This is the fourth lesson of the ‘'Get Started As A Speaker' email course.

Today, we'll look at how to develop your talk(s) and how to build solid presentation skills.

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Alright, so at this point, you’re getting clearer on why you want to speak, what you could speak about, and who you want to speak to.

Now, let’s transition to talk about your presentation itself.

What makes a good, memorable message?

Before we begin working on the talk itself, let me reference a popular principle made famous by Stephen Covey. He said to...

Begin with the end in mind.

Imagine your talk is taking people on a road trip. A road trip must have a destination…somewhere you’re intending to go.

So where do you want to take your audience? What feeling, change, or action do you want to the have or experience as a result of your talk?

Once you know that, then you can begin to create the ‘map’ that will help you lead them to that place.

I’ve found a helpful exercise for this is to create a one paragraph description of my talk (before I’ve written it). Think of it like the back cover summary of a book. You can take a 250 page book and condense it down to one paragraph to give someone a snapshot of what the book is about.

Create the same thing for your talk. One paragraph giving an overview of the talk and what audience members will learn from it.

From there, I generally manuscript out my talks. I write them out like I would say them. I never just do bullet points or talk of the cuff. That’s not professional. You can always tell the difference between a speaker who has prepared and someone who is just winging it.

Here’s a few quick tips when crafting your presentation...

1. Tell lots of stories. Stories are memorable. Stories are relatable. Stories hold people’s attention. Try to avoid third person stories. I’d rather hear about stories you lived rather than what someone else lived.

2. Use humor. You don’t have to be a comedian but humor will keep people engaged. Use self-depricating humor. Humor can come from stories, images or videos.

3. Be authentic to you. Every speaker has a different presentation style. Some are serious and deep. Some are funny and light-hearted. There’s no right or wrong way. You just have to find what works best for you.

Alright, so now you’ve got a solid idea of what you want to talk about and the journey you want to take your audience on. Now how do you make sure the delivery is solid too?

Here are a few thoughts...

1. Practice a lot. Practice your talk by recording yourself on video. Do it exactly like you would on stage. Your talk should sound natural but not memorized. I manuscript out my talks, but I don’t memorize them word-for-word.

2. Don’t worry if you mess up. If you’re singing a popular song everyone knows and you mess up…everyone knows it! But if you’re giving a speech and you mess up, do you know who knows? NOBODY! Just keep going.

3. Technology should be an enhancement not a crutch. Here’s how you know what it is for you…if you couldn’t use any technology in your talk, would it still be good? There’s a lot that can go wrong with technology so be prepared to present any speech without it.

Here’s the bottom line...

One of your best marketing tools is presenting a great talk.

You want to have both the sizzle (presentation skills) and the steak (content of your talk). But again, take some of the pressure off. Your talk doesn’t have to be perfect out of the gate. You’ll give the same talk multiple times and hopefully, each time it’ll get better and improve.

Todays' homework:

Lesson 4 Worksheet: What do you think is your biggest asset as a speaker?

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