch word (it should be the final word or idea in the sentence).

Perfect Your Pause

Deliver your punch word and then pause – and pause – and pause. Give your listeners time to digest what you’ve just said. Get comfortable with silence, and don’t be tempted to fill it with “ums.”

Repeat Your Key Ideas More Than Once

Use repetition to drive your point home, create a reminder of a key point you want your audience to remember, add a dash of humor, or just to create a thread of continuity throughout your message.

Say Something Memorable

Let us look at a few recent examples from the memorial for 60 Minutes‘ Ed Bradley. Fellow 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft said, “I learned a lot from Ed Bradley, and not just about journalism. I learned a lot about friendship, manners, clothes, wine, freshly cut flowers — which he had delivered to his office every week — and the importance of stopping and smelling them every once in awhile.”

Surprise guest Bill Clinton said, “Ed Bradley was a brilliant, insatiable, curious traveler on a relentless quest to get to the bottom of things. He was like the great jazz musicians he so admired. He always played in the key of reason. His songs were full of the notes of facts; but he knew to make the most of music, you have to improvise. We’ll never forget what his solos were: the disarming smile; the disconcerting stare; the highly uncomfortable stretches of silence; the deceptively dangerous questions; and the questions that would be revealing, no matter what your answer.

Want Your Audiences to Remember What You Say?
Learn the Importance of Clear Structure

When speaking in public, your message – no matter how important – will not be effective or memorable if you don’t have a clear structure.

Can you write the premise or objective of your talk in one sentence? If not, the chances are good that your thinking isn’t clear enough for the audience to understand your purpose. And if you don’t organize your material so the audience can remember it easily, they’ll have a hard time grasping your message. They may be dazzled by your pizzazz and laugh at your stories, but little will stay with them afterwards.

Your next structural imperative is to use statements that make your audience ask “How?” or “Why?” For example, during a talk on “Selling Yourself and Your Ideas to Upper Management,” I say, “Everyone in your position can sell themselves and their ideas to upper management.” Immediately, my audience is asking themselves, “HOW can I do that?” Or at another speech, I might say, “Every manager needs to develop employees who can think entrepreneurially.” And the managers are all asking themselves, “WHY on earth do I need to do that?”

Your answers to their mental questions – their “hows” or “whys” – become your “points of wisdom” (the rationale for your premise or objective). Illustrate each point with stories, examples, suggestions, practical advice, or recommendations. Allow about ten minutes for each point of wisdom – an average of three in a thirty-minute presentation.

Finally, frame your premise and your points of wisdom with an attention-getting opening and a memorable closing. For example, I helped a neighbor who is a scientist named Mike Powell with a speech he was delivering to a general audience. I suggested that since most of us don’t know what it is like to be a scientist, he should tell the audience. Mike captured everyone’s attention by saying, “Being a scientist is like doing a jigsaw puzzle … in a snowstorm … at night … when you don’t have all the pieces … and you don’t have the picture you are trying to create.”

Your last thirty seconds must send people out energized and fulfilled. Ask for questions before you close so you don’t diffuse the effect of your ending. Then finish with something inspirational that supports your theme and creates a “circle” with your opening. My scientist friend Mike closed by saying, “At the beginning of my talk, I told you of the frustration of being a scientist. Many people ask, ‘So why do you do it?’” Then Mike told them about the final speaker at a medical conference he attended. She walked to the lectern and said, “I am a thirty-two-year-old wife and mother of two. I have AIDS. Please work fast.” Mike received a standing ovation for his speech. Even more important, several years later, the audience still remembers what he said and can actually quote him!

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

If you’d like to learn more about our new
Speaker’s EDGE book, watch the video below.

And, if you’d like to pre-order… CLICK HERE!
(For a limited time, when you buy the book, you’ll get the e-book for free!)

Darren LaCroix learned how to be funny the hard way by experience. He is a keynote speaker with a thriving public speaking career. He authored books, CD’s, DVD’s, & other public speaking courses. He gives motivational speeches all over the world including Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia