The Ideal Communicator

My colleague Jane Atkinson, speaker coach and President of Speaker Launcher, recently launched a Best Speaker Video contest on her blog. For many speakers, a speaker video is the #1 form of marketing – if done right. So Jane, along with a panel of judges, looked at several submissions, and then came up with a winner, and 5 runners-up – and gave a brief explanation of why they came in at the top.

I was so impressed with these contestants, and wanted to share their videos with you. Some are very professionally done, with lots of bells and whistles – and some are no more complex than pressing “record” on a videocamera. But each speaker and video has its own unique style which makes it stand out.

These videos will give you an example of not just what works, but what works really well.  Read the rest of this entry »

I was compelled to re-post this video, originally featured on the Huffington Post website. It features Councilman Phil Davison of Minerva, Ohio, making a fiery speech at the Stark County Republican Party’s executive committee meeting to select a nominee to run for Stark County treasurer.

You can’t deny that this man has passion.  But what’s behind this passion? Is it sincere?  Or is it simply a “I’ve got to shake up my listeners at all costs!” type of presentation? Notice how he tries to walk away from the podium, only to go back 3 seconds later to look at his notes; how he puts up a random number of fingers to signify the 13 years of experience he has. At around 1:20, he angrily states, “I will not apologize for my tone of voice tonight,” but never quite explains why he seems so angry, or why he continues to yell at his audience. If you’re going to go for the the “I’m mad, and I’m just not going to take it anymore!” tactic, at least make it clear why. He seems to get so caught up in the emotions of his speech that it even becomes too difficult to remember a 7-word quote from Albert Einstein.

There’s more… but once you watch the video, it’ll be fairly clear to you exactly how he might have been a lot more effective by trying to be a lot less impassioned.  

Davison did not get the nomination.

This video also appeared in Stark County Political Report, Martin Olson’s blog about Stark County Ohio

In this talk, the Jamie Oliver presents his TED Prize acceptance speech, where he reveals his wish to change the world. Compelling, persuasive, and at times heart-breaking, I highly recommend taking the time to watch this 19-minute speech not only to watch him display some unusual – yet highly-effective – speaking techniques, but to learn about the food-related problems facing the U.S. today.

From the moment Jamie takes the stage, it’s hard to take your eyes off him. So what makes this speech stand out? Here are 6 reasons: 

1 — DRAMA!  Right from his first words, he grabs the audience with dramatic statements that will make anyone sit up and take notice. “Diet related disease is the biggest killer in the US, right now, here today.” “Obesity costs you Americans $150 billion per year.” “We’ve condemned our kids to living 10 years less.” All designed to hit home. Of special note are the first words out of his mouth in this speech:  “Sadly, in the next 18 minutes, 4 Americans that are now alive will be dead because of the food they eat.” Now THAT gets attention – and would start any speech off with a bang.   Read the rest of this entry »

I went to a wedding over the weekend, and had the opportunity to listen to at least 7 different speeches given by the family and friends of the happy couple. The content of all the speeches was great – all were very heartfelt and warm, and written from a place of deep caring for the couple. However, in terms of how the speeches were delivered…well, that’s where there may have been some ‘cracks in the pavement’ for a few of them.

That’s not to say that they were bad – not in the least! Each speech was straight from the heart, and it was obvious that each speaker truly cared for the couple. Hey, it’s not easy to get up in front of a room of 300 people – many of them strangers – and deliver a speech. So I applaud each and every speaker for making the decision to put themselves in this situation and having the courage to give a speech.

Some speeches had an ‘edge’ to them – they were delivered loudly, clearly, and humorously. The others had some ‘issues’ – that could have been easily resolved – which would have made them even more well-received. Read the rest of this entry »

Evan Williams is one of the co-founders of Twitter. As a result, he’s probably invited to speak to tell his story and share his insights to all sorts of audiences. So how did he do in this 7-minute speech at TED?  Let’s take a quick look at what was good, and what needs to be improved the next time he takes the stage.
  

WHAT HE DID WELL:

Introduction: He wasted no time, and went straight into the speech with a personal story about the origins of Twitter.  The story was interesting enough, and was an effective way to start the speech.
 
Transitions and photos: He made an obvious transition out of the introduction and into the ‘body’ of the speech with the facts of what Twitter is and how it’s used.  The photos and images used backed up his points and the accompanying stories extremely well. 
 
WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED: Read the rest of this entry »