How To Develop A Strong Stage Presence

Stage presence is magnetism. It is charisma. It is a quality that cannot be defined. It is almost as intangible as clouds and incomprehensible as waves. It is an aura that emanates from within.

Some people can walk onto the stage with no pomp nor circumstance, but the audiences either go ballistic or are enthralled. Either way, there is a commanding presence – either of fear or awe.

Or both.

But physicality and stage presence are not necessarily causal. Being tall does not mean you will automatically command a strong stage presence. Looking tall does. It is about posture.

To a large extent, height helps. If you are as tall as Tony Robbins, who stands at 2 metres, there is a stronger likelihood that you will be ‘looked up to’. If you have broad shoulders and huge pectorals like him, there is a higher chance that he commands the space – both onstage and offstage. A towering figure always helps.

 

But physicality and stage presence are not necessarily causal. Being tall does not mean you will automatically command a strong stage presence. Looking tall does. It is about posture.

Here are my five basic suggestions:

1. WEIGHT PLACEMENT

The first and most obvious mistake many presenters make while giving a speech is giving more weight to one foot. In normal face-to-face conversations, it is typical to lean to one side of the body, with one leg straight and other leg, slightly bent at the knee. But this imbalance greatly reduces your personal power.

When you stand with an erect spine with weight equally distributed on both feet, you demand presence. The diagram above shows the difference. On the left, it is unbalanced, but on the right, it is well balanced.

A person with a strong presence has a strong, firm connection to the ground.

If you need to, remove your footwear. Shift your weight unevenly on your left foot, then your right. And then adjust until you stand on both feet with equal weight. Having a mirror here helps.

2. MOVE WITH PURPOSE

“It’s boring to stand still. That’s why I walk up and down,” says a client.

“But the problem with walking up and down is that your audiences don’t know where to focus. The left-right movement of the eyes in following you (while you walk) is highly distracting,” I replied. “This also makes speakers appear fidgety and unsure of themselves.”

You see, when you have no reason to move on stage, stay absolutely still from your waist level downwards, keeping in mind the equal weight balance from the first point above. This helps your audience to focus on you and your message.

But if you do feel the need to walk around in space, walk purposefully and with a very clear intention. Actors in a performance cannot walk anywhere on stage. These “routes” (what theatre directors call “blocking”) have been planned ahead of time and rehearsed until they look natural. But these movements have a purpose.

Maybe it is for you to walk to an audience member and pat him on the shoulder.
Maybe it is to walk to the projector and talk to a different side of the audience.
Maybe you are walking backwards to the whiteboard to write something.

Whatever it is, there is intention in the gait.

Sometimes, I tell speakers to walk when you need to deliver a new content point. Sometimes, you don’t need to walk, but simply shift your head in a different direction to add variety – but all these movements are intentional.

3. TALK SLOWLY

Speakers who speak very fast like a bullet train loses power. But when you speak slowly – and again with intention – you gain your audience. This means respecting the power of the pause.

When you speak slowly (but not throughout your entire presentation), you give your audiences the mental space to breathe and take in what you have to say. This allows you to connect with them at a high cognitive level. When you speak too quickly, it means you are nervous. And it also means you don’t really care about what you are saying, or if your audiences understood what you are trying to convey.

So, breathe… and slow down.

4. SPEAK DEEPLY

A lower pitched voice has a natural tendency to command. This is because a deep voice resonates from the chest – and the chest is closer to the heart. On the contrary, speaking with a high-pitched voice or with a shrill is connected to what singers call the “head voice”. It resonates in the head space.

Just imagine Mariah Carey singing her higher octave sounds for longer than 2 verses and you would probably shut off. It is more to demonstrate her vocal prowess and vocal range, but staying too high for too long makes you, unfortunately, shallow and powerless.

So learn to breathe deeply and speak in a lower-pitched voice.

It does not mean you start practising speaking in a pitch that is unnatural. It just means allowing your voice to boom and resonate from the chest – and when you do, you are emotionally connecting on a heart-to-heart level.

5. LOOK SOFTLY

When you have a small audience, it is important to give each of them a glance, a 1-second look to maintain rapport. With a small smile, your eyes naturally light up differently with a soft gaze. A stare is antagonistic, but a soft gaze connotes openness and transparency.

Sometimes it is necessary for you to look directly at one audience member for slightly more than one second. Maybe three seconds or four, like you are speaking directly to him or her. This is a very powerful technique to draw your audiences into your “space”, and hence, increase your charisma.

Try this to experiment the difference between a stare and a look.

Observe an object in the room. It could be a plush toy, or a TV screen. Or a photograph. Squint your eyes a little and pretend that you have a beam of light shooting out from your eyes. Think of yourself as a superhero trying to eliminate that object. Focus hard and concentrate without blinking. There is a mild squint in the eyes.

Now, relax.

Look at the same object with a relaxed eye muscle. Smile widely. Even wider. Now relax the smile and have a soft gaze on the same object. Convey lots of love and affection through your eyes. Pretend that it is your best friend, or your lover – and you want to hear what it wants to tell you. So your ears are open, your smile is turned upwards, and your gaze is on your object. You can blink naturally.

Hopefully, you can feel the difference. The latter is where you draw a strong connection with your audience. It is a love relationship.

In conclusion, developing a strong stage presence is not difficult. It is about your posture, attitude, and voice.

_____
Edmund Chow is a three-time award-winning public speaker. He is a drama educator, academic, and researcher. He uses drama to coach business executives and entrepreneurs in public speaking and storytelling.

Storytelling and Story Selling: Mr Bean’s Secret Allure for Powerful Branding

Imagine the allure of the Red Riding Hood story for children, or James Bond for adults. Or take a look at Mr Bean who is known across the world, who is so famous that  even without the need for English as a tool for communication is understood.

Now, imagine that your business can harness the power of stories to engage and retain customers. Or imagine marketing your service and product so powerfully that your customers are your brand ambassadors  like Apple, Nike or even Samsung.

Brands stick.

How?

Through storyselling.

Why?

Because stories provide an imaginative space for customers to fill in as heroic characters.

Mr Bean’s idiocy is a story that draws guffaws from around the world, especially in waiting rooms of hospitals. Truth be told –  we either love him or we hate him. Yet we cannot deny Mr Bean’s allure. Mr Bean’s magnetism is a story for branding and marketing because that character is cleverly mirrored in some of us (or we identify someone we know in Rowan Atkinson’s character), yet we consciously distance ourselves from him, thinking that we are not as dumb as him. That’s the pseudo-heroic quality we embody when we entertain ourselves with Mr Bean. That’s why we either love him or hate him.

Nonetheless, there is a reaction from us.

And that’s a “brand relationship” — through skilful storytelling and storyselling. It is a relationship that endures.

Now, here are the three tips.

1. Your brand story must have a narrative with embedded characters.

Look at your company slogan and you’ll know what the story is.

I’m lovin’ it.
Just do it.
Think different.

McDonald’s uses the first person narrative to entice a love for burgers. Nike and Apple use imperative verbs (commands) in the second person to establish power, certainty and authority. While Nike emphasises on action, Apple focuses on creativity and innovation.

This naturally aligns customers to be characters in this narrative, even as unexpected heroes on a journey.

3. Your story must not end.

For your customers to carry the brand message forward,  they need to go on a mission. You need to create a space for them to fill in the gaps.

When Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened in 2015, there was so much hype, energy and suspense even before the movie was screened. People were encouraged to dress up to the cinema in their space costumes. They “filled in the gaps” for the movie. They have become villains and heroes.

When Coke’s tagline was “Open Happiness”, it was one strategy to engage new customers in other countries. For example in Dubai, a strand of Open Happiness was “Hello Happiness”, a vending machine to allow foreign workers to call home (India) by depositing a coke bottle cap into the machine — and they could talk on regular phones like the traditional coin-operated ones. That’s a form of social engagement, a very applaudable effort by Coca Cola. This is a social mission.

Today their slogan has moved back to their can of Coke with “Taste the Feeling”. It’s a way to retain customers for it being a source of refreshment, rather than philosophy.

This shows that the company is constantly evolving. And customers will find themselves in the never-ending story, if they believe in it wholeheartedly.

So that’s it for now.

Remember: Don’t end it with a “happily-ever-after” brand story as it shows completion and hence, nothing else for your customers to relate to.

PS. Oh wait! What’s Tip Number 2? It’s the gap for you to fill out.

______
Ed Chow is a three-time award winner at the Public Speaking Academy in London. He coaches business owners and train-the-trainers in storytelling, public speaking, and experiential facilitation. He has recently completed his PhD (Drama) from the University of Manchester and is now completing two books. He also writes regularly on his blog at Public Speaking Strategies.

Public Speaking and Research: Hillary Clinton’s Misplaced Admiration for Nancy Reagan

When Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton praised Nancy Reagan on 11 March 2016 during the funeral, it sparked a dramatic backlash for unverfied facts and untruths.

Here’s what Clinton said in an interview with MSNBC at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, about the late former first lady:

“It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for people to talk about HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. And because of both President and Mrs. Reagan — in particular, Mrs. Reagan — we started a national conversation when before no one would talk about it, no one wanted to do anything about it, and that too is something that really appreciated, with her very effective, low-key advocacy, but it penetrated the public conscience and people began to say ‘Hey, we have to do something about this too.” (Source: New York Times, and International Business Times)

This was factually wrong.

On Buzzfeed, Chris Geidner titles his article: “Nancy Reagan Turned Down Rock Hudson’s Plea For Help Nine Weeks Before He Died“. He writes in the byline:

Rock Hudson was desperately trying to get treatment for AIDS in France in 1985. Much of that story has been told, but one part hasn’t: After a simple plea came in for White House help to get Hudson transferred to another hospital, First Lady Nancy Reagan turned down the request.

You see, Rock Hudson and Nancy Reagan were friends. But Nancy’s callous indifference marked her, together with Ronald Reagan, as enemies of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. By 1987, more than 25,000 people with HIV, primarily gay men, had died in the United States (Source: New Yorker). This was due to their  ignorance around this deadly virus.

But this article is not so much about the Reagans but about Clinton – and her team of researchers. For a busy person like Hillary (and other prominent public figures such as presidents), it can be assumed that there are ghostwriters who helped craft her speech, political analysts who have a certain linguistic flair who determine what she would say.

And that’s the pitfall of some high-profile public speakers: for an over-reliance on researchers and ghostwriters to craft their own speeches.

Clinton immediately apologised:

“While the Reagans were strong advocates for stem cell research and finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, I misspoke about their record on H.I.V. and AIDS,” she said in a statement about two hours after her interview had been shown on MSNBC. “For that, I’m sorry.” (Source: New York Times)

As a public speaker, you must do your own research.

The price of speaking untruths is too costly. Fortunately, according to Los Angeles Times, her LGBT supporters forgave her for this erroneous remark.

But I think the damage has already been done.

You see, the ancient Greeks used public speaking as a platform for rhetoric and persuasion. It was one that was based on ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is the appeal to the speaker’s reputation; pathos is the appeal to emotion; and logos is the appeal to reason. While this article does not seek to expound on Aristotle’s ideals in depth, it is imperative for every public speaker to understand these principles. This has harmed Hillary’s reputation, to some extent, as a credible speaker.

If you are an important and busy public speaker like Hillary, you can still get your ghostwriter to craft a speech, but do it in points. Then you can look through the actual script and make relevant changes, if necessary, based on the research notes. This is where extemporaneous speaking should come into play, as you ad-lib on those points.

This is a simplified example:

1. Who is Nancy Reagan?

• She was born (year) in (where)

2. What did she do as the First Lady?

• She did (this) in (year) at (where)

3. What did she believe in (or what was she an advocate of)?

• She believed in (values)  – based on the evidence mentioned above
• Are there counter examples that you might need to consider?

4. What was the political, economic, and social context of her time? What was she fighting against? What were her losses/ wins?

• Evidence?
• Are there counter examples that you might need to consider?

With as many counter-examples as possible, it is easy for you, the public speaker, to be aware of your opponent’s argument. While you may not need to tackle them in your speech, you should be aware of these at the back of your mind.

And then with logic and careful reasoning, it is easier to make statements that are based on facts. Add a touch of emotion and you would be able to win your opponents over.

But that is if you are not too busy campaigning for causes that you have forgotten that your words (your speech) will come back to haunt you —  for better or worse.

 

 

 

Coaching a TEDx speaker on how to structure his next speech

 

Yesterday, I met up with the author of The Lightless Sky: An Afghan Refugee Boy’s Journey of Escape to A New Life in Britain who gave his first TEDx talk in 2014. Gulwali Passarlay is a 21-year-old man in his final year in Politics at the University of Manchester. We met two years ago on campus when I returned from Afghanistan as a PhD researcher.

As we munched away the naan bread with shish kebab at one of the Afghan diners along Curry Mile in Manchester, he tells me excitedly about his next TEDx speech in February 2016. He was told by the organisers that they would have a coach, but he (a) did not have the time to have one, and he (b) felt that having a coach would make him lose his authenticity as he wanted to speak from his heart.

I listened intently.

As a public speaking coach myself who had enrolled in various high-end public speaking programmes, I have observed that some of their ‘top’ speakers often spoke in a formulaic way — and for me, they exuded artificiality rather than spontaneity. They were too ‘perfect’ to be believable. They were too slick to be authentic. On that note, Gulwali was right. But I did not agree with him fully, because just as there are bad coaches in the speaking circuit, there are exceptional ones who show the path towards authenticity, transparency, and believability through public speaking, people who may not want to be famous, or to be made famous yet.

I did not interrupt, but listened intently to uncover his thoughts, biases, and values.

You see, Gulwali’s personal life story chronicles his 12-month journey from Afghanistan to Britain as a twelve-year-old refugee escaping from the clutches of the Taliban, and because he has spoken about it in his 2014 TEDx talk, he has decided to speak about something more general – the refugee crisis. Gulwali explains that the theme of the next TEDx event is “Force”. He then explains that one of this main points is that we should show more compassion towards the refugees in this refugee crisis.

But as Gulwali spoke about his ideas, I took on a skeptical role (as a coach) and asked:

“Why should I listen to you? Why should I care for the refugees?”

He paused. And then quickly said that the audiences who attend TEDx events are often excited about change in the world.

“But why refugees,” I asked again. “I could be interested in environmental issues, or even traffic safety, but what if I was not interested at all at the refugee crisis, how can you get me on to your side?”

After some intensive reflections and discussions, Gulwali finally found something he passionately believed in without losing his authenticity as a speaker on the refugee crisis.

Because his next TEDx speech has yet to be delivered, I will not disclose the information. Imagine telling other people how the narrative of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ends, your trying to help actually robs the listener of an actual experience in engaging with the story.

So it’s always best not to ‘leak it’.
(But as you can see, this is also another way to keep it suspenseful until his actual video is shared on social media.)

Nonetheless, here are the seven steps and questions that helped Gulwali clarify his thoughts and structure his speech – which I know will be useful for anyone preparing a speech.

1. What is the story you want to share?

You would probably have enough life experiences and stories to pick and choose, but choosing the right story for the right audience is a skill. Why would they want to care about your story? What would it add to their thinking? How would your story add value to your audience?

For example, as you reflect on the many journeys on your life, write out the purposes of each major turning point:

When I was (18 years old), I (did this) – and it changed my life (in this specific way)?
When I was (23 years old), something happened to me (what is it?) – and it changed my thinking/ attitudes (e.g. about relationships, life goals, finances, studies, career choices, travel options, spirituality)?

 

2. How is this relevant to the theme of the conference?

Here, the theme does not have to be literal. Try to do a quick mindmap, or refer to a thesaurus on the way this word/ phrase is used.

For example, synonyms of “force” can also mean”effort”, “potency”, “impact”, “conscription”, “coercion”, “compulsion”, “mass x acceleration” [in Physics], “pressure”, “punch”, “push”, “speed”, “rhythm”, “air”, “power”, “vigour”, “action” and the like.

Try looking for phrasal verbs (i.e. a verb + preposition):
– to force (something) back
– to force (something) down
– to force (somebody) on somebody
– to force (something) out of somebody
– to force into (someone or something)
– to force down (someone’s throat)

Next, as you look back at those major intersections and stories listed in Step 1, see if there’s a connection to the broader themes of “force”. Think symbolically.

 

3. Why should the listeners listen to you?

Seriously, why should the audience believe you? Who are they and what are their needs? Every speaker at a TEDx event has been carefully selected by a committee to offer a wide variety of topics and experiences, so that, at least from the conference organiser’s perspective, it can cater to every single person in the room. Typically, all the speakers would have a story they are passionate to share – so in order for you to stand apart from the other TEDx speaker, you would need to give them a reason to listen to you.

Sims Wyeth says that you would need to  “[i]ncrease your You-to-Me-Ratio. Talk about their goals, their aspirations, their anxieties” (see link on Inc.). Wyeth is right. Why does it matter to them?

According to Michael Webb, he recommends a few suggestions, such as (i) facilitate listening; (ii) savour meaning; (iii) think synthetically; (iv) offering a missing piece; (v) tie it back to bodies; (vi) show the whole elephant; (vii) keep the bargain; and (viii) make it sing (see link). It is a good read.

Back to Gulwali’s topic, he has to make “refugees” relevant to the UK audience. To many people, the refugee crisis is a “crisis” that does not affect them in the here-and-now. But if there were a weather warning sign telling them that there will be a major snowstorm and roads will be closed, or that the London Underground is going on strike for the next three days and they would need to find an alternative route to get home, then there’s a reason for the audience to pay attention – because it affects them directly.

So, find a cause that has an effect on them. Make linkages, draw consequences, infer from assumptions, etc.

If refusing the entry of refugees into the country is the action taken by the government, or the House of Representatives through a vote (see the US’s debate on the restriction of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in November 2015), or if there is a vote for Britain to carry out airstrikes in Syria against ISIS (see link) affects ordinary lives in the here-and-now, then the consequence could be something they have not considered.

As a speaker, you would need to speak to an imaginary critic in your mind, find a loophole in their argument, and slowly work your way through, so that your cause can now become their cause.

 

4. How much time are you given for your speech?

The time allocated for your speech will determine the number of points that you need to structure your speech around. According to this website, they state this as a guide. If you are writing your script out, the correlation between the number of words typed out can determine the length of time to ‘speak’ it.

Number of words in a 10-minute speech = 1300 
Number of words in a 15-minute speech = 1950
Number of words in a 20-minute speech = 2600 

How long does a 2000 word speech take? 15.4 minutes
How long does a 2500 word speech take? 19.2 minutes
How long does a 5000 word speech take? 38.5 minutes

But please do use the above only as a rough guide, since speaking is not the same as reading, and you should consider using movements and pauses in your speech that might add to the duration of your delivery.

As a general rule, use about 3 major points in your argument, without the introduction and conclusion. Develop each point for about three or four minutes, and you should be able to hit the 15-minute time limitation quite comfortably. (See Step 6 for more on the 3 main points)

 

5. How can you start your speech with impact?

According to Jacqueline Smith from Business Insider, she says that there are 7 excellent ways to start a presentation and capture your audience’s attention (see link):

(i) tell a captivating story;
(ii) ask a rhetorical thought-provoking question;
(iii) state a shocking statistic or headline;
(iv) use a powerful quote;
(v) show a gripping photo;
(vi) use a prop or creative visual-aid; and
(vii) play a short video.

I agree with her seven suggestions. But I am going to add three more:

(viii) perform a mime, a role-play, or sing a song
(ix) do a drawing or painting, or anything that you can do in silence
(x) simulate a scenario where the audience is also involved in it.

The last three suggestions are performance-based, and to a large extent, people who have understood the principles of audience engagement and drama processes can engage audiences on a deeper and more affective level. My clients who have undergone a drama-based masterclass with me has understood how easy it is to do an improvisation, a role play, or a mime that gets the audience enraptured and sitting by the edge of the seat. In a previous blog, I gave an example to show a primary school teacher how to do it. See the dialogue section of this blog post under the sub-header “Teacher’s Training”.

6. What are the three main points you want to score with your audience?

‘Three’ is a magic number. It is often referred to as the Rule of Three.

If you remember the fairy tales you’ve read, there are three blind mice, three little pigs, three musketeers, three billy goats gruff, three witches in Hamlet, and even in the Biblical text, the three wise men who presented three gifts to the baby Jesus – gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

In a narrative structure, you have (i) rising action, (ii) climax, and (iii) resolution (denouement). However in some literary circles, Gustav Freytag, for example, insisted on a five-part narrative structure that includes (i) the exposition that occurs before the rising action; and (ii) falling action that occurs immediately after the climax.

In the structure of a joke, you have the (i) set-up, (ii) anticipation, and (iii) the punchline.

Regardless of the theoretical understanding, the preferred method is an odd number, either a ‘3’ or a ‘5’. Even in this post, I have ‘7’ suggestions.

But for the content of a speech, I would stick to 3. Here’s why: it sticks.

In this article, the author also mentioned other uses of the Rule of Three that people today often use, without much thought (see link):

• The Trinity: The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit
• “Blood, sweat, and tears” (Winston Churchill)
• “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” (speech by Marc Antony, in Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar)
• Faith, Hope, and Charity

Can you see how well it sticks? Let me add a few more to the list:

• Eats, Shoots and Leaves
  (book by Lynne Truss)
• Mathematics, Magic and Mystery (Dover Recreational Math)
  (book by Martin Gardner)
• Music, Language, and the Brain
  (book  by Aniruddh D Patel)

 

7. How can you end your speech with more impact?

In another blog, I referred to Les Brown’s way of ending a speech, that is to use a poem (see link). This is a technique that is rarely used because it takes a lot more memorisation than most speakers are comfortable in using – which makes you stand apart.

But here’s my rule, so listen to this carefully:

If you started with a story, go back to the story with a twist. If you gave a quote at the start, repeat the quote at the end as a reminder.

Think of a burger with the seeded bun at the top and the bun at the bottom; both are used to “contain” the contents of the burger: meat, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, etc. You need to end the way you started. It can be a reminder of how you started the speech, or with a slight variation to see things in a new perspective.

Finally…

By the time Gulwali and I walked out of the Afghan diner, he felt a lot more confident in the way he wants to structure his script.

Then I looked him in the eye and asked, “Did you realise that you’ve just had a coaching session with me?”, he smiled back with a renewed sense of optimism.

_______

Ed Chow is a public speaking coach, story strategist, and a drama educator. He has just completed his PhD in Drama at the University of Manchester. He coaches professional public speakers, business executives, entrepreneurs, educators and students.

 

 

2 tips on teaching public speaking to primary school children, and why drama helps.

Recently, a friend messaged me and asked if I knew any resources to teach public speaking to primary school children. She then clarified the question and asked how they should craft a good speech.

In this video, I gave two quick tips. Here on this blog, I would add deeper reflections with more real life examples.

(1) To understand the context

– What is the purpose of the speech?

Giving a speech in front of the school assembly to talk about the benefits of a recycling campaign or getting the student population to vote for them to run for a leadership role in school is very different from a show-and-tell that students often do in English classes. The former tends to be more persuasive in style, but the latter is more entertaining (e.g. what they did last winter during their holidays)

– Is this a speech that rallies up the student population to taking on responsibility for the community (call to action), or is this a speech that is graded for an assignment (formative/summative assessment)? Or is this a speech that appears to be a ‘waste of time’ because the teacher has run out of ideas to engage them in the lesson?

Not only does the child need to know the purpose of their speech, they need to know why you want them to prepare and give a speech.

This may not be at a primary school level, but when I was teaching in a prison institution with mature students but with rather low English proficiency, I told them that we would start our English classes with 2 speakers to speak in front of the class – to practise their speaking skills, to gain confidence in public speaking (also to help them in their final examinations with an oral component), and to inspire the other inmates on what they had learnt or read in the last week. I told them that their grammar and pronunciation would not be assessed and evaluated, if they did not want it. It was then they felt more relieved as they were not judged.

This became the favourite part of the lesson (even though it was a pre-lesson) because my students wanted to stand up and talk – and many gave incredibly inspiring speeches. Slowly, their confidence grew, and so did their written competencies.

(2) To understand the needs of the audience

– What are the audiences’ needs and feelings around this topic?

In the video, I said that if they were to rally up the student population towards a particular campaign, then the speaker would need to identify the feelings around that situation. This is then followed by a strategy to address that issue. In other words, the structure of their speech would be a “problem – solution” structure. There’s an issue to be tackled or a problem to be solved.

But if the speech is about information and entertainment (like in a show-and-tell), then it’s more important to draw the audience in with emotional hooks, get them into your drama, add a few obstacles, conflicts and tensions, and they would be sitting by the edge of their seats waiting to know what happened next, and then, next…

Teacher’s Training

As you can see, there is no definitive way of teaching public speaking to children or getting them to deliver good speeches. I would say, it depends on the context and the kind of training you have as a teacher.

I am drama-trained, so I have a personal bias. I believe that when you get children playing with each other, doing things on their feet, they tap into their creativity and spontaneity, which then allows them to ‘talk’ about the rich experiences they had gone through in that process drama.

Let me give you an example:

“As you can see, boys and girls, the school is infested with rats. You might have seen them crawling and scuttling in the corridors. Many rats have died. You can see them in the toilet, in the classroom. Look, there’s one in the corner there. If we don’t do something about this, it will become a pandemic. I want to know if any of your brothers or sisters has developed a fever this morning.”

“Err… yes, sir, my little brother has a fever today.”

“Did your parents take him to the doctor’s?”

“No.”

“Call your parents right now. Your brother needs immediate medical attention. If not, he might die. Does anyone else have a similar problem?”

Here, even though it is a hypothetical situation, I would get the students into a drama (role-play, if you like) with heightened emotions, so that they can now realise the gravity of the littering problem in school. They can now, still in role, write a letter or a speech that they need to deliver to the School Advisory Board, or the Ministry of Environment and Health, or the City Council.

You see, this speech (though written in a fictional context) becomes purposeful and meaningful, also because there is an intended audience (whoever can help them solve this rat infestation) – and how they can rally the students to clean up, or be sick.

Some books that use drama-based processes that are particularly helpful in getting children to be in role are:

1. Drama and Traditional Story for the Early Years, by Nigel Toye and Francis Prendiville.

1. The Primary Drama Handbook: An Introduction, by Patrice Baldwin.

1. Learning Through Drama in the Primary Years, by David Farmer.

However, one of the most important books I’ve come across is a book published in 1909 by Robert I. Fulton (Dean of the School of Oratory and Professor of Oratory in the Ohio Wesleyan University) and Thomas C. Trueblood (Professor of Oratory in the University of Michigan). The title is Essentials of Public Speaking for Secondary Schools.

I am not sure if Essentials of Public Speaking for Secondary Schools is out of print, but Amazon
seems to hold some copies. While this may not be for primary school children, it is a very technical book that breaks down public speaking to its elementary basics. They talk about the following in great detail, with specific exercises:

• vocal apparatus (lungs, trachea, pharynx, nasal cavities, mouth, diaphragm, etc);
• pronunciation (phonetics, vowels, articulation, syllabication, accents);
• emphasis (emotion, pulsation);
• time (pause);
• movement (slow, moderate, rapid);
• quality (orotund, nasal, falsetto, guttural, pectoral, aspirate);
• stress (final stress, compound stress, radical stress);
• pitch (cadence, melody, inflection);
• action;
• body and gestures (supine, clasped, reflex, prone, averse, clenched)

Hope this helps.

If you have any questions on public speaking, storytelling, education, personal development, branding and marketing, business and academic presentations, drop me a note on www.facebook.com/EdChowCoaching and put a #AskEd hashtag.

Or you can comment below.

Till then, speak well… because your voice matters.

Cheers,
Edmund

PS. If you do not have a public speaking and storytelling coach, you should find out how having one can expedite your business growth.

____

Edmund Chow is a drama educator and a three-time award recipient in public speaking. He has just completed his PhD in Drama at the University of Manchester. He trains and coaches corporate executives, public speakers, educators, and entrepreneurs through strategic storytelling.

How to structure a motivational speech – and what does the wolf have to do with it?

“I don’t know how to motivate others.”
“What should I say to inspire my team?”
“I have run out of ideas and I don’t think my life is that inspiring.”

Well, my dear colleague, you are not alone.

Inspiring and motivating others through speech is not easy, but it’s also not that difficult. You see, “to inspire” is to influence or arouse a feeling or a thought in others, whereas “to motivate” is to provide a motive and to incite them towards taking action. You can be inspirational without being motivational, but you can’t be motivational without being inspirational.

You see, there are certain narratives that speakers, filmmakers, and storytellers often go back to. According to Christopher Booker who wrote The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, he identifies 7 basic narratives. They are:

1. Overcoming the Monster
2. Rags to Riches
3. The Quest
4. Voyage and Return
5. Comedy
6. Tragedy
7. Rebirth

I don’t fully agree with his categorisation (which I will explain in a different blog), but for now, “Overcoming the Monster” is a useful plot for you to consider. For example, Booker writes:

“We first usually encounter these extraordinary creations early in our lives, in the guises of the wolves, witches and giants of fairy tales. Little Red Riding Hood goes off into the great forest to visit her kindly grandmother, only to find that granny has been replaced by the wicked wolf, whose only desire is to eat Red Riding Hood. In the nick of time, a brave forester bursts in to kill the wolf with his axe, and the little heroine is saved. Hansel and Gretel are cruelly abandoned to die in the forest, where they meet the apparently kindly old woman who lives in a house made of gingerbread. But she turns out to be a wicked witch, whose only wish is to devour them. Just when all seems lost, they manage to push her into her own oven and burn her to death, finding, as their reward, a great treasure with which they can triumphantly return home. Jack climbs his magic beanstalk to discover at the top a new world, where he enters a mysterious castle belonging to a terrifyingly and bloodthirsty giant. After progressively enraging this monstrous figure by three successive visits, each time managing to steal a golden treasure, Jack finally arouses the giant to what seems like a fatal pursuit. Only in the nick of time does Jack manage to scramble down the beanstalk, and bring it crashing down with an axe. The giant falls to the ground, and Jack is left to enjoy the three priceless treasures he has won from its grasp.” (Booker, 2004, p. 22)

Fairy tales, you wonder?

But you want to inspire and motivate adults, not children.

Well, here’s the commonality. They are here to conquer a monster, slay a dragon, outwit a giant, or kill off a witch. There are monsters out there to be overcome – and with its success, comes freedom, happiness, or maybe a princess that makes the fairy tale end with a “and they lived happily ever after”.

Watch this Youtube video above where I explain how you can apply it to your life’s experiences. In summary:

1. For you, you would need to find the monster figures in your life. They could be oppressive colleagues, bosses, teacher, parents, or other authoritative figures. Ask:
   
   What did they prevent you from doing, or from becoming?

2. In your pursuit to “slay the dragon” or “overcome this monster”, what steps, strategies, or hacks did you take with you on your journey? Retrace the steps and find out what you did. Ask:

   What did I do at Level 1? And then when it happened again, how did I react and was it successful? What happened next? How did I become better? Did I run away/ escape from its control? Did I stand up for my own rights instead?

   You see, the things you did are the things that helped develop your values — your inner strength, your resilience, your determination and your authenticity in becoming who you are. And that’s the inspiring part.

3. Make the emotional connection for your audience and invite them to take similar actions. This is where you can motivate them to regain their confidence or faith in themselves or in a higher power. This is also important in helping them connect with your story heart-to-heart, where they can feel you and can empathise with you. But, more importantly, because they see that you have done it, they now know that it’s possible for them too. That’s the positive effect you want in your audience.

This is a video that explains these steps again. More can be said about structuring it or developing the story further, but I want to keep this short. And I’ll leave it to the next blog to help you develop your story deeper and with more interesting conflicts to engage your listeners more.

Till then, go on your #BeastMode and slay your fears. Write that speech now.

At your service,
Ed Chow

 

____
Edmund Chow is a public speaking strategist and storytelling coach. Trained as a drama educator and theatre practitioner, Edmund has just submitted his PhD in drama at the University of Manchester. He offers consultancy to teachers, speakers and trainers from curriculum development to workshop facilitation, and from the mechanics of audience engagement to storytelling for entrepreneurs and corporate executives.

 

How to close your speech the Les Brown way – with an impactful poem

Opening and closing a speech is the hardest thing to do.

Because people remember you based on first and last impressions, what you say in the first and last twenty seconds will ‘make’ or ‘break’ your reputation as a speaker.  If you get the last bit right, what you say at the end will most probably linger on long after your speech is over. Words produce an after-taste. So learn to end your speech powerfully.

Here, I want to demonstrate the importance of using good source materials to close your speech. You can close your speech with visions (e.g. “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King), stories, memories, quotable quotes, or poems.

Very few speakers I know actually use poems, which is why not many speakers, in my opinion, are ‘elegant’ in their speeches. This explains why Les Brown stands many heads above all the known speakers today. In my opinion, even Tony Robbins pales in comparison when it comes to elegance and class.

The beautiful thing about poems is its cadence, rhythm and rhyme. When we are children, we recited  nursery rhymes – and had fun doing so.

One two, buckle my shoe.
Three, four, open the door.
Five, six, pick up sticks. […]

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down, and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

But when we become older, we tend to chuck this aside, dimiss these as ‘childish’, and go for ‘more’ factual, non-fictional adult prose (which is a mistake!). You see, poems connect on a deeper level. It does not connect just on the cognitive level, but on a very human, soul-to-soul level.

If you think about it, lovers often write poems to each other – because poetry is known to reveal secrets of the heart. And if you want to engage your audiences and win them over, you need to speak from your heart. And poetry is the best method for it.

Poems are meant to be said aloud, and if performed with the right pauses and emotions, they generate sensual images and imprint them in the minds of listeners. In this particular example,  Les Brown, one of the most influential motivational speakers of our time, spoke to a stadium of people many decades ago. I cannot verify what event and year this was spoken, but as he ended his speech, he spoke this poem (with a few misses and additions here and there).

This is Les Brown’s audio recording.

The Will To Win

If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and
Your sleep for it

If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough
Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry
And cheap for it

If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,

If gladly you’ll sweat for it,
Fret for it, Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,

If you’ll simply go after that thing that you want.
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,

If neither cold, poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,

If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You’ll get it.

~ Berton Braley

 

Here are my tips on choosing the right poem:

1. Choose one with themes that you like. In the above example, it is about perseverance and a dogged determination to go after your dreams. What you like is very subjective. You might like it because it generates a feeling of happiness, or maybe a pensive and reflective one. Whatever it is, you must like it – because it often encapsulates everything that you have said in your speech.

2. Find one that you can easily memorise. Speak aloud repetitively until you don’t have to look at the poem any longer. Try it out in front of the mirror, in the car, or talk to your dog or cat. Learn it by heart first. Once the words are correct in its order, you can then go to the next step, which is to feel.

3. Poems often conjure up feelings. So in order to feel the tone of the poem, try to vary the pauses, find where the words might rhyme. By the way, not all poems rhyme. You should read it with ease and flow. What happens if you pause on a word for two breaths? What effect would it have? Try new ways of reading it with feeling. Can you read it with anger? With joy? With grief? When you know when to pick up speed or slow down, you would have made that poem your own interpretation.

4. Lastly, poems tend to have open readings, especially in a Literature class. But in a speech, you want to inspire your audiences in a certain way towards a more definite, closed interpretation. This is because you have the responsibility to show ‘the way’. Even if ‘the way’ is to open up new possibilities, you should be able to use that poem to inspire new thoughts and make new behavioural changes in your listeners.

Till the next post, here’s my closing from a Greek philosopher, Plato:

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.
Those who wish to sing always find a song.
At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”

 

 

A New Year Poem: Rise Above

The world is full of people,
Content to be what they are
Who never know the joy of success;
They lack the will to go that far.

Yet in this world there is a need,
For some to lead the rest
To rise above the average life,
By giving of their best.

Are you the one who dares,
To try when challenged by the task
To rise to heights you’ve never dreamed,
Or is that too much to ask?

This can be your year,
For great purpose to achieve
If you accept the challenge,
And in yourself believe.

~ Anonymous

 

“I Am Me”: A Declaration for the New Year

On this new day of the New Year (2016), make a declaration to yourself:

I am me.
In all the world, there is no one exactly like me.
There are persons who have some parts like me,
but no one adds up exactly like me.

Therefore, everything that comes out of me
is authentically mine because I alone choose it.
I own everything about me
My body including everything it does;
My mind including all its thoughts and ideas;
My eyes including the images of all they behold;
My feelings whatever they may be…
anger, joy, frustration, love, disappointment, excitement
My mouth and all the words that come out of it
polite, sweet or rough, correct or incorrect;
My voice loud or soft.
And all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself.

I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears.
I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.
Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me.
By doing so I can love me and be friendly with me in all parts.
I can then make it possible for all of me to work in my best interests.

I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me,
and other aspects that I do not know.
But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself,
I can courageously and hopefully, look for solutions to the puzzles
and for ways to find out more about me.

However I look and sound, whatever I say and do,
and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is me.
This is authentic and represents where I am in that moment in time.
When I review later how I looked and sounded,
what I said and did, and how I thought and felt,
some parts may turn out to be unfitting.
I can discard that which is unfitting, and keep that which proved fitting,
And invent something new for that which I discarded.

I can see, hear, feel, think, say and do.
I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive,
and to make sense and order out of the world of people
and things outside of me.
I own me, and therefore I can engineer me.

I am me and I am okay.

~ Virginia Satir (1916 – 1988, American psychotherapist)

 

The Most Valuable Currency According To Jim Carrey Is…

Some people say the biggest currency is money. Some would argue it’s time. Some would go to lengths to secure freedom. But I like Jim Carrey’s answer when he gave his commencement address at Maharishi University of Management in 2014.

Jim Carrey, 2014, MUM

 

Here’s the video, and a short transcript to what I think is the crux of the matter:

I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.

It’s not the only thing he taught me though, you know.

I watched the effect of my father’s love and humor and how it altered the world around me and I thought: That’s something to do, that’s something worth my time.

It wasn’t long until I started acting up.

You know poeple would come over to the house and they’d be greeted by a 7 year old throwing himself down a large flight of stairs.

They’d say: What happened, and I’d say: I don’t know, let’s check the replay.

I’d go back to the top of the stairs and come back down in slow motion. It was a very strange household.

My father used to brag that I wasn’t a ham, I was the whole pig. He treated my talent as if it was his second chance.

When I was about 28 after a decade as a professional comedian, I realized one night in LA that the purpose of my life had always been to free people from concern, just like my dad.

And when I realized this, I dubbed my new devotion “The Church of Freedom From Concern” – the Church of FFC.

And I dedicated myself to that ministry. What’s yours?

How will you serve the world? What did they need that your talent could provide?

That’s all you have to figure out.

As someone who’s done what you’re about to go and do, I can tell you from experience, the effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is, because everything you gain in life will rot and fall apart, and all that is left of you is what was in your heart.” [about 13:40 in video]

– Jim Carrey, Commencement Address in 2014 at Maharishi University of Management

I have to say Jim’s really a buffoon, a satirist, a slapstick all joined in one. I don’t think I will take him seriously when I meet him in person.

But in the video above, Jim explained what his comedy was all about — and he went on to deliver one of the most powerful speeches I’ve ever heard him speak.

And I finally understood him. And his humour.

And then I melted… and fell in love with the way he has used his craft to impact the world.

As a teacher, coach, public speaker, and now, a scholar (I am completing my PhD by January 2016), I have always been reminded that my knowledge counts for nothing, if what I do with it has no other impact in the world. In the classroom, my students wouldn’t care if I had a PhD, but they can smell a genuine teacher from afar. This is the quote by Theodore Roosevelt, a source I cannot verify though:

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”

Till then, find your passion… fuel it with a strong reason… and change the world.

For me, the biggest currency there is, is LOVE.