Planning to inspire? Its showtime!
ASKSonnie in one of his talks for the youth
The world of public speaking is almost like an entertainment industry. At the end of the day, the audience who spent moolah to hear you, must go home satisfied. Otherwise, there will be no repeat business. Unfortunately, the barometer of an inspire centric talk has been focused on making people laugh and jump up and down.
Learning events organizers say without entertainment, there will be no business, not unless, a speaker got something that you need, like unit credit for license renewal.
I happen to notice in the learning events organizing biz that they are particular with the first and last speaker. At first, I don’t understand because as an work place learning practitioner, I am more concerned with the order of topics to ensure maximum learning. I figured out later that the funniest, liveliest, and most entertaining speakers are placed on the 1st and last slot to leave a sweet taste to the audience. It’s not a bad strategy, but a few used this as template of an inspire centric learning event.
Likewise, I followed with interest other players on the public speaking field, specially on how they position their brand in the market. Most, if not all, have this common denominator- to entertain the audience and make them feel good about themselves. The belief is that to inspire a person, laughter can bring out the positive emotion. And this, in turn will fuel change.
Is this bad? Not really..
A good speaker is an engaging speaker, he can adjust his style depending on the audience to get his message across. I believe, further, that the role of motivational speakers is to offer an alternate solution, so people can make an intelligent choice. An inspire centric speaker should understand that they are not in the business of making people laugh (alone), but to provide an alternative path, create a compelling desire to change, so the audience will pursue a new behavior.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person – Colossians 4:6 ESV
Entertaining the audience is good, but this should lead the audience to take concrete actions to change their mindset, habit or way of doing things
That post made my school days come back … When we were wild and young and actually contra everything and everybody , a new religion teacher took over our class . Religion ! We were rebells in the 70s and religion was a no go. But that teacher was such an amazing person , he had such a brilliant way to make his lessons interesting. At the end of the school year on my diploma it said: Religion : 1 ( which is the best in germany ) Personality is a huge factor in speaking or teaching , not just knowledge !
I love how it ends with a verse. I think this message should be applied all the time in public speaking. When a speaker makes me think, it’s very uncomfortable for me. sometimes it confuses me, but sometimes that’s better than just hearing the words I needed to hear. It makes me move, not only inspired. Thank you so much for this post sir! This is really wonderful
My friend in the same industry as yours would also let me in on a few “strategies” when it comes to lining up speakers. A little bit of difference though, she would instantly (but not usually) change the order depending on the mood and reception. As such, the best for last usually gets to do their part earlier than expected and like you said, people shouldn’t really see this as a bad thing. The audience are the true masters and it takes a good organizer to do the shuffling and bets!
I think the biggest thing overall is how well the audience can relate to the speaker. Everyone wants to be able to connect with the person like they’re their next door neighbor or co-worker. I think if not humor just something to show their human side. Otherwise the speaker comes off as cold.
I have never liked public speaking, I always try to avoid it. My middle son loves a good chance to talk and loves public speaking.
Humour has always been important when I listen to talks. They make things or topics relatable to the audience. I noticed also that messages are easily remembered when we inject humour in our talks. But it is also important to balance it. Otherwise, it would be like attending a stand up comedy.
There are only a few times that I love listening to talks that are direct to the point and not using humour. Most of the times, those talks were given by really good priests.
Dominic – http://thetopknotters.com
I couldn’t agree more. Even in a motivational speaker standpoint. There is always a sense of challenge and accomplishment when you not only entertain but fuel engagement on a wider scale.
I joined a public speaking club called Toastmasters several years ago. And some of the few things I learned about public speaking are to make a really captivating beginning and a memorable ending. They say your “beginning” and “ending” can make or break your speech. But I never thought such “techniques” can be applied or are actually being used in events as well. Make sense to me!
This reminds me a little of Speech class when I attended the University of MN. I think if a speaker has an interesting topic they are sharing helps to keep the audience engaged, also if they speak as if they are telling a story versus just talking facts.
We do not have much experience on stage performance but completely agree that though jokes and entertainment connect us with the audience it is also important to create a thought provoking and brainstorming session and interaction.
I think that people nowadays have such a short attention span athat most motivational speakers or or speakers in general feels the need to be funny in order to keep them interested but it’s not the case at all just share something real and engage with the audience. I want to go back home with a new mindset and good energy not have a good time and that’s it.
I believe , if you can’t be a good “entertainer” , your message will go nowhere . Of course you HAVE to be fair and credible , but nobody wants to listen to a “dry” recitation of theoretic ‘flowers of speech’ . With a little wink and fun , you ‘sell’ a lot better and easier . I think , it makes the whole thing a lot easier for the speaker himself as well , if it goes along with a giggle here and there . Who wants to watch the audience yawning or playing on their phones , because they are tool bored to follow ? Even if it’s meant to be a serious business meeting , but here as well : … “no business like show business”
I think there should be a great balance between being funny or entertaining and being good at delivering the message to the audience. If I just want to laugh I can just to a stand-up comedy bar, but then again if I just want to sleep then I can do that in my bedroom.
Balance is the key and oftentimes, those speakers who are skilled at it are the ones who are able to make an event memorable.
This reminded me of our plays in college. I was part of our university’s theater group, and part of it was to create our original plays. They taught us the value of a good play – not one that makes them laugh, but one that makes them think after the show. Well, a comical attack should make them engaged, but the content is what they’re after.
Im lucky to be apply to work as a trainer and help a number of sales people make a choice and decide for themselves. Its really inspiring to be in front and see the audience listening to you and at the end of the talk would approach you to say their thanks.
I don’t get many opportunities to speak in public. I wish it came easier to me! I get so nervous.
It is so hard to speak in public. I usually start having a panic attack and I mumble. It takes a lot of practice to become a good speaker that can captivate an audience.
I go to a fair number of seminars/training events, and I agree. Often, I find I leave feeling inspired and that I was very engaged. But, when someone asks me for something practical I can use, I can’t think of a single thing. The trainer needs to keep the audience’s attention AND provide valuable information.
I do a lot of public speaking in school and yes it’s very intimidating!! But all you need is a little motivation and I believe it would turn out all right.
I think there is a huge difference between motivational speeches and inspirational ones. To be honest, I find motivational ones being just a pile of “crap”, excuse my language. I was never motivated by these kind of speeches because I know they are not true. But on the other hand, inspirational ones are different! They wake something in you, they make you think and then support (or not) a cause, make an opinion an then act on it.
I once saw a speaker that was so nervous all he did was crack jokes. It was very entertaining but to this day I have no idea what he was actually being paid to talk about.
I agree. It is not enough that a speaker knows jokes to become an effective speaker. He/she must be able to convey the thought effectively. the speaker must be engaging and can easily adapt to his/her audience. It’s one thing to be able to captivate the audience attention and it’s another thing to be able to impart knowledge that a person will remember in days/years to come.
To speak in public is not easy… I usually panic and blush a lot, but there are great speakers out there!
I loved this topic. I agree that a person can’t just be there to shoot out one liners and make the crowd laugh but they must be there to share a message and adapt to the audience. Those people truly connect with others and make a difference.
I definitely agree. For someone to remember what you’ve told them they need to think about it once the speech is over.
I do a lot of events and invite speakers often. I tell you it is NOT easy to find the right speaker. I’m not sure if it’s a common thing with people, but for some odd reason, in our company our sellers equate a great speaker with FUN & JOKES, which usually is what sticks to them. Nakakainis.
It is disappointing when you see that that’s what they use to measure if a speaker is good or not – kaya wala silang natututunan.
A good speaker should have substance. Engaging is good but the knowledge that he will be able to impart to his audience is more important than making them laugh. Sorry I ranted a bit there, but it’s really frustrating that a lot of people these days are using this motivational speaker act not to enrich knowledge but simply to squeeze out cash from companies. I’m not gonna name who they are but we need more substantial and wise speakers.
It’s ok to rant, @russ:disqus, speakers like me should always give what the company paid for. That’s why I always ask for the objective of the learning event and what is their take-away before I agree to the engagement.
I agree that your speakers should inspire and motivate your audience. However, as an event planner, in order to maximize that you have to plan accordingly and deliberately. For me, the first and last speaker of an event matter. The first speaker sets the tone for the event and the last speaker drives the nail in.
I think that there IS A NEED for a little of the physical fun stuff, getting people up and jumping… anything. BUT this is done sparingly, and definitely not the focus of the engagement, but more as a means to pump blood, and get those who are feeling a little too relaxed to focus again.
Even simple tapping the shoulder of the person seated beside has a reason, such as tapping is an extension of the personal touch of the speaker.
Above all, no matter how engagingly good a speaker is, the value is what the audience paid for.
http://www.amazinglifedaily.com
Great Post and so true. I learnt something new today about the first and last speaker 🙂 thanks!
I love watching TED talks and I notice the different styles of speech. I find humor a very attractive and engaging quality. Some people are wonderful speakers in their field and a wealth of information but just talk very monotonously which doesn’t captivate or provoke further thought.
I agree, @disqus_pBskkYTfaz:disqus. Good speakers are those who can connect with audience and inject humor to engage and get the message across. But some went too far, with the end goal just to make them feel good.
always a nice read. so empowered.
awesome thought we would expect more motivational and inspirational ideas from you for future HR’S like us.
Great post! I agree that leaving your audience thinking and motivating them to change rather than to entertain them should be the goal I’m public speaking. Entertaining them while doing so would be also a great combination. But, we must be careful not to focus so much on making them feel good but on the long term effect of the message on the audience.