Category: Toastmasters

Dialogue can be a powerful public speaking tool. It can engage audiences and convey your message effectively. But how do you know if your dialogue is a keeper, weeper, or sleeper? Sleepers and weepers are seldom keepers. However, keepers can create a more engaging and dynamic experience for your audiences. Since you are the speaker delivering the address and the dialogue, practicing your timing and pacing is imperative. Focus on your purpose for adding the dialogue until you receive the desired effect you are seeking.   

Audiences receive dialogue well when it sounds natural, engaging, and not forced into a presentation. In addition, the exchange you insert should have some impact on your audience. Speakers should also remember that it is effective when your dialogue is short, necessary, and realistic. Ask for feedback to know if your dialogue has the desired effect on your presentation and audience. Focus on the following three questions with at least three different evaluators. The responses you receive will go a long way in helping you decide if your dialogue should stay in or out of your final presentation.  

The first and most important is whether your dialogue was necessary to support the presentation’s message, purpose, and point. Did it sound natural and conversational? Finally, was it engaging, and how did it impact your audience? If you receive more negative comments than positive responses regarding any of those questions. You may have a weeper or sleeper that may need reworking.

Knowing something about the audience you are preparing for is crucial. Being aware of what will resonate well with that audience is an excellent starting point. It is wise to take a moment to research your audience’s demographics. Be aware of the language, style, and phrases they commonly use. Your research will help you include language your audience would easily understand. However, most coaches will advise avoiding using dialogue that merely states a myriad of facts, personal feelings, and language that is considered repetitive. They are sleepers and usually have precisely that effect on audiences. They put audiences to sleep.   

Every presentation involves the giving and taking of information. When we speak, our audience listens and reacts. Therefore, every speech is really a dialogue, not a monologue. The speaker is having a conversation with the audience. However,  dialogue adds a third voice to the conversation. And that third addition to the party is usually a character. The speakers should remember that the exchange with that third voice, verbal and nonverbal, was added to impact the conversation. The discussion just moved from a two-way to a three-way exchange. And it is crucial to give that third party a unique voice as your dialogue develops.     

Including dialogue in your storytelling can help bring your stories to life. Telling your audience what occurred with a verbal exchange using a character’s voice is far more effective than telling the audience what “he or she” said. When you use dialogue to recall what took place conversationally, you are taking your audience back to the time and place of the event as it unfolded. Drop into the emotional experience of the conversation with dialogue. One way to make your dialogue conversational is to add the six emotions to which all humans respond to your delivery. And those six emotions are happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. 

Speakers can also use dialogue to reinforce their story’s point or message. We all have heard it said, the secret to public speaking is, you tell a story to make a point or make a point to tell a story. Speakers can achieve a similar result with dialogue. Use dialogue to highlight the point or message in place of a story. Short and direct dialogue also has a powerful and engaging impact on audiences. A great example is one that takes me back to a famous movie scene.   “Harry met Salley”  – “I’ll have what She is having.”

Adding dialogue to presentations is fun. But it takes time, patience, and practice. Remember,  dialogue should emphasize or clarify your point or message. Let your audience know who is speaking when new characters are introduced. Be descriptive. Add emotions, suspense, and reality to your delivery. Make sure your dialogue supports your story, point, and message. Keep exchanges conversational. Engages your audience. And lastly, add a dialogue section to your story file for your keepers, sleepers, and weepers. I love them all and keep reworking my weepers and sleepers until the day they become another of my keepers.  

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound! It is a song that awakens the power of the human spirit – to remind us – that where there’s a will, there’s always a way for you, and you to be filled with Your Amazing Grace. Are you filled with Your Amazing Grace? It is the feeling of being unshakable, unbreakable, unsinkable. Even when you truly believe that all but hope is lost.

On Christmas eve, hundred and forty years ago, Pastor John Newton spoke those beautiful words when he delivered a sermon. In that sermon, he spoke about a time in his life when he was lost and how he came to be found. When he was too blind to see the beauty of humanity and how his troubled life was transformed when he came face to face with what he was sure was going to be his destiny; a watery grave at sea.

Newton, a self-proclaimed wretch, a vagabond of the sea, was sailing across the Atlantic with his crew and human cargo. Yes! He was a slave trader. They ran into a storm that could only be described as one of biblical proportions. The seas were angry. The winds were howling like mad dogs. His sails ripped to shreds. Newton, an experienced seaman, realizing that he was no match for the fury of mother nature that day, fell to his knees, begging for mercy, promising to change from his wicked ways if given a second chance at life.

Newton got that second chance. Miraculously they made it to a little port named Donegal on the Northern coast of Ireland. It was there he first spoke those words that would become the lyrics of the song of songs, hymn of hymns Amazing Grace. However, the author of the music remains anonymous to this day. Some say it was inspired by the moaning and groaning of the slaves in the whole of his ship, who also wondered what their destiny would be as they fought to save their lives and the vessel.  

In my youth, my parents, Wilma and George, often used the lyrics of Amazing Grace to teach my siblings and me their golden rules of life. We must always treat others with the same love and respect we would like to be treated. That second chances don’t come easy. But if ever you are so blessed – the promises you made must be promises kept. And in your hours of darkness, if you reach out to the power of the human spirit, you too will be filled with your Amazing Grace.

Can you recall a moment in your life when you thought it was over? Did you, too, make promises as you begged for your second chance? We all have. We all will have a John Newton moment in our lives. When your bend in the road feels like the end. Even after you have given all that you have to give and then some, all you can see up ahead are those two dreaded words – The End! However, in your hour of despair, I want you always to remember these words that have brought hope to presidents and many mortals like me and you:  “Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come, ‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”

In 2016, I had my Newton moment when I broke one of my wife’s golden rules. Don’t go climbing ladders when you are home alone. The ladder to the loft in the garage slid, throwing me headfirst into a beam. To this day, I will never forget the sound that left my body when I hit the concrete floor in the garage – Woosh! Blood was everywhere. First, I saw a bright light, stars, then felt a feeling of peace as darkness overcame my body. That darkness stayed with me like a shadow for the next three years of my life. There were many times I thought of giving up. But the words of that song gave me hope to carry on.

My friends, we don’t know if, how, or when we will have our John Newton moment – When your whole life will flash like a bad movie before your eyes. But I know this for sure: in that hour of darkness, you will find a way if you have the will. And if you reach out to the power of the human spirit, that spirit that is unshakable, unbreakable, unsinkable, you too will be filled with Your Amazing Grace.

Turning your great ideas into an unforgettable speech that inspires others begins with Your Speaker’s Blueprint. Every speech should have a Blueprint – Your plan that answers the following questions – What’s my purpose? How will that purpose impact my listeners? What will it make my audience think, feel or do?

For that reason, some coaches believe the most important minute of your speech is the minute of silence after you have spoken. If a speaker can inspire their audience to jump out of their seat to make a significant change in their life or the lives of others, they have made their case. They have achieved their purpose.

Once a speaker has answered those questions, they can start developing their blueprint by collecting their supporting material. Although the title is always your audience’s first introduction to your speech, it can wait. You can use a placeholder if you wish. Titles are a relatable premise of the speech. As your speech develops, the title often changes.

Focus more on committing your thoughts to paper. Write them all down. The memos of your flashes of creativity often come in handy later in the editing process. I call those jottings – “The Keepers and the Weepers.” Enjoy documenting them all, although you know some of the best lines won’t make the final cut. But where possible, share those creative ideas as were first experienced.

We all have unique ways of speaking in private and public. However, be mindful that it’s not what you say. It’s what your audience hears. Next, develop your Foundational Statement. It should be a tweetable and easily repeatable sentence. All speakers believe that their ideas are great. However, speakers must remember they are preparing a speech for their listeners’ gratification, not theirs.

Therefore, they should also ask themselves why this idea inspired them and why it should inspire others. Will their audience feel what they felt when this idea first popped into their head? And how they should structure their speech to touch all the emotions to which all humans respond.   

Your introduction should capture and engage the attention and imagination of your audience. It should keep your audience focused on your topic. As you write out your speech, deciding on the body parts you wish to engage is a good idea. Will it be the heart for empathy, the head to make your audience think, hands or feet to get your audience moving?

Whichever you choose is fine. However, your choice should always transition smoothly to the body of the speech. The body is where the speaker develops and expands their point, purpose, and proposition. If you don’t have a purpose, you don’t have a speech. Also, there should be a message in your purpose.

To make your message crystal clear, you can tell a story to make your point. Many coaches teach the secret to public speaking is you make a point, then tell a story –  or tell a story to make a point. You then repeat the process over and over.

From your opening to the conclusion, your point, purpose, proposition, and message should echo through the delivery of your speech. One world champion calls it your scarlet ribbon that runs through the body. Varying how you deliver your B1, B2, & B3 will keep your audience focused on your message as you build to your big takeaway. That takeaway is what some coaches call your Magic Moment. The moment that will turn an excellent speech into one that is immortal.

To avoid ambiguity, your structure should be a single introduction, moving to the body of the presentation. Then, to close, choose your final words carefully—end with a single conclusion, and make sure your last words linger in the minds of your audience. We all have our preferred speech-writing model. Call it whatever you wish. It is Your Speaker’s Blueprint. A popular model we are all familiar with is the “Tell Them Model,” – Where -you tell your audience what you’re going to tell them – You tell them – Then you tell them what you told them. Use that model to check your script for clarity.

From the moment a speaker steps onto the platform, pause and begin reading the audience. However, the closing is where you will seal the deal. Many deals are lost because the speaker didn’t realize their audience is sold. Your audience tells you silently if you made a good connection and you have made your case.

While it is difficult to receive feedback over Zoom, it is possible. Remember, a smile is just a frown turned upside down. If you can see your audience, focus briefly on the frowns; the decenters and move on. If your audience is not visible, use carefully placed pauses and rhetorical questions as check-ins during your delivery.  

Nothing is built without a solid plan or blueprint. Your blueprint does not have to be fancy. If your written plan serves as your guide to help you stay focused on your plot, it is your blueprint. If it increases the effectiveness of the connection with your audience, it is your blueprint. Create a blueprint for your next speech. Experience the joy of turning your next great idea into an unforgettable moment for you and your audience. And remember, all great speeches begin and end with – Your Speaker’s Blueprint.

Leadership is not a game. It is a process – It is a calling. But as the good book says, many are called, but few are chosen. We all will be called upon to lead at some time. Most great leaders have a style that is unique to them. Their style is shaped by traits developed over time through various leadership experiences. Great leaders motivate and inspire others. They encourage those they lead to better themselves and the people around them.

Knowing your leadership style is essential as you continue your process of self-discovery. Today, when I think of my leadership style, Dynamic, I think about a time in my life when I was twenty-one. The year was 1970, and my homeland, Trinidad, was embroiled in a revolution. I was chosen to lead a squad because of my rank. Everyone in my squad was older than I was. That’s when I quickly realized the virtues of being a Dynamic leader. The mission at hand was to get everyone back to base alive. We worked together as a team and achieved our goals as a team. That was when my Dynamic leadership began to take shape.

As a Dynamic leader, my focus has always been to find better ways to direct, guide, motivate and influence the behaviors of others I lead. Achieving each individual’s goals and the organization’s purpose is essential. However, leadership does not mean you take ownership of the organization. You take ownership to ensure the success or failures of those you lead. Leadership demands that you maintain good interpersonal relations while staying true to your values. Your challenge is to motivate each team member to contribute and work together to achieve their goals and objectives.

Since that 1970 experience, I have used the Dynamic Leadership Model to implement changes when faced with difficult situations. It is a model that teaches us to change with the changes we encounter. It demands that your words and actions must be in sync. And while it is wonderful to be optimistic as a leader. It teaches us that leaders must also be realistic. And that sometimes a pessimist is just an optimist with information. Dynamic Leadership also requires you to show respect for time – your time and the time of others. It helps you understand your strengths and preferences that can help you adjust to the leadership styles of others.  

Here are four Leadership styles. Can you identify which best describes yours?

Autocratic: The leader has complete control of the team. The team cannot present their view in the decision-making process. Everything comes from above!

Democratic: One that offers everyone a fair hearing while respecting and conforming to the organization’s basic rules.

Laissez-faire or Free-rein: Translated from French, meaning ‘to let it do.’ This style results in a hands-off approach to leadership.

Bureaucratic: A leadership style in which a Governing Body establishes the management and decision-making norms of the organization.  

We all have deferred to one of those leadership styles as parents or members of an organization to which we belong. But can you identify which styles you most commonly default to when pressured or faced with your moments of truth? Does that style offer ways of working and communicating within the organization? Does it state who does and is responsible for what? And how is that information shared? The Dynamic Leadership Model allows members to understand, communicate and express that information clearly.

Over my years as a leader, I have found that the organizational structure is often a reflection of the personality traits of the membership. And when all are invested in the organization’s structure and policies, the result is success. However, when those policies are adjusted to fit the whims and fancies of individual members, it’s only a matter of time before the culture and essence of that organization are lost. And most likely, it will stay lost forever.

When we join an organization, we can move in one of three directions. We can remain where we were on the first day we joined. Some may regress, while others will improve as communicators and someday become high achievers and leaders. The choice is ours. The foundation of our Leadership style is based on knowing yourself, your beliefs, and your core values. There are many challenges one will face as a leader. However, it is those moments of truth that will always reveal who we truly are as a leader and why we were called upon or chosen to leadership.