The main thing people will remember about you is how easy you are to do business with. Let's look at how Hollywood is doing business these days.
A few of years ago, I conducted a series of programs for government agencies on entrepreneurial thinking. Speaking with me was Carolyn Corbin, author of CONQUERING CORPORATE CODEPENDENCE. Carolyn is a futurist, who projects trends and their consequences.
Her theory is that government imitates business, while business uses Hollywood as a model of how to do business. By the year 2005, she predicts 70 percent of the business world will be doing business like Hollywood where, at any one point, a huge percent of the work force is unemployed.
Today, when people come together in Hollywood, it is for a project with a beginning and end. The old studio system allowed steady employment for tens of thousands who worked with each other for decades. That is now a distant memory.
Today's workers may never have seen or worked with each other before. Yet, the pressure is tremendous to get the job done as efficiently as possible. This leads to a Hollywood fact of life: The people who get hired are those with a reputation for BOTH excellence and being easy to work with.
Today's corporations are imitating this Hollywood model, constantly breaking into smaller units for projects or "outsourcing." Few people can or want to work their whole life for one or two companies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor sets average job tenure at 4.6 years, and USA Today cites a trend among fast-trackers to change jobs nine times before age thirty-two! That's a year and four months on each job, assuming there is no downtime in between.
Your job is to be employable, not just employed. No matter what you do and
for whom, be the Chairman of the Board of your own career. Be loyal to your
company, of course. It's good for your career, and it's the right thing to do. But while you're being loyal and dependable, be visible in your company, your community, and your industry. Then, if (or when) you are out of work, the word goes out, "Oh, good, there's a wonderful person available."
Within corporate America, as in Hollywood, people may stay employed, but they
will probably rotate among different teams working on different projects. When you earn the reputation for getting things done and "doing the impossible" (that is, doing at least one thing better than almost anyone else), you are more likely to be selected for the fun, high profile projects. The more in demand you can become, the more your fee or salary goes up. That's "Hollywood economics."
People are going to remember if you did a great job, but they'll also remember if you were professional and easy to deal with, or unreliable and a pain in the neck. Either way they won't forget you, but being a professional will get you hired again. Think about that as you plan your career.
by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Rabu, 09 Januari 2008
Communicating Clearly Through Voice Mail and Email
Clear messages are concise, complete, correct, quick and make you look competent. Whether you were a pioneer in the use of email and voice mail, or have just recently been introduced to this technology, making effective use of these forms of communication is not a "by chance" happening. Here are a few tips for polishing your messages.
Follow the rules of etiquette when creating your messages.
Even though technology has changed, the rules of etiquette have not. Avoid remarks that are vulgar, repetitive and verbose, and never write or say anything you wouldn't want forwarded to your company CEO, your customers, your family, or your friends.
Distinguish between fact and opinion when the difference may not be obvious to the person receiving your message.
If you are making a personal judgment, say so, lest your words come back to haunt you. And even then, be sure you really want to state your personal opinion in potentially libelous situations.
Respect others' confidentiality and expect your own to be nonexistent.
Most of us have been comforted by the thought of our guaranteed right to free speech to say what we think and feel with few exceptions. However, messages left in the private sector do not enjoy such immunity; they are considered private domain and are not subject to "free speech" protection.
Respect all copyright and licensing agreements.
Take great care to discover who has authored information you may be tempted to include as yours. Just because you do not claim the ideas as your own, and even if you acknowledge other "unknown" sources, you may still be liable for copyright infringement.
Understand the difference in being informal and looking careless or stupid.
Informal means a conversational tone, a breezy manner, colloquial words and phrases, intentional sentence fragments, and acronyms. On the other hand, informal does not mean unclear and incomplete thoughts, ambiguous references, irrelevant details, repetitive information, disorganized ideas, unclear actions, misspelled words, or grammatical errors.
Use the MADE format to structure your messages.
People rarely understand messages that do not immediately get to the point. Detailed information or situations make more sense to the reader or listener when the message begins with a summary or overview and the required action, followed by relevant details.
Message: Summary of 1-3 sentences.
Action: What action do you plan to take or want the reader to take?
Details: Elaborate on who, when, where, why, how, and how much.
Evidence: Mention any materials you think will make the message clearer or the action easier to take.
Email and voice mail have made our lives increasingly more productive. Use them to their fullest advantage, without abusing others' rights or offending their sense of decency and appropriateness. Common courtesy and good sense go a long way in matters of etiquette. Your coworkers, customers, family, and friends will appreciate your skill and your courtesy.
by Dianna Booher
Follow the rules of etiquette when creating your messages.
Even though technology has changed, the rules of etiquette have not. Avoid remarks that are vulgar, repetitive and verbose, and never write or say anything you wouldn't want forwarded to your company CEO, your customers, your family, or your friends.
Distinguish between fact and opinion when the difference may not be obvious to the person receiving your message.
If you are making a personal judgment, say so, lest your words come back to haunt you. And even then, be sure you really want to state your personal opinion in potentially libelous situations.
Respect others' confidentiality and expect your own to be nonexistent.
Most of us have been comforted by the thought of our guaranteed right to free speech to say what we think and feel with few exceptions. However, messages left in the private sector do not enjoy such immunity; they are considered private domain and are not subject to "free speech" protection.
Respect all copyright and licensing agreements.
Take great care to discover who has authored information you may be tempted to include as yours. Just because you do not claim the ideas as your own, and even if you acknowledge other "unknown" sources, you may still be liable for copyright infringement.
Understand the difference in being informal and looking careless or stupid.
Informal means a conversational tone, a breezy manner, colloquial words and phrases, intentional sentence fragments, and acronyms. On the other hand, informal does not mean unclear and incomplete thoughts, ambiguous references, irrelevant details, repetitive information, disorganized ideas, unclear actions, misspelled words, or grammatical errors.
Use the MADE format to structure your messages.
People rarely understand messages that do not immediately get to the point. Detailed information or situations make more sense to the reader or listener when the message begins with a summary or overview and the required action, followed by relevant details.
Message: Summary of 1-3 sentences.
Action: What action do you plan to take or want the reader to take?
Details: Elaborate on who, when, where, why, how, and how much.
Evidence: Mention any materials you think will make the message clearer or the action easier to take.
Email and voice mail have made our lives increasingly more productive. Use them to their fullest advantage, without abusing others' rights or offending their sense of decency and appropriateness. Common courtesy and good sense go a long way in matters of etiquette. Your coworkers, customers, family, and friends will appreciate your skill and your courtesy.
by Dianna Booher
So You Want to Do This for a Living?
So you want to make a living of speaking - want to buy me lunch and pick my brain? I don't have time!! So save your money I have given you some good free advice. If you like it, I have tapes, I give seminars, and I offer a free newsletter to speakers called SpeakerFrippNews - yours for the asking - just send a message to Subscribe@Fripp.com
Making a Job of It
Most of you will be honing your speaking skills as a tool for advancing your intended career. You may discover you're so good at getting your message across to groups that you're considering doing it full time. If so, here's some Fripp Advice. Even if you'd never consider professional speaking, many of these tips apply to starting any new business.
You bring the same qualities to speaking that you have used in your other business affairs. If you have never been even remotely successful before, you aren't going to be now. My overnight success took nineteen years of gradual, constant growth. I worked all the time to get ready for the opportunities that came. You don't get the opportunities first and then do the work.
You can't make it as a speaker on your looks or the power of your personality, not even on your speaking skills. Audiences expect you to have original material or, at the very least, an original slant on your material. Can anyone else say it? Does anyone else say it? If so, don't say it.
As you develop, new material will too. Start with one good speech that people really want to hear rather than sixteen indifferent speeches. Once you have this speech, work on adapting and expanding it, ultimately turning it into a seminar. Then go for speech #2.
Here are five good business habits that will help you as a professional speaker.
Socialize: Go early, go to the cocktail party or reception, walk around and look at the exhibits at a conference, talk to and learn about your audience. You have to be social. You have to be nice. I'm clear with myself and the organizers that I will go to a social event the night before, such as a dinner with the board of directors and their spouses. However, I draw the line at parties at an off-site location ten miles away with country-western dancing where my presence won't make any difference.
Diversify: Never have all your eggs in one basket. A friend of mine gave a presentation about how he had lost ninety-six speaking engagements in two days. He had three clients that each booked more than thirty dates. Then all three had business reversals. I once met someone who was thrilled that 70 percent of his business came from IBM. Guess what happened when IBM eliminated all outside contractors.
Exercise free speech: There is no such thing as a free speech. There are just speeches that you don't get paid for directly. My early clients didn't realize that my "free speeches" cost me about $130 each for preparation, travel, and lost time at my salon. To get customers for my hairstyling salon, I spoke for civic and community organizations. I told them stories about customer service and funny things that had happened in my salon. At the end of my presentation, I'd put their business cards in a hat and pull out one for a free hairstyling. These cards quickly built my mailing list.
Negotiate: If there's an organization you really want to speak for, but they can't pay, remember these magic words: "What else can you give me?" A chain of sandwich shops wanted to book me but were trying to cut $500 from my fee. I said, "What else can you give me that's worth $500? I don't need 250 sandwiches." They agreed to write a letter saying that I walked on water and send it to a hundred influential program chairs of my choice. First I faxed or wrote the contacts asking if they'd like to hire me. Then a few days later each received the rave letter.
The first year I was a full-time speaker, my calendar wasn't as full as it is now. A woman had heard me speak at the National Association of Catering Executives. "I know you're worth it because I've seen you," she said, "but we can't afford your fee."
"Let's not give up so easily," I said. In the end, my brother and I spent five days at a lovely hotel in Berkeley, with a suite each, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including one with friends - all for one free speech to 150 meeting planners on a day I wasn't booked. If we'd actually paid for these perks, the cost would have exceeded my fee. This was one of the best vacations my brother and I ever had together.
Another time a woman called me and said, "I hear you're the best speaker in the world." "You heard right," I said. She was program chair for Women in Travel and wanted me to speak at their installation of officers. The date was open on my calendar, but they couldn't afford me. "Well, I don't need the practice," I told her, "and I'm not doing it for nothing, but I will take a trade. Why don't you call me back tomorrow with your best offer"
The next day, she called back. "Would you take a free, round-trip, first- class airline ticket to England?" "You negotiator, you!" I said.
Count on payback time: I can't tell you how many people call to hire me, saying they first saw me years ago. My brother told me, "Looking back at my career, sometimes I've performed in these horrible places. One day in 1981, we played an especially miserable dump for an audience that didn't appreciate us. But that day, a young man was in the audience named Steve Ball. Ten years later, he had become a world-famous designer of logos for music groups, creating many album logos including the one for "Discipline.".
How to Gather Material
Material is everywhere. First, do what a good speaker friend of mine did when he decided to go professional. Danny Cox went to the beach with a pad and pencil to review his life for experiences and situations that could serve as good or bad examples. He wrote down the high and low points, successes and failures.
Include the sudden and stunning bits of insight that come to you as you're showering or speeding down the highway. Maybe a friend said something that was especially funny or memorable. Write it all down. Record your life as you live it. Every day, write down something that could be in a speech. For every intriguing, funny, or surprising thing that happens to you, think, "how could I use this in a speech?" Eventually, some of these experiences will become the original stories you use to illustrate a key point in your speech. Nothing bores an audience faster than old stories. Keep it fresh.
Start clipping and collecting. Rather than relying on a brilliant flash of creativity, you can "harvest" stories and quotes. Whenever something you see on television or read about provokes a new insight, cut it out or jot it down. Anything that makes you laugh or cry should be added to your file folder.
Office Mechanics
Think big, but start small. At the beginning, don't be concerned with anything except setting things up right. Don't spend a penny you don't have to.
If you have a spare bedroom, don't go out and buy office furniture.
Don't spend money on razzle-dazzle brochures before you know what your topic will be. These days it's better to have a one-page black-and-white fact sheet you can fax or mail. When you can afford it and have a number of such sheets and publicity pieces to offer, invest in a fancy press packet cover. This gives you the flexibility of constantly changing and updating the contents. Keep your fee sheet separate and date it so that someone running across it a few years from now will realize your prices may have changed.
You cannot say you are in business until you have a dedicated fax line.
If you're serious about your business, you can't function without someone in your office to respond immediately to requests, route important messages, and handle crises. Anytime a potential client fails to connect with you satisfactorily, you've lost them.
Whenever you or your assistant goes to lunch, leave a new message on the answering machine: date, time, when you'll return their call. If someone is calling down a list of potential speakers and isn't sure you'll call right back, they'll call the next name.
Take the cost of postage seriously. Once I used a heart-shaped paper clip to hold several pages together in a mailing of 1000-until I discovered that fraction of an ounce pushed the cost of each piece up to the next postage level, a total of $200!
When you travel, park at approximately the same place at your local airport every time. It will save you time and bother when you stagger home jet-lagged at odd hours.
Make it tremendously easy to do business with you. Customers want convenience, speed, and choice. "You can e-mail me, fax me, call me." I built my entire business on my father's philosophy: "Don't concentrate on making a lot of money. Concentrate on being the kind of person people want to do business with. Then you'll make a lot of money."
Speaking Agents
"Where can I find an agent?" people ask. The fact is that agents don't want to know you until you really don't need them. At the beginning and intermediate stages of your career, you create the bread-and-butter jobs that the agents will come and top with jam.
Good agents are bombarded with prospective clients. Don't contact an agent until you can present them with agent-friendly material:
your publicity packet without your name and address on it so they can fill in their own.
a fine demo video they can sell you with.
a halfway decent fee so they can make some money.
a reputation.
I've spoken at meetings with a number of other speakers who were booked through various bureaus. When this happens, I send copies of the program to the other bureaus, saying, "Hey, I was on with your speaker. Would you like to know about me?"
Frankly, every agent who had booked me is someone I first met at a National Speakers Association event. These people are a lot more open to your call if they sat next to you at a luncheon.
If I think a speaker is superb, I recommend her or him to my agents, who know I'm not going to waste their time. My agents know that when I recommend someone, he or she is qualified.
A couple of my speaking friends are handled exclusively by speakers' bureaus. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be guaranteed a hundred speeches a year? But in actuality, when you get to the "A league," you may find yourself in great demand as the flavor of the month. You must understand that this too shall pass. Popularity is a pendulum. A speakers' bureau may think you're wonderful and send you out, but the next month someone else has become their star. Never relax your own promotion, marketing, and networking, counting on a bureau to do it all for you. Promote yourself, even with the speaking bureaus that already hire you!
If you decide to take some time off, arrange to keep your self-promotion active while you're not working. A very successful speaker I know took a year off, and when she came back, it was like starting over. Her clients had moved or found someone else, or their meeting planning was now "outsourced." I'm not saying you shouldn't take time off, but if you do, keep the energy going.
Some people, as they achieve more success, think, "I'll just get a good salesperson, and then I don't have to sell anymore." But it just doesn't work that way. No one can sell you the way you can. I'd rather talk to a client myself. Then I can say, "Tell me what I should know about your meeting," and I can clarify their responses. Or they may be calling to say, "We only can afford half your fee, so can you recommend someone else?" Then I ask about their event, what else it includes. I point out that my full-day fee would also cover a second speech or a seminar, and often this opens up new possibilities.
Selling Related Products
As speakers develop their careers, many begin marketing products related to their subject matter. However, don't invest in products if you don't know how to market them or don't have a marketing mechanism in place. The simplest way to start is to tape-record a keynote speech. Then you have a demo audio to send to prospective clients as well as a product to sell. When you have a one- hour taped speech, you could also be interviewed by someone on the subject and then you have two cassettes. But don't try to start with a six-cassette tape pack if you have only two tapes.
Make every product do double or triple duty. Each can be something to sell, a gift for meeting planners, and a promotional piece all in one. Make your presentation cases as versatile as possible. I use a six-cassette notebook-style box with a handsome four-color generic cover. I can customize the contents and add a sticker to the outside to identify them. Thus I can have very impressive packaging even for tape programs that may be tailored for a small, specific audience.
Marketing your own audio and video tapes, books, and brochures requires a certain amount of resilience. Resign yourself to the fact that every demo you create will be obsolete the moment it is done, that anything you send out will have a typo, and that when your book is finally in print, you will think of the most brilliant thought you've ever had.
When to Say "No!"
People ask me, "Do you ever bomb?" Yes, but even the worst experience, with a little time, can become funny, and I always learn something. Once I spoke for a group of men who worked in a gravel quarry. I said no, I didn't think it was my kind of audience, but the organizers kept insisting. Finally I gave in and said yes. (I admit to this defect in my character: when people beg me to take their money and I refuse but they keep offering even more money, I sometimes end up accepting.) How bad could it be? I rationalized. I went early, set up the environment, changed the lighting, schmoozed with everyone. I'm not saying they weren't nice, hard working Americans, but it looked as if their friends had given them subscriptions to Tattoo of the Month Club. Fortunately there were a few wives. One woman, very thin, sat up front. "Ah, she must have heard of me," I thought. So I asked her if she liked speakers.
"Oh, no, my husband is a bit deaf so we have to sit up front." I schmoozed, especially with their shop steward and a man they called "The Preacher." who was there. When I met their president, I asked him why I was being paid so much money for just a fifteen-minute speech. He replied honestly that he didn't think I could keep their attention for more than fifteen minutes. "Boy," I thought, "this man hasn't seen me Fripnotize a crowd!" Then I started speaking. It was horrible! No one in the room stopped chatting with their neighbors. I learned that any time you have an hour-long open bar for a blue-collar audience before a speech, your chances of success plummet. They would have done better to have a stripper.
After my speech, awards were given out. I couldn't slip away because my handbag was up front. The first recipient was the hard-of-hearing man,who said, "Talking to the owner of the company, I haven't always agreed with you guys, but when you take someone's paycheck, you don't _____ on them." The second award winner was the shop steward, who said, "I don't know why you bring in these motivational speakers. We're all motivated enough to turn up at work every day." Finally came the preacher. He said, "Most of you weren't listenin' to Patricia. You should have done because she was very good. Now, I have 12 points to make..." His speech was longer than mine.
When I got home, I called my friend Susan RoAne. "It was awful!" I moaned. "Should I send their money back?" Susan's reply changed my attitude for life: "You were fine. They failed. You suffered. Keep the money."
I also learned the importance of your position on the schedule. On one occasion, I sent the advance money back because I learned that I was scheduled to speak on the last night of a conference, following a dinner dance. That's just not the right situation for any speaker. At that point in a conference, everyone has been working hard for several days and wants to party, not listen to a speech. I suggested they hire a male comedian instead.
It's also insulting to be scheduled after a dinner with an audience that has consumed lots of alcohol when your message requires focus and concentration. Unless the corporate culture is "no alcohol," I don't take such engagements. Breakfast meetings or morning time slots work best for me. So, learn not to take all the money offered. Say no based on your past experienceÛand mine.
"Shut Up!"
At every service club, there are invariably two retired gentlemen seated at a table by the door, counting the money. One day while I was speaking, two gentleman were sitting in the back of the room talking. Not whispering, but really talking. I began to get indignant. Here I was, giving them a free speech, and not only weren't they listening, but they were preventing everyone else from hearing and concentrating, too. "They don't realize that I'm an important person," I thought. They kept talking. Finally I stopped in mid- sentence, something I never do.
"Gentlemen," I said, "You may not realize it, but I'm usually paid very well to speak. I also have a business in San Francisco waiting for my time. When people pay you to speak, they treat you very well. You've taught me that when you speak for nothing, you have to put up with people talking through your presentation. I'll be happy to leave right now and go take care of my business. I'll also be happy to stay and finish my speech, but if I do, you will have to shut up and listen!"
The Mayor, the Fire Chief, and the Police Chief leaned forward in their chairs. This was leadership (or foolhardiness) in action. The two men stopped talking. Afterwards, everyone was very appreciative, but I admit that I wondered if I hadn't been just a bit too pushy.
Six months later, I got a call from the President of a Rotary Club wanting to book me the following year. Assuming it was another freebie, I suggested he call a few weeks before his date to see if I had a vacancy. He said, "You don't understand. We want the best speaker, and we're willing to pay for it. Don't you remember us? We're the Rotarians you told to be quiet. We loved it."
Inside secrets on the speaking industry and tips for success as a professional speaker from a pro...
by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Making a Job of It
Most of you will be honing your speaking skills as a tool for advancing your intended career. You may discover you're so good at getting your message across to groups that you're considering doing it full time. If so, here's some Fripp Advice. Even if you'd never consider professional speaking, many of these tips apply to starting any new business.
You bring the same qualities to speaking that you have used in your other business affairs. If you have never been even remotely successful before, you aren't going to be now. My overnight success took nineteen years of gradual, constant growth. I worked all the time to get ready for the opportunities that came. You don't get the opportunities first and then do the work.
You can't make it as a speaker on your looks or the power of your personality, not even on your speaking skills. Audiences expect you to have original material or, at the very least, an original slant on your material. Can anyone else say it? Does anyone else say it? If so, don't say it.
As you develop, new material will too. Start with one good speech that people really want to hear rather than sixteen indifferent speeches. Once you have this speech, work on adapting and expanding it, ultimately turning it into a seminar. Then go for speech #2.
Here are five good business habits that will help you as a professional speaker.
Socialize: Go early, go to the cocktail party or reception, walk around and look at the exhibits at a conference, talk to and learn about your audience. You have to be social. You have to be nice. I'm clear with myself and the organizers that I will go to a social event the night before, such as a dinner with the board of directors and their spouses. However, I draw the line at parties at an off-site location ten miles away with country-western dancing where my presence won't make any difference.
Diversify: Never have all your eggs in one basket. A friend of mine gave a presentation about how he had lost ninety-six speaking engagements in two days. He had three clients that each booked more than thirty dates. Then all three had business reversals. I once met someone who was thrilled that 70 percent of his business came from IBM. Guess what happened when IBM eliminated all outside contractors.
Exercise free speech: There is no such thing as a free speech. There are just speeches that you don't get paid for directly. My early clients didn't realize that my "free speeches" cost me about $130 each for preparation, travel, and lost time at my salon. To get customers for my hairstyling salon, I spoke for civic and community organizations. I told them stories about customer service and funny things that had happened in my salon. At the end of my presentation, I'd put their business cards in a hat and pull out one for a free hairstyling. These cards quickly built my mailing list.
Negotiate: If there's an organization you really want to speak for, but they can't pay, remember these magic words: "What else can you give me?" A chain of sandwich shops wanted to book me but were trying to cut $500 from my fee. I said, "What else can you give me that's worth $500? I don't need 250 sandwiches." They agreed to write a letter saying that I walked on water and send it to a hundred influential program chairs of my choice. First I faxed or wrote the contacts asking if they'd like to hire me. Then a few days later each received the rave letter.
The first year I was a full-time speaker, my calendar wasn't as full as it is now. A woman had heard me speak at the National Association of Catering Executives. "I know you're worth it because I've seen you," she said, "but we can't afford your fee."
"Let's not give up so easily," I said. In the end, my brother and I spent five days at a lovely hotel in Berkeley, with a suite each, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including one with friends - all for one free speech to 150 meeting planners on a day I wasn't booked. If we'd actually paid for these perks, the cost would have exceeded my fee. This was one of the best vacations my brother and I ever had together.
Another time a woman called me and said, "I hear you're the best speaker in the world." "You heard right," I said. She was program chair for Women in Travel and wanted me to speak at their installation of officers. The date was open on my calendar, but they couldn't afford me. "Well, I don't need the practice," I told her, "and I'm not doing it for nothing, but I will take a trade. Why don't you call me back tomorrow with your best offer"
The next day, she called back. "Would you take a free, round-trip, first- class airline ticket to England?" "You negotiator, you!" I said.
Count on payback time: I can't tell you how many people call to hire me, saying they first saw me years ago. My brother told me, "Looking back at my career, sometimes I've performed in these horrible places. One day in 1981, we played an especially miserable dump for an audience that didn't appreciate us. But that day, a young man was in the audience named Steve Ball. Ten years later, he had become a world-famous designer of logos for music groups, creating many album logos including the one for "Discipline.".
How to Gather Material
Material is everywhere. First, do what a good speaker friend of mine did when he decided to go professional. Danny Cox went to the beach with a pad and pencil to review his life for experiences and situations that could serve as good or bad examples. He wrote down the high and low points, successes and failures.
Include the sudden and stunning bits of insight that come to you as you're showering or speeding down the highway. Maybe a friend said something that was especially funny or memorable. Write it all down. Record your life as you live it. Every day, write down something that could be in a speech. For every intriguing, funny, or surprising thing that happens to you, think, "how could I use this in a speech?" Eventually, some of these experiences will become the original stories you use to illustrate a key point in your speech. Nothing bores an audience faster than old stories. Keep it fresh.
Start clipping and collecting. Rather than relying on a brilliant flash of creativity, you can "harvest" stories and quotes. Whenever something you see on television or read about provokes a new insight, cut it out or jot it down. Anything that makes you laugh or cry should be added to your file folder.
Office Mechanics
Think big, but start small. At the beginning, don't be concerned with anything except setting things up right. Don't spend a penny you don't have to.
If you have a spare bedroom, don't go out and buy office furniture.
Don't spend money on razzle-dazzle brochures before you know what your topic will be. These days it's better to have a one-page black-and-white fact sheet you can fax or mail. When you can afford it and have a number of such sheets and publicity pieces to offer, invest in a fancy press packet cover. This gives you the flexibility of constantly changing and updating the contents. Keep your fee sheet separate and date it so that someone running across it a few years from now will realize your prices may have changed.
You cannot say you are in business until you have a dedicated fax line.
If you're serious about your business, you can't function without someone in your office to respond immediately to requests, route important messages, and handle crises. Anytime a potential client fails to connect with you satisfactorily, you've lost them.
Whenever you or your assistant goes to lunch, leave a new message on the answering machine: date, time, when you'll return their call. If someone is calling down a list of potential speakers and isn't sure you'll call right back, they'll call the next name.
Take the cost of postage seriously. Once I used a heart-shaped paper clip to hold several pages together in a mailing of 1000-until I discovered that fraction of an ounce pushed the cost of each piece up to the next postage level, a total of $200!
When you travel, park at approximately the same place at your local airport every time. It will save you time and bother when you stagger home jet-lagged at odd hours.
Make it tremendously easy to do business with you. Customers want convenience, speed, and choice. "You can e-mail me, fax me, call me." I built my entire business on my father's philosophy: "Don't concentrate on making a lot of money. Concentrate on being the kind of person people want to do business with. Then you'll make a lot of money."
Speaking Agents
"Where can I find an agent?" people ask. The fact is that agents don't want to know you until you really don't need them. At the beginning and intermediate stages of your career, you create the bread-and-butter jobs that the agents will come and top with jam.
Good agents are bombarded with prospective clients. Don't contact an agent until you can present them with agent-friendly material:
your publicity packet without your name and address on it so they can fill in their own.
a fine demo video they can sell you with.
a halfway decent fee so they can make some money.
a reputation.
I've spoken at meetings with a number of other speakers who were booked through various bureaus. When this happens, I send copies of the program to the other bureaus, saying, "Hey, I was on with your speaker. Would you like to know about me?"
Frankly, every agent who had booked me is someone I first met at a National Speakers Association event. These people are a lot more open to your call if they sat next to you at a luncheon.
If I think a speaker is superb, I recommend her or him to my agents, who know I'm not going to waste their time. My agents know that when I recommend someone, he or she is qualified.
A couple of my speaking friends are handled exclusively by speakers' bureaus. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be guaranteed a hundred speeches a year? But in actuality, when you get to the "A league," you may find yourself in great demand as the flavor of the month. You must understand that this too shall pass. Popularity is a pendulum. A speakers' bureau may think you're wonderful and send you out, but the next month someone else has become their star. Never relax your own promotion, marketing, and networking, counting on a bureau to do it all for you. Promote yourself, even with the speaking bureaus that already hire you!
If you decide to take some time off, arrange to keep your self-promotion active while you're not working. A very successful speaker I know took a year off, and when she came back, it was like starting over. Her clients had moved or found someone else, or their meeting planning was now "outsourced." I'm not saying you shouldn't take time off, but if you do, keep the energy going.
Some people, as they achieve more success, think, "I'll just get a good salesperson, and then I don't have to sell anymore." But it just doesn't work that way. No one can sell you the way you can. I'd rather talk to a client myself. Then I can say, "Tell me what I should know about your meeting," and I can clarify their responses. Or they may be calling to say, "We only can afford half your fee, so can you recommend someone else?" Then I ask about their event, what else it includes. I point out that my full-day fee would also cover a second speech or a seminar, and often this opens up new possibilities.
Selling Related Products
As speakers develop their careers, many begin marketing products related to their subject matter. However, don't invest in products if you don't know how to market them or don't have a marketing mechanism in place. The simplest way to start is to tape-record a keynote speech. Then you have a demo audio to send to prospective clients as well as a product to sell. When you have a one- hour taped speech, you could also be interviewed by someone on the subject and then you have two cassettes. But don't try to start with a six-cassette tape pack if you have only two tapes.
Make every product do double or triple duty. Each can be something to sell, a gift for meeting planners, and a promotional piece all in one. Make your presentation cases as versatile as possible. I use a six-cassette notebook-style box with a handsome four-color generic cover. I can customize the contents and add a sticker to the outside to identify them. Thus I can have very impressive packaging even for tape programs that may be tailored for a small, specific audience.
Marketing your own audio and video tapes, books, and brochures requires a certain amount of resilience. Resign yourself to the fact that every demo you create will be obsolete the moment it is done, that anything you send out will have a typo, and that when your book is finally in print, you will think of the most brilliant thought you've ever had.
When to Say "No!"
People ask me, "Do you ever bomb?" Yes, but even the worst experience, with a little time, can become funny, and I always learn something. Once I spoke for a group of men who worked in a gravel quarry. I said no, I didn't think it was my kind of audience, but the organizers kept insisting. Finally I gave in and said yes. (I admit to this defect in my character: when people beg me to take their money and I refuse but they keep offering even more money, I sometimes end up accepting.) How bad could it be? I rationalized. I went early, set up the environment, changed the lighting, schmoozed with everyone. I'm not saying they weren't nice, hard working Americans, but it looked as if their friends had given them subscriptions to Tattoo of the Month Club. Fortunately there were a few wives. One woman, very thin, sat up front. "Ah, she must have heard of me," I thought. So I asked her if she liked speakers.
"Oh, no, my husband is a bit deaf so we have to sit up front." I schmoozed, especially with their shop steward and a man they called "The Preacher." who was there. When I met their president, I asked him why I was being paid so much money for just a fifteen-minute speech. He replied honestly that he didn't think I could keep their attention for more than fifteen minutes. "Boy," I thought, "this man hasn't seen me Fripnotize a crowd!" Then I started speaking. It was horrible! No one in the room stopped chatting with their neighbors. I learned that any time you have an hour-long open bar for a blue-collar audience before a speech, your chances of success plummet. They would have done better to have a stripper.
After my speech, awards were given out. I couldn't slip away because my handbag was up front. The first recipient was the hard-of-hearing man,who said, "Talking to the owner of the company, I haven't always agreed with you guys, but when you take someone's paycheck, you don't _____ on them." The second award winner was the shop steward, who said, "I don't know why you bring in these motivational speakers. We're all motivated enough to turn up at work every day." Finally came the preacher. He said, "Most of you weren't listenin' to Patricia. You should have done because she was very good. Now, I have 12 points to make..." His speech was longer than mine.
When I got home, I called my friend Susan RoAne. "It was awful!" I moaned. "Should I send their money back?" Susan's reply changed my attitude for life: "You were fine. They failed. You suffered. Keep the money."
I also learned the importance of your position on the schedule. On one occasion, I sent the advance money back because I learned that I was scheduled to speak on the last night of a conference, following a dinner dance. That's just not the right situation for any speaker. At that point in a conference, everyone has been working hard for several days and wants to party, not listen to a speech. I suggested they hire a male comedian instead.
It's also insulting to be scheduled after a dinner with an audience that has consumed lots of alcohol when your message requires focus and concentration. Unless the corporate culture is "no alcohol," I don't take such engagements. Breakfast meetings or morning time slots work best for me. So, learn not to take all the money offered. Say no based on your past experienceÛand mine.
"Shut Up!"
At every service club, there are invariably two retired gentlemen seated at a table by the door, counting the money. One day while I was speaking, two gentleman were sitting in the back of the room talking. Not whispering, but really talking. I began to get indignant. Here I was, giving them a free speech, and not only weren't they listening, but they were preventing everyone else from hearing and concentrating, too. "They don't realize that I'm an important person," I thought. They kept talking. Finally I stopped in mid- sentence, something I never do.
"Gentlemen," I said, "You may not realize it, but I'm usually paid very well to speak. I also have a business in San Francisco waiting for my time. When people pay you to speak, they treat you very well. You've taught me that when you speak for nothing, you have to put up with people talking through your presentation. I'll be happy to leave right now and go take care of my business. I'll also be happy to stay and finish my speech, but if I do, you will have to shut up and listen!"
The Mayor, the Fire Chief, and the Police Chief leaned forward in their chairs. This was leadership (or foolhardiness) in action. The two men stopped talking. Afterwards, everyone was very appreciative, but I admit that I wondered if I hadn't been just a bit too pushy.
Six months later, I got a call from the President of a Rotary Club wanting to book me the following year. Assuming it was another freebie, I suggested he call a few weeks before his date to see if I had a vacancy. He said, "You don't understand. We want the best speaker, and we're willing to pay for it. Don't you remember us? We're the Rotarians you told to be quiet. We loved it."
Inside secrets on the speaking industry and tips for success as a professional speaker from a pro...
by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Tribute to Cavett Robert
Cavett always wanted his money's worth out of life! His incredible energy never ceased to amaze me. In 1977, I attended my first National Speakers Association convention and was tremendously excited at the prospect of attending Cavett's weekend seminar with Merlyn Cundiff. Cavett had flown in just a few hours earlier and had been up all night. But even with no sleep, he was magnificent and vibrant.
The last time I saw him was at the Speakers Roundtable meeting in the summer of 1997 after the NSA convention. We were a group of about thirty-two including spouses. Cavett and Trudy had stayed up late the night before for the dinners and events, yet there they were, looking fresh and rested at the 7:00 a.m. prayer meeting. They were almost twice my age, but I knew I could never have done it.
Cavett's extraordinary skills made even "old-timers" feel like kids in the business by comparison. His stories were always exhilarating and vivid. When he recounted his conversations with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, he had the ability to make us feel we knew Dr. Peale as well as he did.
Cavett Robert
Cavett was unfailingly generous. In 1981, he flew at his own expense to address my Sales and Marketing Executives club in San Francisco. We didn't have enough money to pay him, but that didn't stop him from making it a spectacular event. (While he was there, I became the only Past President ever to cut his hair. We both thought he looked great.)
All of us are constantly meeting speakers from all over the country who were also encouraged by Cavett. At every convention coffee break you hear stories like this one. Leslie Miller from Washington listened to a tape of Cavett and was so inspired she picked up the phone to tell him how much he had influenced her. She knew nothing about NSA and had no idea who Cavett was. He invited her to visit if ever she was in the area. She took him up on that, and he took her for lunch at his club. Later, at his home, she saw photos of Billy Graham and Richard Nixon ... and then he sheepishly admitted, well, yes, he had started this organization called NSA. Cavett was so comfortable with the situation that it was impossible for her to be embarrassed.
Cavett becomes even more special and inspirational when we realize that this exceptional generosity was not an occasional gesture. This was the Cavett norm.
by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
The last time I saw him was at the Speakers Roundtable meeting in the summer of 1997 after the NSA convention. We were a group of about thirty-two including spouses. Cavett and Trudy had stayed up late the night before for the dinners and events, yet there they were, looking fresh and rested at the 7:00 a.m. prayer meeting. They were almost twice my age, but I knew I could never have done it.
Cavett's extraordinary skills made even "old-timers" feel like kids in the business by comparison. His stories were always exhilarating and vivid. When he recounted his conversations with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, he had the ability to make us feel we knew Dr. Peale as well as he did.
Cavett Robert
Cavett was unfailingly generous. In 1981, he flew at his own expense to address my Sales and Marketing Executives club in San Francisco. We didn't have enough money to pay him, but that didn't stop him from making it a spectacular event. (While he was there, I became the only Past President ever to cut his hair. We both thought he looked great.)
All of us are constantly meeting speakers from all over the country who were also encouraged by Cavett. At every convention coffee break you hear stories like this one. Leslie Miller from Washington listened to a tape of Cavett and was so inspired she picked up the phone to tell him how much he had influenced her. She knew nothing about NSA and had no idea who Cavett was. He invited her to visit if ever she was in the area. She took him up on that, and he took her for lunch at his club. Later, at his home, she saw photos of Billy Graham and Richard Nixon ... and then he sheepishly admitted, well, yes, he had started this organization called NSA. Cavett was so comfortable with the situation that it was impossible for her to be embarrassed.
Cavett becomes even more special and inspirational when we realize that this exceptional generosity was not an occasional gesture. This was the Cavett norm.
by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Hall of Fame Bio
Patricia Fripp is a true American success story--except that she is British, born in a small English town. "Probably the best thing that happened to me," says Fripp, "was growing up with an absolutely brilliant younger brother. I assumed I wasn't as smart as others, which made me work twice as hard. That's where my good work habits started."
At age fifteen, Fripp became a hairstylist in Bournemouth, England. To "keep up," she worked early, late, and through lunch hours, soon earning 30% more income for the salon than the experienced male employees (who were paid three times as much).
Where could she best exploit her talent, tenacity and capacity for hard work? "The Colonies!" she decided. At twenty, Fripp arrived in San Francisco with no job, no place to live, and no contacts. She quickly became known as an innovator, the first prominent woman in the new industry of men's hairstyling. One day, she looked around and realized she no longer had to rush to keep up with everyone else. She had left them miles behind. She cut the hair of Cavett Robert and many past NSA Presidents and Hall of Fame recipients.
She was asked to share her knowledge and energy by speaking for groups of hairstylists for a hair product company. Next, her clients asked her to address their Rotary and Lions Clubs....then she was asked "How much would you charge to say that to my group?"
First Encounter with the NSA
She arrived at her first NSA meeting in 1977, thinking no one would want to talk to her. After all, she had only spoken before hairstylists and Rotary clubs. But past NSA President Mike Frank quickly "discovered" her and booked her to speak on the same program with Robert Schuller.
Today, Fripp is a successful entrepreneur, magazine columnist, and media personality. She is also a speaker's speaker. Meetings and Convention Magazine named her, "One of the most electrifying speakers in North America." She has won every NSA award and designation: the CSP, CPAE (Hall of Famer), and the Cavett Award. She was the first woman to be National President and the only CSP,CPAE, CAVETT winner who has been both a National and Chapter President. She has spoken at more NSA chapters than any other NSA member.
In 1980, Fripp founded the NSA/Northern California Chapter. Because the new chapter had little money, she hosted the out-of-town speakers at her home. After a day of cutting hair in her salon, she would rush home and fix dinner for the speakers and the NSA/NC leadership. Soon, because of her guidance (and possibly her cooking), her chapter was the largest in the world. Their meetings drew more people than the NSA winter workshops. Cavett Robert once joked with her that he'd heard a rumor the National NSA was going to ask to join her chapter.
The NSA/NC chapter continued to thrive. They named a leadership award, the "Frippy," after her, and on the chapter's 15th anniversary, Fripp helped them celebrate by jumping out of a cake wearing a Wonder Woman costume.
Currently, Fripp speaks about 130 times a year to Fortune 500 companies and associations around the world. She is the author of Get What You Want and co-author of Insights into Excellence and Speaking Secrets of the Masters, as well as many audio and video programs. In her spare time, she is a major fund raiser for the Leukemia Society.
(Fripp's brother Robert, no slouch himself, founded the rock band King Crimson. He was her date when she was President of NSA in Washington DC. in 1985 )
Fripp's Keys to Success
Fripp feels that what made her a successful hairstylist has also made her a success as a speaker.
Choose good teachers and role models.
Practice harder than everyone else.
Analyze what you do, and then teach others.
Don't take all the money that is on the table.
Do more than you get paid for.
Of all her accomplishments, what is Fripp most proud of? "First, the fact that, once I left home at age eighteen, I never asked my father for money. Second, that I turned myself from a pitiful victim of technology into a self-proclaimed 'Goddess of Geek.'"
about Patricia Fripp, a True American Success Story
At age fifteen, Fripp became a hairstylist in Bournemouth, England. To "keep up," she worked early, late, and through lunch hours, soon earning 30% more income for the salon than the experienced male employees (who were paid three times as much).
Where could she best exploit her talent, tenacity and capacity for hard work? "The Colonies!" she decided. At twenty, Fripp arrived in San Francisco with no job, no place to live, and no contacts. She quickly became known as an innovator, the first prominent woman in the new industry of men's hairstyling. One day, she looked around and realized she no longer had to rush to keep up with everyone else. She had left them miles behind. She cut the hair of Cavett Robert and many past NSA Presidents and Hall of Fame recipients.
She was asked to share her knowledge and energy by speaking for groups of hairstylists for a hair product company. Next, her clients asked her to address their Rotary and Lions Clubs....then she was asked "How much would you charge to say that to my group?"
First Encounter with the NSA
She arrived at her first NSA meeting in 1977, thinking no one would want to talk to her. After all, she had only spoken before hairstylists and Rotary clubs. But past NSA President Mike Frank quickly "discovered" her and booked her to speak on the same program with Robert Schuller.
Today, Fripp is a successful entrepreneur, magazine columnist, and media personality. She is also a speaker's speaker. Meetings and Convention Magazine named her, "One of the most electrifying speakers in North America." She has won every NSA award and designation: the CSP, CPAE (Hall of Famer), and the Cavett Award. She was the first woman to be National President and the only CSP,CPAE, CAVETT winner who has been both a National and Chapter President. She has spoken at more NSA chapters than any other NSA member.
In 1980, Fripp founded the NSA/Northern California Chapter. Because the new chapter had little money, she hosted the out-of-town speakers at her home. After a day of cutting hair in her salon, she would rush home and fix dinner for the speakers and the NSA/NC leadership. Soon, because of her guidance (and possibly her cooking), her chapter was the largest in the world. Their meetings drew more people than the NSA winter workshops. Cavett Robert once joked with her that he'd heard a rumor the National NSA was going to ask to join her chapter.
The NSA/NC chapter continued to thrive. They named a leadership award, the "Frippy," after her, and on the chapter's 15th anniversary, Fripp helped them celebrate by jumping out of a cake wearing a Wonder Woman costume.
Currently, Fripp speaks about 130 times a year to Fortune 500 companies and associations around the world. She is the author of Get What You Want and co-author of Insights into Excellence and Speaking Secrets of the Masters, as well as many audio and video programs. In her spare time, she is a major fund raiser for the Leukemia Society.
(Fripp's brother Robert, no slouch himself, founded the rock band King Crimson. He was her date when she was President of NSA in Washington DC. in 1985 )
Fripp's Keys to Success
Fripp feels that what made her a successful hairstylist has also made her a success as a speaker.
Choose good teachers and role models.
Practice harder than everyone else.
Analyze what you do, and then teach others.
Don't take all the money that is on the table.
Do more than you get paid for.
Of all her accomplishments, what is Fripp most proud of? "First, the fact that, once I left home at age eighteen, I never asked my father for money. Second, that I turned myself from a pitiful victim of technology into a self-proclaimed 'Goddess of Geek.'"
about Patricia Fripp, a True American Success Story
Jay Leno Does It, Do You?
The following happened when I was recently in Orlando. It bugged me so much I had to write about it.
So there I was, along with Dave, standing in the front of an almost empty meeting room. Dave had heard me speak to a group of managerial accountants in Boston. It went over so well, he invited me to present to a group of 425 college accounting students. He knew my abilities and trusted my judgment.
So there we were, along with the AV guys, setting up the room for my motivational speech, "Want to be Good, Great, or a Champion?" I asked Dave how many students he expected? He told me "at best" 425, but we both surmised that the room had been set up for many more.
Now, it's a fact that people do not like to sit in the front rows. It is human nature for people to want to be comfortable. We tend to spread out, so that we are not too close to others if we don't have to be. That's why most people prefer to cluster in the back, leaving rows and rows of empty seats up front.
This is not fun for the presenter. Speaking is intimate; a speaker looks to connect with the audience. And rows of empty chairs become an invisible barrier, one that literally and emotionally creates distance between a speaker and the audience.
Did you know that when Jay Leno took over the Tonight Show, he added rows of chairs and extended Johnny Carson's stage to allow him to get closer to the audience? Like Jay, it is our responsibility to do whatever we can to connect better with the audience.
Dave had given many presentations himself. So he understood the problem immediately. He and I agreed that we should either remove some chairs or tape off the back rows, forcing people to fill in the front first.
The event planner for the organization came into the room just then. We asked her if she could take care of doing just that. She replied, "We'll just have the room monitors at the doors ask everybody to sit up front." She then ran off to handle another issue.
Dave and I looked at each other in shock. "WHAT? They'll never listen. It doesn't work that way!" Granted, she was trying to be helpful and thought she had solved the problem. And yes, she had about a million things to attend to. But the fact was, she just didn't get it. She never had to give a presentation before. She didn't understand the effect a row of empty chairs had on the speaker.
At almost every conference I've spoken, I've noticed that they put out way too many chairs: "Just in case." Just in case what? In case people walk in off the street to go to an accounting conference? Not very likely.
If you have a track record of 100 attendees, even with better promotion, you still have a good idea as to how many people are registered and how many people might register at the door. So be reasonable. It looks better when tables and chairs have to be added— much better than having lots of empty seats.
In her defense, this was only the second conference so there was not as much of a track record. Yet, I still believe it is better to put out fewer chairs than you need. It lends an air of "excitement" when you need to set out more. Too many empty chairs gives the perception of "low turn out" or "this meeting can't be that good."
In the end, it turned out not too bad in Orlando. As people came in last minute, they did not go to the front. There were five rows on the left side of the room that only had 1 person. It could have been much worse.
Event planners: Yes, it is easier to have all the chairs set out ahead of time. But are you going for easier, or a better event? Speakers will do better when the setting is optimal. Attendees will have a more fruitful experience.
Speakers: It is our job to create the best atmosphere, to generate the best connection with the audience. Sometimes we may have to gently educate the event planners. If they are not open to it, keep in mind that speakers are just one part of their event. Whether we are a big part or not, we must not let our egos ruin our reputations. They are the ones paying you. Do everything you can to optimize the setting for your speech.
Be like Jay: Take responsibility and make the room the best setting for you. If NBC had said "No," do you think Jay would have thrown a hissy fit? Do the best you can with what you have.
by Darren LaCroix
So there I was, along with Dave, standing in the front of an almost empty meeting room. Dave had heard me speak to a group of managerial accountants in Boston. It went over so well, he invited me to present to a group of 425 college accounting students. He knew my abilities and trusted my judgment.
So there we were, along with the AV guys, setting up the room for my motivational speech, "Want to be Good, Great, or a Champion?" I asked Dave how many students he expected? He told me "at best" 425, but we both surmised that the room had been set up for many more.
Now, it's a fact that people do not like to sit in the front rows. It is human nature for people to want to be comfortable. We tend to spread out, so that we are not too close to others if we don't have to be. That's why most people prefer to cluster in the back, leaving rows and rows of empty seats up front.
This is not fun for the presenter. Speaking is intimate; a speaker looks to connect with the audience. And rows of empty chairs become an invisible barrier, one that literally and emotionally creates distance between a speaker and the audience.
Did you know that when Jay Leno took over the Tonight Show, he added rows of chairs and extended Johnny Carson's stage to allow him to get closer to the audience? Like Jay, it is our responsibility to do whatever we can to connect better with the audience.
Dave had given many presentations himself. So he understood the problem immediately. He and I agreed that we should either remove some chairs or tape off the back rows, forcing people to fill in the front first.
The event planner for the organization came into the room just then. We asked her if she could take care of doing just that. She replied, "We'll just have the room monitors at the doors ask everybody to sit up front." She then ran off to handle another issue.
Dave and I looked at each other in shock. "WHAT? They'll never listen. It doesn't work that way!" Granted, she was trying to be helpful and thought she had solved the problem. And yes, she had about a million things to attend to. But the fact was, she just didn't get it. She never had to give a presentation before. She didn't understand the effect a row of empty chairs had on the speaker.
At almost every conference I've spoken, I've noticed that they put out way too many chairs: "Just in case." Just in case what? In case people walk in off the street to go to an accounting conference? Not very likely.
If you have a track record of 100 attendees, even with better promotion, you still have a good idea as to how many people are registered and how many people might register at the door. So be reasonable. It looks better when tables and chairs have to be added— much better than having lots of empty seats.
In her defense, this was only the second conference so there was not as much of a track record. Yet, I still believe it is better to put out fewer chairs than you need. It lends an air of "excitement" when you need to set out more. Too many empty chairs gives the perception of "low turn out" or "this meeting can't be that good."
In the end, it turned out not too bad in Orlando. As people came in last minute, they did not go to the front. There were five rows on the left side of the room that only had 1 person. It could have been much worse.
Event planners: Yes, it is easier to have all the chairs set out ahead of time. But are you going for easier, or a better event? Speakers will do better when the setting is optimal. Attendees will have a more fruitful experience.
Speakers: It is our job to create the best atmosphere, to generate the best connection with the audience. Sometimes we may have to gently educate the event planners. If they are not open to it, keep in mind that speakers are just one part of their event. Whether we are a big part or not, we must not let our egos ruin our reputations. They are the ones paying you. Do everything you can to optimize the setting for your speech.
Be like Jay: Take responsibility and make the room the best setting for you. If NBC had said "No," do you think Jay would have thrown a hissy fit? Do the best you can with what you have.
by Darren LaCroix
The Call Back
Every year the World Championship contest is an amazing event. Lance, the 2005 World Champion, was wonderful! He connected with the audience and executed his speech perfectly. Lance's message was simple and crystal clear. And a speech well worth studying!
My favorite line, however, came from one of the other contestants, Rowena Romero. During her interview she talked about how previous winners were all known for something. Rowena said, "David Brooks is known for his blue Jeans — Darren LaCroix is known for his fall on his face, I'll be know for my stool." (Rowena stood atop a footstool during her speech.)
Note: Rowena's comment is also a great example of the RULE of THREE.)
It was brilliant humor. That's good comedy! Very funny Rowena!
The Call Back
Ahhh! The call back. A "call back" is a comedy term that simply means "calling back" to an earlier laugh line, referring to an earlier joke that worked. (It makes no sense to "call back" to one that does not.)
If you have a laugh line that works consistently, it is a great idea to call back to it later in your presentation. The call back works best after the presenter moves on to a different topic. Then it is aided by the element of surprise, and a psychological connection with earlier laugh.
It can be even more powerful if you refer back to something said by a previous speaker. The audience loves it because they know that you had to be listening, have confidence, and enough presence to add it into your presentation.
An example from the World Championship Interviews: Johnny Uy, Senior Vice President of Toastmasters International, was the contest master. He was simply hysterical! During the interviews he asked the contestants questions in their native language. Most of the audience could not interpret the question. Douglas Kruger, a contestant from South Africa, took the opportunity (the "set up") to translate for humor purposes. Douglas said, "His question was about my underwear." He got a huge laugh.
Other contestants then used this opportunity when they were asked their question. Jerry Aiyathurai responded, "Fruit of the Loom." Rowena Romero said, "Wonder bra." All great call backs.
Most of you have experienced this as an audience member. Now you have a label for it, and can begin to look for the opportunity. I always try to connect to a huge laugh from earlier in a conference. When I hear a big laugh I ask myself, "How can I tie that into my presentation?"
How can you use this?
Imagine what you will learn by spending a day or three with Darren!
by Darren LaCroix, 2001 Toastmasters International World Champion
My favorite line, however, came from one of the other contestants, Rowena Romero. During her interview she talked about how previous winners were all known for something. Rowena said, "David Brooks is known for his blue Jeans — Darren LaCroix is known for his fall on his face, I'll be know for my stool." (Rowena stood atop a footstool during her speech.)
Note: Rowena's comment is also a great example of the RULE of THREE.)
It was brilliant humor. That's good comedy! Very funny Rowena!
The Call Back
Ahhh! The call back. A "call back" is a comedy term that simply means "calling back" to an earlier laugh line, referring to an earlier joke that worked. (It makes no sense to "call back" to one that does not.)
If you have a laugh line that works consistently, it is a great idea to call back to it later in your presentation. The call back works best after the presenter moves on to a different topic. Then it is aided by the element of surprise, and a psychological connection with earlier laugh.
It can be even more powerful if you refer back to something said by a previous speaker. The audience loves it because they know that you had to be listening, have confidence, and enough presence to add it into your presentation.
An example from the World Championship Interviews: Johnny Uy, Senior Vice President of Toastmasters International, was the contest master. He was simply hysterical! During the interviews he asked the contestants questions in their native language. Most of the audience could not interpret the question. Douglas Kruger, a contestant from South Africa, took the opportunity (the "set up") to translate for humor purposes. Douglas said, "His question was about my underwear." He got a huge laugh.
Other contestants then used this opportunity when they were asked their question. Jerry Aiyathurai responded, "Fruit of the Loom." Rowena Romero said, "Wonder bra." All great call backs.
Most of you have experienced this as an audience member. Now you have a label for it, and can begin to look for the opportunity. I always try to connect to a huge laugh from earlier in a conference. When I hear a big laugh I ask myself, "How can I tie that into my presentation?"
How can you use this?
Imagine what you will learn by spending a day or three with Darren!
by Darren LaCroix, 2001 Toastmasters International World Champion
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