Memorial Day 2013

The President's Speak.

But it's the soldiers who Deliver.

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial - photo by Rich Hopkins

Remember.

Memorial Day, 2013

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...

Nearly a month since my last post? Doesn't feel like it, that's for sure.

This may seem odd, but I've actually been busy speaking...and coaching...even coaching someone giving a speech about being - wait for it - too BUSY!

How do you handle it when you realize you've left a project, or a blog, unattended to far longer than you imagined? My clients often tell me how easy it is to put off writing their speeches, finding stories for their story log, and contacting potential places to speak. Indeed - I completely understand.

The only answer is to get back to it - to put aside the feeling of overwhelm, the worry that you must come back with some gargantuan effort, and just write, or speak, or call, or whatever it is that you have put aside for so long, and build momentum.

So what have I been busying my time with?

Doris Duke Theatre, filling up for SPEAK.

A trip to Hawaii, for one, where the Toastmasters of District 49 welcomed me to a screening of Speak the Movie. 200 people showed up at the Doris Duke Theatre in Honolulu for a movie style showing. Afterward, I took questions for about 45 minutes, on everything from my mindset to my future plans to how my kids are now, five years later.

Willie Jones - 1997 World Champion of Public Speaking

Sheryl Roush - Accredited Speaker, Author

My host, Cain Kamano, and his wife Liz, showed me a great time the rest of the week, and had arranged for me to give an abbreviated version of my Win Anyway keynote to three Toastmasters clubs in the area, including the home club of World Champion of Public Speaking Willie Jones - who actually showed up and provided me with some valuable feedback afterward.

My last night there was yet another Toastmaster meeting, this time sharing the stage with Accredited Speaker Sheryl Roush, as she and I were assigned to evaluate two speeches that were just a day away from being given at their District contest. If you haven't experienced Sparkle-Tude in person, you can't miss a chance to spend time with Sheryl. Watch for her coming to an event near you!

Coming home, I began going down the homestretch with a few clients competing at Divisional and District rounds of the Toastmasters International Speech Contest here in my home District 26. It's been tremendous working with so many speakers, helping them take their speeches to a higher level than before, and creating a wonderful gift for their audiences. 

At the conference itself over the last weekend, after watching the inimitable World Champion of Public Speaking Jim Key give two outstanding sessions focused on achieving excellence and the value of storytelling, I delivered my own 45 minute breakout session on Creating Championship Speakers with Championship Evaluations - stressing the importance of giving, and RECEIVING, feedback in the most effective ways possible.

Surrounded by 2003 World Champion of Public Speaking
Jim Key and Vocal Coach and Voice Actor Hilary Blair

Before he flew off Sunday morning, Jim kicked off a morning devoted to professional speaking by giving us tips on starting a business as a speaker, followed by some individual coaching. Rounding out the morning, Hilary Blair, professional vocal coach and voice-over professional, offered an entertaining and informative review of vocal exercises and a look into how our voice works both for and against us. I closed the event with 45 minutes with an interactive look at Discovering and Defining your Message, ending with a quick tutorial about product creation.

A whirlwind month, and I've only shared some of the highlights. What have you been doing - what have you been busy with? What stages have you graced? Are you out sharing your message and making an impact? I know you are - many to a much greater extent than I have this month. Share your story in the comments - I love hearing about your successes!

In the meantime, it's OK to get a bit busy, and to get caught up in the gust of wind as time flies. As long as you always remember to occasionally land and catch up, and always, of course, to Speak...& Deliver!

Speak the Movie at Cherry Creek

Ed Tate & Rich Hopkins answer Questions at Cherry Creek Toastmaster's Speak Event

Last night, Cherry Creek Toastmasters hosted a local showing of Speak the Movie.

Cherry Creek member and 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking Ed Tate was in attendance, and in addition to offering a few introductory words, participated with me in the Q&A afterward.

The response to the film was as positive as ever, and evoked a number of questions, including:

- Is the contest fair? Are we really honoring our speakers with only one winner?
- What was it like being followed by cameras?
- How do you come up with speech material each year for contests?
- What do your kids think of your journey in the contests and speaking?
- And the obligatory 'why did you almost pass out in the hallway?' :)

This was the first Q&A I've done in tandem with another speaker, much less a World Champion, and it went extremely well. We both answered most questions, which offered the audience two disparate perspectives. Ed only competed once on his way to victory in 2000, while I've competed nine times, reaching the Big Stage twice, winning third in 2006. In the movie Speak, the result was, well - watch the movie and find out. Let's just say Ed and I have different experiences to share, in a very good way for each of us!

Haven't seen Speak yet? Buy a copy from the producers. You can also read my review.

Want to screen a showing of Speak? Want to offer a Q&A? I'm available, as are many of the other featured contestants, and free if you get me out there, put me up, and feed me, like the good folks in Hawaii will be doing next week for the Honolulu showing on 4/29/13.

Thank you to Cherry Creek VP of PR Cindy Price for putting this on and letting me come out to speak, and to Ed for coming out and making a special appearance.

For more pictures from the event, head to my Facebook Album.

Until next time, remember to always Speak....and Deliver!

4 Lessons in Self-Deprecating Humor from a 14-year-old

Jack Carroll in Britain's Got Talent shows a wonderful sense of humor, and an understanding in how to connect with the audience.

- Are you addressing any elephants in the room when you speak?

- Do you use his method of using 'The Voice of the Audience', as he does when he starts with 'I know what you're thinking....'

- Do you construct humor in your speech in the form of a story with an unexpected twist at the end, as in his closing joke?

- And finally, are you confident enough in yourself to totally sell out - that is, go ALL IN with your speech?

When you are, you'll be a lot closer to learning how to Speak....& Deliver.

Speaking of Boston

What do you say after a tragedy?

Letterman and Leno wouldn't even do monologues after 9/11. The bombings in the Boston Marathon don't quite compare in scope, but the events are tragic, frightening, and sad nonetheless.

Stephen Colbert offered his own take to open his show this week. It is a wonderful example of respectful humor and satire designed to honor the situation, motivate the city, and provide the much-needed release of laughter. Note his complete avoidance of political posturing, racial profiling, or even commentary about what to do next. Plenty of time for that....later.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive

SAY It This Way - No, Wait, Say It This WAY

Whether you memorize your speech or not, there is one aspect of your speaking you do tend to commit to memory - the Way You SAY It.

Once speakers find a line they can remember, it gets anchored into a certain style, and they will end up speaking it the same why time after time. Unfortunately, this doesn't always serve them well. It can be easy to simply be happy you are remembering what you want to say, instead of also focusing on HOW You Want To Say It.

If you aren't examining where you're putting the EMphasis in your EmPHAsis, you are likely robbing yourself and your audience of some of the power of your message.

How do you police yourself? It's easier than you think, and can actually be a lot of fun!

Use....VOICES. 

First, record your speech, and listen to it - just LISTEN - and hear where you are losing power. Ask a coach or friend for input on this as well.

Second, record yourself again, using different voices - cartoon voices, voices with accents, loud voices, quiet voices - go crazy. Give it in monotone, give it as the guy who narrates movie trailers, give it as Lily Tomlin. Go slow. Go FAST - CRAZY fast.

You can do this for the whole speech, or vary within a single practice or two.

This helps you in two ways - A. It stretches your mind and voice, allowing you to be freer as a speaker, and B. It can point out places saying a word or phrase with a different emphasis, speed, cadence, or amplitude will help bring it's full power to the audience.

After you get loosened up by making a fool of yourself a few times, go in to your script and pick out what you think are your power phrases, those words you want the audience to hang on to, and focus this method on them, until you find EXACTLY the way you want to SAY it for maximum effect.

Ironically, it is in our process of memorization that we create bad habits in the way we SPEAK our speech, and it is in THIS process of recalibrating how we say it that we can re-anchor our words and BETTER memorize it than ever before.

Have fun with yourself - be willing to sound idiotic in the privacy of your own house, car or shower. In the long run you, and your audience, will be glad you worked just a little bit harder to SPEAK...and Deliver.

Head to Mouth Disconnect

It sounded SO profound in my HEAD!

It looked SO funny on PAPER!

But...But...it FLOPPED!

Yeah, that'll happen. Head to mouth disconnect. In fact, it happens a lot. When we think or write about what we're going to say, we hear it perfectly in our heads, and the audience reacts exactly as we think they should. Unfortunately, two big things can go wrong:

1. We don't deliver it the way we told ourselves we were going to deliver it. Lack of practice, change in mood, sudden onset of self-consciousness when we see who has actually shown up in the room...plenty of reasons can get in our way if we aren't 100% certain of the quality of our material.

2. The audience hears with their OWN minds, no OURS. Darn them anyway. Don't they know that was funny, profound, sad? Idiots. Even if we ARE 100% certain of the quality of our material, those percentages can drop quickly once the spoken word hits the live audience.

The two areas of your speech most at risk for Head to Mouth Disconnect? Your conclusion, and your humor. What sounds funny isn't always, particularly if you don't know your audience well enough. You conclusion is at risk mostly because it's the last thing you write, instead of the first. If the conclusion isn't fully supported by your speech, no matter how profound, it won't stand up in the end.

Hidden in between - your stories. Those anecdotes that you believe are simply perfect, but aren't. You just can't see it from the trenches. Stories that you have force - the square peg in the round hole - simply because it moves you, so you HAVE to share it.

While Head to Mouth Disconnect is not completely preventable, there are precautions you can take, and prescriptions after it happens.

A. Practice. A lot. At home in your living room is good. Finding a Toastmasters group, hiring a coach, speaking at service clubs, is better. Take your material out for a test-drive where the audience is supportive and/or the consequences are minimized. If you don't practice, what can I say? You get what you deserve.And if you don't practice and everybody loves you anyway, you're probably a celebrity - or their boss.

B. Be Mindful of Your Mindset. You've had a crappy day. You fought with your spouse before you walked out the door. You got a speeding ticket. And sometimes, life is really going wrong - your father died, your daughter has been diagnosed with a tumor, or there's a layoff at work. And here you are, supposed to go deliver a message with humor and hope.

That will throw off anyone's delivery. If you can't or don't want to get out of the speech, you've got to do a different kind of disconnect - your head from your life - just for that event. Focus on the audience and the outcome. Leave everything else out of your head, and go pick it up later. Easier said than done - this I know from personal experience. But if you are aware, you're more likely to deliver the speech you need, and want, to give.

C. Film & Watch yourself. Filming is relatively easy. Watching not so much. In fact, my clients usually refer to it as torture. Still, its essential - watch with the mindset of the audience, feel their response if you have a copy of a public speech, and take notes on what works and what doesn't. If you simply cannot film, at least get an audio recording app on your phone so you can LISTEN to it afterward. No excuses.

D. Be a Merciless Editor. I know it's your favorite story. Your funniest line. Your cleverest of clever wordplay. But if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Go in with a strike-through state of mind in your word processor. Then read it without those lines. The universe hates a vacuum, right? Trust in yourself that you'll find something better.

E. Be a Quick Healer. That means both self-healing, such as your ego, and being a healer, by rewriting your speech. Usually your flops are only flesh wounds, and they look worse than they are. They still need attention, but they won't kill us. The more dangerous cuts come when our flops interfere with our message by deadening the audience response, inadvertently contradict our intent or ideas, or tear down our credibility.

Head to Mouth Disconnect. It's only terminal if you ignore it.

What's the worst case you've ever experienced? Share below, even if it just happened to 'a friend'.

Meanwhile - go out and Speak....& Deliver!