I love to talk & can honestly say that I'm really
great at it too. Ever since I can remember (especially at school), I would get
told off for talking, as an adult this gift for talking, became something to be
shared with others. So over the past few years, I've helped thousands of people
to talk in many different settings, I call this Speaking Out. Today I'd like to
pass on some tips to help you to Speak Out too.
Most of you will be familiar with saving money or
budgeting money on a daily, weekly, monthly or even annual basis. I was reflecting on how people often talk about “being
careful with money”, and I wondered whether they realised the similarity
between Speaking Out that is, giving a talk or presentation whether that's over
the phone, face to face, during a sale, or in a professional or personal
setting?
So first of all:
1. When budgeting, the first thing to do is to work out
how much money you have for essentials like mortgages, bills etc. you then
establish how much money is left for general spending.
In Speaking Out, you begin by working out what is the
essential information for your audience or listener.
“What exactly do they need to hear from you in the time
allocated?”
Asking yourself this question enables you to allocate
your words wisely, which in turn means that you are not wasting words in the
time you have. Quite often I see people who give a presentation & run out
of time before they can get their point, skills or sale across. That would be
like wasting money wouldn't it?
Once you delivered your main message or piece of
information you have spare cash. It's then & only then that you can spend
your other words with your listener or audience in a general way.
Interestingly, even confident and regular speakers forget
the golden rule of planning. They say things like, “I've done this hundreds of
times before. I don't need to prepare”, “I'll be fine I know the individual or
the audience really well” or the increasingly popular, “it's ok, I'll just wing
it”
So anytime you make a phone call, a speech to
give, a date, a 60 second pitch, a sales proposal, a talk to deliver, an
introduction to your business, an interview to attend etc. Plan, the purpose of your meeting, what you're going
to say and what you'd like as a result too. Do not leave it to chance, you'll
end up with chance results too and that might not go in your favour.
Rein in your verbal budget so that you do not overspend
or even worse, ramble, bore your audience and totally miss the point. That's
such a waste of valuable time and money both yours and theirs.
3. So you're in the zone and talking away (or winging it)
and you notice that you've overspent, what do you do? Scroll down for the
answer
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Amazingly, many people recognise that they've overrun, are
waffling, have disengaged their listener, have been too bullish or even over
talked. But they still continue!!!!!!
So here's what to do, recognise where you're at and stop.
It's a bit like going into a supermarket, spending money that you don't have
and wondering why the checkout assistant is asking you to put items back!
By overspending with your listener, they're likely to
avoid you like the plague next time you want to speak to them and if you do
this to an audience they will most definitely "check out" once
you've lost them it's really hard work to
get them back.
4. To save money at a restaurant you might order two
starters. So “what on earth has that got to do with Speaking Out”
you ask?
Well imagine this, you're at a restaurant and the waiter
presents you with a giant plate of paella that’s big enough to feed 40 but it's
only you & that's far too much for one person to eat. You're also unsure of
many of the ingredients so suddenly you feel overwhelmed.
Alternatively imagine this .... the waiter brings over lots of small
appetisers on individual plates. They all have labels to explain what
everything is, you realise quickly that you can pick and choose your food.
Somehow your meal seems a lot easier to digest.
When Speaking Out, feed your audience with smaller,
digestible pieces of information. It's so much easier to give them full meal
when it's made up of bite sized chucks
5. When budgeting, it is possible to become slightly
obsessive, and there are times when it's completely appropriate to cut
yourself some slack.
So remember to go easy on yourself, self beating and obsessing over your performance can be just as debilitating. If you want to review how you did, as yourself the question, "So what will I do differently next time?"
Let us know by leaving a comment below and sharing this blog through your networks, after all for someone you know, it could be just what the blog for them.
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Written by Jenny Kovacs of www.gift-wish.co.uk GiFTWiSH making people special
Written by Jenny Kovacs of www.gift-wish.co.uk GiFTWiSH making people special
