Florian Mueck - PlusPlus

But — you connect much better with your audience when you use the “I” form:

My symbolic moment of perseverance arrived as I was standing at the Rosenthaler Platz subway station in Berlin. All my credit cards were blocked, and I had 1.27 € left in my pocket. I couldn’t afford a simple subway ticket. I felt humiliated.

Take all your impersonal statements and make them personal:

From: One feels badly when being bullied. To: I felt badly when they bullied me.

From: One should never give up. To: I never gave up.

From: One must believe. To: I needed to believe.

Boost your content even more by personalizing what you say.

Another area that improves our storytelling involves the way we use names. In my seminars, most speakers talk about a client, about their children, about their spouses, bosses, neighbors, or colleagues.

But — they almost never give these people names.

You make your stories more personal when you use people’s names:

My ex-boss, mentor, and friend Ralf Beunker..

My son Álvaro...

Daniel Braun, a client-friend of mine...

It’s easy to fix this. Use names throughout your entire speech. You’ll sound much more personable, and you’ll sound like you’re more grounded in the real world.

Boost your content even more by giving people names.

I’m a great fan of dialogs in public speeches. When it comes to drama, however, most people are reluctant. I’m not an actor , they say. The reality is, they’re shy and self-conscious — so they need some encouragement!

The truth is: you don’t have to be an actor. As my friend, professional speaker Olivia Schofieldsays, An actor is an expert at being someone else, while, as a public speaker, you’re an expert at being yourself.

You can still add some significant, effective drama to your speeches — easily. You can spice up your content by using dialogs.

And then my dad said: Son, you know what makes me the happiest man on earth? When I’m out on the street and see a group of my alumni after 30 years, and the first thing I see on their faces when they see me is a smile. That makes me the happiest man on earth.

When we use dialogs, we change our facial expression, we vary our voice, we use dramatic acting techniques — and we’re not even aware we’re doing it.

When I speak about the power of a smile, I always recall this conversation with my dad. I remember him; I see him; I feel him. This is why that dialog comes across as authentic — because it was real.

Dialogs with moms and dads are always great, because almost all of us have them. Almost everyone can identify.

Many other conversations are easy to remember and use as dialogs — with other family members, friends, partners, teachers, bosses, colleagues, suppliers, clients, shopkeepers, bartenders — the list is endless.

If your audience speaks a certain type of jargon, and you want to connect with them on a more casual level, dialogs can also serve as a smart carrier of what might otherwise be inappropriate expressions:

Then my friend Thomas replied, “This is crap!"

You didn’t say it — your friend Thomas did!

Dialogs bring life into your speeches, and bring your speeches to life. Use them often!

Boost your content even more by adding dialogs.

A special form of dialog is the internal dialog, also known as “soliloquy”.

I always wondered, Can I really do this?

I asked myself, Am I doing the right thing?

For years I looked for an answer to this question: Shouldn’t I go for a big change in my life?

This pattern has popped up in countless speech evaluations. Internal dialog connects with your audience. The reason is simple: Humans have doubts, anxieties, wishes, longings, unanswered questions. When you launch a dialog with yourself, your audience can easily identify with you.

Boost your content even more by including a soliloquy.

How can I present the monthly business unit results with passion?

I’ve heard this question, or something similar, so many times — and I have to admit, the question makes a valid point. And yet, making excuses for dull public speeches correlates 100% with a lack of creativity.

You can, literally, add passion to any speech. The trick is to use the passions and hobbies of your life, and build metaphorical bridges to your speech content. You’ll find that a great many metaphorical bridges lead right into the heart of the language of business:

Chess: vision, planning, strategy

Children: growth, motivation, lifelong learning

Cooking: vision, patience, creativity, innovation

Cycling: perseverance, the extra mile, training

Fishing: market analysis, promotion, patience

Friends: trust, reliability, “client” orientation

Marathon: perseverance, milestones, strategic focus

Mountain climbing: risk taking, goal setting, teamwork

Piano: multitasking, versatility

Soccer: team play, training, strategy and tactics

What are your passions and hobbies in life? Use them! You can build metaphorical bridges to all kinds of content — even to that presentation of your business unit’s monthly results.

A software company’s major markets were Spain, Germany, the UK, France and Italy. So when the CFO presented the finance department’s strategy, he used the UEFA Champions Leagueas his metaphor. He gave their key clients the names of famous football clubs: F.C. Barcelona, Bayern München, Manchester United, Olympique Lyonnais, AC Milan. Since he was himself such a fervent football fan, his passion powered his presentation so much that his eyes sparkled as he explained his strategy and virtually scored his future goals.

Nothing is impossible in public speaking. Using your passions creatively makes for more effective presentations.

Boost your content even more by building bridges of passion.

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