Speak Schmeak blog contest - enter to win!
Enter the Speak Schmeak blog contest for a chance to win one of three copies of my new and improved (audio! video!) "7-Week Shortcut to Public Speaking Confidence" e-course when it relaunches in January.You may be wondering, "How do I enter?"
Simply leave a comment on this post answering the following question:
"How would you use me as your personal public speaking coach if I moved in with you for seven weeks?" Tell me what speaking and presentation issues you'd work on if you had me at your beck and call.
Do you have a deadline looming and you're procrastinating on starting your outline?
Do you have a completed presentation that needs revitalizing?
Are you required to use PowerPoint but don't have a clue about where to begin?
Do you fall to pieces when you have to speak up in a meeting?
The most compelling and persuasive answer wins!
You may be asking, "What could I win?"
1. Three winners each get a copy of my new and improved e-course fresh from the oven in January!
Details of the revised e-course will be coming soon, but here are some success stories you can read right now.
Sign up here to receive updates about the relaunch of the e-course.
2. I will also be giving away my new (to be released in January) e-book, "101 Tips to Improve Your Speaking" to each winner.
3. Probably a goodie or two from the Speak Schmeak shop. . .
Contest = fun! Contest = prize! Enter now!
Contest rules
1. Only online submissions will be accepted. I will not accept e-mailed, faxed or mailed entries.
2. To enter, leave a comment on this post between today, November 30, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. EST, and Friday, December 13, 2007 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
3. Submit your full name and e-mail address. Partial names, initials, etc. will not be accepted. (If you're paranoid about this, comment with your first name, last initial and e-mail address, and e-mail me with the full information.)
4. No purchase is required for entry.
4. The winner will be announced on December 17, 2007.
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12 comments. Please add yours! :
Andrew Eberhard
a.eberhard@auckland.ac.nz
"How would you use me as your personal public speaking coach if I moved in with you for seven weeks?"
I'd get you to help me devise a good workflow for designing effective presentations.
I'm a university lecturer and my biggest problem is that I have to give about 100 different presentations (lectures) every year.
Thanks for kicking off the contest, Andrew!
"Do you fall to pieces when you have to speak up in a meeting?"
Does "fall to pieces" mean tunnel vision, heart pounding, then not remembering what you said once you sit back down? Oh, that's me! I made it through college without giving one oral presentation. I dropped every class that required it! Then in graduate school, I could no longer do that. So I was filled with anxiety for those few years, and I still couldn't tell you what I said during any of it. Total black outs. Then, when working as a school psychologist, I was asked to give a training on a new auditory processing testing instrument to 80 senior colleagues at a staff meeting. I couldn't sleep for days in anticipation. And again, after sitting back down, I couldn't remember a word I had just said.
So my point is, I think I am beyond help. That is why I am quite happy now running an online business from home! :) But if given the opportunity, that is what I would have you work on!
Hi Lisa,
I'd have you help me organize my thoughts so they come out fluently. That's what's always trips me up!
I'd like you to teach my how to prepare more than a couple of days in advance of a presentation. I have a lot of them - but I never seem to improve on how to be in good time...
Thanks.
Best regards
Esben
I would kindly ask you to help me with a presentation to open people's eyes on how biased are their perception on others, be it positive or negative. It would also be great to draw their attention on how to stop search for drama in their professional lives, where there is only comedy.
"How would you use me as your personal public speaking coach if I moved in with you for seven weeks?"
Simple: Help me organize the presentation of complex ideas in a simple and convincing manner.
OK. I am not entering this contest. I can't answer any questions that might involve you moving into my house for seven weeks.
Too bad, Tony. I know you could use more help with the buildout. . .
First, I would ensure you are comfortable at my home. Second, the first week I would practice in front of you so you can observe and critique my public speaking skills. The second week would we work on my weak areas and create ways to improve those areas. The third and fourth weeks you would assign me several speeches to present to you. We would go to different locations for me to practice speaking in large and small rooms. During the fifth and sixth weeks, we will work on PowerPoint Presentations and how to present a powerful presentation using PowerPoint. In the last week we will work on developing strategies to help me speak well during a meeting and last minute reviews of the previous week.
Stephanie Garnes
Hi Lisa,
This will be a multi-part answer.
1. The first thing I would do is to have you help me develop and deliver a very persuasive speech explaining to my wife about you moving in for seven weeks.
2. I would use your coaching skills to help me move beyond my comfort zones and confidences issues (i.e. speech subjects and audience size).
3. I would have you evaluate me over and over and over again, with the expectation that you are not only looking at the basic issues, but that as I progress you are challenging me to keep improving. Because no matter how good we think we are, we can always improve.
Andrew Dlugan - dlugan@gmail.com
"How would you use me as your personal public speaking coach if I moved in with you for seven weeks?"
Wow! Seven weeks of personal one-on-one coaching with no distractions?
Where do I sign? :-)
Here's how you would provide tremendous value to me in seven weeks:
Week One - Get to know me.
You would spend the entire week getting to know me. You would get to know my wife (and, yes, explain what you are doing in the house) and daughter. You would learn about what drives me, what is important in my life, and about the experiences I've had.
A whole week to do this? Yes! In fact, that might not be long enough. I believe one of the fundamental elements of being a good speaker is to choose topics aligned with your passions. By exploring those passions, you would be able to help me align with such topics.
[I'm inclined to say "At the end of one week, we'd plan the next six weeks together." However, that would be cheating, so I'll assume that we came up with the following plan for weeks two through six.]
Week Two - Establish my public speaking baseline.
You would be my audience as I would deliver a set of speeches. We would view previously recorded videos of my speeches (some are not pretty). We would review previously written speeches, PowerPoint slides, etc. At the end of this week, you would have a solid understanding of my public speaking talents and the skills I need to improve.
Week Three - Speech (and Slides) Editing
We would take some of those "so-so" or "good" presentations from the past, and rewrite them to be "great." How can I better focus on my message? How can I align my message more closely with my passions? How can the slides be redesigned to support my words? What speech editing habits should I adopt?
Week Four - Storytelling and Humor
Incorporating meaningful stories and humor into presentations is one aspect that I've been working on over the past few months. We would spend week four on improving my ability to strategically apply stories and humor.
Week Five - Delivery Techniques
Weeks three and four focussed on writing. Week five will focus on delivery. We'll work on improving my voice, gestures, and pace.
Week Six - Audience Interaction
In the sixth week, we would focus on specific techniques to interact with an audience. What cues should I be catching? How can I adapt in the middle of a presentation? What techniques can I add to my existing repertoire for "engaging" the audience and encouraging more audience participation?
Week Seven - Create an Action Plan for Speaking Full-Time
As a result of your tremendous coaching, audiences will now be lining up to pay to listen to me speak. :-) Or, perhaps, they would be lining up if I was following an appropriate action plan. In our final week together, you would share your expertise about the business side of public speaking. What actions should I be taking? What resources are available that I'm not yet tapping into? What are your favorite tools of the trade?
Now, I must submit this and turn off the computer. To prepare for your arrival, I've got a guest bedroom to set up... :-)
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