"Karen Cortell Reisman brings clarity, humor, and expertise
to her work. I definitely feel she can help all of us become better teachers, facilitators and presenters."

Irwin M. Becker, D.D.S., Chairman, Dept. of Education, The Pankey Institute

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TRAP #6
Impressing your audience with lots of data

FIX-IT TIP: Use stories, examples, humor, and metaphors to make your message stick

Have you ever left a presentation saying,“Oh darn, I wish they had shown me one more bar graph!”? Use less data. Incorporate more stories, humor, examples, and metaphors. You’ll have more fun, and your listeners will have an easier time retaining your message.

You might ask,“Where do I find these stories?” Look around. Have funnier eyes. Observe with purpose. The idiom that truth is stranger than fiction applies to all of us! When a story with an “ah ha”happens to you, jot it down. Use the story in your meetings or in a speech to make a point or at home with your family to reinforce one of your values. The trick to story telling is two-pronged. First, your story must make some point that relates to your message. Second, be brief with just enough detail. Otherwise, your verbiage will become tedious and make people itchy.

Storytelling reinforces the message and makes your information come alive. People will want to keep listening to you, and they’ll remember what you said.

Metaphors are another excellent way to explain your concepts. Practice this method in your casual conversations. Try to give an example using a description from real life. For example, I tell audiences that ears have lousy memories. I then show them a
sponge and a sieve. I ask “Which one best defines your brain cells? Are you a sponge? Do you absorb all the information thrown at you all day long in emails, meetings, and presentations? Or,are you a sieve? Yes,we are all sieve heads. 100% of the information goes in, and 75% goes through these cute holes.”

Use metaphors like this, and your information will stay inside the sieves of your audience.

If your audience needs to have all the specific data, then do an overview to emphasize the critical information and provide the details in the appendix of your handout.

Copyright 2005 Frank Coyle

TRAP #8
Giving your introducer your five-page résumé
so that she can say a few things about you.

FIX-IT TIP Write your own concise introduction for the introducer to read about you

When you dine at a restaurant, your opinion about your experience begins the minute you enter the establishment. You notice everything. Was the hostess courteous? Is the table set attractively?Can you read the menu? Is the waitress helpful? Does the food arrive in a timely manner? Then, you eat the food.

Similarly, your speech is not the first item of business for your audience. The room set-up (to be discussed later) and your introduction come first. A fantastic introduction about you sets the tone for your stupendous message. Why leave this vital component to chance? Why make your introducer design your intro and go to such trouble? Write your own introduction and tell the introducer to read it as is. Tell them NOT to memorize it (for the same reasons I don’t want you to memorize your own speech).

My clients find this tip to be extremely helpful. In fact, one of my clients, Tom, was experiencing speech burnout. Ordinarily he loved to travel and share his knowledge with his dental peers. He credits his new self-written introduction as the factor that’s made him excited to speak again. Before his presentation begins, he knows that the introducer will set the stage in a positive and predictable manner. Tom knows that he will be positioned in just the way he wants so that the audience will be ready to enjoy the day.

Some tips on writing your own introduction include:

• Type your name phonetically so that your name is not mispronounced. I type Karen Cortell Rice-men even though my last named is spelled Reisman.
• Keep it short.
• Start by describing your topic and the benefit of your subject matter to your audience.
• Tell the audience why you’re credible.
• Try to add humor.
• End with your name and the title of your speech, such as,
  “ Please welcome Karen Cortell Rice-men who will tell us how to Speak To Sell!”

Copyright 2005 Frank Coyle

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