{"id":948,"date":"2013-07-14T16:17:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-14T16:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shailiza.com\/blog\/?p=948"},"modified":"2013-07-14T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-14T16:17:14","slug":"how-to-get-a-standing-ovation-by-guy-kawasaki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shailiza.com\/blog\/expert-opinion\/how-to-get-a-standing-ovation-by-guy-kawasaki\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get a Standing Ovation – By Guy Kawasaki"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today’s day and age – public speaking is a must have skill. You need to be able to speak and express well. If you’re hesitant or you think you can get away with it, you are so wrong, there is seriously no way out. Being a complete introvert- public speaking is one of my greatest fears. But I know, if I don’t do it now – I’ll never know how to ignore my fears. One of the bests advice I’ve received is to focus on the message. In case, you do get nervous – learn to ignore it. You are not important – what you’re saying is far more important. Find the passion to educate, entertain and inspire your audience, then you’ll find your purpose and your voice<\/em>.\u00a0This desire I have to be a perfect speaker is also making it difficult for me to get over my fears. That’s why it doesn’t hurt when someone like Guy Kawasaki shares his words of wisdom on ‘How to Get a Standing Ovation<\/a>‘. It\u00a0was recently shared on linkedIn and other platforms.\u00a0Turns out it was written long ago.<\/p>\n

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  1. Have something interesting to say<\/strong>. This is 80% of the battle. If you have something interesting to say, then it\u2019s much easier to give a great speech. If you have nothing to say, you should not speak. End of discussion. It\u2019s better to decline the opportunity so that no one knows you don\u2019t have anything to say than it is to make the speech and prove it.<\/li>\n
  2. Cut the sales pitch<\/strong>. The purpose of most keynotes is to entertain and inform the audience. It is seldom to provide you with an opportunity to pitch your product, service, or company. For example, if you\u2019re invited to speak about the future of digital music, you shouldn\u2019t talk about the latest MP3 player that your company is selling.<\/li>\n
  3. Focus on entertaining<\/strong>. Many speech coaches will disagree with this, but the goal of a speech is to entertain the audience. If people are entertained, you can slip in a few nuggets of information. But if your speech is deathly dull, no amount of information will make it a great speech. If I had to pick between entertaining and informing an audience, I would pick entertaining\u2014knowing that informing will probably happen too.<\/li>\n
  4. Understand the audience<\/strong>. If you can prove to your audience in the first five minutes that you understand who they are, you\u2019ve got them for the rest of the speech. All you need to understand is the trends, competition, and key issues that the audience faces. This simply requires consultation with the host organization and a willingness to customize your introductory remarks. This ain\u2019t that hard.<\/li>\n
  5. Overdress<\/strong>. My father was a politician in Hawaii. He was a very good speaker. When I started speaking he gave me a piece of advice: Never dress beneath the level of the audience. That is, if they\u2019re wearing suits, then you should wear a suit. To underdress is to communicate the following message: \u201cI\u2019m smarter\/richer\/more powerful than you. I can insult you and not take you serious, and there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.\u201d This is hardly the way to get an audience to like you.<\/li>\n
  6. Don\u2019t denigrate the competition<\/strong>. If you truly do cut the sales pitch, then this won\u2019t even come up. But just in case, never denigrate the competition because by doing so, you are taking undue advantage of the privilege of giving a speech. You\u2019re not doing the audience a favor. The audience is doing you a favor, so do not stoop so low as to use this opportunity to slander your competition.<\/li>\n
  7. Tell stories<\/strong>. The best way to relax when giving a speech is to tell stories. Any stories. Stories about your youth. Stories about your kids. Stories about your customers. Stories about things that you read about. When you tell a story, you lose yourself in the storytelling. You\u2019re not \u201cmaking a speech\u201d anymore. You\u2019re simply having a conversation. Good speakers are good storytellers; great speakers tell stories that support their message.<\/li>\n
  8. Pre-circulate with the audience<\/strong>. True or false: the audience wants your speech to go well. The answer is True. Audiences don\u2019t want to see you fail\u2014for one thing, why would people want to waste their time listening to you fail? And here\u2019s the way to heighten your audience\u2019s concern for you: circulate with the audience before the speech. Meet people. Talk to them. Let them make contact with you. Especially the ones in the first few rows; then, when you\u2019re on the podium, you\u2019ll see these friendly faces. Your confidence will soar. You will relax. And you will be great.<\/li>\n
  9. Speak at the start of an event<\/strong>. If you have the choice, get in the beginning part of the agenda. The audience is fresher then. They\u2019re more apt to listen to you, laugh at your jokes, and follow along with your stories. On the third day of a three-day conference, the audience is tired, and all they\u2019re thinking about is going home. It\u2019s hard enough to give a great speech\u2014why increase the challenge by having to lift the audience out of the doldrums?<\/li>\n
  10. Ask for a small room<\/strong>. If you have a choice, get the smallest room possible for your speech. If it\u2019s a large room, ask that it be set \u201cclassroom style\u201d\u2014ie, with tables and chairs\u2014instead of theatre style. A packed room is a more emotional room. It is better to have 200 people in a 200 person room than 500 people in a 1,000 person room. You want people to remember, \u201cIt was standing room only.\u201d<\/li>\n
  11. Practice and speak all the time<\/strong>. This is a \u201cduhism,\u201d but nonetheless relevant. My theory is that it takes giving a speech at least twenty times to get decent at it. You can give it nineteen times to your dog if you like, but it takes practice and repetition. There is no shortcut to Carnegie Hall. As Jascha Heifitz said, \u201cIf I don\u2019t practice one day, I know it. If I don\u2019t practice two days, my critics know it. If I don\u2019t practice three days, everyone knows it.\u201d Read this article<\/a> to learn what Steve Jobs does.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n