“I was thirteen years old when my parents got divorced,” a seminar participant once revealed during a speech. While he was saying it, he was smiling awkwardly.

The unavoidable happened. During the evaluation process after his speech one of his fellow seminar attendants expressed her doubts about the coherence of content and facial expression when mentioning the divorce. Frankly, . . . → Read More: The Triangle Of Coherence In Public Speaking]]>

“I was thirteen years old when my parents got divorced,” a seminar participant once revealed during a speech. While he was saying it, he was smiling awkwardly.

The unavoidable happened. During the evaluation process after his speech one of his fellow seminar attendants expressed her doubts about the coherence of content and facial expression when mentioning the divorce. Frankly, would you smile when you speak about your parents’ divorce letting your life fall into a state of agony at the peak of puberty?

According to Merriam-Webster coherence is the quality or state of cohering as a) systematic or logical connection or consistency b) integration of diverse elements, relationships, or values.

Coherence of body, voice, and content directly influences your level of authenticity perceived by the audience. Therefore, the triangle of coherence in public speaking always needs to be in a state of balance.

As a public speaker you face a multi-dimensional matrix of possible combinations (see below). It takes time, practice and feedback to find that state of balance in any speaking situation.

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Body: Facial expressions, hand and arm gestures, legs and entire body.

Voice: Loud, soft, fast, slow, pauses.

Content: Technical, entertaining, emotional (happy, sad), inspirational, …

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Despite the time, practice and feedback it takes to become a master of coherence, there are common sense situations you can easily manage from the start.

When you speak about the divorce of your parents your smile will disappear. Instead you will look sad. Your vocal volume goes down. You make pauses, as if you were hesitating to speak. You avoid the sacred eye contact for a second and look at the floor in order to express embarrassment. You speak slowly, throughtful. Now your triangle of coherence is in balance.

When you speak about your experience with a hurricane your vocal volume jumps up. Just like your pitch-rate. You speak rapidly. Your vowels stumble across your consonants. You hands and arms flail around. The hurricane is coming. A terrified gaze, panic in your eyes. Now your triangle of coherence is in balance.

When you speak about the objectives you want to accomplish with your sales team your voice will be loud and determined. You will make dramatic pauses after each motivational statement. You will look them deeply into their eyes with self-confidence and authority. You will clench your fist like Rafael Nadal after making the match point. Now the triangle of coherence is in balance.

You can practice your coherence in public speaking every day and almost everywhere. In front of mirrors. At home, in hotels, in bathrooms. Anywhere.

Whatever you do – please make sure you don’t smile when you talk about the divorce of your parents.

You know how many times I’ve heard the question, “What should I do with my hands?”

I stopped counting.

Good hand gestures are extremely important in public speaking. They emphasize your content. They make your message more memorable. They light your enthusiasm.

So – what should you do then with your hands?

In order to better understand this subject, I . . . → Read More: What Should I NOT Do With My Hands?]]>

You know how many times I’ve heard the question, “What should I do with my hands?”

I stopped counting.

Good hand gestures are extremely important in public speaking. They emphasize your content. They make your message more memorable. They light your enthusiasm.

So – what should you do then with your hands?

In order to better understand this subject, I will first share with you some negative examples. In this post, I will tell you what you should NOT do.

In my seminars I have identified six usual suspects, six hand gestures you should always avoid.

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1) Hand washing

Please wash your hands under the tap, not on stage.

2) Praying

Please pray in church, not on stage.

3) Diamond

Some call it rhombus, some call it superglue thanks to Mrs. Merkel. I call it the diamond. Whatever you call it – please avoid this hand gesture. The shocking truth – I use the diamond myself in The Seven Minute Star book trailer. Homer Simpson would say, “D’oh!”

4) Wedding ring twisting

A hand gesture so hidden, so subtle – I hardly found an image. But – I found one. Please stop twisting your wedding ring or other rings when you speak in public. This hand gesture is only good for one thing – to reveal your nervousness.

5) Pockets

Hands out of your pockets! You want to transmit 100% transparency. We have been built in millions of years. We have instincts. Potentially hiding something is not the best signal you can send to your audience.

6) Back

The same, of course, applies to your hands behind the back. No hands behind the back. 100% transparency!

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Now that you know what you should NOT do with your hands, I will tell you about good hand gestures in one of the next posts.

Stay tuned!

Do you believe that you should always start your speech with “Hello, my name is ABC from company XYZ”?

Do you believe that you are obliged to welcome the authorities in your audience at the very beginning of your speech?

Do you believe that you can only use your corporate design Powerpoint template?

Do you believe that you cannot . . . → Read More: The Golden Rule Of Public Speaking]]>

Do you believe that you should always start your speech with “Hello, my name is ABC from company XYZ”?

Do you believe that you are obliged to welcome the authorities in your audience at the very beginning of your speech?

Do you believe that you can only use your corporate design Powerpoint template?

Do you believe that you cannot step out of the lectern when you give a speech?

Do you believe that singing, dancing and acting during your speech would be too much?

Do you believe that you should never raise your voice on stage?

Do you believe that you cannot start a one-to-one dialog with someone from your audience?

Do you believe that a five second pause is too long?

Do you believe that you cannot encourage your audience to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ for a colleague of yours in the middle of your speech?

Do you believe that you have to present everything you know about a topic?

Do you believe that you have to use every minute of a given time slot?

Do you believe that you have to say “Thank you” at the end of your speech?

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If you answer all these questions with ‘Yes’, you stick to the rule of standard. If you confirm all these questions, it is time to change your believes.

Do you know the golden rule of public speaking?

There is no rule in public speaking!

You set the rules. You are the master of your fate on stage. You are the captain of your soul on stage. You can break the rules of standard anytime you want. Once you start to set your own rules, you will become more creative, more engaging, more memorable.

And – your audience will love you more.

The other day, on a flight from Barcelona to Zurich I couldn’t help but listen to the phone conversation held by a very loud and very noisy gentleman sitting in the row behind me. We were already heading for the runway. Apparently, that man in his early fifties was a business consultant. He spoke with one . . . → Read More: The Solution: A Solution Workshop]]>

The other day, on a flight from Barcelona to Zurich I couldn’t help but listen to the phone conversation held by a very loud and very noisy gentleman sitting in the row behind me. We were already heading for the runway. Apparently, that man in his early fifties was a business consultant. He spoke with one of his junior consultants. A problem had occured. A problem which occurs quite often in the world of consulting.

Their client was unhappy about the project’s results and refused to pay the fees. The junior consultant looked for advice on how to handle this delicate situation. He called his boss.

The loud and noisy gentleman stated that, “In our communication with our clients we only have two options; we can either be part of the problem or we can be part of the solution. If you involve the client in your problem, even if he is part of it, you are out. You only want to be part of the solution.”

The conversation went on and the consultants came to the conclusion that the root cause of the problem was a lack of communication between client and consultant teams.

A lack of communication – here we go, once again!

I thought to myself, how could they deal with this situation? How could they reestablish the trust they had lost? How could they communicate better with their client?

The solution – a solution workshop

The consultants could sponsor a solution workshop. In this workshop all members of the project – both client representatives and consultants – would share everything they are positive about in the project and everything they would like to improve. Moderated by a professional communication coach, both sides would talk about all issues, problems, friction in an open, positive and constructive way.

This process would nurture more team spirit, more communication, and – above all – a shared culture of solution orientation.  The client would regain trust in the advisors. The consultants would understand their client much better. I’m not a fan of bull*** bingo, but this solution workshop would, for sure, create a win-win situation.

Are you a consultant? Next time you are stuck in your project, give it a thought; a solution workshop might be the solution.

Yesterday, my friend Christoph showed me the new Volkswagen Beetle ad. It will be broadcast during this year’s Super Bowl on February 5, 2012. As part of the most exclusive advertising fireworks in the world, Volkswagen will spend $7 million on their 60 seconds of nationwide exposure.

Let’s have a closer look at Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad . . . → Read More: Three Aspects Of A Super Bowl Ad]]>

Yesterday, my friend Christoph showed me the new Volkswagen Beetle ad. It will be broadcast during this year’s Super Bowl on February 5, 2012. As part of the most exclusive advertising fireworks in the world, Volkswagen will spend $7 million on their 60 seconds of nationwide exposure.

Let’s have a closer look at Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad – three aspects in particular.

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First aspect: The overweight dog working out to become slim

To me, this is a super smart way of integrating a message of social responsibility into advertising. According to recent statistics about one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese.  In 2011, 111 million viewers watched the Super Bowl in the U.S. alone. This means that Volkswagen’s message of a more healthy lifestyle will reach more than 30 million people. The smart approach here is that the message is not conveyed in a forced or imposed way, but comes across in a subtle and sophisticated style.

Well done, Volkswagen!

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Second aspect: A dog barks for everyone

White people, African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, Mestizos, Creoles, Mulattos, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans… It’s an endless list – the U.S. are a true melting pot of cultures. While this is great for us people embracing multicultural societies, it must be a nightmare for the American advertising industry. Especially, when it comes to an event that all ethnical groups love to watch.

The solution? A dog.

A dog has no specific skin color (but mixed fur colors), a dog has no foreign accent, a dog is completely neutral. A dog barks for everyone.

Well done, Volkswagen!

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Third aspect: Darth Vader showing up

Here, I disagree with the creative makers of this ad. I once read a simple, but powerful phrase: If your speech has two messages, do two speeches. In my opinion, the same applies to this ad. The dog story is creative, fresh and it has a deeper meaning. The Beetle is for everyone, the Beetle is for people who work hard and who want to enjoy life. It’s all said. And then… Star Wars. I know, this is supposed to be a sequal of a successful social media campaign. But – do you want your audience to remember the cool dog and the Beetle, or do you want them to remember Darth Vader again and again and again?

Your message could have been sharper, Volkswagen!

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All in all, I think this is a great ad and the fact that Volkswagen launched it on YouTube beforehand shows once more the absolute reign of social media in today’s world of advertising.

What do you think? Here’s Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad 2012…

Filler words – they penetrate our languages. In the English language filler words include conjunctions like… and, but, so, well. In German the same situation… und, aber, so, nun. In Spanish the same situation… y, pero, así, pues.

Filler words are neutral, but add no rhetorical value to what you say. Less is more is a golden rule in public . . . → Read More: Good Bye, Un Poco & Co.]]>

Filler words – they penetrate our languages. In the English language filler words include conjunctions like… and, but, so, well. In German the same situation… und, aber, so, nun. In Spanish the same situation… y, pero, así, pues.

Filler words are neutral, but add no rhetorical value to what you say. Less is more is a golden rule in public speaking. You will increase the rhetorical impact of your speeches and presentations if you erase unnecessary filler words.

Apart from bugging fillers, a new category of message diminishing expressions have captured my attention. I call them downsizers.

Downsizers are words that ruthlessly gnaw on your message. The irony is that you use them voluntarily – without any need at all.

Downsizers are words like… maybe, slight/slightly, a little bit, try, believe, think, potential/potentially, possible/possibly and conditional phrases like… would, could, should. All these expressions have in common that they downsize your message.

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Observe the following pairs of sentences and ask yourself, which one of them has more impact – a or b?

a) We try to accomplish our objectives this year.

b) We will accomplish our objectives this year.

a) We are slightly proud of what we’ve achieved in just 12 months. 

b) We are proud of what we’ve achieved in just 12 months.

a) I believe this market environment will change.

b) This market environment will change.

a) We will possibly turn the opportunities into tangible results.

b) We will turn the opportunities into tangible results.

a) Our company should expand into new areas.

b) The right thing for our company to do is expand into new areas.

Downsizers are all over the place. We use downsizers all the time.

In Spanish, the most violent downsizer of all downsizers is called “un poco” (a little bit). My Spanish friends use un poco literally in every second phrase.

They will say, for instance, “Hoy vamos a hablar un poco del mercado de móviles en España.” (Today, we will talk a little bit about the market for cell phones in Spain.)

Everything in Spain is un poco. The market growth, the academic career, the level of team motivation. Un poco, un poco, un poco.

Public speaking is about authority, credibility, conviction, charisma. Downsizers like “un poco” – whatever language you speak – throw them over board. Don’t let them gnaw on your pillar of ethos.

Good bye, Un Poco & Co.

Welcome to more authority, more message, more persuasiveness.

@mgilbir asked me on Twitter today: “How would you start the presentation? Skip any acknowledgment to the audience and jump to the meat of the presentation?”

Apart from my fearsome fetish for vocal variety, I’m a furious fanatic when it comes to the first sentence. That is why I will dedicate a special post to Miguel’s question.

In my seminars . . . → Read More: Five Ways To Capture Their Attention]]>

@mgilbir asked me on Twitter today: “How would you start the presentation? Skip any acknowledgment to the audience and jump to the meat of the presentation?”

Apart from my fearsome fetish for vocal variety, I’m a furious fanatic when it comes to the first sentence. That is why I will dedicate a special post to Miguel’s question.

In my seminars I usually ask a female participant about the amount of time she would grant a guy launching a flirt attack. Most of the times – after group laughter and red cheeks have disappeared – she comes up with an average time of 30 seconds.

Fellow men, I don’t know about your experience. But mine doesn’t even come close to 30 seconds. “Hello, my name is Flori…” – “Good bye!” I have never experienced anything else but 1.3 to 1.7 seconds.

For me, the same applies to public speaking. When you are a public speaker, when you present your product, when you give a eulogy, when you pitch for funding for your start-up company, when you give a best man’s speech – always think about those 1.3 to 1.7 seconds you have to capture the attention of your audience.

In this spirit here are five ways to start your next speech or presentation.

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1) Quote

Probably the safest way to start a speech is using a quote by an admired personality. I recommend you use a quotation which correlates with the key message of your speech. Imagine a speech to a group of employees. Perseverance might be your key message. Google for “Quote” and “Perseverance” and you’ll find a vast variety of quotes on endurance.

You could start you speech saying, “‘Albert Einstein once said… [pause - let them picture the guy with the crazy white hair-do]… It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.’ I want us to stay with our problems longer than any competitor, I want us to stay with our problems longer than any analyst expects from us, I want us to stay with our problems longer than any solution would ever require.”

A neat side-effect of starting with a quote is that it awards you credibility and intellect right from the start.

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2) Polemic phrase

“Our sector will drown…”

“This is a miserable situation…”

Starting your speech with a polemic phrase has a great impact on audience attention. I call it the “WHAT???” effect.

“Hello, my name is Florian…” – The lady in that bar thinks, “Whatever.”

“Our sector will drown…” – Your audience thinks, “WHAT???”

Polemic phrases are great. Just make sure you resolve them in a positive way after a long and dramatic pause.

“Our sector will drown… [pause]… in a sea of success!”

“This is a miserable situation… [pause]… for pessimists. Again we outpaced our competition!”

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3) One word

Does your speech have a message? It better has. No speech, no presentation without a message. Now – you can reduce any message in the world to one word.

Take the Albert Einstein example from above… “Perseverance.”

Personally, I love the one-word-start due to its simplicity. Once expressed with intonation and dignity, your grave word hums in the room while everyone in your audience knows after 1.3 seconds what your presentation is all about.

In one of my seminars a participant once started his speech saying, “Divorce…” – An unmatched silence hit our room and dragged us all down into a state of agony. It didn’t take him 1.3 to 1.7 seconds to capture our fullest attention.

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4) Question

Rhetorical or not – questions are always a great tool for making your audience listen to what you are about to say.

“Who of you guys have been to Barcelona?”

What would be going on in your mind when you hear this question? Isn’t it hard not to picture the Sagrada Familia, the F.C. Barcelona or the beautiful sand beaches?

Whether we verbalize an answer or not, we will always be alert to questions. Questions make us think.

Always remember, an audience that thinks is a good audience.

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5) Personal anecdote

My friend and collaborator Conor Neill from IESE Business School is a furious fanatic of how to move people to action. He is just finalizing his first book on this topic. His preferred first sentence, or better first paragraph, is a personal anecdote.

In this blog I already talked a lot about the three pillars of rhetoric – logos, ethos, pathos. Sharing a personal anecdote at the beginning of your speech, which shows why you are passionate about a certain cause, will automatically increase the level of credibility and authority you convey as a speaker (ethos).

Imagine you want to persuade your audience to become entrepreneurs. In this case you could start your speech saying, “The room was always full. I remember that our class rooms at university were always overcrowded. Not because of me. I would be sitting at home, in my students’ residence, launching my first entrepreneurial adventures together with my friend Dennis…”

I’m not Michael Dell, I’m certainly not Bill Gates, but I tried. I can talk about entrepreneurship.

When you start your speech or presentation with a personal ethos level boosting story or anecdote you step deep into the eddy water of persuasion.

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@mgilbir, these are five options to start a speech. It is true – I will always skip any acknowledgment and jump right to the meat of the presentation. If you have to welcome or specially thank some official people, do it after your first mind-blowing paragraph. Think about the bar; once the conversation is going you can only win. The tricky part is making it go…

The other day, I received a phone call by a prospect who explicitly asked for a two-day teambuilding event for his team of directors. A novelty. I always thought that teambuilding events were limited to fancy activities like jumping off tall trees, canoeing in ferocious rivers or bowling enriched by a nebulous Karaoke session.

My new client . . . → Read More: Can Public Speaking Help Build A Team?]]>

The other day, I received a phone call by a prospect who explicitly asked for a two-day teambuilding event for his team of directors. A novelty. I always thought that teambuilding events were limited to fancy activities like jumping off tall trees, canoeing in ferocious rivers or bowling enriched by a nebulous Karaoke session.

My new client explained to me that he had talked to a peer of his company, another client of mine, and that the latter had praised the teambuilding effect of my public speaking seminars.

So – can public speaking really help build a team?

For me, based on my experience as a trainer, the answer is a big fat Yes.

Three reasons – respect, feedback, transparency.

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Respect

In two days, you get to know your colleagues much better than ever before. You learn about exciting facets of their lives. Stories they would never share with you in “normal” circumstances. Like running the New York marathon. Or their participation in a world tour of a production of The Magic Flute when they were a kid. Or their social commitment on weekends. Or their dream of opening an archeological museum.

It’s your colleagues’ private life accomplishments, their passions, visions and dreams that make you change your perception towards them. In the end, you see them in a different light.

You learn to respect them more.

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Feedback

How many times your colleagues come over to you on a random day and tell you only good things about you? Never? Welcome to the club. Our world of feedback favors only one prefix – minus.

In a public speaking seminar based on positivism and constructivism there is no place for minus. Your colleagues only tell you what you do well and what you could do even better.

Every time you speak you receive positive and constructive feedback. Every time one of your colleagues speaks you give positive and constructive feedback. This process, inevitably, leads to a Virtuous Circle. All members of the team fall into a trap of mutual appreciation.

You learn to like them more.

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Transparency

For me, the most important driver of teambuilding in a public speaking seminar is emotional transparency.

It’s not their arguments (Logos) that build robust bridges of sympathy between them. It’s not their credibility and authority as professionals (Ethos). What builds those robust bridges pf sympathy between all team members is Pathos. Emotional links created by emotional transparency.

You might not get along too well with a colleague. You might think he is arrogant. Or – you cannot stand his attitude of bossiness. Whatever it is that makes you not like your colleague, everything changes the moment you hear about the death of his brother at the age of 15. Leukemia. Silence. Tears.

It is very hard for us not to feel with someone when we connect on an emotional level. I learned that emotional transparency is the ultimate key to teambuilding.

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Next time you plan a teambuilding event, add public speaking to your list of jumping, canoeing, bowling and singing. It has definitely a more lasting effect.

On stage you have two basic options to move.

First, you can move horizontally – from left to right and from right to left. This is the way you should move on stage.

Remember to pause once in a while - for example when you make an important statement. There are two groups of people in your audience. Some of . . . → Read More: Uno, Dos, Tres, Cha, Cha, Cha]]>

On stage you have two basic options to move.

First, you can move horizontally – from left to right and from right to left. This is the way you should move on stage.

Remember to pause once in a while - for example when you make an important statement. There are two groups of people in your audience. Some of them want to see you move on stage like Axl Rose during the Use Your Illusion Tour in 1992. Others want to see you back-pedal. By moving smoothly and adding moments of pause you please both groups of people.

While horizontal movements on stage always look good, you should always avoid vertical movements. In my seminars I call them “Cha, Cha, Cha”. Uno, dos, tres, cha, cha, cha…

Vertical stage movements back and forth transmit three things: nervousness, nervousness, nervousness. Vertical stage movements reflect a lack of authority.

My recommendation for you: Keep dancing cha, cha, cha in your Latin dance group. On stage, keep moving horizontally.