Speaking tips from Santa

It's Christmas time, so, in a light-hearted vein, here are some lessons we can learn about speaking, especially professional speaking, from all those hard-working Santas out there:

1. If in doubt adopt a friendly smile and jovial demeanour.
2. Santas always start by asking children what they want for Christmas. You too can ask questions of your audience - and then you can tailor your response to them. Knowing what your audience wants and expects can help you deliver.
3. Sometimes your audience are not the people paying for the "gifts" you bring. You sometimes need to serve both the recipient of the "gift" and the person paying for it. Be alert for cues! Don't over-promise what you can't deliver or there will be tears before bed-time.
4. It pays to look the part. People may doubt you are "The Real Santa" but careful attention to costume will help. If you are speaking and want to look credible, thinking about what you wear is a good idea. Dress to fit expectations, and make sure your clothing is functional (if you use a lapel microphone, have somewhere to carry it and somewhere to pin it)
5. When things go wrong - your beard falls off, or you fall over, see Tip number 1. If you look comfortable your audience will be comfortable too.
6. Often a percentage of your audience won't want to be there. Adults in audiences usually don't burst into tears (except on the inside). But, sometimes their heart isn't in it and they will want to be somewhere else. Often this is not your fault - it's because their blood sugar is low, or they need an after-lunch nap. Accept it as a natural part of your speaking life and see point number 1.
7. Sometimes you may need to be "bigger" when playing the speaking/Santa role than you are in real life. Santas use padding, and use bigger gestures and use their biggest voice to say "Ho Ho Ho". You don't need padding, but you can use bigger gestures, and your most resonant chest voice.
8. Saying "Ho Ho Ho!" in a resonant Santa voice is a good speaking warm-up.
9. As is reciting the "Night before Christmas". Try the following articulation exercise: "Now Dasher ,Now Dancer, Now Prancer and Vixen, Come Comet, Come Cupid, On Donner and Blitzen" Now try it after having a cookie and a bottle of beer...
10. For Santa, like speakers, it is best to save the bottle of beer until after the presents have been delivered!
    

Happy Christmas! Tips for Speakers will return in the New Year!

Help for Speakers: Tip of the Week 3: it's easier to incorporate humour, than it is to tell jokes.

Week 3 of Tip of the Week: Rather than tell jokes, use humour in your speech

Having an audience laugh relaxes us, and it relaxes the audience. Relaxation and laughter aid learning.

How do you make people laugh? It's much harder to tell a joke than it is to introduce humour into your speech (and almost every speech should include humour)

There are various ways to incorporate humour, but one of the easiest is by observing what is going on around you, being alive to the humour in every day life, and then sharing stories with your audiences (provided you then link the story back to the topic of your speech).

In case you missed them here are previous Tips of the Week.

Help for Speakers' Tip of the Week#2: Powerpoint is the last tool to use when writing a speech.
First you need to know what your audience cares about, why you like them, and what you want to share with them. Once you have a first draft/outline, it's time to think how your audience would benefit from an audio or visual cue. Then, and only then, it's time to open PowerPoint (or Apple's Keynote).

Help for Speakers Tip of the Week #1: Don't drink iced water, go for room temperature or luke-warm instead.
The vocal chords work best when nice and warm.

Remember - if you are struggling with a speech or marketing, or just want to find out more about me and my services, you can always ring in on the weekly Help for Speakers Q and A session every Wednesday @1.

Ring in if you have a question, need inspiration or ideas for an upcoming presentation, or want to talk about speaking as a way to get business. From New Zealand call 0800 449 288, from Australia call 1800 036 0901, and then enter the Guest Access Code 54052101#. For other details follow this link