Part 1: Trigger Emotion

Part 2: Captivate The Mind

Part 3: Asses The Landscape

Part 4: Merge with the

Audience

Part 5: Influence Behavior

 Part 1:
Trigger Emotion
 Module One:
The Psychology
Behind Effective Speaking
 Case Studies—What’s Effective and What Isn’t

• Emotions Move People: To persuade others and to influence them to take action
or transform, you as a speaker must appeal to their emotions. Even if you have
data to support your cause, your data will be meaningless to people unless you
can wrap it up in words that will stir their emotions and engage their spirits.
• Words Create Emotion: Churchill was one of the world’s greatest speakers. He
actually had a stutter, but he used it to his advantage by pausing and letting it out
before a key word or vital phrase to provoke an emotional response. He would use
unusual words that were clear within the context of a sentence and grab his
audience’s attention and emotions. He also used this stammer pause to take a
familiar phrase and lend it grandeur. Here he does it with a Shakespearean
reference--“Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves
to our duties that if the British Empire and its Commonwealths last for a thousand
years, they will say “This was (stammer pause) our finest hour.”
• Emotional Impact Equals Power: Those who have mastered using emotional
triggers in their speeches use historical anecdotes, Biblical and poetry quotes, or
lyrics from emotional and inspirational song lyrics. Here is an inspiring example
from Martin Luther King: “When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to
speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and
Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the
words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last!” *Notice also the repetition that Churchill and King put into
these remarks. Repeating something a slightly different way helps your listeners
to assimilate your intent.
 Psychology Facts:
Human beings make judgments about other human beings quickly and these
judgments are not necessarily logical. They are based primarily on emotions.

• We Follow Leaders: As a presenter, you’re automatically thought of as an

authority on a subject. The audience expects you to lead. But, you will quickly lose
favor if you don’t own that spirit of leadership from the start. Milgram’s
controversial experiments show that it’s very difficult for people to resist
authority. Use these findings to your advantage.
• We Read People Quickly: We read people within a split second and we pay
attention to body movement as well as vocal tone. The past 15 years of
psychological research clearly indicates that people made an unconscious
judgment within one second as Malcolm Gladwell explains in his book, “Blink: The
Power of Thinking Without Thinking.” The way you stand with confidence and the
way you modulate your speech as well as the warmth of your tone all make a
difference to whether people will let you have access to their emotions.
• We Sync With Others: We simulate the emotions of others as we listen to them.
We also sync the patterns of our brains when listening to another person speak.
Two emotions that are highly contagious are nervousness and enthusiasm. If you
are nervous, your listener will quickly pick up on this, but if your talk is filled with
vitality and enthusiasm, your audience will feel the inspiration.
 How the Brain Processes Information

• Models of the Brain: Many models of how the brain functions are not correct.
For example, there are a wealth of studies that show that memories are not stored
in individual cells. Large areas of the brain become active when triggering
memories or emotional experiences, whether they are pleasurable or painful. In a
study of plane crash survivors by Brian Levine, a neuropsychologist at the
University of Toronto, recalling the plane crash lit up five or six areas of the brain.
• The Brain is Not a Computer: Many people think of the human brain as a
computer, but this isn’t the correct model at all, even though we are certainly
capable of logical thought and problem solving. The brain is an organ that
responds to sensory stimuli. It then connects those stimuli to a deeply personal
emotional response. For example, if you and I both attend a concert and we are
both listening to Beethoven’s 5th symphony. The way your brain reacts and
processes that information will not be exactly the same as mine does.
• Brains Respond to Stories to Create Emotions: Your goal as the speaker is to
find a way to touch people’s emotions. If you want to inspire them to action, then
you want them to feel inspiration. If you want them to feel empowered, then you
must find a way to communicate that sense of power to them. There are some
universal stories and patterns that can accomplish this goal even though each
person will process your words, your story, or your metaphor differently. For
example, most of us as children were told the story of Pinocchio when we were
youngsters. All of us interpreted and stored the memories of that story differently,
but today it’s common for people to make the motion of touching their noses when
they are saying something that they feel isn’t true. It’s a “tell” of that universal
story.
 The Conscious Mind

• Using Your Brain Takes Energy: Our brains require a huge amount of energy to
function. Think about how you feel first thing in the morning when you’re asked
to solve a difficult problem.

• We Don’t Use Our Conscious Minds All Day: When you concentrate or problem
solve or make a decision, you are using your conscious mind to function, but our
brains would get exhausted if we had to do this all the time. Also, depending on
what you’re doing it can be a somewhat slow process.
• Your Unconscious Mind Handles Auto-Pilot: One way that our brains solve this
problem is by putting actions and learned patterns on “auto-pilot.” For example,
when you first learned to drive a car, you had to think about how to turn the
steering wheel or how to park but now that you’ve driven for many years, your
conscious mind doesn’t have to work to drive at all, unless you’re jarred by
something you don’t expect.
 The Subconscious Mind

• The Subconscious is the Iceberg Below the Surface: Once something is learned
or processed, it no longer needs to be part of the conscious mind on a daily basis.
You will slip in and out of an active conscious state at many times throughout the
day. Surprising as it may seem, as much as 95% of our behavior, reactions, and
actions on a daily basis happen at this subconscious level.

• The Subconscious is Emotionally Charged: Our subconscious minds also store

our experiences, knowledge, and memories, which are all blended with the
feelings and emotions we experienced during those sensory events.
• Our Subconscious Using Patterns: These patterns in our subconscious minds
are how we attach meaning to new people, objects, or events. Over time, this is
how our attitudes develop. We can re-program our subconscious minds through
hypnosis and self-hypnosis.
 Module Two:
Getting Your Head Together
To master anything in life takes research, dedication, and study.
Once you obtain that expertise, it’s a question of feeling
comfortable in your own skin and allowing that expression of
yourself to come forward with no negative self-talk impeding
your progress.
 Master Your Own Mindset
Remember that the opponent within your own head is more of an obstacle to your
success than the audience is. Prepare yourself well, but when the moment arrives to
speak, stay in the moment and act without hesitation and without second-guessing
yourself.

• Influence Principles Part 1: Reciprocity, Commitment (and Consistency), Social

Proof: If people do us favors, we tend to support them in turn; We have an
inherent need to be consistent with our own self-image; We’re more likely to do
things if we can witness others doing the same. We don’t like to miss out when
there’s a buzz about something.
• Influence Principles Part 2: Liking, Authority, Scarcity: We are predisposed to be
influenced or align ourselves with people we like; Speakers should present
themselves as authorities in order to influence others; Scarcity makes items
appear more valuable.

• Persuasion Techniques are Like a Blueprint: Anyone can learn the proper
persuasion techniques to persuade others in business and in life. However, the
measure of how successful you will be in making others remember your message
as well as repeat your message to others will be based on how effective your
delivery is. That delivery is largely based on your speaking persona and how
effectively you master the following “six persuasion power levers.”
 The Six Persuasion Power Levers, Part A
Effective speaking requires that you create a persona that will leave your audience
with a favorable impression of you as well as the topic and message you wish to share.
Ask yourself these questions for areas in which you can improve.

• Awareness: In order to be persuasive you need to establish rapport with others.

How in alignment are you with the beliefs, thoughts, and values of your audience?
How well do you know their wishes, desires, and, perhaps most importantly of all,
their feelings? Listen carefully to others and ask probing questions in order to get
to the inner core of what others are seeking. Then, deliver it to them and/or wrap
up your message in the language and aesthetics needed to connect it to your
audience’s deepest emotions.
• Authenticity: Most people have an internal measurement mechanism for
“genuineness.” They sense whether someone has their best interests at heart or
not. If they feel for any reason that the person isn’t authentic, they immediately
“tune-out” that message. Be introspective. Do you care about your audience? Do
you really want them to be successful, perhaps even more successful than you
are? If you don’t feel secure or authentic in what you’re offering, you may want to
consider offering something else. A product or service you believe in will make
your true authentic self shine
• Authority: The way you stand and deliver your message will give your audience a
feeling for whether you know your subject or not. Do you own the stage? Do you
use words that are powerful and stir people’s emotions? Do you have a
commanding presence? Does your voice have richness and resonance? Do you use
gestures and pauses to give your message emphasis? All these are important
factors in whether your audience perceives that you are an authority on your
subject.
 The Six Persuasion Power Levers, Part B

• Aptitude: Authority is about PERCEIVED knowledge and expertise, but aptitude is

about the REAL knowledge and expertise you have about your subject. No one
knows everything about their subject, but it’s important to work toward mastery
in an area if it’s going to be your life’s work. That means you work every day to
add expertise, credibility, and knowledge in the topics that will make up the core
of your message. When you’re truly knowledgeable about a particular subject, it
shines out like rays from the sun.
• Adaptive Ability: Being an effective speaker is all about flexibility. You need to be
attuned to your audience, whether it’s one person, a small group of people, or
thousands. You’ll receive verbal feedback as well as feedback from people’s
attitudes and body movements. Your success will be somewhat dependent on how
adaptable you are to their feedback. Can you easily and smoothly shift your
presentation to be more in alignment with your audience’s feedback?
• Articulative Ability: How masterful are you at articulating your message? Do you
have command over the English language? Do you choose your words carefully?
Do your words convey action and vitality? Do you make an effort to add new,
interesting, specific words to your vocabulary? Can you adapt the vocabulary
you’re using based on the receptiveness or level of the audience? For example, if
you were giving a scientific speech, you would prepare it differently for a group of
colleagues than you would for a mainstream, layperson audience.
 Using a Hook to Communicate Your Ideas
There are many different potential hooks that you can use to start your speaking
presentation. The most important thing is to find hooks that you feel comfortable with.
If you feel comfortable, then the hook will become a natural part of your speaking
persona and not something you just tacked on to get attention.

• Three Different Potential Hooks: Make an outrageous claim, but then back it up
with a story or data that’s presented in an interesting, unique way; Tell a story—
people remember stories and they have the potential to touch people’s emotions;
Show a video that’s relevant to the topics at hand.
• Three More Potential Hooks: Ask some questions to get people thinking and lead
them to a hypnotic state; Set up an expectation of what people can expect from
your presentation and what the takeaway will be; Show them an interesting object
that will pique their curiosity

• Three More Potential Hooks: Use a quote or adapt a quote and connect it with
the topics in your speech; Begin with “Imagine if you could…” and connect this
with the topics you’ll discuss to get your audience to engage their thinking;
Reference an event, such as an important moment in history, that connects to your
talk
 Creating Your Own Unique Blueprint for Speaking
In addition to all the power levers you need to create an effective speaking persona,
you also need to offer the audience something new and exciting. Novelty grabs interest
and attention. Our brains are hard-wired to look for something new. It’s these new
items, something that appears “delicious” that make us curious to know more. Begin
with a base of novelty and create a style that’s uniquely yours and can be branded as
part of your presentation persona.

• People Want Knowledge: Your audience craves knowledge just as they would a
cool drink in the desert. Even if they only have a very mild interest in the topic
you’re presenting, if you can teach or present something new that relates to their
everyday lives, you’ll accomplish your goals.
• Novelty is Important: Learning something new actually activates the same
addictive reward sections of the brain that are active when doing drugs or
gambling. Learning new things gives you a “buzz” that’s helpful instead of
harmful to your brain.

• Even Data Needs a Soul: Even statistics and mathematical data, some of the most
boring information in the world can be presented in a novel fashion. One of the
most well-regarded TED speakers is Hans Rosling. He tracks global health in
connection to poverty. Instead of providing bland statistics to his audience, he
provided his information in an animated morphing sequence. While the
information was playing on screen, he called out the changes from country to
country as if he were broadcasting a sporting event. The audience was intrigued
and the information stuck.
 Module Three:
Your Voice as a Persuasive Tool
Think of the best speaker you have ever heard. His tone of voice
was engaging. Her tone of voice gave you a feeling of authority
and in-depth experience. He spoke with passion and
enthusiasm, but it was measured throughout his speech. She
paused here and there for emphasis as she told you an exciting
story.
 Tonality

• Your Tone is Like a Map: We’ve all heard speakers who speak in a dull, same-
sounding monotone. To engage your listeners you need to put some passion and
enthusiasm into your voice. The voice throughout your speech should be like a
topographical map—some highs and some lows based on the information you’re
offering or the place you are in your story.

• Fill the Room: When you are authentic and when you have a presence of
authority, these characteristics should flow naturally from your voice. Don’t be
afraid to project and fill the room with your presence.
• Strive for Voice Improvement: Not everyone can have a “radio quality” voice,
but anyone can improve his or her voice by practicing. One exercise you can to do
is to hum. Halfway through, start speaking and it will get a feeling for how to
improve your voice quality so it has more resonance. Knowing your material
inside out will give you a feeling of confidence and enhance your tone so you can
come across as relaxed instead of nervous.
 Pace

• Natural Pacing: When you’re making a presentation to just one person or a

group of people, it’s important to get a sense of their natural pace of speaking.
There is a huge difference from region to region in terms of people’s natural
speaking pace. From country to country this is true as well. To establish rapport,
you’ll want to “do what the Romans do.”
• Conversational Pace: Most established speakers know that their pace should be
similar to a conversation they are having with someone over dinner. Bryan
Stevenson, a well-known TED presenter speaks at a little over 190 words a minute.
Tony Robbins, famous motivational coach, speaks at a high- energy 240 words per
minute, almost as fast as an auctioneer. Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State during
the Nixon administration, was a brilliant man but an incredibly boring speaker
who spoke at a snail’s pace of 90 words per minute.
• Pause for Emphasis: Don’t be afraid to pace your speech. Most people who speak
very quickly can seem less confident. A pace that’s too fast is associated with a
burst of adrenalin so you may appear nervous, instead of confident like Tony
Robbins. When you pause it seems like a long time, but for the listeners,
appropriate pauses help them assimilate what you’re saying so they can anticipate
what you’ll say next.
 Volume

• A Low Voice Seems Unsure: The volume you use when speaking makes a great
deal of difference in the perception of your talk. If you speak too quietly, people
will perceive you’re not confident.

• Optimal Volume: A speaker who is speaking at an adequate level can be heard by

the audience but only if the listeners are paying careful, focused attention. There
is quite a bit of difference between adequate volume and optimal volume. At the
optimal level, your audience can easily hear and understand every confident
word you say.
• Overpowering Volume: Your volume is overpowering. If you come off too strong,
you will turn people off. What you want to do is to get to optimal volume before
you reach overpowering. This is sometimes a fine line and because speakers fear
becoming overpowering they don’t strive for optimal.
 Breathing

• Measured Breathing: A measured pace of breathing so that you can speak clearly
and project from your diaphragm for resonance is very important to a successful
speaking style.

• Posture Affects Breathing: Posture makes a huge difference in how affectively

you’re breathing as you are giving a speech. If you are standing straight and tall
and breathing in deeply your voice will have more richness and confidence.

• Speak “On the Breath”: This means as you take in your full breath begin to
speak. You should have enough air to get through your full sentence and take in a
full breath before you begin the next sentence.
 Case Studies—Good and Bad

• Good: At a TED talk, explaining the changes in teenage brains, Dr. Jill used the
speed and volume of her voice to demonstrate the way hormones make teen’s
brains crazy. Because she speeded up and slowed down her voice, she
demonstrated what she was talking about and used her voice in a creative way to
do it.

• Good: In his TED talk, How to Speak so that People Want to Listen, speaking
consultant Julian Treasure does a demonstration showing that some people talk
through the noses, others talk from their voice boxes, still others talk from deep in
the chest and this last voice is the one that gives a deeper, richer tone that conveys
authority and purpose.
• Bad: When Jim Roddy president of Jameson Publishing interviewed Jon
Dudenhoeffer for a recruiting job, he liked everything about him, except for his
voice. Dudenhoeffer’s low-key, deliberate tone worked well when he was an Air
Force trainer. He had to loosen up and put some vitality into his voice to work in
the corporate world. He practiced and was soon able to let his natural personality
out, thereby garnering a top sales job.
 Module Four:
Power Gestures & Words
 Gestures
Gesturing and speaking are tightly connected. If you make a video of yourself speaking
and cover your face with a post-it note, you can focus on the way you use gestures.
Gestures help you to emphasize key points. Using gestures will help your voice be
natural and expressive. No one can speak in a monotone when using gestures because
they naturally emphasize the most important words and ideas. Your hands
instinctively know which words are worthy of emphasis. However, practice will give
your gestures muscle memory just as an athlete prepares for a performance. A golfer
practices his golf swing over and over until he can perform it without thinking. We’ve
all seen talks where we can “see the person’s brain gears shifting” as he decides what
gesture to use next. Once your gestures are established by practicing, the “thinking
part” disappears and they become a flowing muscle memory.
• Conduct Yourself: Imagine how it would sound if you were sitting in a concert
hall and the conductor conducted the music in 1/5 of the time it would usually
take. At this sped-up pace, would you enjoy the concert? The same is true with
gestures. You can’t speak slowly if you are gesturing quickly. To slow down your
speech, slow down your gestures. Words and gestures have a physical as well as a
mental connection. You want your words and presentation to have some “weight.”
Be slow, smooth, and expansive at the very beginning of your presentation to
order to make a strong impression on the audience. The beginning of your
presentation is very important. Practice the first few sentences and the gestures
you want to use to emphasize key points.
• The Ready Position: No one gestures all the time during a speech and people are
often uncertain where to place their hands. It’s best to put your hands in the
“ready position,” which is in front of you at your waistline as if you were going to
open a book. Your gestures will flow most naturally from this position. Research
has shown that your audience won’t even notice where you have placed your
hands throughout your speech if you use this position. If it gets uncomfortable
you can use the “secret handshake” position where you hold your thumb.
• On the Shelf: It’s useful to imagine that you have a shelf in front of you. You can
“place” your question to the audience on this shelf or you can use both sides of the
shelf to express opposites. There are three types of gestures that are used in
regular conversation: give, chop, and show. With give, you are offering the
audience a question to consider. Your hands are palm up and extended. With
chop, you are speaking emphatically to get your point across to your listeners.
Your hands are sideways as if you were chopping something. With show, you’re
literally demonstrating something to the audience. As if you were demonstrating,
her left hand held one child’s pigtail and her right held a second child’s belt
buckle.
 NLP-Milton Model
The Milton Model is not precisely what Milton H. Erickson used to use with his clients.
Instead, it’s the language pattern code that Grinder and Bandler established from their
studies of Erickson’s work. Remember that Milton’s “artfully vague” language chunks
to more general. The purpose of Milton’s use of vague language was to give the subject
the context for taking charge of his or her own beneficial change. The Milton Model is
basically two statements: what unspecified and how unspecified. The purpose of being
vague on purpose is to allow your subject the broadest range of creativity to fill in, to
delete, to add, to distort, or to generalize for themselves.
• Delete: to remove what is or isn’t relevant to the outcome: Presenter or listener
says: “As you make sense of this on your own timeline…”

• Generalize: in order to learn and to classify: Presenter or listener says: “You’re

able to discover new ways…”

• Distort: creatively develop and shift meanings: Presenter or listener says: “I know
that you’re becoming more interested…”
 NLP-Meta Model
The NLP Meta Model offers you a way to help others by listening carefully to the
wording they use. When people communicate using deletions, generalizations, and
distortions they are giving you clues to their “inner programming.” You can use these
clues to ask the proper questions to determine their limiting beliefs. Remember that
the NLP method chunks to more specific—it’s basically two statements: what
specifically and how specifically. The idea is to build rapport through the use of vague
hypnotic words and conversation to achieve a specific outcome.
• Delete: An example of deletion and its companion question: Subject says: He’s
better than I am. Listener says: In what way is he better than you?

• Generalize: An example of generalization and its companion question: Subject

says: I can’t. It just isn’t possible. Listener says: What’s specifically preventing
you? What would be different if you could and it was possible?

• Distort: An example of distortion and its companion question: Subject says: She
made me feel terrible. Listener says: What exactly did she do that made you feel
that way? Can you imagine how you could feel good about yourself no matter
what anyone said or did? What would you need to do to get to that point?
 Word Substitutions
Substituting words, phrases, and statements with multiple meanings gives you the
opportunity to communicate on more than one level.

• Use Hypnotic Statements: Vague, universal statements put your audience in a

state of agreement with you. For example, if you said something like “We all have
fears that we don’t admit to others or ourselves.” This statement is vague, but it is
a statement that’s universal. It doesn’t specify the fears or even what types of fears
we’re talking about. Instead, as soon as the audience hears the statement, their
minds drift to their own fears.
• Use Words that Tap the Subconscious: Words such as “explore,” “discover,”
“imagine,” “suppose,” “pleasure,” “wonder,” “curious,” can have different
meanings depending on their context. For example, if you say to an audience,
“Imagine how you would feel if you were going on vacation for six weeks,” each
person in the audience will start feeling and thinking about different things and
assign his or her meaning to the vague statement you’ve made.

• Words Spark Feelings: Meanings can be sparked or activated unconsciously. For

example, if you wanted to give the feeling of quickness you could use words like
running, racing, sprinting, or hurrying even if you’re not talking about speed. If
you wanted to express the attainment of lofty goals you could use flight words
such as “soaring to new heights.”
 Case Study—Good and Bad
A story that will explain the use of vague language and can be seen as a
symbolic representation of the Milton Model.

• Story Part 1: There was once a small boy who played a drum until his parents
and neighbors were driven mad. When his parents tried to take the drum away
from him he screamed so loudly they were afraid the neighbors would think they
were killing him. They had given him the drum as a gift, but never thought it
would become an obsession. They consulted some therapists to see what could be
done to reason with the child so they could have some peace and quiet.
• Story Part 2: The first therapist told the boy that if he continued to bang the
drum, he would destroy his hearing by blowing his eardrums out. The child was
too young to understand this so it had no effect. The second told him that the
drum should only be used on certain special days. This also had no effect. The
third therapist gave the parent earplugs and advised them to buy earplugs for the
neighbors. This helped for a limited time. The fourth therapist had the child listen
to meditation tapes to ease his staccato nature and make him more placid. This
worked for a while but eventually the child went back to his old ways.
• Story Part 3 and conclusion: Finally, the parents were told about a new
therapist who had performed miracles with other children. When he arrived at
their house, they were shocked that this therapist was so young. In fact, he only
looked about ten years older than their child. However, the parents were
desperate, so they allowed him to observe the child’s behavior. The young
therapist walked three times around the child and observed his behavior closely.
He went out to his car and came back with a hammer and chisel. He squatted
down next to the boy before speaking to him. Then, he handed him the hammer
and chisel and said, “Did you ever wonder what’s inside the drum?” Conclusion: A
hammer and a chisel are powerful and so are words. You can use vague words,
such as “wonder,” to help others solve their own problems or guide them to do so.
Milton believed that everyone can “crack open the drum” of their inner selves to
solve their own problems.
 Part 2:
Captivate The Mind
 Module Five:
NLP Techniques
 There are four basic pillars of NLP that you can come back to
each time you prepare a presentation. These techniques can be
used to connect with the audience as well as to ensure that you
get the outcomes you’re striving for, whether you’re presenting
to one person or one thousand people.
• Rapport: Begin to build a relationship with your audience as soon as you engage
them. A second way that you can use rapport is to build rapport between your
conscious and subconscious mind so that you can achieve optimal performance.

• Sensory Awareness: Appeal to the audience’s senses in order to engage their

emotions. All our deeply emotional experiences come through our senses. You
want the audience to have the experience of seeing, hearing, touching their way
through the stories and metaphors you’ll present to them.
• Outcome Thinking: Think about what you want the audience to get from your
presentation. What emotions do you want them to feel? What actions do you want
them to take? What new concepts do you want them to remember when your talk
is over and they are driving home?

• Behavioral Flexibility: If you observe that the audience isn’t moving in the
direction of your desired outcome, be flexible enough to use something else in
your repertoire. Pay attention to the behavior of your audience so that you can get
a feeling for how your message is being received.
 Engaging Speakers
Think about all the speakers you’ve heard in your lifetime. How many of them were
engaging? How many were so inspirational you never forgot what they said? How
many launched you into action so that you were able to get unstuck? What’s
preventing you from becoming the best speaker possible? There’s just one person
preventing you from becoming that inspirational speaker and that person is you.

• You Are Not the Focus: Inspirational speakers don’t focus on themselves and
their own anxieties or self-doubts. They don’t worry about whether the audience
admires them or not. They’re too busy making sure that they provide the audience
with something that’s new, something that’s educational, and something that’s
entertaining. In other words, they care less about being admired than they do
about the nuggets of gold they provide the audience to take home with them.
 Inspirational speakers turn their focus away from themselves and turn their focus
to the welfare of the audience. The audience can intuitively sense this caring, but
only if the speaker is authentic.

• Influence Your Audience: The purpose of public speaking is very basic. The
purpose is to influence your audience. As you become a masterful speaker, you’ll
be in tune with your audience’s responses and you’ll become flexible enough to
adjust yourself to get the responses you want (pillars 4 and 3 respectively).
• Provide Good Feelings: The topics and information that you want to present are
definitely important. However, your audience will never remember that
information unless you present it in an inspirational way. Your presentation must
be entertaining and brimming with novelty as well as providing an education for
the audience. These two e’s, education and entertainment, must be in balance for
your talk to establish rapport with the audience as well as to achieve your desired
outcome (pillars 1 and 3 respectively). As a public speaker you are in the
edutainment business. If you’re not able to balance these, you’ll never be great at
public speaking.
Think about being stuck in a classroom with a teacher who was boring or sitting
in a business management meeting with someone who droned on about
information but wasn’t able to communicate it in an interesting way. You felt
imprisoned. You don’t want your audience to feel that way. You have an
opportunity to give your audience “good feelings,” if the topic is appropriate, give
them an opportunity to have fun as well as provide them with information that
could potentially change their lives for the better.
 There’s No Charisma Gene
There isn’t a gene for charisma. Charisma for many people isn’t natural. More people
have a fear of public speaking than all the other phobias combined. However, this fear
can be overcome if you concentrate more on the audience and their needs instead of
your own. You can learn to be charismatic and you can also learn to enhance and
improve your charismatic qualities. One way to do this is to think of your voice as a
musical instrument. No matter how uncomfortable you may be with the sound of your
own voice, your voice is perceived differently by the audience. You can vary it in tone,
pace, rhythm, depth, and richness. By doing this, you are appealing to the way that the
audience perceives you through the sound of your voice (pillar 2).
Learning and applying NLP techniques can help you in three different ways:

• Persona--NLP techniques show you how to feel confident and project authority no
matter which group of people you’re speaking to.

• Purpose--NLP techniques show you how to make the purpose of your presentation
as transparent to the audience as glass.

• Personal--NLP techniques show you how to use language to touch the minds and,
more importantly, hearts of your audience.
 Before Your Presentation

• Visualize: Use visualization to picture yourself giving a very successful,

inspirational speech. Use visual, auditory, and kinesthetic words in your
visualization to make it as real for yourself as possible (pillar 2). Think how you
felt at another time in your life when you felt incredibly successful and anchor
those feelings to this visualization. If you have a deep-seated fear of public
speaking, ask an NLP coach to perform a “fast phobia cure” to desensitize that
memory.

• Persona: How do you want to appear to the audience? Do you want to be

laughing, jovial, with dry wit like Bill Murray? Do you want to display the mastery
of language and wisdom of Winston Churchill? Do you want to be filled with
energy and big ideas like Tony Robbins? No matter which demeanor you adopt
you can show authority and confidence in your presentation.
• Chunk Your Information: Prepare a diagram to show how you will chunk your
information. Remember that the Milton Model chunks up to general ideas. Stories
and metaphors chunk across. The Meta Model from NLP chunks down to specific
ideas. People assimilate ideas from these three methods so if you have all three in
your presentation you’ll be able to appeal to the cognitive style of everyone in the
audience. (Milton Model versus Meta Model)
 Preparing Your Presentation

• Focus on the Audience: What are the audience’s needs and desires? Why are
they coming to hear your speech? How will you educate as well as entertain them?
Consider organizing your information using the 4MAT® system: The Why? (the
imaginative learner wants to know why in order to make connections); The What?
(the abstract-sequential learner wants to know what to learn so that he or she can
create ideas); The How? (the concrete-sequential learner wants to know how to
apply what he or she has learned; The If? (the abstract-random learner wants to
figure out what he or she has learned to modify it for his/her unique situation)
• Decide Your Outcome: If your audience remembers only one or two things from
your message and speech, what would you like them to remember? What feeling
do you want them to have when they leave the room?

• Prepare Your Speech: Make sure that you use VAK-- visual, auditory, kinesthetic
descriptions to engage the emotions of your audience (pillar 2). Add appropriate
personal stories, metaphors, and analogies that take your audience on a journey
to their final destination.
 During Your Presentation
Establish rapport by pacing, pacing, pacing, and then leading. Show authority and
credibility with your gestures, tone, and body movements.

• Use Anchors on Stage: You can use spatial anchoring to take control of the stage.
Divide the stage into areas for speaking, answering questions, telling stories,
imparting technical information, or sharing something light-hearted or a joke.
Your audience will associate that area on stage and they will be primed to engage
in the type of information you offer when you’re at that location. It will help you
keep focused and organized as well.
• Adjust Your Presentation to the Audience: Pay attention to the body language
and verbal cues that your audience gives you. We’ve all sat through presentations
where the speaker seemed completely oblivious to how the audience was
receiving his or her talk. Don’t be inside a speaker bubble! Pay attention and
adjust your talk to make sure it’s a “page turner” so your audience’s attention
doesn’t wane (pillar 4).
• Use the Logical Levels Model: Speak from the heart about something you care
passionately about. Use the logical levels model to help you get to the very core of
why it’s important to you and how to communicate it to the audience so they grasp
and feel the emotions related to its importance. Ask yourself the questions: How
do I make a difference? Why am I here and why am I here giving this speech?
What would I like my contributions to others be? How would I like to be
remembered if I was no longer here?
 Module Six:
Confidence and Charisma
Techniques
 Confidence and Charisma go Hand in Hand
Despite what you may think, these skills can be learned, even if they don’t feel natural
to you at this moment.

• Practice Power Movements: Our nonverbal behavior shapes what others think
of our confidence level, but it also shapes our own feelings about ourselves. For
example, social psychologist Amy Cuddy has shown that if we practice “power
movements” that we will eventually change our perception of ourselves. Stretch
out, lift your arms, and own the space you’re in. Our minds change our bodies, but
our bodies also change our minds. Adopt power poses in private for a few minutes
a day and it can change your level of confidence and your life.
• Don’t Accept Failure: Confident people truly believe that the failures in their
lives can point the way to significant improvements. They also believe that failures
are just temporary setbacks. They don’t allow negative self-talk to keep them from
their dreams and goals.

• Become an Expert: Master your chosen topic and field and continually work
toward self-improvement. When you know your topic back and forth, left and
right, it gives you a feeling of confidence to be able to communicate about it
effectively. Life-long learning should be part of your daily mantra.
 Second Skin
There are certain key strategies you can employ to become more charismatic. Once
you practice these strategies they should become like a second skin. (Notice the simile!)

• Masterful at Metaphors: Become masterful at using metaphors, similes, and

analogies. For example, in one of his speeches, Martin Luther King compared the
1960s civil rights situation that African-Americans were experiencing to “getting a
bad check” which gets sent back due to “insufficient funds.” The audience
members quickly understood what King was communicating.
• Personal Stories: Use well-thought-out personal stories and anecdotes. For
example, in his 2008 speech, A More Perfect Union, then Senator and presidential
hopeful President Obama tied his own family history and multicultural
background and his campaign for the presidency to the American motto, “out of
many, we are one.”

• Use Clearly Defined Contrasts: Contrast is incredibly effective to your audience

because it’s a one-two punch of passion backed by reason. One of the most famous
uses of contrast is Kennedy’s quote “don’t ask what your country can do for you,
ask what you can do for your country.”
 Bring Them Up
The questions you ask people to think about and the lists you provide them can bring
people up to a higher state where they can envision the future and take action to bring
it about.

• Ask Questions: Ask rhetorical questions that get your audience thinking. Can you
imagine a future where no one goes to bed hungry? Can you imagine mankind
transforming Mars into a second Earth? Can you imagine how much more
confident and charismatic you’ll feel after you complete this course?
• Use Three-Part Lists: Use three part lists to your advantage in making major
points. This technique is based on the fact that people tend to remember things
that are presented to them this way. Three part lists can be announced or they can
fly under the radar, but will still be picked up subliminally by your audience. Here
are a few famous examples: “Government of the people, by the people, for the
people” (from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address); “This is not the end. It is not even the
beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” (Sir Winston
Churchill); “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered—Julius Caesar)

• Express Moral Convictions: Don’t be afraid to express your moral convictions

when appropriate. Who wouldn’t be stirred by Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or
give me death!”? or Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “The only thing we have to fear is
fear itself.”
 Bridge the Gap
You need to meet people where they are but then bring them up to the next level. To do
that, you need to acknowledge their thoughts and feelings, but then bridge the gap to a
higher level of inspiration and positive action.

• Where Are We Now: Reflect on your audience’s sentiments, then pause, then
move forward. For example, after a disappointing sales quarter, the manager of a
sales team wanted her people to regroup. Here is segment of what she said, “We
all feel disappointed and unmotivated. There have been sleepless nights and
tensions within the team. We feel that success slipped from our hands. However,
this is a temporary setback and before we leave this room, we’re going to
construct a plan with everyone’s best ideas for getting back on track.”
• Set High Goals: Don’t be afraid to set high goals. Ghandi said that if the country
banded together in their goal and their single-minded focus, the British
occupation of India would end without bloodshed. Many thought that his goal was
impossible to achieve.

• Achieve with Confidence: Project confidence that the high goals you’ve set will be
achieved. In a sense, you are stating what will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ghandi
continued to project confidence regarding the previously stated goal by saying,
“India will wrench with nonviolence her liberty from unwilling hands.”
 Power Thoughts, Power Movements
Confident and charismatic people are not afraid to let their physical bodies and voices
reflect their powerful thoughts.

• Rich, Vital Voice: Use an animated voice when speaking. Display your inner core
of vitality. If you’re not energetic, your audience will sense this and respond
accordingly.

• Facial Expressions: Don’t be afraid to convey your message with your facial
expressions. You won’t have to think about this too much if you are “present in the
moment” and focusing on the core message you want to communicate. It will be
natural, just as if you were having a conversation with your best friend.
• Powerful Gestures: Use gestures or use movement to give you presence on stage
and emphasize your key points. Cross country skier Janine Shepherd’s life and
career potential was almost destroyed when she was in a severe accident. She
delivered a TED talk after she recovered and used 5 different chairs to provide a
visual metaphor for the chapters of her life after the accident. She moved from
chair to chair as she delivered the talk.
 Module Seven:
Persuasion Techniques
 Shape Your Audience’s Perception
Instead of just launching into a pitch to get your audience to comply with a specific
action, you can alter their perception by changing the “lens” with which they are
viewing a particular situation. By priming the audience in this way you influence how
they will perceive your request or message.

• Prepare Their Mindset: You can prime people’s mindsets by introducing words
or images that have universal associations. For example, in an experiment people
were introduced to words that related to the elderly and when they got up to leave
they walked more slowly than usual. In another experiment, people were exposed
to two logos, Apple’s and IBM’s. Apple is associated with creativity. The group that
saw Apple’s logo first, found more creative uses for a brick than the group that
was primed with IBM’s logo.
• Firm Up Their Perception: All judgments that people make are based on
comparisons. If you can influence those comparisons in your speech
presentations, then you can influence their compliance on the requests or action
you want them to take. For example, let’s say your goal is to get people to sign up
for your course after your speaking presentation. Offer them two or three options:

• Option A: A one hour consultation, $150

• Option B: The course in its entirety, $295

• Option C: A one hour consultation plus the course, $295

Presenting the options in this way will increase your chances of having more
people select Option C, since when Option B and Option C are compared, Option C
is the obvious choice.
• Express High-Level Outcomes: The way you describe a person, an event, or an
item makes a major difference in how your audience will perceive the same. For
example, if you describe a person as cold, aloof, and self-serving before
introducing them to someone, the person you’re introducing will react in a certain
way toward the person you’re introducing, because this is how his/her expectation
has been set. However, you might choose to describe that same person as warm,
friendly, and fun. The person being introduced will have a completely different
attitude toward the person you’re introducing based on your description. Your
description will make a difference in how the parties behave toward each other.
Another example is to make sure you put the positive descriptions at the
beginning of a list. If you describe someone with their positive traits first, that list
will be perceived differently than a list where the negative traits are listed first.
 Work Toward Attitudes That Are Congruent
Suppose you were asked to persuade others that a very boring exercise was actually
interesting. Studies have shown that if you’re only given $1 as a reward to do so, you
have to change your attitude toward the exercise yourself in order to convince
someone else that it’s fun. However, if you’re given a more substantial reward, you’ll
convince the person based on that but will not change your attitude, since you’re doing
so for the reward only so it explains your incongruence over feeling that it’s boring but
making it seem interesting to someone else.
• Display Specific Body Language: There’s a strong association between the mind
and the body. Most of the time we think about the mind influencing the body, but
sometimes consciously or unconsciously with your body has an impact on your
mental state. For example, if you are giving a speech and can elicit head nods from
the audience, they will transition to an agreeable and possibly pliable state of
mind. Another example is when you are feeling nervous or insecure before a
presentation. You can help alleviate your fears, by sitting or standing upright will
help you to feel more empowered.
• Form Consistency in Behavior, Strategy 1: If it’s your goal to get people to form
or adopt a particular attitude, you should guide them to display behavior that
matches with that attitude. For example, people who were asked to put a small
sign in their yard that said “Be a safe driver” were more likely to say yes when
they were requested to display a much larger sign with a similar message. This
technique, which is essentially like getting “a foot in the door” was popularized by
Robert Cialdini.

• Form Consistency in Behavior, Strategy 2: A sales pitch that asks people “How
are you feeling tonight?” and gives them a chance to respond with a “good” or
“fine” helps them to maintain that attitude when you ask for the sale since they
don’t want to appear incongruent with their earlier response.
 Spark Social Pressure and Repeat Your Message
Social rejection is very powerful. In fact, social rejection and physical pain share the
same circuitry on a neural level. In other words, social rejection hurts.

• Reinforce Norms: In your speech presentations, if you want to encourage or

discourage a specific type of behavior, it works best to point the norm in the
direction of the behavior that would be a desirable outcome. For example, if
you’re giving a speech where you’re trying to get college students NOT to drink
alcohol, demonstrate or persuade them that most students drink safely.

• Discover and Offer Similarities: Whether it’s one person you’re trying to
persuade to do something or an entire group, emphasizing your similarity to that
person or persons can greatly enhance your ability to establish rapport and
subsequently to persuade. Because similarities are so powerful, you can also
mimic your audience’s nonverbal behavior to establish rapport.
• Use Numerous Exposures and De-Emphasize Negative Messages: Repetitions
are very powerful because they increase a cognitive response called “cognitive
fluency.” In other words, if something or someone or an image is repeated often,
even if it’s flashed before us and we’re not conscious of picking it up, it becomes
more familiar to us and that familiarity means we can process it more quickly.
The speed at which we process information, also increases whether we like the
information or not. If we can process something quickly, due to repeated
exposure, we tend to like it more. To de-emphasize the negative aspects of a
message that you know your audience will find objectionable, you can “de-
sensitize” it by habituating it.
This technique is most effective if (1) you can introduce the changes in very tiny
gradual increments, (2) your audience can’t make a side-by-side comparison, (3)
your audience isn’t expecting changes to occur, (4) you combine whatever’s
unfavorable or unpleasant with something that is favorable or pleasant.
 Maximize Your Message
There are two ways that an individual makes a judgment about a particular issue. They
use a type of systematic processing for decisions that are important and a type of
heuristic processing for a decision that is not as critical. With systematic processing,
the individual will be influenced by the quality of the content. He or she will evaluate
the content step-by-step. On the other hand, heuristic processing is a quick judgment
that is often swayed by a massive amount of information that shows support, the way
the message is presented or the aesthetics of a message, the rapport with the presenter
in terms of his or her attractiveness, confidence, expertise, etc.
• Change Their Evaluation: To ensure that someone will judge your message
regarding systemic processing: Provide them with some caffeine (really); enhance
the aesthetics of the message with your graphics or other visually appealing
presentation; state your request in an unusual way; enhance the personal
relevance aspect of your message—in other words, why is your message of
particular importance to that specific audience. You can enhance personal
relevance of the message by using “you” frequently throughout your message. You
can tell a story to engage your audience in a more personal way that will touch
their emotions. You can also use rhetorical questions that will guide them into
asking themselves deeper questions.
If you instead want your subject to judge your message using heuristic processing,
there are also things you can do to increase that likelihood. Surprisingly, if you
increase the complexity of your message by using a difficult-to-read font or
something else that makes it more complicated for the subject to process, he or
she will equate it with the uniqueness of your offer and also consider your offer
more valuable. Also, if you want your subject to make a quicker decision you can
do something to put your subject in a good mood. When we’re in a good mood, we
tend to be more optimistic about decision-making.
• Refine Your Message: You’ll encounter situations where you won’t be able to
change someone’s evaluation style. Fear not! You can still refine your message to
achieve the best results. If you know that your audience is likely to use systemic
processing, then you can construct your message accordingly. The same is true for
heuristic processing. For systemic processing, present a two-sided argument with
just a little negative information so it doesn’t appear that your argument is too
one-sided. Also, make sure your arguments are sequenced properly. Position your
strongest arguments first and last, because these are the ones that will be most
readily remembered. Weak arguments should go in the middle. For heuristic
processing, your audience will be swayed by your attractiveness as well as your
authority. They will also be persuaded by the amount of information you present
(hint: provide more!), present your information in an aesthetically pleasing
manner, and give a justification for your message.
• Position Yourself for Success: If you position your message close to another
positive message, it will influence your audience’s perception. For example,
placing an advertisement for your book after an interview with a bestselling
author will make your book be perceived in a “bestseller” light. Even though the
audience knows that your book may or may not be a bestseller, subliminally they
will have seen the “bestseller” previously and it will lead to an association with
your book.
 Keep the Flow Going and Maintain Their Compliance
When behavior is reinforced, we continue it. When it is punished, we avoid it.

• Offer Appropriate Incentives: Large monetary incentives can sometimes

backfire because people tend to choke when they get worried about losing the
potential cash. You need to price such an incentive so it’s not so high as to cause
anxiety. When people are seeking a large external reward, they feel that they are
performing the requested action just to obtain the reward (extrinsic motivation).
However, if they are performing the task for a small amount of money or no
money, they develop the attitude that they are performing the action because it is
congruent with their own beliefs. (intrinsic motivation, which is more powerful
than extrinsic). Social incentives, such as small gifts, praise, or positive feedback,
are more effective if you want to keep the relationships social instead of business.
• Use Limitations to Help Motivate: When we perceive that something is
becoming limited, we want to reclaim the freedom to have it. This is why scarcity
works in advertising. If something is scarce, we tend to value it more highly.
Sometimes when people are offered many different options, it tends to overwhelm
them instead of making it easier for them to select. You can avoid this problem,
but organizing the different options into categories. To solicit a quicker decision,
you can limit the amount of time the subject has to choose an option.
• Create Quality Connections: You can create the associations that you want your
audience to have with your produce or services. For example, advertisers
sometimes present their products at fun, sports events. The feeling of fun and
excitement gets transferred from the event to the way the audience feels about the
product. Use metaphors to quickly bring your audience to the mindset you want
them to have. For example, things that are associated with “up” are thought of as
good. Advertising at the top of a page puts the product or service in a better light
than the same ad at the bottom of the page. If you want to communicate about
something new in your speech presentations, use metaphors to compare it to
something your audience is already familiar with. It will make it easier for them
to understand as well as heighten their trust in you.
 Module Eight:
Storytelling, Metaphor, and
Analogy Techniques
 Your presentations will be far more effective in capturing
people’s emotions if you use storytelling, metaphor, and analogy
to wrap up your message.
 Capture Attention
It’s vital to get your audience’s attention and complete focus within the first 30 seconds
of your presentation.

• Use a Story, Metaphor, or Analogy as a Hook: Don’t bore your audience with
introductory comments. Instead, engage their hearts, minds, and emotions with a
story. Work the other information into the rest of your presentation in small bites.

• Stories Have Power: Since the earliest days of mankind, our brains have used
stories to remember and learn. We are hardwired to listen to, remember, and
react emotionally to stories.
• Take Your Listeners on a Journey: A well-designed and masterfully presented
story takes your listeners on an imaginary journey where you want to take them.
This gives you as the speaker the golden opportunity to convey a message or teach
a lesson without preaching.
 Conflict is Crucial
Conflict is what drives a story. Don’t be afraid to share stories that are personal to you.

• Dramatic Conflict: Your audience will be captivated when you offer them a story
that has a dramatic conflict. The more dynamic the conflict is, the more engaged
your audience will be.

• Engage People’s Emotions: To evaluate whether your story is working to achieve

your goals, judge its elements to determine whether it touches on the primary
emotions.

• Get Your Audience Curious: Tell your story in a way that makes your audience
curious as to what happens next. If your story has a strong conflict, the audience
will be moving ahead mentally to determine what the outcome will be.
 Use Details that Provoke the Senses
Sensory details help to stir the emotions. Be specific so that your audience can
experience the different sensory experiences and imagine the characters. These types
of details keep your story alive to the audience.

• Visual, Auditory, Smell, Taste, and Touch: What should your audience see,
hear, smell, taste, and touch? How do these experiences make them feel either
emotionally or physically?

• Clarity and Conciseness are Important: Even though you’ll be providing a lot of
description, work to make your descriptions on point and clear.

• Being Specific and Consistent is Important: For example, saying “he was taller
than everyone in his class” you could say he was “18 inches taller than everyone
else.” Specificity lends credibility.
 Provide a Visual Picture of the Characters
With your words, “paint a picture” of how the characters look and act.

• Provide Interesting Details: By providing interesting details you can “paint a

picture” with your words that gives them a feeling for each character. Each
character should provoke strong emotions.

• Sensory Details: As you are telling your story, make sure the audience can feel
how each character is experiencing the sensory experiences in the story. You can
do this by providing sensory details.

• Make Sure to “Show” versus “Tell”: Compare these two descriptions (1) Tell: She
found her boss to be intimidating. (2) Show: When her boss towered over her, his
commands soared out like blazing hot steam from a steam engine.
 When to Use a Story, a Metaphor, or an Analogy
Each technique is useful throughout your presentation.

• Using a Story: A story has a beginning, a high point where there is conflict, a
solution to that conflict, and an end. Use stories when you want to teach or get
across a very important message.

• Using a Metaphor: A metaphor is a bridge between the new and the familiar. It’s
a term or phrase that’s applied to something to suggest a resemblance. Would you
rather set up an appointment to go to the dentist or to a “smile stylist”? In other
words, here the word “stylist” is being used to equate dentistry with fashion.
• Using an Analogy: An analogy is a comparison between two things that are quite
different and unrelated.

Here’s a funny one from Winston Churchill: A good speech should be like a
woman’s skirt—long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create
interest.
 Part 3:
Assess The Landscape
 Module Nine:
Public Speaking
When beginning the process of finding speaking opportunities,
set aside an entire day just for prospecting. In order to find the
speaking gigs you want, you need to ask yourself very specific
questions. Go from general to specific: “How do I find gigs?” to
“How do I speak at colleges?” to “How do I speak at Harvard?”
The more specific you can get about the message you want to
present and the type of audience you want to speak to, the more
clear you’ll be about how to network appropriately to get there.
 Put yourself in the frame of mind where you can see speaking
opportunities everywhere you look. Begin by connecting with
people who can hire you to speak and seek out names of events
so that you can connect with the right people. If you don’t
already have it, investigate and purchase a good package of CRM
(customer relationship management) software so you can keep
track of all leads.
 Businesses, National and Local

• Publications: Most cities have magazines and newspapers that are devoted to
business news. You can begin by checking out the publication’s events page,
contact the organizations that have listings there, and pitch them your
presentation.

• Networking: Business networking groups, such as Le Tip, Local Business Network

(LBN), and Business Networking International (BNI) are good resources to put the
word out that your are interested in public speaking opportunities.
• Contact Leaders: If you’re interested in going national with your business topic,
pitch your presentation to a corporate headquarters or the local branch of a
company. Do research at www.leadershipdirectories.com to find business, non-
profit, legal, and government leaders to contact.
 Educational Institutions and Schools

• Mine the Schools: There are colleges, universities, state schools, technical schools,
and high schools all around your local area. Students in all fields and at all levels
need inspirational messages.

• From University to Community: At universities and colleges, you can contact a

professor or department head to offer a forum or presentation on a subject that’s
relevant to you and to the educator’s special interest groups. Invite the larger
community as well so you can make valuable contacts for other talks.
• College Speaking: If you’re interested in speaking at colleges, the National
Association for Campus Activities (NACA) and the Association for the Promotion of
Campus Activities (APCA) are both organizations that offer opportunities for
speaking. Speakers that get hired have a heavy emphasis on wrapping their
educational messages in an entertaining package.
Local Associations, Clubs, and Special Interest Groups

• Clubs: Every city has organizations and clubs, such as Kiwanis, Lions Club,
Chamber of Commerce, and Rotary that meet regularly and need speakers. If your
topic is appropriate to these groups, contact the programming chair to offer a
presentation.

• Chamber of Commerce: Don’t hesitate to tap your friends, neighbors, and

colleagues to approach them about connecting you with these local organizations.
Attend your local Chamber of Commerce meeting to get contacts for other local
associations that need speakers.
• Special Interests: Do you have hobbies or special talents that would match with a
special interest group? Do you build robots in your spare time? Or know how to
create a quilt? Maybe you love to take photographs or have traveled to an exotic
place? There are special interest groups that cater to all different topics and
interests. Seek them out and offer them something fun that’s also educational.
 TEDx and TED

• TED: TED began in 1984 for short speeches on Technology, Entertainment, and
Design but today covers everything from new frontier science topics to trending
business and pressing global issues. TED is a national as well as a global stage.

• TEDx: In 2009, the TED franchise launched a regional version of their national
program called TEDx. If you’re just starting as a speaker it makes sense to begin
regionally and become established before pitching to the national event.
• Getting Booked: To get booked at a TEDx conference: (1) Research Future TEDx
events; (2) Research the Process of Application--some events have open call, some
don’t; (3) Dovetail into the Event’s Theme; (4) Make Sure You’re Easy to Find (you
can make contact through a connection or through a proposal, but another way is
to be very active in social media in your field so you can be found; (5) Focus on the
Value You Can Give to Others—(TEDx and TED are both about “ideas worth
spreading”).
 Conferences, Trade Associations, Trade Shows, and
Other Special Events

• Trade Associations: There are over 17,000 state, regional, and national trade
associations in the United States alone. They all have speaking opportunities.
Columbia Books, Inc. (www.columbiabooks.com) offers useful directories in both
print and online form for tracking down these leads. Three such directories are
the “National and Professional Trade Association Directory” and the “Directory of
Association Meeting Planners” and the “Directory of Corporate Meeting Planners.”
• Conference Directories: There are a number of online conference directories
where you can customize a profile and potential events will be sent to your email
for our review: www.AllConferences.com, www.lanyrd.com, http://
www.conferensum.com/Conference-proceedings-documentation, https://
www.conferize.com/

• Trade Shows: Another valuable resource is www.EventsinAmerica.com for

finding potential trade shows and conferences for your presentation. Meeting
planner magazines also offer information that can be mined for contacts and
events.
 Module Ten:
Sales Environments
 Sales Training
One of the largest events of the year in most corporations is a huge public speaking
opportunity. You can step up to the plate in your company by offering to do a
presentation to train sales representatives.

• Pre-Training: (1) Align the sales training methods you will use to the
corporations strategies, mission, and goals. (2) Have the right mindset. Sales
training shouldn’t be just a once a year event. If you plan strategically, you can
keep your team striving for improvement throughout the year. (3) Evaluate where
your buyers or clients are. Has there been a shift in their perspective throughout
the year? Ask yourself that important question again—what value do we bring to
our customers?
• Training: (1) The time that sales reps spend in a room listening to your
presentation is valuable time they are taking out of the field. Make the training
you present relevant and actionable…and by all means make it inspiring! They
need to have the motivation in order to go out and sell. (2) The challenge is to
unlock the expert knowledge from subject-matter experts in your organization or
in other organizations and package it, in a clear, concise manner so that reps can
become smooth in sharing this information with customers in their sales
conversations.
• Post-Training: (1) Leverage technology to keep your message alive as you
communicate with reps throughout the year. Short video clips where you present
key strategies once a week is just one way to do this. (2) Plan a communications
campaign that uses different ways to reach the reps through ongoing webinars,
social networking, and lunch presentations…all opportunities for getting your
message across.
 Manager’s Meetings
If you work in a corporation or have your own business, weekly sales management
meetings are an opportunity to speak and inspire your team to action. There are three
keys to reinforcing successful sales strategies with your team:

• Consistency: Weekly meetings shouldn’t be just something you and your team
“phones in.” If you plan a consistent meeting every week, you’ll be prepared as
the sales manager to offer valuable information to your team. It also sets up the
expectation that the salespeople need to be accountable weekly. In addition, it’s a
forum for sharing valuable field information.
• Standard Agenda: Peer pressure works. It’s been proven psychologically. Make
sure the reps report on what they sold during the week. Also have them discuss
their process throughout the week in terms of customer interactions--What went
well? What didn’t? Next on the agenda is what’s in the pipeline. Is there enough in
the sales funnel to make or exceed sales quota? Make a note of lessons learned
and inspirational stories. If there’s time left, train on new selling skills.
• Participation and Value Add: Sales meetings become boring and drone on
because they are not designed for interaction. Don’t concentrate on lack of sales.
Instead concentration on having the reps do interactive exercises where they can
train their sales “muscles.” Ask yourself the question: Is there something I can
offer today that will help the reps sell more or keep customers happier? If you
concentrate on this and offer it weekly you’ll yield results. Use your speaking
abilities to train, to assist, and to inspire.
 Presentations to Clients in Groups
There are many different opportunities to sell by speaking to groups of potential
clients instead of to individual clients.

• Before the Presentation: Try to meet people in the group you are presenting to
ahead of time so that you can establish rapport with as many individuals as
possible. If you can find out who the final decision makers are, it’s useful as you
can tailor your presentation accordingly. You can give those decision makers some
extra attention, but do it in a subtle manner so you don’t alienate others who may
be a help in making the sale. Try to find out if there are any pressing concerns or
issues on their minds that you can address in your presentation.
• During the Presentation: Make sure you refer to the problems/issues of the
group and show how what you’re offering will solve their problems or fulfill their
needs. As you describe the benefits of your products and services use the VAK
(visual, auditory, kinesthetic) model as much as possible. You want to appeal to
everyone in the audience and most importantly engage their emotions.

• After the Speaking Presentation: If possible, get the group participants to

provide you with feedback. Engage them in conversation and pay careful
attention to their responses. Active listening is just as important as speaking.
 Shareholder or Investor Presentations
These are some of the most important “sales” presentations since they can potentially
make or break your reputation in the marketplace.

• Soft Information Counts: Many people believe that investors’ minds are only
tuned into data and facts. That’s not true at all. Research shows that this type of
information accounts for no more than 10% of stock volatility. If you wrap your
data up in a soft information narrative it will be more engaging for shareholders
to listen to.

• Part of a Larger Story: Think of the numbers and facts as the ingredients of a
delicious meal that you’re serving your shareholders. Those are only the
elements. Without the special chef’s magic it will never be a memorable meal.
Provide the investors with a story narrative about your company and its future.
Relate your achievements to real people and current events.
• Coordinate and Plan Your Answers: A potential way to strategize is to use The
Bucket Method (developed by communications coach Carmine Gallo)(1) Identify
questions you think will be asked; (2) Categorize the questions into top categories,
such as “competition” or “industry.”; (3) Divide the categories among your Annual
General Meeting (AGM) team; (4) Create broad answers for every category
questions; (5) During the meeting when questions are being asked listen for
“trigger” words that align with a category; (6) Look the questioner in the eye and
answer confidently.
 One-on-One Sales
Everything we do in life has an element of sales to it. You need to sell yourself, your
products, and your services. You need to sell your teenager on why it’s important to
call in if he’s late. You need to sell your spouse on the idea that it’s time to take a
vacation. You need to sell your ideas and your causes to get buy-in from others.

• People Make Emotional Decisions: Many sales people think that selling the
features and benefits of a product or service is what will convince someone to
buy. However, people make decisions for emotional reasons that are largely
subliminal. Speaking and selling is all about appealing to emotions in direct and
indirect ways.
• The Two Most Important Words in Sales: According to Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little
Red Book of Selling, the first of the most important words is “you.” Have you ever
tried to buy a car, but couldn’t stand the salesperson who was trying to sell to you?
You may have driven a considerable distance until you found a salesperson you
could talk to before you bought the very same car you were looking at when you
were at the previous dealership. People want to like the people they buy from. As
a salesperson, that means you need to establish rapport first. Sell yourself first
with your speaking skills and demeanor.
• Get at the Why: The second most important word is “why.” It will take skill to get
at the real reason why someone is looking or not looking to buy something. People
don’t buy for your reasons. They buy for their reasons. However, sometimes those
reasons aren’t obvious. You might need to ask 3-4 probing questions before you
get at the real reason why.
Module Eleven:
Negotiations
Even if you are not an arbitrator, there are opportunities for
speaking up to negotiate at work and at home.
 Negotiate to Get Agreement Between Arguing Parties
A key factor in getting people to understand and see the other person’s point of view is
getting them to be more open minded. In fact, all types of negotiations depend on this
ability to prime people into a mindset that is more open-minded.

• Negotiation Stage 1: You can get both parties to adopt a more open-minded
attitude by offering an example where someone was closed off to an idea or
attitude but changed his/her mind. In other words, prime an “open-minded”
attitude. Present this story or something that is appropriate to the situation.
• Negotiation Stage 2: For example, two neighbors were fighting because the first
neighbor was tired of listening to the second neighbor practicing his music in the
evenings. Then the second neighbor invited him to listen to his practice sessions
and the first neighbor started to more open-minded to listening to the music in the
evenings.

• Negotiation Stage 3: The result was that the second neighbor agreed to keep his
sessions to a certain time period. Once this example is presented or something
more appropriate to your particular negotiation, the fighting parties will be
primed to be more open-minded in their unique situation.
 Negotiating to Get More Salary for a Start-Up Job
It’s getting more and more difficult not to reveal your salary before someone makes
you a job offer. However, it’s an essential part of the deal in ensuring that you get the
salary that you want.

• They Go First: Let the potential employer make the first offer when you’re at the
end of the job interviewing process. Until then, salary isn’t discussed.

• Use the 4-Second Stall: When the employer makes the offer, repeat the number
and then stay silent for a few seconds. This will put some pressure on the
employer to revise the offer. Just make sure you have a thoughtful, pensive look
on your face instead of an annoyed look.
• Make a Counter Offer: If the employer doesn’t come back with an offer that’s
workable for you, then make a counter offer, but be sure it’s based on the
homework you’ve already done about the market, the company, and what you
have to bring to the table. Once the employer has said yes to your counter offer,
negotiate for additional benefits such as extra vacation or a company car.
 Negotiating to Get More Salary
Timing is everything when negotiating a raise after working at a company for a while.

• Best Timing: Have you closed a valuable contract for your company recently?
Have you saved your company money? Have you received a great yearly
evaluation? These are the times when you should put your speaking skills to use to
ask your boss for a raise.

• Know Your Value: Review online sources like PayScale and Glassdoor to get a
sense of your worth to the company at the level you are today. If you’ve been in an
organization for a while, they might not realize the professional growth you’ve
attained while you’ve been there. You have to speak up and “toot your own horn”
in a nice way to let people know your accomplishments. Praising others in an
authentic way shines on you as well.
• Network: Use speaking opportunities to network within and outside your
company. Keep in touch with potential mentors who can help you as you gain in
influence and salary.
 Negotiating to Buy a House
Sometimes speaking up can mean the difference in whether you’re able to get the
house of your dreams or not.

• Story Part 1: An older couple was looking to sell their family home. The home
had over thirty years of memories in it. They had started there as a young couple
and raised their children there. The husband was ill and his wife was caring for
him. It was an emotional and difficult decision for them to leave their home,
which they loved.

• Story Part 2: Their home was in a hot market and they knew they would sell
quickly. Instead of making them feel good, this was actually making their decision
harder. The home was already paid for and they were interested in getting a good
price but it wasn’t the only factor in terms of selling their home.
• Story Part 3: Within a week, they had five offers on their home. In talking with
their real estate agent, they discovered that most of the people who wanted to buy
their home were actually planning to remodel their home immediately or worse
yet tear it down. This was deeply disturbing to them and they actually considered
taking it off the market. On the other side of the negotiation, only one couple had
the consideration to ask about the sellers to find out what was happening with
them. They were a young couple with two small children and a third baby on the
way. Their offer was close to the lowest and they loved the home and really
wanted it. They prepared a video presentation to tell the sellers their story and to
explain to them how much they loved the home and wanted to give it care. They
got the home even though their offer was one of the lower ones. The sellers cried
when they left but felt good that their home would have another loving family.
 Negotiating with Kids
Kids and especially teenagers are very difficult subjects for negotiation. Some parents
believe that negotiation isn’t needed and you should just “lay down the law.” However,
if you want to maintain good relationships with your children, negotiation is a better
strategy.

• Where Do You Sit?: Sit next to them to get information: If you’re trying to get
your child or teenager to talk to you, studies have shown that a side-by-side sitting
position works better than across a table from each other. Work to find out the
motivation as to why your child wants or feels he needs something.
• Giving Up to Get: Getting something sometimes means giving something else up:
Let’s say your pre-teen wants to play for a soccer team that travels. It’s going to tap
your wallet and your time and you don’t feel she needs another activity in an
already full list. Instead of saying a firm no, ask her why it’s important to her to
get a feeling for her commitment. Then find out what on her list she’s willing to
sacrifice. Even if she’s not happy with the final result since she had to give up
something to get what she wanted, end with a hug or a smile so that you reinforce
your emotional connection.
• The Smelly Fish: Be willing to put the smelly fish on the table: Every good
negotiator establishes authority while maintaining good relationships with his/her
opponents. A business negotiator once said, “Collaboration is, as they say in
Denmark, the willingness to put smelly fish on the table.” Your 10 year old wants
the same privileges as your 15 year old. Instead of offering her a watered-down
swap, which isn’t what she wants you say. “Your sister didn’t get that privilege
until she was 14 and neither will you.” Just make sure to keep those privileges and
when you rewarded them straight because the kids will remember!
 Module Twelve:
Video Presentations
 LinkedIn
There are several ways that you can use linked in as a springboard for offering your
speaking presentation via video. YouTube video links that were shared on LinkedIn
resulted in a 75% higher share rate than other types of content. Videos used on
LinkedIn should be less about promotion and more about establishing yourself as a
thought leader. The videos you share should be business focused.

• Short Posts: You can do a short post and share a link to your presentation video
that goes back to YouTube or your website.

• Demo Video: You can add a demo video to your personal profile.

• Long-Form Posts: When you write long-form posts or content on LinkedIn you
can embed videos directly into your posts. Currently LinkedIn supports embedded
videos from YouTube, Getty, Vimeo, TED, and Lifestream.
 Courses
If you enjoy creating content for specific audiences you can create your own course
using video presentations as a major component. One of the advantages of courses is
that you can edit your presentation and it works for you while you’re doing something
else. If you are careful with your planning, you can create modular pieces that can be
put together for different types of courses.

• Platforms: You can offer your own courses on sites like Udemy, Teachable,
LearnWorlds, Skillshare, CourseCraft or Thinkific. It takes time to research these
platforms to discover which might work best for the type of audience who wants
and needs your materials.

• Your Own Website: If you’re already driving traffic to your own website, you can
offer your course as a package with video presentations.
• From a Sales Page: You can use video at least two ways from this location. You
can offer an introductory promotional video as well as offer a video course
package that customers can purchase and either download directly after purchase
or you can ship to them.
 Webinars
Communication is always enhanced when you see and able to connect with the
speaker. Online tools, such as GoToWebinar, give you the ability to integrate video into
your presentation so that you can connect with 100 people or more. Visual cues and
body language help the audience stay connected to you, the presenter. Video helps you
to humanize the online experience.

• Executive Presentations: If you are the CEO or a corporation or a leading

manager, using video within a GoToWebinar enhances your message. Employees
can connect with you even if they work remotely. It’s an easy, effective, and
personal way to ensure that everyone on your team understands the mission and
helps the workforce and leadership bond over distance.
• Product or Whiteboard Demonstrations: If you want to demo a product or
show a mindmap or other quick, hand-drawn diagram as you are presenting, a
video works well for this. A presentation is so much more engaging for the
audience when they can hear you, see you, and see your thought process with a
diagram or demo.

• Analyst Updates and Important Corporate Briefings: In addition to the data

you’re presenting in the context of an analyst update or other important corporate
briefing, a short face-view video with an introduction is an excellent way to
engender the trust needed for a successful analyst update.
 YouTube and Skype
Both YouTube (recorded) and Skype (live) are ways to use video to further your
presentation presence and business goals.

• Demo Video: YouTube is a great place to offer demo videos of the types of
presentations you can make. It offers a very simple way for you to connect with
potential clients and convince them to hire you for a booking.

• Informational Videos: Creating a YouTube channel with content gives you the
opportunity to connect with meeting planners who may hire you to speak and also
gives you the opportunity to gain followers and students who need and want the
information you have to offer.

• Skype Presentations: Skype is another way that you can offer small group
presentations that are live and allow for questions and answers from your
audience.
 How to Drive Traffic
Drive traffic from YouTube descriptions to a sales page. You can accomplish this by
asking a series of questions that lead people to click on what you have to offer.

• For example, if you have an open statement, such as “Want to learn the secret…”
and your audience has to click to show more, it puts them in a frame of mind
where they’ve identified themselves as a person who wants to know the secret.

• Step 2: Then, when they’ve clicked the button, it’s a behavior that reinforces that
their behavior is consistent with their attitude.

• Step 3: Then, later in the description it says “Want to learn how…” and this gives
the audience a chance to once again display their behavior by clicking the button
a second time. The more you can guide them to reinforce their behavior, the more
chance to have to persuade them to purchase what you have to sell.
 Part 4:
Merge With The
Audience
 Module Thirteen:
Audience: The Basics
 Getting Your Audience Engaged
Jump right in and ask your audience hypnotic questions, provide a quote, tell them a
story or give them something interesting to look at to get their emotions involved
before you give more background data. If you feel comfortable offering something
that’s funny and it relates to your topic go for it. You need to grab their attention in the
first 2-3 minutes to achieve maximum success with your talk.

• Case 1: During a TED talk in 2009, Bill Gates released mosquitoes into the
audience to drive home the dangers that children face around the world because
of malaria.

• Case 2: Dr. Jill, who is a neuroanatomist, brought a real human brain to her talk.
Many people were disgusted and squirmed in their seats, but they were fascinated
too.
• Case 3: In 1984, Steve Jobs offered the first Macintosh computer to his audience, a
group of 2500 employees, analysts, and media. After discussing the product, he
told the audience that everything he’d shown them was in the bag on the table. He
walked to the middle of the stage where there was a black canvas bag and took out
the Macintosh SE. He inserted a floppy disk and then walked away. The Macintosh
showed images and type, something that had never been seen on a computer
before. The final wow was when Macintosh spoke for itself. It told a joke about
IBM and the crowd roared with laughter and excitement. Jobs was visibly moved
at the audience’s reaction. The audience was left with “never trust a computer you
can’t lift.”
 Priming Their Mindset
Give them guidelines on what you’re going to tell them in your presentation, then
make the presentation, then summarize so they’ll know what the most important
takeaways are. This is a time-tested three-part formula called Aristotle’s Triptych, but
it doesn’t have to be formulaic in the way you do it.

• Tell Them What You’re Going to Tell Them: What do you want to say? What
does your audience need to hear? Too many presenters focus on the first question
but not the second.

• Tell Them: Convey your message using stories that inspire and instruct. Give them
something memorable and new to think about and act upon.

• Tell Them What You Told Them: Wrap up with your key points again so that
your audience has a “party favor” to take home with them.
 Offering Them Something New
Strive to offer the audience a new way of looking at something that they’ve never
thought of before. Novelty will help them remember what your message.

• Case 1: Seth Godin is a popular blogger, world-class marketer and author. In

explaining why new marketing ideas are important he used a story about driving
down the road and seeing cows in a field. Cows are boring. Cows are invisible.
But, if suddenly you saw a completely purple cow, you’d take notice. The brain
needs to be jostled awake. Seth went on to use his idea of a “purple cow” for a
book about new marketing ideas.
• Case 2: Edi Rama provided his audience with a unique solution for changing
crime-ridden areas. He was the mayor of Tirana the capital city of Albania. It was
a gray depressing city that was filled with garbage and derelict buildings. As soon
as he was elected in 2000, he hired painters to chase away the grim years of
isolating communist rule, by painting the outsides of the buildings in bright,
beautiful colors. Crime immediately dropped and people began investing energy
in beautifying their homes and the city. Rama offered his audience a new way to
fight crime with beautiful colors of paint.
• Case 3: In 2013, Stewart Brand who is a professional futurist offered this bold
prediction to his audience. Biotech is accelerating at a pace that is four times
speedier than digital technology. He predicted that we’ll soon see extinct animals
brought back to life. He said: “We will get woolly mammoths back.” His statement
blew up on social media.
 Telling a Story
Your audience will find stories, metaphors, and narratives much more memorable
than just data. Even investors only want to hear hard data about 10% of the time.
Without the story there’s no emotional component and touching people’s hearts is
important. Stories are data with a soul.

• Stories Carry Significance: The website significantobjects.com was an

experiment. The founders bought junk and had writers write stories about the
items. The stories gave the objects a huge uptick in value when they were resold
on Ebay. The takeaway is that your message, which is much more valuable than
these objects, will have even more value when wrapped up in a story.
• Ethos, Logos, Pathos: The Greek philosopher Aristotle broke communication into
three major areas: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is the credibility you bring with
your achievements, position, and experience. Logos is persuading with hard facts
and data. Pathos is the art of appealing to people’s emotions. Voted one of the most
persuasive talks on TED, Bryan Stevenson’s talk breaks down to 65% pathos, 25%
logos, and 10% ethos. Use storytelling to be persuasive.
• Brain-to-Brain Coupling: Experiments at the Neuroscience Institute at Princeton
have shown that when people are engaged in a story they “sync” up with the
speaker in what has been described as a “brain to brain coupling.” If you want to
establish rapport with your audience, master storytelling.
 Listening is Hard Work
Did you know that TED talks are only 18 minutes long? People’s attention spans have
gotten shorter and shorter. This time span is long enough to get your message out there
but short enough to avoid having your audience lose their focus. Video clips online
need to be even shorter. Make your presentation short and dynamic and go out on a
high note that leaves your listeners wanting more. Remember that listening and
assimilating information is very hard work for the brain. Begin by organizing your
presentation into three chunks of information. It’s been shown that most people can’t
integrate more than three chunks of information that are presented to them in a 15-18
minute span.

• Step One: Draft a Headline That’s “Twitter Friendly.” Challenge yourself to

explain your key idea or message in 140 characters or less. The shorter and more
specific the better.
• Step Two: Support Your Headline with Three Major Messages: You can use a
“message map” to organize your talk. Dr. Jill, a popular presenter at TED, divided
one of her talks called “A Stroke of Insight” into three sections: brain circuitry, the
day of the stroke, the insight gained from the experience and impact on her life.
Steve Jobs gave a famous 2005 commencement speech about “Do What You Love”
that can be mapped on a diagram in three pieces: His early experiences, love and
loss, and facing death.
• Step Three: Reinforce the three major messages of your talk with three bullet
points that provide a trigger for the story or anecdote you will tell to support that
message. For example, under the Steve Job talk for “love and loss” the stories he
told were about Apple Garage, Fired from Apple, Return to Apple. Your entire
message map for your talk should fit on one page.
 Module Fourteen:
Addressing Individuals While
Speaking to Groups
Every individual is different, and yet, we can all be categorized
by learning styles, the way we take in sensory information,
ethnicity, social level, gender, and age. By being sensitive to
these differences and similarities, you can address individuals
even though you’re speaking to a group.
 Tactics for Learning Styles
Cater your presentation to the different types of learning styles with these tactics and
techniques.

• Visual Learners: Prefer to see information and visualize relationships between

ideas. Give them charts and infographics. Make your presentation very visual.
Show the relationships among the various points in a visual way.

• Auditory Learners: Prefer to hear information rather than reading it or seeing it

in visual displays. Give them ways to recite the information out loud or give them
a chance to repeat key points back to you by asking questions and calling for
audience answers. Use music and your tone of voice to best advantage.
• Kinesthetic Learners: They learn best by doing things. They are hands-on
experiential learners. Get them to move around and demonstrate an experience.
Role playing works well for kinesthetic learners too. Ask them to write things
down so they’ll remember.
 Use the VAK Model
By offering words and experiences that trigger the three major ways that people take
in sensory information you can make your stories and information more accessible
and memorable to all types of people.

• Visual: Stacy Kramer began her talk with a photograph of a blue gift-wrapped
box from Tiffany’s. Then she said, “what’s inside this box, is a small gift that will
change your life forever…it will bring your family and friends closer to you and
help you recalibrate what’s most important in your life.” Then, she said that she
was sure the audience was wondering by now whether they could buy this
amazing gift on Amazon or whether it had the Apple logo on it. As the audience
was wondering, she then started to display a package with biohazard on it and a
photograph where she showed the scar that was the evidence of her “gift,” which
had been a cancerous brain tumor.
• Auditory: Film critic Roger Ebert lost his voice to cancer but this didn’t stop him
from giving a presentation. He used a computer voice called Alex and his wife,
Dean Ornish, and John Hunter all presented different sections of Ebert’s talk. The
four different voices made for an emotional experience as well as one that
resonated for those who take in information primarily from auditory.
• Kinesthetic: Dr. Elliot Krane, who is a pediatrician as well as an anesthesiologist
showed a remarkable demonstration in his talk. His goal was to explain to the
audience how children’s medical conditions sometimes translate into chronic
burning pain. He began by stroking his arm with a feather. Then he pulled out a
blowtorch and placed it near his arm and said, “Imagine how your life would be if
I stroked your arm with this feather, but what you felt instead was your arm being
scorched by this blowtorch.”
 Speaking to Multicultural Audiences
If you’re giving a presentation in another country or to an audience where there are
many different ethnicities, you’ll need to adapt your talk for that audience.

• Connect Your Points Together: Remember that English may not be the first
language for some or all of your audience members. Connect your sentences from
one to the other with transitional phrases so that your audience can understand
your train of thought.

• Move With Your Message: Make sure that your gestures “say” the same thing as
your message at the same time. If not, listeners may not be able to track what
you’re saying easily. It would be like watching a television screen and then
listening just to the audio on another television.
• Use Universal Metaphors: Whichever metaphors you use need to be relevant
across cultures. For example, a traffic jam, a great meal, or a lesson in school
might be universal. However, certain sports metaphors such as a “home run” or
“double-play” might not make sense at all.
 Men and Women, Watch What You Say

• Case 1: A new manager was speaking to a group of employees on his first day. He
was a well-known publishing executive who had an excellent reputation in Silicon
Valley. As he described the process of stripping away the old processes at the
company and being open to creating new ones, he said the employees would need
to “ take a peek under the kimono.” The women, especially the Asian women,
visibly shifted in their seats when he used this metaphor. The takeaway—be
careful not to use metaphors that can offend others.
• Case 2: In a 2013 Microsoft keynote presentation on its newest Xbox One event at
an E3 gaming event, the male employee was playing a game called “Killer Instinct”
against a female gamer who was struggling to play the game. He taunted her by
saying she “played like a girl” and then proceeded to make a “rape joke” by saying,
“Here we go, just let it happen, it’ll be over soon.” The Microsoft company had to
apologize for its employee’s unscripted speech.

• Case 3: Women are not the only ones that can be alienated in an audience, men
can be too. Women speaking to predominantly female audiences have to be
careful what they say when there are only a few scattered men in the audience.
There’s always the “land mine” of mentioning something that is more of a
stereotype than real data.
 Age Makes a Difference
Are your audience members close to your age? Or are they twenty years younger?
Make sure you tailor your talk to the age of your audience. If your audience is all
different ages, try to stick with references they can all relate to.

Baby Boom (1946-1964)

Generation X (1965-1981)

Millennials also known as Generation Y (1981-1999)

Generation Z also known as Digital Natives (a fragmented society of those with

birthdates from 1997-2012) They have had lifelong use of technology for
communication.

Generation AO also known as the Always On Generation (2000-present)

• Motivational Triggers: Each generation has its own motivational triggers. For
example, it’s well known that most millennials are very socially conscious and
tend to favor businesses that have philanthropy as part of their model.

• Slang: Every generation has its own slang terms that reinforce its social identity.
Review the language you plan to use closely to ensure that everyone will
understand what you’re communicating.

• Technological Influences: Suppose you use the term “communication skills” in

your presentation. A baby boomer may think this means formal writing and
speaking abilities. However, when someone in their twenties hears that same
phrase, he or she might be thinking “e-mailing and texting.”
Module Fifteen:
Picking Up Cues
Every individual is different, and yet, we can all be categorized
by learning styles, the way we take in sensory information,
ethnicity, social level, gender, and age. By being sensitive to
these differences and similarities, you can address individuals
even though you’re speaking to a group.
 Observe Body Language
When you’re really connecting with an audience, their body language seems to move
almost like one giant organism.

• Cohesion of Movement: When the audience is fully engaged in what you’re

saying, their physical movements are generally in sync. On the other hand, if you
see people shifting around, playing with notepads or phones, or with their eyes
cast down, you should heed these clues. Your talk isn’t resonating and they’re not
engaged.

• Cohesion of Sound: In addition to cohesion of movement, there should also be a

general cohesion of sound. You can think of sound as a bell curve. There will
always be some outliers, but the majority of your audience should be responding
to your major points--like great jokes, interesting stories, rhetorical questions--
with some responding sounds in unison.
• Case Study: In a speaking bootcamp, the trainers had the audience put on
blindfolds. They were given drums and drumsticks and then asked to beat the
drums in sync with each other. At the start, they were hopelessly out of sync, but,
after a while, even without seeing each other, they were able to get in rhythm with
each other. When the rhythm changed, they were able to adapt as well. When
groups are engaged, they respond in unison.
 Listen to the Sounds the Audience Makes
Depending on the forum for your talk, the sounds an audience makes while you’re
speaking or while there are downtimes can provide you with clues as to the
effectiveness of your talk. Question and answer sessions provide information for
sound and vocal feedback as well.

• Are There Sounds?: It would be unusual, even within the context of a lecture
situation, to not hear any sounds in the audience. At the beginning of your talk,
it’s natural for people to shift a little or to stop whispering to the person next to
them, but after you’re talking and they’re engaged, you can expect to hear some
sounds from them. No sound might mean no engagement.
• You Can Hear a Pin Drop: On the other hand, if you’re talking about something
extremely serious, you would definitely expect the audience to be silent for that
part of your presentation. However, if you show them something very shocking,
you might hear audible gasps. It’s all about appropriate reactions. If you’re
eliciting the reaction you want, and the audience is in unison, most sounds will
happen at the same time.

• Eliciting Audience Feedback: If your talk isn’t a formal lecture style, but allows
for more audience participation, you can tell right away if your message is getting
through by asking direct questions and getting responses from the audience.
Teachers use this daily to see if their students are awake!
 Scan People’s Faces
Does Your Audience Appear Open-Minded and Receptive? Just keep in mind that you
can’t use facial expressions by themselves to judge receptiveness. They’re not always
the best indicator. A raised eyebrow can mean the person is interested. It could also
mean that he/she is skeptical.

• Eye Lock: When people are listening intently, they look at the speaker. Scan the
audience to see if people are watching you in unison or if it seems that their eyes
are not locked with yours.

• Pleasant, Open Expression: Are people responding to you with appropriate

expressions depending on the nature of your talk? When people are receptive,
their heads are generally either straight or tilted slightly with foreheads back and
chins pointed just slightly up.
• Smiles or Empathy: If you are talking about something upbeat, are people
smiling? If you’re talking about a sad or heartfelt topic, are people empathetic?
Are their eyes a little watery?
 Are Questions or Comments Relevant?
Depending on the style of talk or presentation you are giving, you may have the
opportunity to allow audience members to ask you questions at the end of your talk.

• On Point: In a Q & A session, when participants ask detailed on-point questions

about the topics or message you’ve presented, it’s one of the best indicators that
they got tremendous value from your talk.

• Not on Point: In Q & A sessions, there may be one or two people who ask
questions that are way out in left field. It doesn’t mean they didn’t hear or didn’t
understand your message, it might mean they have a hidden agenda. Some
audience participants like Q & A because they think they can make themselves
look smarter, or make you look dumber. Either way if their questions are not on
point, they just usually make themselves look dumber!
• Bring It Back: No matter what happens in a Q & A session, always try to bring
their questions and your answers back to the main points you presented in your
talk.
 Get Direct Feedback
If you can do it in a comfortable way, get direct feedback after your presentation by
having your audience members fill out an evaluation form. Have the audience respond
on a sliding scale to these statements or to ones that are more appropriate for your
presentation:

The speaker got my attention right away.

The speaker gave me something of value for my professional life.

The speaker stimulated and maintained interest.

My questions were answered.

I’ll remember this presentation and received long-lasting value from it.
…Then, continue with these three essay questions, which you can use to improve
your presentation.

• Best: What was the highlight of this presentation? What takeaway will stay
with you?

• Least: What was the low point? Is there anything you wish the speaker had
done differently?

• Other Topics: Is there any topic that you wish the speaker had addressed that
he or she didn’t address?
Module Sixteen:
Damage Control
 No matter what you do sometimes things go wrong. Remember
that even Olympic ice skaters sometimes fall and have to get up.
When you’re going through hell, keep going!
 Train of Thought
It’s not just seniors who lose their train of thought. It happens to everyone. It can be
very unnerving and the trick is to remain calm.

• Don’t Freeze: In some informal contexts you can ask the audience, “Where was
I?” and use it as an opportunity to see if they’re listening! Remember that you can
always get the train back on track.

• Remain Calm: Just start a new sentence and move on to the next point. You don’t
really need to bring attention to it. Sometimes it helps to bring the audience back
to the three main themes of your talk. By the time you do that, it may re-orient
you as to where you were before the momentary lapse.
• Drink Some Water: This will give you a second to pause and regroup. Sometimes
changing your position or gestures on stage will give you a few seconds and the
physical shift will act as a memory jog as well. Many speakers use a chin scratch
and a thoughtful look to pause and give themselves a few seconds to regroup.
 You’ve Run Out of Time
Depending on the format of the presentation, sometimes an event will happen that will
shorten the time you have to give your presentation. Maybe the previous speaker went
over his or her time period. Maybe there’s a blizzard and the conference is going to be
cut short.

• Flexibility is Key: If you have your presentation prepared at different time

increments ahead of time, you’ll be able to easily adjust. If you were supposed to
give a 40-minute presentation, but you only have half that time, you can quickly
adjust if you’ve prepared for this likelihood in advance. The message map
discussed earlier really helps with this. Stick to your three main points just do one
bullet point for each one instead of three.
• Must-Know, Should-Know, Nice-to-Know: If you mark these on your message
map, you can quickly see on one sheet how to modify your talk to fit the time
available.

• Be Expert at Your Software: If you plan to use PowerPoint or other presentation

software, make sure you have practiced to the point where you’re very smooth
with it, so you can hide slides or skip over them rapidly and still maintain the
continuity of your talk.
 Your Equipment or Computer Crashes
This can happen in the best of circumstances, but you can minimize the impact if you
plan in advance.

• Have a Printout: If you’ve planned well, you’ll have a copy of your slides or the
message map of your presentation so that you can still proceed without visuals.

• Ask for Help: Even if you know how to fix whatever went wrong, it’s still best to
ask for help. Let someone else do it and keep your speech on track.

• Use Gestures and Stage Positioning: Use your well-practiced gestures and
specific positioning on stage. You can still get your points across without the use of
the visuals or other information your equipment was supposed to display.
 Your Day Hasn’t Started Well
Your alarm didn’t go off and you’re late getting ready. You forgot your materials or
laptop at home. There’s an accident on the freeway. Plan ahead to prevent these
incidents from derailing your talk.

• Extra Commute Time: Always allow for extra time for your commute. Even if
you’re running late, if you’ve planned enough time, you’ll make it there.

• Email Slides or Other Notes: Send your notes to someone else or to your office so
if needed they can be sent to you at a moment’s notice. Pack a print copy in your
car the night before.
• Keep Your Sense of Humor: If you want to be a full-time presenter, this is
essential. Things will happen and over time you’ll come up with ways to handle
any situation with ease. Your current disaster may make a great story for a future
talk.
 The Rambling Question or Impossible Question
You’ve heard these before. During a Q & A session, one of the participants stands up
and spends 2-3 minutes with a preamble before asking his or her question. If you’ve
done a great job with your presentation, you’re even more likely to get an impossible
question.

• X or Y?: Rephrase what you think you heard and interrupt the person if
necessary to guide him or her into being more concise. Provide two alternatives so
the person chooses before you proceed to answer. If the person seems to be
wandering, you can politely ask him or her to rethink the question and come back
to them. Most members of the audience dislike when someone does this, so if you
handle it with charm, most people will be pleased.
• Respond Later: Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Take down the question
and follow up by sending an email or by posting the response in your blog. This
gives you another opportunity to interact with the audience.

• Offer the Question to the Audience: Depending on the group of participants,

there may be someone who can respond and provide quality information. You
risk your authority by doing this, but, depending on the circumstances, it might be
a way to interact with the audience and be of service to them, which is ultimately
your goal. Remember that even speakers who know everything can’t answer this
question: What is a question that you can ask speakers who know everything that
they can’t answer?
 Part 4:
Influence Thoughts & Behavior
Module Seventeen:
Educating Others
In order to educate, you must make people aware. Sometimes to
do this in a way that makes them sit up and take notice you need
to “violate their expectations.” This is a method of presenting
something to them in a new way. It makes what you’re trying to
influence memorable.
 Case Study: Bill Gates
In 2015, Bill Gates drank a glass of water that had been human feces five minutes
earlier. The water had gone through a machine that converted sewage to clean,
drinkable water.

• Intro: Bill Gates doesn’t need publicity. He did this to educate and make people
aware that 2.5 billion people around the world don’t have clean drinking water.
Over 700,000 children die each year because they don’t have clear water.

• Influence: He was able to influence his audience to take action and participate in
solving this problem by developing a plan to get these machines where they are
needed most.
• Impact: By violating his audience’s expectations and drinking water that was
formerly feces, Gates was able to generate publicity, gain attention, and get people
to take action for this worthy cause. It worked because the human brain is
attentive to novelty
 Case Study: Terrorism Experts
A group of experts in deterring terrorism were discussing what needed to be done to
make a United States city more secure. They were preparing a presentation to take to
local officials.

• Intro: In preparing their presentation, one of the photos they had decided to
present was a photo of a rusty, broken lock. The lock had been found on the
entrance to a power plant.

• Influence: Instead of just showing that photo, they brought rusty locks with them
and placed them on the round table where they were having the discussion.
• Impact: Audience members passed the rusty, worn-out locks around. At the end
of the presentation as they gave feedback on the speech, state officials said “those
locks made an impression on us.” They were moved to take action to improve
their infrastructure not because of a well-presented slide, but instead because the
speakers violated their expectations with the rusty locks.
 Case Study: John Chambers
In 2009, John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco, was introducing a new type of technology his
company offered called TelePresence to an audience of Indian entrepreneurs and
businessmen.

• Intro: Chambers began to explain the product, which is a series of high-definition

monitors and cameras designed so that people can experience meetings as if they
are in the same room even though they are thousands of miles away from each
other. He then mentioned his vice president of video, Marthin De Beer.

• Influence: On cue, Marthin appeared on stage and took his place next to John,
except that Marthin wasn’t really there. He was over 14,000 miles away.
• Impact: The two men proceeded to continue the presentation while Chambers
was on stage and Marthin was on TelePresence. They discussed the possibilities
for face-to-face collaboration over long distances for industry and healthcare. The
goal was sales, but also to educate others on how technology can make the
distance between peoples disappear.
 Case Study: Sara Blakely
A light-bulb moment helped Sara Blakely turn a $98 pair of pants into an empire.

• Intro: Sara had a pair of $98 white pants in her closet for eight months. Every
time she tried them on she didn’t like what she saw. None of the traditional
undergarments gave her a smooth line in these pants. In desperation, she took a
pair of pantyhose and cut off the feet. It worked and she knew she had a potential
business. She was selling fax machines at the time and wanted to turn her idea
into a business. People thought she was crazy, but her father, who had taught her
that failure meant you were trying new things, believed in her. She patented her
idea herself and moved forward.
• Influence: Sara picked up the phone and placed a cold call to the Neiman Marcus
buyer in the Dallas office. She left her Atlanta apartment with a red backpack that
contained her samples. Once there, the buyer gave her 10 minutes to make her
pitch. After a few minutes Sara could see that the buyer wasn’t engaged or
interested. That’s when the light bulb moment happened and inspiration struck.
She dragged the buyer into the lady’s room and proceeded to put on her product
and demonstrate it herself. The buyer agreed to try out the product in seven
stores. She had sold her first 3,000 pairs of Spanx.
• Impact: Fast-forward twelve years and Sara Blakely is the youngest self-made
woman billionaire. Thanks to “violating expectations” Sara was able to educate
the buyer at Neiman Marcus and get her product into the stores. Eventually she
sold over 10 million pairs of Spanx, making women all over the world more
confident in the slacks of their choice. This true story has all the elements that can
inspire and educate others. It has struggle, conflict, and the ultimate, successful
resolution.
 Case Study: Danny Meyer
The founder of Shake Shack, Danny Meyer, is always looking for ways to tell stories in
his presentations that will educate his employees and participants on what customer
service really means. Someone can be taught how to set a table with flair, but
developing a “High HQ,” a high hospitality quotient, isn’t as easy to do because it
requires flexibility and attention to details. He used this story in one of his
presentations.

• Intro: Meyer was on a business trip to Florida. When he got to his hotel, he was
exhausted. He just wanted to order a cheeseburger and watch his hometown
Cardinals play the San Francisco Giants. He went down to the lobby bar and
ordered his meal. The Jets-Patriots pre-game show was on, but no one was in the
bar, so the waiter switched the channel for him. He was enjoying the Cardinals’
game but after several bites of his burger the television switched back to the Jets-
Patriots.
• Influence: When the waiter came back, he noticed that the game had been
switched. Meyer said that was okay he would take his burger to the other lobby
bar in the hotel, but the waiter said, “no, that’s not fair, you were here first.” Then
the waiter said, “let me fix this for you.” The waiter came back with the remote
control, switched the channel, and handed the batteries to Meyer. Meyer told his
audience that the “burger wasn’t superior,” but that he would never forget those
batteries and the experience of customer service he received.

• Impact: Through his storytelling and presentations, Meyer is able to create a

“high HQ” culture among his employees. Not only do his employees learn and
adopt this attitude, they are also motivated to teach it to others.
 Module Eighteen:
Simplifying The Complex
 One of the most difficult things to do is to simplify complex
ideas and package them in a way that people can easily
understand them. Your initial presentation should be “twitter-
worthy.” Can you figure out a concise, clear message of your
mission in 140 characters or less? Founder of Virgin Airlines,
Richard Branson says—Can you write it on the back of an
envelope? If not, it’s rubbish.”
 Case Study: Richard Branson
When Richard was growing up he had dyslexia. At that time, no one really understood
what dyslexia was, but Richard couldn’t read and he was always in trouble in school.
Later, reflecting back on his experiences thus far, Richard reframed his life story. He
discovered later that many influential leaders had had dyslexia—Einstein, Edison, Da
Vinci, and Disney. He dropped out of school at the age of 15, but he’s convinced that his
dyslexia gave him an advantage. He learned how to make complicated ideas simpler
and communicate them concisely. Here’s a story he presents about his first business
venture.
• Intro: When he was still attending boarding school in England, Richard came up
with an idea. He wanted to start a magazine called “Student.” The magazine was
going to showcase campaigns against bullying and corporal punishment.
However, he had several problems in getting his idea off the ground. He had to
persuade advertisers to sponsor him and he had yet to publish an issue. He also
didn’t have a phone in his room because the headmaster wouldn’t allow it.
• Influence: Branson’s solution was to go to a pay phone to pitch his idea to
sponsors. He had to persuade them in less than 5 minutes because if he didn’t the
operator would come back on the line and interrupt his pitch, which would
destroy his credibility. Branson feels that this forever changed the way he thought
of communication. He believes “complexity is your enemy. A fool can make
something complicated, but it takes a lot of work to make something that’s
complicated simple.”

• Impact: Branson’s communication style—clear, concise language that uses

ordinary language is at the core of his mastery of how to influence others.
 Case Study: Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was a master of taking complicated ideas and putting them into accessible,
simple ideas that people could understand and relate to.

• Intro: Steve Jobs knew that most people have no idea what 5 gigabytes means.
They can’t get their arms around it. In 2001, he crafted one sentence about Apple’s
new product that told a complete story.

• Influence: When he launched Apple’s first MP3 player, the now famous iPod, Jobs
described it simply to his audience. He said that 5 gigabytes was equal to “1,000
songs.” But the reality was that there were other MP3 players already selling on
the market that could hold this many songs. However, no company had a product
that was the tiny, portable size of the iPod. He completed the story when he said
that the iPod was “1,000 songs in your pocket.”
• Impact: Apple has sold over 400 million iPods to date. Jobs once said, “You have to
work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end,
because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
 Case Study: Jorge Mario Bergoglio
You might not know the name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but he is one of the most sought-
after presenters on the planet today. That is the birth name of Pope Francis. During his
visit to the Philippines in 2015, over 6 million people congregated to see him and hear
him speak. Pope Francis delivers his messages with humility and compassion. He also
follows the “rule of three” to lend simplicity to his message and make his talks
accessible to his multicultural audiences.

• Intro: Pope Francis uses the rule of three in many of his presentations. Here is an
excerpt where he used a striking metaphor in addition to the rule of three: “God
created the world as a beautiful garden…man has disfigured that natural beauty
with social structures that perpetuate poverty, ignorance, and corruption.” (Three
things—poverty, ignorance, and corruption.)
• Influence: Think about the many times that the “rule of three” has had an
influence on your ability to remember something important. People think using
patterns and it’s been shown that three to seven items is all we can hold in our
“random access memory (RAM).” Three is the smallest number that displays a
pattern. Here are some quick examples:

• Lights, camera, action

• Ready, set, go

• Turn on, tune in, drop out

• Life, liberty, happiness

• Of the people, by the people, for the people

• Impact: The rule of three offers three major benefits: (1) a simple template to
create your presentation; (2) it simplifies your message so it will be accessible and
memorable; (3) it leads to the ultimate goal of all persuasion, which is to motivate
people to act now!
 Case Study: A Construction Company
An industrial construction equipment company revised its presentations and won an
$875 million dollar contract.

• Intro: Industrial construction equipment is huge. Some cranes weigh as much as

15 million pounds, the equivalent of 80 space shuttles. There was a small company
in this field that wanted to grow into a larger company, but something was holding
them back from achieving their goals. They had fallen prey to a disease known as
the “text-heavy” PowerPoint. They had so much text and data on their PowerPoint
presentation that it was weighing down their message.
• Influence: It was in the time period after 2008 and the company was desperately
trying to attract new business. That’s when the marketing director suggested that
they simplify their message. He took their 72-slide PowerPoint deck and replaced
30 of them with photo-rich slides that told their story with less than 10 words
each. Some of their former slides had had over 200 words on them, which made
them documents that were pretending to be slides. An example of a new slide was
a picture of the moon with the number 240,000. The narrator would then say,
“we’ve installed more than 240,000 miles of pipe. That’s enough pipe to route
heating oil to the moon.”
• Impact: They offered their revised presentation to a large oil firm and secured an
$875 million dollar contract. When asked why they hired the company, one of the
oil executives said, “their presentation made me see new possibilities—it was the
type of thinking that I want to invest in.” The takeaway—use visual storytelling to
simplify your message.
 Case Study: Charles Michael Yim
Charles Michael Yim nets the biggest deal in Shark Tank’s history, one million dollars
from all five sharks, with a simple explanation of a complicated product.

• Intro: Yim had been an entrepreneur since the age of six and he had learned a lot
before he founded the company and the product that he would pitch to Shark
Tank. His product was a “breath analysis platform.” It was essentially a non-
invasive way to obtain data on the clinical state of an individual by analyzing the
organic compounds in his or her breath.” However, Yim didn’t tell the Shark
investors any of this. In fact, his presentation wasn’t technical at all.
• Influence: Yim began by giving the Sharks a glass of wine and giving them a
hypnotic suggestion to “Imagine how you would feel at a get-together or sports
event where you’ve had some food and a few drinks. You’re ready to go home, but
you’re not sure if you’re fit to drive. He then pulled out a police-sized
breathalyzer. After they had that picture in their minds, he pulled out the
Breathometer, the first Breathalyzer that can fit in your pocket. He demonstrated
how to plug the small device into a smartphone and then use an app to test your
breath by blowing into the device.
• Impact: Yim’s device and his simple, effective presentation landed him a deal. He
also landed a later investment deal with Richard Branson on the strength of his
simple message. He won this chance from 2,000 original entrants who wanted the
opportunity to pitch to Branson. Since then there have been some rough roads
regarding his claims, but the company has now “pivoted” and is using their highly
technical analyzing device to analyze breath for other types of health and
wellness.
Module Nineteen:
Motivating Others
We all need motivation on a daily basis to succeed in life. When
you speak from the heart at the right time, whether it’s to one
person or to many, you can provide the inspiration that is
needed for people to weather the storm they are experiencing.
Many people who have been highly successful in life have had
very rough or humble beginnings. Richard Branson has dyslexia
and was a poor student.
 Steve Jobs was the son of two college students who gave him up
for adoption. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, was born in
a housing authority in the Bronx. Suze Orman’s father raised
chickens for a living. Milton H. Erickson had polio in his youth
and had to teach himself to walk again. These highly successful
people have been able to reframe their stories and become the
hero or heroine who has overcome adversity to become a better
version of themselves.
 Case Study: John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy overcame a sickly constitution to become a hero during World War II.

• Intro: As a child, Kennedy was very sickly and stuck in bed for long periods of
time. While in the infirmary of his school, he read everything he could get his
hands on. He especially loved reading about heroes. He saw himself playing the
part of the hero in the tales of King Arthur.
• Influence: In 1943, Kennedy was commanding a PT boat on patrol. An enemy
destroyer rammed into the boat and it was split in half. Two men of the crew of 13
were killed instantly. One man was very critically injured and would not have
lived had he been left to swim to shore on his own. Kennedy took a strap from the
life jacket the man was wearing and grasped it between his teeth. He swam for
four hours with his crewmate in tow to a tiny island that was 70 yards wide.
Kennedy survived the battles of World War II to become president. The man he
saved lived until he was 84 years old.

• Impact: Imagine telling this story to a child in a hospital bed. Knowing that
someone else who was sickly was able to overcome that and become stronger is a
powerful motivator. Inspiration is just as powerful as medicine. Inspiration can
help someone overcome sickness.
 Case Study: Dr. Rich Guerra
Dr. Rich Guerra is a cardiologist at Walnut Hill Medical Center in the center of Dallas,
Texas. Walnut Hill isn’t just any hospital. Their health and wellness model involves the
level of customer service you would find at a Ritz-Carlton or a Disney resort. In order
to get his employees to understand the level of customer service expected there and to
motivate them to make it part of their DNA, he presents this story.

• Intro: Imagine you’re living in medieval times. You’re traveling down a dusty,
rocky road and you see a man with a sledgehammer breaking up rocks. When you
ask, “What are you doing?” he replies, “I’m breaking up rocks.” You continue a
few miles and you see a second man, doing the same type of work. When you ask,
“What are you doing?” he replies, “I’m making a living.”
• Influence: A few hours later you come across a third man. Even though you feel
very tired and leg weary from traveling something about this man makes you feel
better. He seems different than the other two, even though he’s doing the same
thing. When you ask, “What are you doing?” he smiles, looks skyward, and then
replies, “I’m building a cathedral!”

• Impact: After telling this story, Guerra links it to the customer service level that
Walnut Hill is seeking. His job is to motivate people to see that everything they do
is “building the cathedral.”
 Case Study: Steve Wynn
Steve Wynn, the CEO of Wynn Resorts asked a very simple question and got his over
12,000 employees motivated. It had been standard practice at their weekly meetings
for department managers to meet with those who were reporting to them. For
example, the restaurant managers would convene with the waiters, chefs, and line
cooks who reported to them. At the beginning, these meetings were simply
informational, but then one day Wynn asked the managers to include this question:
Does anyone have a great customer experience they would like to share? It sparked a
customer service tsunami.
• Intro: At the first of the Wynn customer experience meetings, a bellman shared
this story. A married couple checked into one of the hotels, but the wife panicked
because she realized that she had left her husband’s diabetic medicines including
his critical insulin at home. They needed the medicine at 7:00 am the next
morning. The bellman asked if anyone was at their house and the woman said the
housekeeper would be there. The bellman took the information and told her he
would take care of it.
• Influence: The bellman called his brother who lived in Encino not far from the
couple’s Pacific Palisades house. His brother picked up the bag of medicines from
the housekeeper. The bellman got permission from his supervisor, drove to
Encino, picked up the bag, and it was at the hotel for the customer at 7:00 am.

• Impact: “Do you think that the customers will remember the marble and hand-
woven carpets in the hotel? That doesn’t mean anything to them. But the
bellman’s customer service is priceless.” Wynn believes that if employees are
being treated fairly in their jobs, the next thing they desire is to feel that their jobs
have meaning. They want to be celebrated. Positive self-esteem is one of the most
powerful forces for motivation on the planet.
 Case Study: Herb Kelleher and Rollin King
Herb Kelleher and Rollin King hatched the idea for Southwest Airlines on the back of a
napkin in 1966. From the very beginning, Herb felt that “If you ain’t got culture, you
ain’t got shit.” Part of Herb’s over-the-top commitment to Southwest’s corporate
culture was to put his employees first, his customers second, and his shareholders
third.

• Intro: When a reporter who was interviewing Kelleher asked him why it seemed
impossible for competitors to emulate Southwest’s success, he spoke up and told
this story about the importance of corporate culture and power of people to make
a difference.
• Influence: “…the difficulty for them is the cultural aspect (of Southwest). The
United Shuttle went after our business in Oakland. They had lots of advantages
including first-class seats, a global frequent flyer program, and a $30 million
dollar advertising campaign.”

• Impact: “However, I have thousands of letters in my office that say something like
—I tried them but I like your people more, so I’m back.” The takeaway—successful
leaders use their speaking and management skills to create and motivate an
award-winning culture. Publicly sharing those stories inspires and motivates
people to provide the best customer service possible and to enjoy their work at a
very high level. Their work has meaning and that meaning resonates with their
emotions and souls.
 Case Study: Winston Churchill
As a young man of 29, Winston Churchill was thought to be senile. In one of his first
speeches, he completely lost his train of thought and was silent for nearly 3 minutes.
After this fiasco, many would have remained silent forever, but instead Churchill
promised himself that he would become so practiced and natural at speaking that it
would never happen again. To this day, the entire world benefitted from Churchill’s
decision.
• Intro: History has almost forgotten that the British almost made a deal with Adolf
Hitler. Through a series of inspirational speeches, Churchill changed the tide of
history and helped the British people understand the consequences of allowing
the evil of the Nazi Empire to march forward. As the British were beaten down by
the Nazis, he continued to speak to the British people to keep their spirits up
during that dark time. At a critical time during the Battle of Britain, all available
British aircraft were in the air attempting to prevent the Nazis from getting close
to London. Churchill sat in his car with his military secretary as he gazed at the
battle overhead. He told his secretary not to disturb him and he remained quiet
for a full five minutes. He was very moved by what he was witnessing.
• Influence: He then wrote down this thought to share with the British people in a
later speech: “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so
many to so few.” The “so much” stood for the priceless freedom, liberty, and
democracy of the British lands and those of their allies. The “so many”
represented the population of Britain as well as the countries that Hitler had
invaded, if not the entire free world. The “so few” signified the brave British pilots,
many of whom died defending that liberty.

• Impact: The takeaway is that inspirational speakers are able to motivate large
numbers of people and ignite the emotions needed to take action with the fewest
words possible. A final quote from Churchill—“short words are best.”
 Module Twenty:
Launching A Movement
Great speakers know how to ignite emotions with their
speeches. And only emotions have the power to start a
movement.
 Case Study: Clarence Jones
In 1963, Clarence Jones was Martin Luther King’s speechwriter, but the most powerful
speech that King ever gave wasn’t read word-for-word from Clarence’s draft.

• Intro: As the crowd at the Washington Mall increased to over a quarter of a

million people, King began his speech. As Clarence heard the first paragraph, he
was pleased that King had read his words line-by-line. Perhaps he was finally
learning how King’s mind worked. Clarence often felt that he built the walls of the
house, but King found a way to furnish that house so it felt like home. King was
just settling into his favorite chair.
• Influence: Everything was going smoothly from Clarence’s words until the great
gospel singer Mahalia Jackson yelled out at King, “Tell ‘em about the dream,
Martin!” Clarence realized at that moment that King would set aside the prepared
remarks. The audience was about to receive a spiritual gift as if they were a
congregation in a church. King then proceeded to say, “I have a dream….” That
sentence and much of what King said in the rest of the speech was improvised.

• Impact: King was a master of improvisation because he had had spent over 5,000
hours preparing and practicing his speeches. The takeaway—great speakers and
storytellers are made, not born. Great speakers know how to ignite the emotional
fire that sparks a movement. They have practiced creating the kindling from
narrative, sensory words, analogy, and metaphor.
 Case Study: Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean-In” speech started a movement. As chief operating officer of
Facebook, Sheryl works all day with facts and figures. However, it was her three-year-
old daughter pleading with her to stay home that caused the angst she learned to share
with others.

• Intro: To prepare for her TED talk in 2010, Sheryl amassed an Everest-high stack
of statistics. However, right before she left on her trip, her toddler grabbed her leg
and begged her not to leave. She confided to a friend that she was having trouble
focusing on the speech she was supposed to give because she realized that she
didn’t have all the problems figured out herself. It was hard to make a choice to
“lean in” when it came to your own career. Her friend persuaded her to share her
story about her daughter. “If you really want women to get serious about
leadership roles, you can’t sugar coat how difficult it is,” her friend said.
• Influence: So, Sheryl followed that advice although she found it difficult to share
something that was so personal with the audience. Especially since it was in
conflict with the advice she was giving women about leadership roles. After telling
the story about her daughter, Sheryl, gave the women three pieces of guidance:

• Sit at the table.

• Make your partner a real partner.

• Don’t leave before you leave.

• Impact: Sheryl meant that many women stay by the sidelines in business instead
of taking an active part. Even in homes where the husband and wife both have
careers, women do twice as much housework and three times as much
childrearing. Also, women are more apt to “leave in their heads and hearts” way
before they actually leave their jobs, which essentially means they are not
engaged in pursuing leadership opportunities. The takeaway—you don’t move
mountains with an Everest of data, you do it by sharing personal stories from the
heart. Much debate followed Sheryl’s talk and the “lean in” philosophy became a
movement with women everywhere sharing their difficulties in rising to the top
and coming up with strategies to do so.
 Case Study: Pooja Sankar
Pooja Sankar came from a traditional Indian background. She is the founder of Piazza,
an online platform for students to share so they can overcome their shyness and get
help as they are trying to learn.

• Intro: Educated at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in India, Pooja

had earned one of the 2,000 student spots out of 2 million applicants. She was
talented and smart, even though there had been cultural pressure for her to
follow a strictly traditional path of becoming a wife and mother. She found that
she had to overcome her own shyness in order to ask her mostly male colleagues
and college professors questions about the material so that she could progress in
her studies.
• Influence: After graduating from Stanford University, Pooja began an online
platform called Piazza that helps students talk among themselves and their
professors for the purpose of accelerating their learning. It was the forum she
wished she’d had as she was studying to become a software engineer.

• Impact: Inspired by Sheryl Sandberg while working at Facebook, Pooja made a

success out of her business and started a movement of a different style of
communication among students and their instructors using Piazza. By giving talks
and sharing the emotional story of overcoming her own shyness, she has built
awareness and expanded the reach of Piazza, which is now used by thousands of
students and professors. She has received over $15 million in funding from
investors who believe in her startup.
 Case Study: Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani advocate for girls’ education. The Taliban tried to
silence her but they did not succeed.

• Intro: As a 15-year old girl tried to attend school in Pakistan in 2012, two masked
men stopped her school bus and asked for her by name. They wanted to kill her
because she was speaking up for the right of girls to become educated. They shot
her three times. Miraculously, she survived their assault. That girl was Malala.

• Influence: One year after the attack that almost took her life, Malala stood in front
of the United Nations to increase awareness around the world of the plight of
millions of girls who are not allowed to receive an education. Her speech and
subsequent best-selling book, called “I Am Malala” started a movement.
• Impact: In 2014, Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the youngest
person who has ever received it. Sixty-six million young girls around the world
are denied access to an education. Malala’s story of tragedy and ultimate triumph
has inspired people around the world with the desire to take action on this
important issue.
 Case Study: John Lasseter
John Lasseter loved the Disney company until they fired him. Then his life came full
circle.

• Intro: John Lasseter filled notepads upon notepads with sketches when he was a
boy. As a teenager, he read “The Art of Animation,” that told the history of
Disney’s animators. He worked hard to become an animator at Disney. He was in
his twenties when he got a job there. John saw the potential in computer
animation and tried to present it to his boss and colleagues at Disney. Then, there
was the day that one of his supervisors said to him, “John, we don’t want to hear
about your ideas, just do what you’re told.” When he talks about that day, John’s
eyes still get watery. John was fired from Disney. He was heartbroken, but he still
loved animation and didn’t give up.
• Influence: Fast forward to 1983, John got a position at Lucasfilm’s computer
division, where they were developing computer animation technology. In 1986,
Steve Jobs bought the division and established it as an independent company
called Pixar. John had to pitch an idea for a story to Steve. It was a short film called
“Tin Toy.” Jobs listened but he stared off as if he were looking into the future. At
the end of the meeting, Jobs looked directly into John’s eyes and said, “John, make
it great!”
• Impact: Tin Toy won an Academy Award for Best Animated short and became an
inspiration for all of Pixar’s subsequent films. After a rocky relationship between
the two companies for several years, the Disney company changed their minds
about the ideas percolating at Pixar. Disney eventually bought Pixar, where
Lasseter is now chief creative officer of both Disney and Pixar. Those three words
of advice from Jobs forever resonated in Lasseter’s ears as he was inspired to
make every frame in every film great. Lasseter’s work and the work of his team at
Pixar launched an entirely new industry that has brought joy to families around
the world. When he gives advice to young artists, John Lasseter says, “Your voice is
worthwhile. Have faith in it.”