Posts

Stop giving speeches

Image
  I don't typically offer advice on public speaking except to my students, but here is one piece of advice: stop giving speeches. Not only do most people resent it, but most people don't have any idea how boring they really are. The key to any talk/speech/presentation is that you have to be having a conversation with your audience. You never look at someone in a casual conversation and say, wow, they were so stiff/fake/nervous.. but you do say that about someone on a stage. Why? Because they were not taught to have a conversation with their audience. If people would learn how to have an effective conversation with their audience, regardless of size or location, we could almost eliminate boring speakers. What most people do is give a talk or give a speech. Not much is worse than a boring person giving a boring talk. If you watch people, you will see that most people in casual conversations are animated, mobile, and expressive. But put them on a stage and suddenly they develop th...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's your greatest hope after a big event?

Image
 A great emcee builds relationships. That's the difference between a good event and a great event. Have you ever been to a bar and the band was really good, everybody said they were really good, but nobody raved about the night? It was a good time.  But have you been to a bar and the band honestly wasn't that great as musicians, but the crowd loved them! The people left that night talking about how great a time it was and how much fun they had. What was the difference? Relationship. The second band created a great relationship. They laughed, interacted, played favorite songs, and simply 'got into' the crowd. That is what a great emcee can bring to your events. They have learned how to connect to people and groups. They have learned to interact in a way that makes the audience respond, enjoy, laugh, smile, and share their emotions with that emcee. And that emcee builds on that feeling until your people leave that event or conference talking for weeks, months, maybe all y...
Post a Comment
Read more

Top 5 things a great emcee does to be invaluable to the organizer

Image
  What most organizers do not understand is the value of a great emcee. Here are 5 things a great emcee will do to be invaluable to an event organizer. What does a great emcee do for every event? #1 -Emcees are excellent at talking . This is not necessarily speaking. Although it might be. But being able to talk, off-the-cuff, impromptu, a legitimate ability to talk is one of the skills that makes us invaluable.  https://youtu.be/oO6hCbJVaDQ That, simply put, means that no matter what happens, a great emcee can #2 - cover it . A tipped-over chair, a mic stops working, a speaker runs short, a speaker doesn't show... a great emcee can talk their way through all of that seamlessly and make this a memorable event. Another area a great emcee covers is #3 - organization . We show up early, talk to the organizer, find out exactly what they want to happen, discuss the strategies for making that happen, and then make it happen. This is a godsend to most organizers. They have enou...
Post a Comment
Read more