Here’s a quick reminder that time is running out to sign up for the Speaking School!

To learn more and reserve your spot, visit:

The Speaking School

This four day event is perfect for new speakers who want to accelerate the growth of their speaking business and experienced speakers who need a kick in the butt to take their business to the next level!

The event is October 13-16 in Las Vegas, NV, and space is limited.

To read more about it and see exactly what is covered each day, visit:
The Speaking School now!

Check out the All-New Speaking School– Focusing on Presentation Skills AND Business!

Are you interested in building a speaking business, and/or you want to improve your presentation skills, AND you enjoy attending live events where you can do a lot of work and cover a lot of ground injust four days, then you must check out the new and improved speaking school!

The Speaking School Information and Sign Up Page

The new format consists of two two-day seminars:
The Business of Speaking (10/13 -10/14)
2 days of hands-on work where you will make decisions, select a niche, create a marketing plan that works for you, and walk away with a step by step action plan to get you results!

The Craft of Speaking (10/15 -10/16)
2 days of interactive teaching and training where you will create your speech outline, write and practice three stories, learn the art of humor and storytelling, develop your opening and closing, and leave with a completed presentation in hand!

In four short days you will:

• Select a niche market that you can dominate
• Identify your ideal buyer
• Create a title and subtitle that attracts interest
• Learn the many options you have to monetize your speaking business
• Select a revenue model for your speaking business
• Develop a list of products and services to create
• Learn the tools you need to create your products and services
• Learn the top methods you can use to market your speaking business
• Select marketing strategies that leverage your strengths and interests
• Create a plan to implement those strategies effectively and consistently
• Identify your natural strengths as a speaker
• Learn how to tap into and develop your creative power
• Learned how to apply humor to your presentations
• Practice multiple techniques to make you a more engaging and funnier speaker
• Create a complete, detailed outline for your presentation
• Write, practice, and deliver three stories for your presentation
• Receive feedback and advice on your story, material, and delivery
• Practice your speech opening and closing
• Learn tips and techniques to improve your storytelling
• Learn to create sound-bytes in your points and headings to be memorable

The event is October 13-16 and is held just outside of Las Vegas, NV, and space is limited.

To read more about it and reserve your spot, visit:

The Speaking School

This is a reminder about the new Paid Public Speaker Coaching Program.

This new program, which coaches people to become successful paid speakers, is starting soon. There are enough approved applicants to fill the small number of spaces, but a few approved of them decided at the last minute that the timing isn’t right or the program is too pricey for them.

Included in the program will be coaching and instruction regarding:

• How to give compelling and engaging presentations and talks that will get you invited back again and again
• How to get hired to speak
• How to set your fees
• How to create a solid speaking contract
• How to work up to getting paid thousands of dollars per speech or workshop
• How to locate sponsors or people to hire you
• How to focus your topic
• The formula for successful titles and subtitles for talks and workshops
• How to overcome any fears about speaking
• How to demystify and use speaking technology (slides, microphones, sound out of computers, and so on)
• How to create great handouts and slides
• How to avoid the three biggest mistakes new speakers make

You could earn back your program tuition with your first few paid speaking engagements. If you think this is for you, please visit:

http://paidpublicspeaker.com/coachingprogramoffer/

I am happy to announce that we (myself along with my partners Fred and Bill) are opening up a second round of the Paid Public Speaker Group Coaching Program, and registration is now open!

This is an awesome program where we take a small number of people and help them pick a niche, craft a topic, put together a presentation, create products, and, most importantly, build their speaking business!

Read more about it (and fill out your application!) here Paid Public Speaker Group Coaching Program

The participants in the first group have made some great progress. For example:

• All participants selected a niche they could dominate and become the expert in
• Several created products and were able to make money – even at a free speaking gig!
• At least one raised his fees and got paid for an hour what he use to earn speaking for a full day!
• Just about everyone now has websites, speech titles, outlines, and a clear direction for organizations to reach out to for speaking engagements
• Half of the group has already spoken or lined up specific dates in the future for speaking gigs
• And more!

It’s been pretty cool. Actually, it’s been very, very cool. This program is perfect for:

• People just starting out in the speaking business
• Anyone who wants to start in the speaking business but is unsure of how to proceed
• Someone who has been in the speaking business for a while but has been floundering and needs a new start

To fill out an application, visit the Paid Public Speaker Group Coaching Program page now – space is limited!

Thanks!
Avish

I have a guest post up on Rich Hopkins’ blog, Speak and Deliver.

You can read it here:

5 Ways to Add Humor to Your Presentations

If you like it, spread it around!

Big News! I have just completed (with one of my partners, Fred Gleeck) a new and comprehensive program on professional speaking.

The product is over 14 hours in length and is packed with great information. All up to date. It’s great for both current and aspiring speakers

Plus, it comes with three amazing bonuses.

If you grab it in the next few days you’ll get a massive discount that will not be available in the near future (Seriously, based on what you get, the sale price is ridiculous)

Check out the site now:

The Speaking Expert Series

Hurry, because the super sale price ends April 7th…

Also, tell anyone you know who is interested in speaking!!

Wow. Just wow.

I recently sat through an awful presentation. It was just….awful…

It was at a one hour class on gluten free living. My girlfriend is gluten free, so I went with her to learn more about it for myself.

The class, thankfully, was free, but I soon discovered that quite often you do, in fact, get what you pay for…

To put in context, after we left, my girlfriend turned to me and said, “that was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Wasn’t that the worst thing you’ve ever seen?”

To be fair, I’ve seen a lot of presentations over the years, which means I’ve seen a lot of bad ones. I can’t say this was the worst, but it was up there. At least we got water and a small bite of pizza at the end…

Rather than leave (which, when there are only ten people there and you are on the opposite side of the room from a closed door, can be a bit awkward) or just completely space out, I decided to take some notes about why I felt it was a horrible presentation, and what any presenter can learn from it

Below are six of the biggest mistakes I noted, along with instructions on how you can avoid making those mistakes yourself. These tips apply whether you are a professional speaker, speak as part of your job, or just do presentations to small group for marketing or educational purposes.

1) Telling too Many, “I’m Awesome” Stories

If I had a bag of Doritos for every time this woman launched into some story about what amazing results she or her one of her patients had, I would be able to make the weirdest prom dress ever.

Your audience absolutely wants to know about your successes. They are hoping to learn from you. But you must be very careful with your use of stories that scream “look at how awesome I am!” because you’ll start to sound like an egotistical jackass and alienate the audience.

Look at me and all my money and how awesome I am!

(Note: telling a story about how awesome someone else did after or because of your intervention is the same thing as telling a story about how awesome you are.)

You’re ok telling one, maybe two tales of your awesomeness. After that, the audience will think, “ok, we get it, move on.” It also never hurts to say, “I’m not saying this to brag, but rather to show you how you can ___,” Then fill in the blank. If you can’t fill in the blank, drop the story because it doesn’t help the audience and is pure ego.

Unless you are speaking purely as an entertainer or humorist, your stories are there to support your points. And your points should be set up to provide action steps for your audience to take. If you tell a story that can not be tied to a clear point and/or action step, then you’re not speaking; you’re bragging.

2) Spending Too Long on the Problem

This was a one hour class. Five minutes were spent distributing and eating the pizza samples. Fifty minutes were spent on why gluten is the worst food product since Soylent Green.

“Soylent Green…has GLUTEN!!!”

I’m not kidding. By the end of her talk I feel that if I was given a choice between a piece of bread and a jar of gluten free arsenic, I would be better off drinking the arsenic.

To recap the timing: This was a 60 minute class. 50 minutes were spent on the problem. 5 minutes were spent on sampling.  That left only five minutes to talk about solutions, action items, and “to-dos.”

Education is important, but your audience is going to mostly care about what they can do differently to be happier, more successful, or better off. If you spend more than twenty-five percent of your time (at most – ten percent is probably enough) focusing on the problem, you’re not speaking, you’re preaching.

3) Including No Action Items

Over the course of one hour, I can’t say there was a moment where the speaker said, “Here’s what you should do.” Other than, “stop eating gluten,” there were no calls to action.

Um, yeah, I don't know what you should do my info...figure it out for yourself

I wasn’t looking for earth shattering advice, but how about something as simple as, “here are three gluten-free things you can eat for breakfast instead of cereal,” or, “when buying groceries, here are the specific things you can look for on the label to see if it has gluten.”

She even at one point said, “I don’t have a problem traveling,” but didn’t go on to give any of her tips for how to successfully travel while living gluten free. Crazy.

With few exceptions, the goal of any presentation is to get the audience to do something different or new. If you don’t give them some specific what’s and how’s, then you have done them a disservice. If you do this, you’re not speaking, you’re pontificating.

4) Having No Structure Whatsoever

The more I speak and see others speak, the more I appreciate the need for a solid structure. Throughout the class, I had no idea where this woman was going. She just babbled on and on. At one point she even went off on a tangent about the injustices of our legal system (don’t ask, because I couldn’t adequately explain it to you. It had something to do with a Laotian man losing thirty pounds after being unjustly incarcerated…).

Wait, where are we and where are we going??

Speech structure is easy, but many people blow it. Just have a beginning, have an end, sub-divide the rest of your time into points, and then periodically let the audience know where you are and where you are going.

(For more info, read this post: How to Quickly Put Together a Great Speech)

Follow a simple structure and you’ll keep your audience engaged. Don’t do that and you’re not speaking, you’re rambling.

5) Passing off Opinions as Fact

I realize I am about to walk into dangerous territory here, and I want to be clear: my goal is not to get into the “is gluten dangerous or not?” argument.  I have seen the benefits of gluten free living in enough people to accept that gluten has its issues. I 100% believe that some (maybe many more than we know) people are intolerant, allergic, or have full on Celiac disease.

Your opinions are fine and good, but at the end of the day 2+2=4

However, there’s a difference between opinions you and I form based on our experiences and hard data based on controlled research and studies.

The instructor’s blatant disregard for the scientific method was mind numbingly deplorable. I’ve heard the Trix Rabbit make more cogent arguments while trying to explain that Trix is not only for kids, but also for rabbits, hares, and the occasional pika.

At one point she said, and I quote literally here, “all skin problems are gluten.”

Really? All skin problems? Every last one of them?

This was just one in a long line of gross assumptions and misleading statements she passed off as fact.

There were two big mistakes she made, which you, if you ever speak to a group, should avoid:

1. Not understanding the difference between correlation and causation – Just because two things seem related, doesn’t mean that one caused the other. She repeatedly pointed out, with great glee, how every time a patient came in with any problem, she would ask them about their diet and they would all say they ate bread and cereal. This was her proof that all of her patients’ problems stemmed from gluten. I felt like pointing out to her that all her patients probably slept at night, and drank a glass of water at some point during the day too. That doesn’t mean those things caused all their problems.
2. Not understanding the difference between anecdotal evidence and data – Every bit of proof the speaker provided to support her points was based on her own experiences, whether from living gluten free herself or working with her patients. Nothing wrong with that, but when you pass off your personal experiences as hard data, well, that’s a problem.

I want to stress again that I am not arguing against gluten-free living. However, when you base your arguments on poor logic and faulty assumptions, you not only don’t make your case, you actually weaken it.

Speaking to groups is awesome, but it comes with a responsibility. First and foremost is the responsibility to not lie to, mislead, or hoodwink your audience.

If you want to use anecdotal evidence, great, just make it clear that’s what you’re doing. If you want espouse your opinions without presenting hard data, fine, just be clear that this is what you believe.  If you don’t, you’re not speaking, you’re lying.

6) Focusing on Personal Mission Instead of the Audience’s Needs

Here’s a harsh truth for you: your audience doesn’t really care about your personal mission to change the world.

Sure, if you’re giving a TED talk or keynoting a symposium on your topic, then people may be interested in your global mission. But if you are speaking to a small group of people about how to improve their health and energy, well I’m guessing they don’t much care.

Yell it as loud as you want, people still won't care

Many, many times this speaker talked about the dietary problems in the world, and how mothers in Africa are miscarrying, and how people in China are now getting obese, all due to gluten. Clearly she had a passion for this stuff.

Unfortunately, while her stories may have pulled at the audience’s heartstrings, I feel pretty confident saying that no one there really cared. The class wasn’t advertised as, “gluten’s impact around the world.” The title was, “Gluten Free: Losing Weight & Loving Life.”

I would bet real money that the attendees were mostly interested in learning:

1. What gluten free eating was
2. How it could help them lose weight
3. How living gluten free could help them “love life.”
4. Whether gluten free living would make their various digestive issues go away

Notice how “health trends on the other side of the ocean” is not on this list.

Your greatest success as a speaker will come when you touch upon the primary concerns of your audience. If you have a world changing life mission good for you! You can even talk about it if you:

1. Keep it brief
2. Tie it back to the audience’s self interest

If you don’t do those two things, you’re not speaking; you’re proselytizing.

In Conclusion

As bad as I thought this presentation was, I do applaud the instructor for two things:

1. She clearly had a passion for her message and a deep desire to help people get better
2. She was out there doing something, spreading her message.

I hope you have the same level of passion for something and that you get out there and do something about it.

If you do, and if you use speaking as one of your methods, than please, review the six tips above to make sure your message gets heard, appreciated, and spread. If you don’t, you’re not speaking, you’re just babbling…

***
Do you want help making sure your next presentation (and every one after that) doesn’t suck? Then sign up for some Smart Ass Mentoring now!

Hard to believe, but this blog has been going for a year and a half! In that time we’ve picked up a bunch of new readers. If you are a new reader (or an old one who may have forgotten some classic posts), I present you with The Best of the Motivational Smart Ass!

The posts below were selected in the very unscientific manner known as “Avish is going to pick the posts that he likes, that got the most comments/emails/tweets/etc., and that he feels represent the blog well.”

Take a look at some of the posts below and get to know (or get reacquainted with) the Motivational Smart Ass…

Motivation & Success

Why People Hating What You Do is a Good Thing – If everybody likes you, you may be doing something wrong.

Are You an Encouraging Inspiration or a Discouraging Dumbass? – Words have tremendous power. Are you using yours to encourage people or crush their dreams?

Why Stupid People Succeed – Have you ever looked at a stupid person who was very successful and thought to yourself, “how in the heck is someone that dumb so successful?” I have. And I think I have an answer.

Business

Customer Service Credo: Deeds, Not Words – What you do means 100 times more than what you say – especially when it comes to customer service.

6 Horrendous Leadership Types – Some bosses just suck. Here are 6 types, along with advice on how you can avoid being one of them.

Speaking

5 Conference Speakers That Can Kill a Conference – Planning a conference? Be wary of using of these types of conference speakers! Planning to speak at an event? Make sure you’re not one of these presenters! In the audience at a big event? See how many of these you can spot!

5 Ways to Suck as a Conference Breakout Speaker – If you are planning on speaking at a breakout session at a conference (or would like to some day. Or are planning a conference. Or will be attending one), read this article to see how to not suck at it.

Halloween

Since Halloween is fast approaching, here are some horror movie related posts I have written

Rating the Business Acumen of Horror Movie Monsters – Great movie monsters all have different strengths, weaknesses, and character traits. It is interesting to consider how these traits would carry over in the business world. By making these observations, there may be some things we too can learn about business.

6 Business Lessons We Can All Learn From Horror Movies – Did you know that you can learn a lot of business lessons from watching the stupid things characters in horror movies do? If not, then read this post!

Jersey Shore

I admit it, I watch Jersey Shore. And then I write posts about what we can learn from observing their stupid behavior.

Business and Life Lessons from MTV’s “Jersey Shore”

Communication Lessons from MTV’s “Jersey Shore”

80s Music

What can I say, I grew up in the 80s. Leave me alone…

5 Great 80’s Motivational Songs

5 Great Motivational Songs From 80’s Movies

Funny Motivation: 5 MORE Great Motivational Songs From 80s Movies

Rush

My favorite rock band is Rush so I like to write posts about them.

Great Motivational Lines from Rush Songs

Does Greatness Just Happen?

More Lessons From My Favorite Rock Band of All Time!

Were you on last night’s Presentation Skills Webinar? If not, don’t worry! you can watch the recording of the entire webinar online here:

Better Presentation Skills Using Improv Comedy!

In additon to some great info on presentation skills, there are some special offers I announce in the video that are good until this Friday, 8/27!

Check it out now!
Better Presentation Skills Using Improv Comedy!

Thanks!
Avish

P.S. If you’d like to use the same tool I did for your own
broadcasts and video email, check out:
http://www.SuperDuperVideoTool.com

Here’s a reminder (or an announcement, if you missed my first notice about it!):

I am conducting a free presentation skills webinar tonight, Monday, Auguat 23rd at 8PM EST.

There is no charge, and you don’t even have to sign up! Just surf on over to:
http://www.SeeAvishLive.com
at 8PM tonight!

Please spread the word and invite anyone and everyone you know who would like to improve their presentation skills. The webinar is appropriate for all levels; I’ll be sharing two beginner concepts, two intermediate concepts, and two advanced concepts!

Webinar Info:
Monday, 8/23, 8PM EST
http://www.SeeAvishLive.com
No sign up necessary, just follow the link at 8PM EST on Monday the 23rd

(Note: If the system seems stuck on “Waiting for host” close out and try again)

See you on the webinar!