Archive for category Energize, Educate, Entertain
Speaking from the Pulpit
Posted by etate in Energize, Educate, Entertain, Leadership, Success, Uncategorized on August 20th, 2010
Pulpit Presenters: 12 Tips from the Clergy
It has been said, that if you want to upset a room full of people very quickly, talk about religion, politics or sex.
Relax. I’m not going to talk about any of these subjects. In fact if you ever see an advertisement where I am the expert on these topics, I have another one word answer – Run. It will not be a very good message on any of these subjects.
What I am going to talk about is how some of the best speakers from the pulpit have great speaking skills. Millions of people worldwide follow some form of religion. They are lead by a speaker from the pulpit.
In the United States, Billy Graham, TD Jakes, Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen are among the most popular pulpit speakers.
Who is your favorite pulpit platform speaker?
What is it that he or she does that captivates the audience and drives their message home?
I’ve identified at least 12 skills.
1. They use Tools to help the audience understand the message. The tools in their toolbox are stories, parables, analogies and metaphors. They seldom use facts, data, statistics or PowerPoint to make their point. For example, Joel Osteen is pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. According to Forbes Magazine, it is largest and fastest-growing congregation in America. Joel uses two tools to make his point: the Story and Metaphor. This story is called “be a thermostat.”
Not long ago I called to order a pizza. I had called this restaurant dozens of times before. When you call, the first thing they always ask for is your telephone number. Since I was so familiar with the routine, when a young lady answered the phone and, I answered very friendly and politely said, “Hello. My phone number is (713)…” and I gave her the rest of my number.
When I did that, you would have thought I had just totally insulted her. She practically screamed in my ear in the rudest voice you can imagine, “Sir! I am not ready for your phone number. And when I get ready, I will ask you for your phone number!” I wanted to say, “Lady, I will give you my phone number whenever I feel like giving you my phone number! But down in my spirit, I didn’t want to hear it, I could hear that still, small voice coming up inside saying, “Joel, be a thermostat, not a thermometer. You may have walked into a room that’s 200 degrees, but you have the controls. You can bring it down.
But I realized she didn’t have anything against me. She was just having a bad day. Something was irritating her. So I decided I was going to do everything I could to cheer her up. I started thinking of everything I could possibly compliment her on. And God knows I had to use my imagination! I said, “Ma’am, I just want to thank you for answering that phone so quickly and taking such good care of me. You guys make the best pizzas in the world. Your delivery is always on time. You run such a great organization.” On and on I went telling her all these compliments. Do you know by the time I got finished, she was throwing in hot wings and Dr. Pepper and coupons for more pizza? I had won her over. What happened? I became a thermostat instead of a thermometer.
A thermostat changes the environment by bringing the temperature up or down. Through God’s self-control and wisdom, you can do the same in situations and in the lives of others around you.
Joel Osteen used a story and a metaphor to teach us the lesson that we have a choice in controlling out temperature and our temper.
2. Pulpit Presenters use Universal Themes. That is, a message or lesson that practically everyone can relate to and understand. These universal themes transcend generations, gender, creed, race or religion. These themes include but are not limited to massages of hope, relationships, finances, friends, family, faith, health, forgiveness, culture, and truth – just to name a few. For example, on my website, edtate.com, there is a story entitled, “Three Questions.” It is a story about telling the truth. Several years ago, I told this story to a 100% Jewish audience. Two days and several continents’ later, I told this same story to a 100% Muslim Audience. Their reactions were identical. Both audiences related to the universal message that there is no relationship without trust.
3. They take a concept and convert it into the concrete. In other words, they make their messages Visual. Teacher and author Joyce Meyer does an exceptional job of this in her message entitled, “It’s time to unpack your baggage.” On the stage there is a large pile of suit cases. Five feet tall. Ten feet wide. Each suitcase has a label as big as the suitcase: Guilt, Anger, Fear, Unforgiveness and Rejection. She grabs a few of the suit cases and walks back and forth on the stage to illustrate the point, we carry too much baggage a daily basis and how it weights us down. Her point is we need unpack our burden baggage on purpose and let it go. Joyce made the forgiveness and letting go– visual.
4. Use Humor. Joel Osteen begins each sermon with a clean joke. He uses self-deprecating humor and occasionally will make fun of his brother. Pulpit presenters know how to deliver a punch line. This helps to break down walls and connects with the audience.
The next 8 tips are from Kirk Waller, a minister from San Francisco, California.
5. Pulpit presenters have Passion – They care about what they say and whom they are saying it to. They start talking to me first. This lets me know that they care.
6. Simplicity – They simplify the message without dumbing it down. Again, tools such as stories, analogies, metaphors, and humor help people to connect and get the message.
7. Short – Typically the message (30 minutes) and stories are short (under 2 minutes).
8. Connection – You feel as if they are speaking just to you. Usually they are. Again, they use a universal theme.
9. Confidence – They never seem to be nervous. Confidence emanates from them.
10. Pace – They start off slow. I have taught many students “break preoccupation.” Begin with a bang. Many ministers start slow and end with a crescendo. “You begin low, continue slow, rise up higher, catch on fire, and sit down in the storm.”
11. Intensity – They vary their intensity from high to low, hard to soft. It’s called vocal variety.
12. Decision – A call to action.
13. Bonus lesson: Stick the Landing. They bring the message home, make the sale. Tie it all together and sit down in the storm. You leave them wanting more.
Your religious background does not matter when it comes to speaking. There are many powerful presenters from the pulpit. And we can all learn from their skills.
Going Over The Top
Posted by etate in Energize, Educate, Entertain, Success on August 10th, 2010
In the room next door, they were screaming and yelling; hooting and hollering; banging on the walls and stomping on tables. In a moment, find out how this behavior can make you a better speaker.
Recently, I was coaching executives of a Fortune 500 company. I help leaders, managers, executives and salespeople breathe life into their business presentations. It was the end of the day and in the room next door, they were screaming and yelling; hooting and hollering; banging on the walls and stomping on tables.
In that noisy room was my friend and trainer, Elaine Dumler. Later that evening I asked Elaine what was going on.
“Elaine! What was going on in your training room?”
“We had to go ‘over the top,’ Ed.”
“What do you mean, by going ‘over the top’?”
“Ed, I was having a hard time staying awake, listening to their presentations. I had enough. We had to go ‘over the top.’”
“My mother, Josie Adams, used to be a trainer. She used to say, “In order to know what is enough, you have to experience what is too much. After you’ve gone ‘over the top,’ you’ll naturally dial it down.”
“How does it work?”
1. Stop the boring presentation immediately!
2. Explain to the person you are coaching, “In order to know what is enough, you have to experience what is too much.”
3. Have them select one piece of content (PowerPoint slide).
4. Set a timer for 2 minutes.
5. They are to present this material completely ‘over the top.’ They can jump on tables; pound the desk, yell and scream. Present the content in a way that they would never think of doing. They must break through their mental glass ceiling / comfort zone. It must be unreal and ‘over the top.’
6. After the timer has sounded, immediately have them present the same content, but this time, present it as they would normally.
“What happens?”
1. They naturally dial it down.
2. According to their peers, they present at the appropriate energy level.
3. It’s memorable!
4. The quiet people come out of their shell.
5. People have more confidence.
6. They deliver better.
7. They make better word choices – their vocabulary is better.
8. It loosens them up.
9. It’s transformational. People are amazed at what they can do.
“In order to know what enough is, you have to experience what is too much.” After you’ve gone ‘over the top,’ you’ll naturally dial it down.
I had one of my very quiet students try this “Over the Top” technique. She’s from Brazil and speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English. English is her third language and she did not feel that comfortable presenting in English. In fact, her voice was so soft, that when we replayed the DVD, the camcorder did not pick up her voice.
I explained to Susan (her name has been changed at her request) that “In order to know what enough is, you have to experience what is too much.” I explained the “Over the Top” technique to her.
You should have seen the look on her face! She was terrified. I asked to go ‘over the top’ in the language she preferred. She only had one question. “Does anyone here understand Portuguese?”
Susan went completely ‘over the top.’ She rocked her head up and down, back and forth like a rock ‘n roll star. She moved from one side of the room to the other. Her pitch was richer, her rate was faster and her volume was louder. She smiled. Her coworkers were astonished. I was shocked. She was completely transformed.
She was then asked to do it again, this time in English and not ‘over the top.’ Just as Elaine predicted, Susan gave an outstanding presentation.
Here again is the “Over the Top” Technique.
1. Find a part of your presentation you’d like to test, using the “Over the Top” technique.
2. Set the timer for 2 minutes.
3. Record yourself.
4. Tell your family/friends what are you are doing. The first words out of your mouth should not be, “I’ve gone ‘over the top’.” You will wake up in an asylum!
5. Immediately after the ‘over the top’ session, present the content again.
With this counterintuitive technique, you will bring more energy, confidence, better delivery and vocabulary to your next presentation.
Have You Seen My New Book?
Posted by etate in Energize, Educate, Entertain on August 27th, 2009
It’s official! Our brand-new book has been published… and I’m so excited to tell you about it!
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The Speaker’s EDGE: Secrets and Strategies
for Connecting with Any Audience
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This was a collaborative project by World Champions Darren LaCroix, Mark Brown, Craig Valentine, and myself, along with Hall of Fame Speaker Patricia Fripp… and it contains more than 73 years of on-stage experience! That’s HUGE! http://www.edtate.com/speakers-edge-book.html
I think you’ll get some great ideas & techniques when you read the Speaker’s EDGE book. Here’s a VERY short list of topics:
7.5 Suggestions for Getting Out of Your Head- Six Keys to Connecting Your Keynote to Your Audience
- Unveiling the Magic for Being a More Effective Speaker
- How Our Audience Members Learn
- Engage Your Audience
- Don’t Speak Too Quickly in Front of Your Audience
- Build Emotional Connection through Eye Contact
- Getting Over the Jitters Before You Speak
- Seven Timely Tips for Pre-Presentation Preparation
- How to Lose an Audience in Ten Ways
- Speak into the Listening That People Are Hearing
- Appreciative Listener 40 Empathic Listener
- Comprehensive Listener 41 Discerning Listener
- Evaluative Listener
- Eight Keys to an Effective Q & A Session
- Set Expectations
- Choose the Best Punch Word
- Perfect Your Pause
…and MUCH more!
Click on this link to get all the details… http://www.edtate.com/speakers-edge-book.html
We really worked hard to create this quality public speaking resource for you. Check it out — you’ll love it!
Have a great day!
Ed Tate, CSP
Certified Speaking Professional
World Champion of Public Speaking
Guerrilla Marketing Certified Coach
P.S. Forgot to tell you! If you order Speaker’s EDGE today, you’ll get the e-book as a bonus! Complimentary… no charge… zero… zip… zilch… nada… http://www.edtate.com/speakers-edge-book.html
Presentation Skills
Posted by etate in Energize, Educate, Entertain on August 11th, 2009
What an honor! I was recently featured in an article on RoundTheTable.org, the official publication of the Million Dollar Round Table…
PRESENTATION SKILLS ~
Ed Tate, a trainer specializing in professional development, shared his strategies for making business presentations memorable.
1. Stories are sticky
“What we remember most are the stories we hear,” he said. Tate encouraged attendees to use stories about their services helping people — as opposed to statistics — whenever possible in their presentations. Stories are relatable and memorable — they “stick” with you.
2. Open your presentations creatively
“In my opinion,” Tate said, “there is nothing worse than opening with ‘Hi, my name is Ed Tate, and I’d like to tell you five strategies to make your presentations memorable.’ That’s a boring opening.”
Instead, Tate recommended opening up with a story to be more creative and more interesting. After the story, he said, frame the message by explaining what you will talk about in one sentence or less. Then, Tate said, it’s time to jump into the content.
3. Four secrets of storytelling
Tate took attendees through an exercise to explain that any story has to have four parts:
1. The head — it makes you think.
2. The heart — it makes you connect.
3. The stomach — humor causes a belly laugh.
4. Heavy hitting — the message of the story.
He conceded that humor is optional. “Sometimes presentations lend themselves to humor,” he said.
Tate emphasized the importance of the heart — the connection. “The heart (or connection) is just as important as content,” he said. “Here is what most people do: They run to their computers, they create their content and spend very little time figuring out how their content is going to relate to their audience.”
4. Focus on your outcome
He advised having a call to action in every presentation. “Before you even go into a presentation,” Tate said, “focus on your KFD first.”
K — What do you want people to know?
F — What do you want people to feel?
D — What do you want people to do?
Tate recommended practicing your presentation in front of others, and named Toastmasters as a good organization to join to improve your confidence and presentation skills. “Speaking is an active skill,” he said.
How Public Speaking Can Help You Dramatically Increase Your Business
Posted by etate in Energize, Educate, Entertain, Success on June 24th, 2009
I have been on the road for 8 weeks straight and I have been a bad blogger, aka, no new posts. Here is an article from guest blogger Donna Gutner. Enjoy.
-Ed Tate
There’s an often-quoted statistic that the fear of public speaking is right up there with the fear of death as the two events people most fear in their lives. However, as a business owner, I can guarantee you that public speaking is a phenomenal way to grow your business, so if it’s an activity that scares you, you need to take the bull by the horns and start working past that fear. As an introvert, public speaking isn’t something that comes naturally to me, although, I’m told I’m good at it. It’s been quite a learning process, and I’ve had as many failures as successes. My best learning experiences have come through the process of finding the courage to just do it and learn along the way.
If you’re a self-employed service professional, you work in a time-based economy. You have only so many hours in the day to work directly with your clients. Speaking to groups gives you the opportunity to reach out and touch, and impact, others who might otherwise never cross your path and for you to get them into your marketing funnel so that they can begin to get to know, like and respect you. Once they’re in your marketing funnel, if you provide a solution that solves a problem that they have, they’ll ultimately hire you.
Here are ten steps I recommend to get you into action to use public speaking to fill your professional practice:
1. Pick 3 topics on which you can present a 20 minute – 60 minute speech. These should be topics on which you love to speak and will readily showcase your expertise to your audience. The topics also need to be ones that speak to your target market’s pain and provides a solution for a problem that they’re having.
2. For each presentation, write a 2 – 3 sentence description of that provides a brief overview of your content. To add some meat to the description, create a benefits statement for each presentation and what they’ll learn or get out of your talk. Remember, your audience will always be asking the same question, “WIIFM”, or “What’s In It For Me?”, so make your description so compelling that they think, “Hey, I’ve got to hear that!”
3. Have a professional photo made, and create a 3-6 sentence introductory bio of yourself. Many bios sound the same and are pretty boring so, on my website, I decided to tell something of a story about myself to make my bio a bit different, http://www.onlinebizcoachingcompany.com/aboutdonna.htm. Let your personality shine in your bio.
4. With your topics, bio, and photo in hand, you can now put together in MS Word a simple speaker one-sheet that tells a prospective association program chair everything s/he would need to know about you. If you have a list of audiences to whom you’ve spoken previously, you will want to list some of those under the heading “Satisfied Clients”, and spread 2 – 3 testimonials from other speaking gigs throughout the sheet. In order to get ideas for layouts of the one sheet, visit the National Speakers Association, http://www.nsaspeaker.org, and view the speaker one sheets of other speakers to jumpstart your creativity.
5. Create a speaking link on your website and have the presentations you’ve outlined available on your site, as well as your speaker one sheet, and a separate link with your photo and bio. Many association program chairs will want to “check you out” online, even though you’re offering to speak to them free of charge, so give them the opportunity to read all about your speaking topics on your website.
6. Now you need to find audiences filled with your target market. To start locally, approach the program chairs of professional associations to which you already belong and see if you can get on their speaking schedule. Your local library or Chamber of Commerce may have a current list of professional associations in your area which you can also approach. Other sources for finding speaking gigs include the American Society of Association Executives, http://www.asaenet.org. On the website, click Directories on the left hand links column, and then Associations, and then select Gateway to Associations. Once you’re in the Gateway, you can look up associations by keyword or by location. A second place to locate associations is Gale’s Encyclopedia of Associations. This multi-volume encyclopedia is present in the reference section of all major libraries.
7. You (or your Virtual Assistant) will then need to call these associations and get the name and contact info of the program chair. Some program chairs will want to talk to you right away regarding your speaking topics, so be prepared to have that conversation on the fly. Being able to send them to your website to read more about the topics is also helpful. Others will want you to send information, so you’ll need to draft an introductory letter that you can snail mail or email along with your speaker one-sheet.
8. Once you’ve got a speaking engagement, ask the program chair some questions about the audience so that you can better tailor the speech to fit their needs. I learn best through hearing stories, so as I’m asking questions about the audience, I’m going through my own list of illustrative stories I’ve told to see which ones might best match my audience’s needs. Remember that your audience wants a full experience of you as well as the information that you’re providing, so be sure and inject a lot of your personality and wit and humor into your speech.
9. Before your speech, determine how you want to get audience members into your marketing funnel. Do you want them to sign up for a complimentary consultation on the spot? If so, bring your calendar or a sign-up sheet. Do you want to get them on your mailing list? Give away something at the end of your presentation that is compelling enough for them to part with a business card or to write down their contact info to enter the drawing. If your goal is to get them on your email newsletter list, be sure and get their email address. If you use direct mail, you’ll want to get their physical mailing address.
10. The day of your presentation, just relax and have fun! This may be the hardest of any of the steps outlined here, but being authentic and being yourself will get you in the good graces of most of your audience, despite what you might say (or forget to say!). Think of your presentation as the beginning of a great relationship that you’re establishing, and leave your audience feeling good about themselves and about you.
Try and book 2-3 speaking engagements per month, and soon you’ll become the “go-to” expert in your industry!
Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.OnlineBizU.com
Mindset Shift™
Posted by etate in Energize, Educate, Entertain, Leadership, Success on April 30th, 2009
Today, I finally did it. I caved in to the pressure. I became a blogger. You have to understand one thing about me. I don’t like to write. I’m not into anything that feels labor-intensive. But the real reason I don’t like to write is a deep-seated fear about my writing ability. My third grade teacher, in front of the entire class, told me that I was a lousy writer. Every kid in the school knew about my writing inability by recess. Isn’t it amazing what sticks to us, depending upon the source of the criticism? Thank goodness for friends. Two friends helped me with a Mindset Shift™. That is, they shifted my thinking from immobilized to empowerment.
The first friend, Carrie Perrien Smith (http://www.soarhigher.com), told me to separate my ideas/content from my grammar. This was an eureka moment for me.
“You can hire an editor to correct your grammar. But only you can come up with your content.”
“It just haunts me that you don’t have more in print because of something a teacher told you years ago. You are way smarter than that teacher will ever be and doing really important things. I don’t think teachers really have any idea that things they say innocently or by accident can shape a person’s personal truth. Even if you were a crummy writer (which I know you aren’t), editors make their money turning great content (which you have in your head) into digestible books for your target audience. Your time is now!”
Thank goodness for friends.
My other good friend, Darren LaCroix (http://www.humor411.com), convinced me in two sentences and a question.
“A blog is nothing more than an email sharing what you’ve learned. You do this for a living. Can you write a two paragraph email about what you’ve learned?”
Darren pointed out that I’m a copious note taker. It’s true. Whatever meeting I attend, I take lots of notes. I want to make sure that I get the key ideas… the Key Notes. I’m also a keynote speaker. So the name of my blog is “Key Notes.” Yes, it is a double entendre.
Thank goodness for friends.
Presto! There it was a Mindset Shift™. It took years to develop this phobia about writing and I’ve created an amazing story about how I do not like to write. But my friends dissolved that excuse in seconds — like Alka-Seltzer in water.
Have you ever experienced a Mindset Shift™ in a matter of seconds? That is, you felt one way and in a matter of minutes or seconds, your mindset shifted? So what’s your story? What cherished beliefs (excuses) are you holding on to that’s keeping you from growing? What area(s) of your life needs a Mindset Shift™? Maybe you need a people-shift. Write me your two paragraphs (or less).
P.S. I welcome your comments if you catch any grammatical errors. But you must give your Mindset Shift™ ideas first and the corrections second. It’s my blog. My rules.
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