The Truth About Public Speaking (and the Media) Blog

Looking for a Better Offer?

The moments following a presentation can be among the most sweet ever. Audience members come up to you seeking advice or just the chance to shake your hand and say thanks. And if you are selling books and CDs in the back of the room, they might turn out to be customers, too.

No matter whether you have ulterior motives or not, it is important to remain gracious when you step down from the podium. Focus all your attention on the individual you are talking with. Refuse to fall into the trap of looking for a better offer across the room.

Let me give you a for instance. I attended a recent talk by an interesting speaker who blew a golden opportunity to connect with his listeners. He proved more interested in collecting business cards for the materials he offered (and perhaps to bolster his mailing list) than in looking people in the eye and forging a quick bond.

Did my opinion of him sink as a result? You bet. All I wanted to do was say a simple thank you. Human nature being what it is, I felt shunned when he was not able to accept that. Don't look over your audience's shoulders when they step to the front of the room to talk to you after a presentation. Take the time to connect with them and soak up the adulation. You deserve it.

Private Client Briefing Aids Professional Service Firms

From the shameless self-promotion department:

Successful professional service firms realize they must go the extra mile if they hope to capture and retain valued clients. Barks Communications now gives those firms another advantage in the ongoing fight for client loyalty—the Private Client Briefing on effective communications skills.

One of the biggest questions law, accounting, consulting, and other professional service firms confront on an everyday basis is, "How can I bind my prized clients more tightly to my firm?"

The Private Client Briefing allows firms to provide extra value that their competitors cannot hope to match. The enlightening yet fun experience delivers real world advice clients can use in their businesses the moment they walk out of the room.

The service is also a great enticement for prospective clients. This separates firms we work with from the run-of-the-mill lawyers, accountants, and consultants who would never dream of offering something this creative.

Private Client Briefing topics can include:

• The Three Keys to Great Presentations™. The easy to grasp system puts clients on the road to public speaking success.
• Mini-Media Training. A crisp review of what it takes to shape a magnetic message and deliver it with punch when dealing with reporters.
• Sounding Board. Clients drive the agenda in this lively Q&A session with Ed.
• Public Policy Success Equals Business Success. Show clients how to advance public policy goals when appealing to lawmakers and regulators.
• A Conversation with Ed. Showcase the managing partner when he or she interviews Barks about communications topics of import to clients.

The Private Client Briefing can take place at a firm’s office or at any other prestigious location—from your conference room to your country club or a nearby hotel or conference center. If you want to rent Radio City Music Hall and invite 6000 of your closest clients, that’s fine, too.

I have the pleasure of personally leading each exclusive session and will autograph resources from the Barks Learning Network for every client. These lifelong learning resources keep professional service firms constantly top of mind with clients, reinforcing the fact that you care about their success. The firms also gain access to special purchasing power discounts. The Barks Learning Network includes these publications:

• The book, The Truth About Public Speaking: The Three Keys to Great Presentations
• The media relations guide, Face the Press with Confidence: The Media Interview Companion
• The witness preparation guide, Winning at the Witness Table: 60 Tips to Terrific Testimony

Panel Options

Most panel discussions hew to a traditional format. Haul three or four experts to the front of the room, add a moderator in the middle, and presto! Instant panel.

That tried and true style can work. But it is important to realize that you do have choices when organizing such a discussion, for the structure of a panel can take many shapes. For instance, I attended a recent event at which audience questions were taken only in writing and not from the floor. Here are some considerations if you should decide to take that route:

• If you are dealing with a contentious issue or a hostile audience, taking questions only in writing allows the moderator to blunt some of the hard edges. It also allows her to avoid certain powder keg issues.
• Use this technique only with larger groups. If the audience is small, taking questions in writing amounts to overkill.
• Advise your panelists in advance that you do not plan to accept questions from the floor.
• It is the moderator's job to make clear at the very beginning that only written questions will be accepted. Otherwise audience members might feel cheated or overlooked.
• Make sure you have an abundance of question cards and that they are distributed throughout the room. People who cannot find one but want to ask a burning question will prove distracting as they whisper to seatmates and shuffle about trying to locate one of the prized cards.

As with any decision about the format of your public speaking ventures, it is important to think through the optimal format any time you organize a panel discussion.

The Pause that Refreshes

Experienced speakers intuitively recognize that a pause helps recapture an audience's attention. Now comes scientific data.

A just published study in the journal Neuron finds that pauses in classical music help refocus the brain and allow it to better sift through an often confusing flow of information. Researchers at McGill and Stanford universities studied subjects using MRI images to determine how the brain reacted to musical transitions.

While the study considers only music, my non-scientist brain immediately saw the connection to public speaking. Extrapolating the results of the research, it seems to make sense that a long, continuous data dump loses effectiveness as audience minds start to wander. However, use of occasional and strategically placed pauses should help snap listeners to attention and help them sort out the message being delivered.

For additional details, see the news release from the Stanford School of Medicine. The online version includes MRI video of how the brain reacts to changes in musical tempo.