Powerful Presentation Skills Secrets From a 13 Year Old

Do you want to…

• Get a standing ovation at your next speech?
• Feel more confident at your own presentation?
• Earn the respect that you deserve?
• Have fun during your presentation?

If you answered “yes” to any of these important stress producers, then you are in the right place!  This blog post will show you EASY ways to create a speech that your audience will appreciate and that you will actually enjoy.

I had the honor of being my grandson’s tutor for his Bar Mitzvah speech.  The portion that I helped Dylan with was in English.  The Temple asked me to help him since I am a keynote presenter and consultant who writes my own material.  I jumped at the chance and didn’t realize that this  experience was going to be such a highlight in my life.  Many of my clients share that they create a lot of stress and conflict for themselves when they have to make a presentation.  Believe me they are NOT alone! 

It took us over a year to do the research and develop Dylan’s paper. 
He had to find 2 heroes that represented his values.  Dylan selected Simcha Blass (the Israeli inventor of drip irrigation) and Salva Dut (who develops wells in South Sudan with his project “Water for South Sudan.)  Dylan thought that we were almost done.  Here is where the fun began!  Please try these tips when you develop your own speech. 

I asked Dylan to read his speech out loud.  He did and like any good coach I asked him, “What did you like about your presentation and where can you improve?”  His answer was perfect when he said, “I liked the content but I was bored when I read it out loud.” 

We usually fall in love with our words of wisdom which is good.  The first step is to create an interesting speech.  I find that most people miss the second step…which is delivery.  Think of a time when you heard a speaker and you bored out of your mind.  The content was probably good BUT it is all about delivery. The delivery part of the project took 6 months.  We immediately fixed the part where he was bored. 

Here are the secrets on why he received a standing ovation:

• We placed the symbols >>> where he needed to pause
• We highlighted the areas where there was humor and placed a 🙂  at the end of the sentence so he would smile.  This gave a hint to the audience and sure enough they laughed during these great moments
• We underlined words that needed emphasis
• We marked sentences where he needed to lower his voice
• We found stories in his own life so the audience could relate

He worked on this part for weeks and guess what happened?  His presentation was not only informative, humorous, and delivered like a professional…he also received a standing ovation.  This is not typical when a 13 year old gives a speech!

What can we all learn from this? 

• Be yourself and make sure to add humor in your speech.  I’m not talking about jokes!
• Decide where you need to slow down, emphasize words, and lower your voice.
• Add stories from your own experience.  I don’t care what topic you are speaking about because this personalizes your ideas.
• Prepare, prepare and prepare so your audience thinks that you are relaxed and an expert.

  The experience that Dylan and I had was priceless.  The lessons that we both learned were amazing.  I hope that these ideas will help you create future speeches that will reduce stress and conflict for you.  Please feel free to ask me questions about your own presentation skills.  I look forward to answering your questions.  If you need another pair of eyes to see how you can improve your speech, please feel free to contact me. 

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Until next time,
This is Joyce Weiss, Conflict Resolution Consultant
I help others have tough conversations so they get a better night’s sleep.
Remember…You Get What YOU Tolerate!

 PS  If you want to learn how to Communicate with Impact please read this description about a powerful On-Line Master Communication Course.  The course will teach you how to improve your communication at meetings, deal with bullies and negative people, and reduce conflict in the workplace.  Feel free to call me for more details on how I will be your coach for 2 months.  The course only requires a few minutes of work per day.  Call today (800.713.1926) to start improving your communication so you can earn the respect that you deserve!