Monthly Archives

January 2017

Jan 04
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Be Brilliant at Panel Moderation

By | 3D Speaking, Business, Leaders, Life Lesssons, Public Speaking, Speech Coaching | No Comments

During conferences, panel discussions could be boring or brilliant. They could keep the audience on the edge of their seats or make them leave their seats. The following are essential tips when you act as a Panel Moderator. And please note, when it comes to panel moderation, it takes all to tango!

Choose them. If you have an opportunity to influence the organizers of the event, convince them that you will select experienced panelists to participate in the panel. And by experienced panelists, I am referring to panelists who have relevant professional experience to the event and have the ability to convey their thoughts well to the delegates. In September 2016, I attended an event that had two panels. One was so dynamic and insightful while the other was so dull and boring thanks to the panelists!

Contact them. Never leave the chosen panelists at the dark until the last moment. Contact them early on to brief them about the event, its objectives, its theme and its topics. And most importantly send them the event’s brochure and official website. In 2010, I participated in a panel in an investors’ conference. Our panel moderator was brilliant, she emailed all the panelists and had a phone conversation with us to make sure that we have a brilliant show at the conference. And we did.

Educate them. As a panel moderator you have a big responsibility. You have to make your panelists look like credible as experts in their respective fields. Hence, you need to educate your panelists on how to write great introductions for you to use. Educate them that their protracted biographies in the event’s brochure are not necessarily their best speakers’ introductions. The introduction should be brief, interesting and make the delegates think: I better listen to this panelist and take notes.

Prepare them. Nothing beats diligent preparation. Nothing. Ask any professional whether in sport or in business. To be brilliant you have to sweat! Agree on the different themes or angles you will have at your panel discussion. Ask the panelists to suggest questions. They know their subjects best in terms of the latest trends and what should the audience get. Agree who would answer which questions in what order. You should have a staged panel performance without the delegates noticing this. Never start a panel discussion without this agreement. The outcome could be fatal.

Meet them. Meet your panelists before the panel to review the themes, questions and staging thereof. Stress the importance of adhering the time allocated to each panelist to give an equal opportunity to all panelists to address the questions you have and the delegates’ questions. Clarify any doubts the panelists may have. And finally, assure them that with all the diligent preparation you made you are bound to have a brilliant show and wish them luck.

Care for them. Coordinate with the organizers to provide bottles of water and glasses! You may think this is common sense. It is. However, recently, I attended a conference where no bottles were placed on the table for the panelists to drink from. The organizers only brought them when one panelist started coughing so loud and started looking for water. In addition, ask the panelists whether they prefer handheld microphones or lapel ones. Ultimately, make sure you make them comfortable to give a brilliant show.

Thank them. Thank them all the way. First, thank them when they accept to be panelists. Then, thank them for their time to prepare for the panel. After that, thank them when they take the stage. Then, thank them again for sharing their expertise with the delegates before your leave the stage. And finally, give them a call or send them an email to thank them once more. After all of these rounds of thanks, ask them what you could do better to have more brilliant panel discussions. With all the care and thanks, they are bound to share with you their thoughts willingly.

In 2014, I was blessed to moderate a 2-hours panel discussion at a Global Leadership Conference in Dubai with more than 800 delegates from more than 80 countries. I applied all the above essential tips and we had a brilliant show. It was the highest rated session in the entire conference. The delegates protested that we should not end the panel discussion because it was high energy, engaging and entertaining. The delegates were not at the edge of their seats but they were glued to their seats. Go ahead. Apply these tips. Be brilliant!

Jan 04
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The Audience: Engage them or lose them!

By | 3D Speaking, Business, Middle East, Public Speaking, Speech Coaching | No Comments

Have you experienced this before? You attend a conference with excitement to gain practical insights to improve your skills only to find the speakers are boring to death. I bet you did. This is a common phenomenon. The speakers may have prepared the content and slides diligently but they forgot about the importance of connecting with the audience and engaging them throughout their talk. Here are seven techniques to avoid this trap.

Speaking, Coaching, Speech Writing, Public Speaking, Bahrain, GCC, Middle EastArrive early at the venue. Meet & greet delegates as they arrive. Strike genuine conversations with them. Be interested in what they have to say. Show them you care, otherwise they will not care later on what you have to say. Pay attention to their statements as they might be relevant to your talk and use them in your talk. They will love you for that. And they will connect better throughout your speech.

Introduction. If you will be introduced to the audience, and you should insist on this, create an interesting introduction to the audience to get them excited about your talk. To make it even better, plant some humor within it. In your introduction, do not boast about your achievements in terms of qualifications and experience, the audience will not relate to you. Establish credibility and then move on to explain why your talk will be important and valuable for the audience.

Pause. When you take the stage to speak, do not speak: Pause. A pause will draw the audience to you. When they suddenly feel the silence at the venue, they are bound to look at the stage and end their preoccupations whether with their fellow delegates or your arch enemy: Their Smart Phones. In addition, before saying something important, pause. And when you say it, pause. By doing this, you will give the audience a chance to think about what you said and be more engaged.

Questions. Ask the audience questions to draw on their experience. You throw a question and have one or few delegates answer it. If you are not comfortable doing this, plan ahead. Agree with one delegate to answer and once he or she does that, complement them by a round of applause. In addition, you may consider giving out awards like books or coffee mugs to make it more fun. This act will encourage more delegates to participate. This will create more audience engagement.

Discussions. Discussions can take the audience engagement to a higher level. It is simple and effective. Ask the audience to discuss a topic with each other; provide them with a specific timeframe. After that, ask them to share their thoughts with the entire delegates by handing to them the microphone. This two-level discussion builds the confidence of the delegates to share their thoughts with other delegates because they just shared them with other delegates.

Polls. The first time I saw polls being used was at the National Speakers Association (NSA) Annual Conference. It was simple, interactive and fun! We were asked to follow a link on the screen to vote for the best humorous speakers at NSA. And as we voted, we saw the votes being calibrated on the screen. We were not only engaged but we also had a lot fun. Google live polling websites or apps to find a suitable one for you. Polls are a great way to engage the audience. Use them.‎

These were seven simple techniques to engage your audience at a higher level. You do not have to ask them to close their eyes and imagine their perfect day or play loud music and ask the audience to dance over the tables to get them engaged. Keep it simple and focused to keep them engaged. And remember, if you do not engage them, you will lose them!

Jan 04
0

Your Speech Blueprint

By | 3D Speaking, Business, Life Lesssons, Middle East, Public Speaking, Speech Coaching | No Comments

How do you build your dream home? You begin with identifying your basic requirements. The number of halls, kitchens, bedrooms and your garden with few tall palm trees surrounding your swimming pool. After daydreaming for some time, you are bound to face reality. You have a limited budget. Welcome to speech writing! Building your speech is just like building your dream home. You need to plan it in view of your allotted time and your audience’s needs and requirements.

Your Key Message. What is your main message? Once you identify it, your whole speech should support delivering this message to your audience. This will be your reference point when it comes to adding or removing supporting materials. Your message should be simple and focused. Here are three questions for you: Is your message Tweetable? Is your message digestible? Is your message repeatable? If it is not, refine it further to make it clearer. Let us assume that our main message is: A heathy mind is in a healthy body.

Your Supporting Materials. As the name suggests, what supporting materials or points you could use to support delivering your key message? These could be stories, case studies, surveys’ results or your own observations and experiences. For our key message: A healthy mind is in a healthy body. My main task would be talking about how to have a healthy mind by having a healthy body. To accomplish this, I will speak about two main points. First, the importance of nutrition. And second, the importance of exercise. Each of these could be dissected further but I should always consider my main constraint: Time.

Your Transitions. This is the most ignored aspect of speech writing. How do you move from one point to another in a smooth and connected manner to hold the audience’s attention? You should tease your audience about what is coming next. They should be eager to listen to what you have to say next. This is your homework. Listen to radio channels of your choice and see how they tease the listeners by having teasers about their upcoming stories. Think about teasing and revealing your material?
Your Q & A. Your Q & A is one measure on how well your speech went. When the audience is engaged in this session, it is a sign of success. Again, do not get carried away, you should stick to your allotted time and make way for your closing remarks. Indicate to the audience how much time is available for the session and let them know when you are taking the last question to close your speech. As a courtesy, tell them that you will be around after the speech to answer any further questions.

Your Introduction. As suggested in an earlier article, start with a bang not a whisper. Grab the audience’s attention at once by asking a question, a startling statistic or a story. Now, after having decided on your supporting materials to support your key message, think carefully about your introduction. Experiment with few versions of it and try to link it to your first point in the speech. Test it for the transition effectiveness and decide on your best version to use. To continue with our example, you may say: Complete this phrase, a healthy mind is in a healthy … And then, continue your introduction.

Your Conclusion. After you have laid out your key message, supported it with your carefully chosen supporting materials, and you handled your Q & A Session like a maestro, it time to close to drive your key message home to prompt the desired action. It could be this: A healthy mind is in a healthy body. Yes, you know about it. But what are you doing about it? According to a London Business School study, living more than 100 years will be the new normal. You may live to 100, but will your life be normal. Make the right choices today. Eat well, exercise and enjoy the rest of your life.

Building your speech is just like building your dream home. Take the time to plan your speech structure. Think about your key message, supporting materials, transitions, handling the Q & A session, the introduction and the closing. When you do this, you will have a solid speech that will surely achieve its objectives to inspire your audience to take the required action.