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There are several do’s and don’ts for creating and walking a timeline on stage. Take a look at the following video and then see 5 tools below that you should keep in mind before your next speech. If you have problems viewing the video initially, then just hit the play button below.

5 Do’s and Don’ts for Creating and Walking your Timeline

• Do be subtle. As you saw, a few steps can create 20 years.

 

• Don’t think you have to tell an entire story from one spot. Instead, initiate the story from that spot and then use the entire stage to tell the rest of the story.

 

• Do use visual and verbal call-backs to evoke emotions and to make your message stick.

 

• Do take something out of your speech, put it into your audience’s life, and ask them about it. Isaak does this with the mountain when he asks, “What is your mountain? Has it defeated you?”

 

• Do realize that your audience’s left (the past) is your right and vice versa. In other words, you have to be like the aerobics instructor who does everything backwards so it’s correct for your audience. So when you walk into the past, you move to your right which is your audience’s left.

For more on Timelines and 39 additional delivery tools that will help you deliver your speech with the greatest impact, visit Dynamic Delivery Devices

Surely you know the importance of letting your stories sell your messages. However, there are also some other very effective ways to get your audience to take action. Below are three ways including one  regularly used by Dr. King and Abraham Lincoln.

1. Most People

The words “most people” go a very long way in influencing audiences. People like to feel important and do not want to be average. When you say the words “most people” the audience members think, “I don’t want or need to be like most people. Whatever he says next may give me an edge!” For example, I can say,

When it comes to their dreams, most people live their lives on get set. That is, they take their marks, get set, and never go.

 This is a very simple truth but I find many people coming up to me after my speech saying that they are guilty of living on “get set” and they do not want to end up like everyone else. I have heard many of the best speakers in the world use these two words, and they have been extremely effective in making a difference.

2. The “If…then” statement

Another way to influence people is to use an “If…then” statement. Here are a few examples:

 ”If you invest 15% of your income, then you will become a financially independent person upon retirement.”

  ”If you change your oil every 3,000 miles, then your car will last for at least 150,000 miles.”

  ”If you get caller ID, then you can save precious time.”

 ”If you use this kind of statement (If…then), then you will influence many people.”

 In other words, show them the benefits of doing what you want them to do. An “If…then” statement is a fantastic way to sell your point. You can also use these statements to address the fear of loss. Here are a few examples:

 ”If you live your life on ‘get set,’ then you will take your dreams, goals, and rich ideas to the grave with you.”

 ”If you fail to understand the needs of your audience, then your audience will fail to understand you.”

 ”If you do not develop effective communication skills, then you significantly reduce your chances of moving up in your organization.”

 

3.  The Lincoln and King approach to motivation

 One of the most exciting things for me to do as a speaker is to read, and in some cases listen to historical figures that have had a great influence on our world. Two of the speakers I love to study are Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and both of them regularly used a motivational strategy that I call the Back- from-the- Future approach.

 The Back-from-the-Future approach follows this 3-step sequence:

1.  It moves you mentally into the future
2. It shows you what those future historians will say about you (based on your present actions)
3. It gives you a choice to change your path  

 In other words, it forecasts how you will go down in history. Put into this new context, our actions may become clearer as we see the larger picture. Take a look at a few examples from Abraham Lincoln.

Prior to signing the Emancipation proclamation he stated,

If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act.

 

• In a letter reaching out to Democrats that were against the Civil War and essentially against Lincoln’s idea of utilizing blacks in the Union Army, he appealed to the future and wrote,

…there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while, I fear, there will be some white ones, unable to forget that, with malignant heart, and deceitful speech, they have strove to hinder it.

 What Lincoln did in this letter, and in several speeches, was to get his audiences to move beyond the present moment and to understand how they would be viewed by future generations. These kinds of letters and speeches were effective, because most people did not want to be viewed as a bottleneck on the road to progress. Who wants to go down in history as having a “malignant heart?” 

Now let us take a look at a couple of examples from Dr. King’s speeches:

 When receiving the Nobel Peace Prize at Oslo University in Norway, he spoke of the courageous men and women of the Civil Rights movement by stating,

…when the years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live, men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization, because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness’ sake.

 When kicking off a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King spoke to thousands of expectant people and claimed,

You will be the people that will light a new chapter in the history books of our nation.

 These speeches again appealed to how the current generation would be viewed by future generations and they inspired people around the globe to become part of the civil rights movement.

 Even though we may not speak on behalf of a large movement or as the President of the United States, we can still utilize this back-from-the-future strategy to get our audiences to take action. If you are speaking on the negative effects of procrastination, then you can use this strategy to make people feel the regret of not accomplishing the things they know they were put on earth to do and you can show how others would view them. I know this may seem harsh, but please remember that you will eventually bring the audience members back to the present and give them complete control over changing their future reality.

Final thoughts:

 If you give these strategies a try, then you’ll be surprised at how often you get your audience to take action on your message. Look familiar?

 Do you want to add humor to your speech? Don’t.

Never add humor to your speech. Always uncover humor within it.

There’s a huge difference.

Added humor is often forced and you have to go out of the way on a detour to get  it. However, uncovered humor is what I call Detour-free humor. In  other words, you don’t have to go out of your way to run into it.

So where do you Uncover this humor?

You uncover it in your stories; more specifically within your characters; even more specifically between your characters’ dialogue. If you want your speech to be funnier, dialogue is where you should look.

However, it’s not just the line of dialogue but it’s also the reaction to the dialogue that uncovers the humor. But let’s start with the  dialogue. Listen to these two 30 second clips of stories and you’ll see where the dialogue uncovers the humor.

First Clip

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Second Clip

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I didn’t have to go anywhere to get that humor. It was right there in the stories. Now, what if I didn’t get a laugh? So what! It wouldn’t be awkward at all because it’s still part of the story. However, if you take a detour to tell a joke, guess what happens when it doesn’t get a laugh? Everybody knows it and you certainly feel it. Ask me how I know this.

The Secret: What did each of those audio examples have in common?

What did you notice about the dialogue from each of those audio examples? Here’s the secret that I learned years ago from Patricia Fripp. Give your other characters the best lines. In this case, give your other characters the funny lines. I’ve seen so many speakers give stories where they are the ones always saying the witty things and giving the funny lines. You want many of your funny lines to be said by a character who is not you. That way you don’t come off as a know-it-all and as the only one you think is funny.

Secret Humorous Formula?

Here’s a 3-step formula that I have yet to share but I use often.

1. Give your other characters an emotional (or powerful) line of dialogue
2. Then react to it with your face and body
3. Then respond to it using your inner dialogue

Remember, as Darren LaCroix says, “Reactions tell the story.” If another character says a poweful line, not only can you react physically but you also have the opportunity to let us hear your inner dialogue (what’s going on inside of your mind), and that can often be funny. For example, listen to this quick 30-second audio of another character saying an emotional line followed by my physical reaction and my inner dialogue response. In other words, listen to this 3-step formula in action:

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Let’s review so we can uncover more humor

Never add humor to a speech; always uncover humor within it

You’ll find the humor in the dialogue between the characters in your stories

Give other characters some of the funny lines. After all, you want your audience to know you appreciate humor that comes from others. Plus it brings those other characters to life.

When you give the other characters the emotional lines, you can then show your physical reaction before inviting us into your inner dialogue for a humorous response.

Final Thoughts:

Whatever you do, there’s no need to go on a detour to add humor to your speech. Just dive into your story and into the characters and into the characters’ dialogue and you’ll uncover more humor than you need. Seriously!

The Most Common Storytelling Mistake

By far the most common mistake speakers make with their stories is having too much narration and not enough dialogue. For example, they’ll say something like the following:

“And the principal threw me out of the school and told me never to come back.” Now that’s narration. However, dialogue would go something like this:

“And the principal looked me directly in the eyes and said, ‘Mr. Valentine, you are expelled. Don’t ever step a foot back into this building.’” That’s dialogue.

FYI – this is only an example, I was never actually expelled from anything

The Necessary Adjustment 

If speakers would make the simple adjustment of replacing much of their narration with dialogue, they would automatically and immediately do one of the most powerful things in public speaking. They’d bring the audience into the present moment of the scene they created. Narration is retelling a story but dialogue is reliving it. When you relive it, the audience hears exactly what you heard exactly how you heard it. They feel like they are there!

Three Types of Dialogue you can use to Bring your audience into your Scenes

Most speakers at least know about using dialogue but they might not know there are three major types of dialogue they can use.

1. Dialogue between characters
2. Inner dialogue
3. Audience dialogue

Let’s listen to a quick live audio example of each.

Dialogue between Characters

This occurs when one character is talking to another. Listen to this quick example from my speech to the engineering students at the Colorado School of Mines

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The key to using dialogue in between characters is to set up the dialogue with a bit of narration. For example, the narration part was “I was so upset about this I called my friend Steve and I said…” That narration set up the dialogue of “Steve, you’re positive. Tell me something…”

The other key to using dialogue between characters is to make sure we know which character is talking. In addition to many Deliver Devices (click here for details) you can use, you can also put the recipient’s name in the line of dialogue (i.e. “Steve, tell me something…). By using Steve’s name, you now know that I’m the one who is talking. Then Steve says, “Craig, you write that book…” and we know Steve is the one talking. I picked this strategy up from Patricia Fripp

Inner Dialogue

Whereas dialogue between characters brings your audience into a scene, inner dialogue does something even greater. It brings your audience into your character’s mind. You can’t get closer to a character than that! Knowing what’s going on in a character’s mind lets your audience connect with you much deeper. Listen to this 15 second example again from the Colorado School of Mines:

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The key to using inner dialogue is to avoid the phrase “I thought to myself…” Whenever I hear someone use that phrase, I ask, “Well, who else are you going to think to?” Just say, “I thought…” or “I’m thinking…” Please remember that reactions tell the story. When you can show your reactions on your face and couple that with the inner dialogue of whatever your character is feeling, that will really bring your audience into your situation and keep them hooked.

Audience Dialogue

This is one of the most important yet most neglected tools you can use as a speaker. Give the audience dialogue. This simply means, verbalize their thoughts in dialogue form. Or you can even verbalize what you want them to think and then put it into dialogue that seemingly comes from them. Listen to this 10 second example also from the Colorado School of Mines:

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Obviously my audience was not actually thinking that, but I still connected by giving them dialogue even if it was just playful. So it still worked. Keep in mind I still had them use my name in the line of dialogue in order to clarify who was talking (or thinking). However, the best time to give your audience dialogue is when you can truly anticipate what they are thinking and then you can verbalize it. For example, you might tell what seems like a crazy story and then say, “You’re probably saying, ‘Craig, that’s crazy!’” Whenever you know what they’re thinking, verbalize it in dialogue coming from them. They’ll either laugh or think. Either way, you’ll connect on a deeper level.

Some of the phrases you can use to give your audience dialogue are the following:

• You’re looking at me as if to say, “Scott…(dialogue)”
• Now you might say, “Janet…(dialogue)”
• You say, “Craig…(dialogue)”

 

Final thoughts

Keep in mind that good dialogue is still set up by some narration. If you only use dialogue without any set-up narration, your story will look more like a stage play. You don’t want that. If you only use narration and no dialogue, you won’t have a story. You’ll have a CNN report.

You’re probably saying, “Okay Craig. Enough already. I get it.” That’s good dialogue!

Speaking involves a series of scenes that you create and then invite your audience into. What does this require? Solid staging. I suggest that you watch this 4-minute video first and then take a look at the strategies below:

Staging Strategy Number 1: Let the action prompt your movements

The action in your story prompts your movement on stage. Let the action drive. If you’re telling a story about standing in line, guess what? You shouldn’t move much. In the video,  I let the action drive. When I said, “You should have been with my wife and me 7 years ago as we took our 6 month old daughter Tori to her doctor’s appointment,” you saw me physically walking into the doctor’s office. When I talked about me walking over the scale to step on it, you saw me physically walk over the where the scale was represented on stage and you saw me stand on it. It’s not enough to say it, I also had to show it.

Staging Strategy #2: Remember where you placed everybody and everything on stage

In the video, it’s clear where my wife is represented on stage and where the scale is represented on stage. You should plan this all out ahead of time. Otherwise, you might have a situation I witnessed years ago.

Darren LaCroix (2001 World Champion of Public Speaking) and I were giving a speaking bootcamp in Vegas and we had one of our attendees rise up to make a speech. His story was very emotional and, in it, his uncle passed away. They held the funeral and had the casket on a particular spot on the stage. Later on in the story, this speaker went to that same exact spot on the stage to have lunch!  Darren and I looked at him and said, “Do you realize you’re having lunch on your uncle?!” Please know ahead of time where everything will be represented on your stage.

Staging Strategy #3: Step up to your point

After I gave my story about the scale, you saw me step forward slightly and look directly at my audience as I started asking questions and driving home my point. This subtle step forward (and the direct eye-contact with my audience) lets my audience know I’m now out of my story and into a conversation with them. Occassionally step forward to make your point. Sometimes it even helps to step out into the audience.

Final thoughts on Staging

Does staging really make that much of a difference in your speech? Yes. Here are three reasons why:

1. Good staging provides clarity to your story and your message. For example, when I have 3 points in my keynote speech, many times I’ll have each point be represented by a section on the stage. Then I can do visual/verbal call backs.
2. If you use staging correctly (i.e. visually and verbally calling back to spots and situations on the stage) it can bring forth emotions from your audience because they’ll still be able to remember what happened earlier in those spaces and scenes
3. Patricia Fripp told me (I’m paraphrasing here) that people won’t remember what you say as much as they’ll remember what they see when you say it. In other words, you have to make your speech very visual. Staging helps with this in a tremendously impactful way.

 Oh, one last thought. Everything you do staging-wise should be subtle. It should look natural and not forced. But keep this in mind, looking natural is on the far side of preparation…not the near side. When you prepare effectively, you won’t have to think about what you’re doing. It will become second-nature. In other words, it will be natural.

Mistake #1: They Tell the audience about themselves

Have you ever heard a speaker say something like, “We all have problems and challenges that we need to overcome.”? What’s wrong with that statement? Here it is. Your audience members do not want to be told about themselves. A statement like that makes them think, “You don’t know me! How are you going to tell me I have a problem or a challenge? Speak for yourself.” This is how you lose them.

Now here’s the key. Of course they have problems and challenges but that’s not the point. The point is you shouldn’t tell them about themselves. The solution is to follow this creed:

Ask, don’t tell

So instead of saying, “We all have problems and challenges that we need to overcome,” say, “Have you ever had a problem or challenge that was difficult to overcome?” Or say, “Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a problem or challenge that was difficult to overcome.” Then, once their hands go up, you’ve just qualified them and now you can move on with your message by saying something like, “Me too. In fact, in 1999…” Don’t tell;ask.

Mistake #2: Taking too long to get to the story

Another reason we lose our audience is by rambling on too much before we get to our stories. Make no mistake about it, stories are the hooks to our speeches. If you don’t get to the stories within the first few minutes of your presentation, you will lose your audience. In fact, the very best way to begin a presentation is to jump right into a story that sets up the rest of your talk. The sooner you get to the story, the quicker you’ll connect with your audience.

Mistake #3: Taking to long to get to the conflict

What if the Titanic never hit the iceberg? I’ll tell you what, that would have been a boring movie! Why? People are wired to want to see how a conflict is overcome and what tools and strategies are used. Perhaps we can use these tools for our own conflicts in life. Just as stories are the hooks for your speeches, conflict is the hook for your stories. The problem with many speeches is the speakers do not get to the conflict early enough. Instead they go on and on setting up characters and situations when they should already be at the conflict.

As soon as you introduce your characters, make sure to immediately throw them into a conflict. If you’ve been telling a story for more than 60 seconds and you haven’t reached the conflict yet, chances are you’re losing your audience one by one. Write this down: Establish your conflict early.

Mistake #4: They Don’t Tease

Finally, another reason for losing the audience is they don’t tease. To be an effective speaker, you must be a great tease. For example, instead of simply moving from point to point in your speech, it’s important to make your audience thirst for what’s coming next. This is done through effective transitions. For example, here’s what I say in one of my speeches:

“If you get this next idea and put it to use in your life, you’ll find yourself moving towards your goals, dreams, and aspirations even while you’re asleep.”

Another tease I give is towards the end of one of my speeches called the 4 Rs to Remarkable Results. I say,

“There is actually one final R. This R is the most important thing I’ve ever done for my own success and I can all but guarantee it will become the most important for yours as well. And it’s only one word. Ready? Okay…”

Now let me ask you, do you think I give them the final R immediately after saying that? Of course not. Instead, I invite them into my final story and let them uncover the R while they’re in it. The key is that they really want to know what that R is! And every time I get to it, I see their pens hit the paper and a look of satisfaction come across their faces. This is partly because they got good information and partly because they’re happy to have solved the mystery.

Final thoughts:

When you avoid the four mistakes above and use the solutions, you not only connect with your audience but you deepen that connection throughout the speech.

So what about that final R? Well, I might as well tell you what it is. It’s…

 Patricia Fripp once told me, “Craig, people won’t remember what you say as much as they’ll remember what they see when you say it.” In other words, you must make your speeches very visual.

I’ve often told people that speaking involves a series of scenes. You move from one story and scene into another. But these scenes must be visible and a great way to make them visible is to move with a purpose.  

 

Two Major Reasons for Moving on Stage

There are several reasons for moving on stage but you’re about to pick up two of the most important.

 

Let the action in your story prompt your movement on stage

I have a story where I say the following:

I told my Vice President, “John, before I say yes to you, I have to go home to talk to my wife about this.” So I went home to my wife and said…

 

When I make that statement, I physically walk from where my VP’s office is represented on stage to where my home is represented on stage.

That’s an example of letting the action drive. Of course, when I go back the next day to my VP’s office, I walk back to where the office is represented on stage. That’s letting the action in my story prompt my movement on stage.

If you’re telling a story about standing in line, guess what? You should stand quite still throughout that scene.

When a speaker keeps moving at all times, his movements cease to matter. Even the important movements and gestures get lost in a whirlwind of movement.

Let Time Prompt your Movement on Stage

All stories involve the element of time, which means you can use the imaginary timeline on stage for greater impact. In North America we read a timeline from the left to the right. Therefore, imagine how I might move when giving this part of my speech:

Now fast-forward 10 years to today…2010. My re-hire rate has now reached above 93%.

 

When I say the phrase “Fast forward 10 years to today,” I physically walk from my audience’s left up the timeline to my audience’s right to symbolize the difference between the year 2000 and the year 2010. Why is this important? Two reasons:

1. It makes the scene more clear for my audience

2. It allows me to eventually do a visual AND verbal call back to places on the timeline.

For example, later in this message I say, “I’ll tell you what made the difference between my failure in 2000 and my success today. [I walk back down the timeline to my audience’s left where the year 2000 is represented]. After my embarrassment in the year 2000, I re-dedicated myself to the art of public speaking…” Then, as I explain what I did in between 2000 and 2010 (i.e. coaching, re-dedication, etc.), I slowly and subtly walk back up the timeline until I get to 2010. Make sense?

This call back is visual, verbal, emotional, and clear for my audience members all because I set the stage up as a timeline and walked it.

Three Caveats that make the difference between a connection and a rejection

Caveat #1: Please remember that you have to do the timeline backwards for you so that it’s right for your audience. In other words, your audience’s left is your right, etc. You’re like an aerobics instructor! So when you want to walk back in the past, move to your right, which is your audience’s left.

Caveat #2: Not all cultures view timelines from the left to the right. Therefore, if you’re traveling overseas or you do not live in North America, it would behoove you to check with people on how they view time and timelines. Otherwise you might walk from left to right when they view time as front to back. In that case, you’ll only promote confusion not clarity.

Caveat #3: Everything in speaking is about subtlety. If you’re being obvious about what you’re doing, it will break your connection with your audience. Therefore, when you move, make it subtle. I’ve seen some speakers move the entire length of the stage for their timeline. That’s not necessary. A few steps in one direction should suffice when moving to the future or back to the past. The same goes for characters in dialogue. Don’t travel so far between characters. A subtle head turn should suffice to allow us audience members to know which character is talking. Be subtle.

What you just picked up are two important reasons for moving on stage. Now let’s look at one reason for standing still.

When should I stand Still on Stage?

If you’ve studied my materials at all then you know the importance of having a Foundational Phrase to drive your memorable and repeatable message home to your audience. After all, when you get the buzz you get the biz. However, there is also an important delivery tool to use when delivering that phrase.

Normally, when you’re having a conversation with your audience, you scan the room and look individuals in their eyes. However, when you get to your most important phrase (often your Foundational Phrase) it creates quite an impact when you stand  completely still, look directly at one individual in your audience, and hold his/her gaze for your entire Foundational Phrase.

For example, I scan the audience until I get to the phrase where I say, “Your dream is not for sale” and that’s when I look at one person and hold his/her gaze. Then, once I finish the phrase, I go back to scanning the room and moving if appropriate.  In other words, hold their gaze for your entire phrase.

What’s next step you can take to improve your delivery?

To learn more about delivery strategies that deepen the authentic connection you build with your audience, consider viewing my Dynamic Delivery Devices DVD set. FYI – As of this date (8-24-10) I only have 10 left in stock so the first 10 people to invest will have it delivered shortly. Anyone else will have to wait about two weeks.

What is, by far, the most profitable skill you can have in public speaking? Survey says, Being able to sell. If you can sell your message, your products, your services, and yourself, you will profit immensely as a speaker.

What you’re about to pick up in this entry is the most important idea there is when it comes to selling anything. Listen to this quick 2-minute audio of me sharing this all-important message at the Grants Managers Network’s Annual Convention, which took place in Baltimore. Click the right arrow in the audio player below.  

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Always Sell the Result

You heard the most important idea, which is this: never sell a product, service, or idea; always sell a result.
Let me give you some examples out of my own life. Instead of selling my Storytelling home-study course product, I sell you the result. What’s the result? Something like this:

“You’ll be able to keep every audience you have on the edge of their seats.”

Instead of selling my 52speakingtips.com free site, I sell the result by saying something like this:

Raise your hand if, a year from now, you’d like to be 3 times better than the speaker you are today. Great, go to 52SpeakingTips.com for this free resource… 

See the difference? Whenever you sell a product or a service or an idea, you need not focus on what you’re offering. Instead you need to focus on what your audience will get as a result.

How Selling the Result Changed My Results and Can Change Yours

How important is this process of selling a result? Well, the reason why I won the Mid-Atlantic  Salesperson of the Year for Glencoe/McGraw-Hill three Times and significantly enhanced my own quality of life in the process is all because my awesome boss taught me to sell the result. While my competitors sold textbooks, I sold results. I’d watch their presentations and they’d say things like, “This textbook has a more detailed history of the United States than any of the other books from the other companies.” In other words, they tried to sell the book. But, remember, you should never sell a product, service, or idea; always sell the result. So what would I say in my presentations? Something like this:

Your students will pass the Maryland State Assessments at a much higher rate because the book is totally aligned with the Voluntary State Curriculum. 

I’d also say something like this:

Your teachers can meet the needs of each student with this one program even if the student reads 2-3 grade levels below. In other words, no child will be left behind.

Others sold the books. My boss had me sell the results. Thanks to him, we won time and time again.

Selling Yourself

Obviously in today’s times many people are looking for work. In addition, if you’re a speaker like me, you’re constantly generating new business and this requires being able to sell yourself. So what can you do? It’s the same as the car. Don’t sell yourself, sell the result. For example, don’t tell a prospect, “I have been speaking for 12 years and I have an MBA in Change Management.” Instead, first locate their pain and then say something like the following:

If you want to get your staff fired up to embrace the change that’s coming and be willing to let go of the old ways of doing things, that’s how they will feel after my presentation. 

Get into the habit of never selling a product, service, idea, or yourself; but always selling the result. When you sell the result, you change peoples’ lives; including yours!

Have you ever wondered what to keep in your story and what to take out?

Have you ever wondered how to tighten up your message?

Have you ever wondered how to find the phrase that makes your story stick?

Watch the video below and see one of the most important processes for making a point that resonates and sticks.

For more on the Foundational Phrase and the structure for a keynote speech, visit http://www.createyourkeynote.com/ and take advantage of a limited-time offer.

Every now and then it is important to remind ourselves of some of the foundations that can lift us to great heights in speaking. Here are 25 phrases to do just that.

1. Speak to one but look to all
2. When you lift yourself up you let your audience down
3. What gets recorded gets rewarded
4. Don’t add humor to a speech; uncover humor within it
5. What’s loose is lost
6. When you squeeze your information in, you squeeze your audience out (this one is not mine. It’s an old speaker proverb).
7. You master what you measure
8. Conflict is the hook and Dialogue is the heart
9. Put the process, not the person, on a pedestal
10. The phrase determines what stays
11. To be a great speaker you must be a great tease
12. Be a similar person with a special process
13. Never sell a product, always sell a result
14. Let your story lead to their story
15. Never end with the Q&A
16. People remember best what they hear first and what they hear last
17. Don’t tell; ask
18. You can’t affect if they don’t reflect
19. Become niche and famous (If you try to speak to everyone you will end up speaking to no one)
20. A confused mind says no but a clear mind says go
21. Give the visual before the verbal
22. Give the look that goes with the line
23. Reactions tell the story (Darren LaCroix)
24. Too many speakers try to get across too much information in too little time
25. Don’t speak for standing ovations, speak for standing invitations

To get a better understanding of what these phrases mean and how life-changing they can be for your speaking, see the World Class Speaking book.