Stimulate your thinking - under pressure!

Have you ever played the game Taboo?

It's a game where you give clues to your teammates about a secret word, without using five "taboo" clues.

For example, your word might be "kangaroo," which you must describe to your team without using the words "pouch," "hop," "animal," "Australia," or "captain." Or you might have to describe "leftovers" without using the words "reheat," "yesterday," "food," "meal," or "save." Or how about describing "toddler" without saying "child," "youngster," "baby," "walk," or "two?"

The more words or phrases your team guesses in a minute, the more points you get.

This is a great game to stimulate your thinking, forcing you to describe people, places, things and concepts in new ways. You have to get beyond clichéd descriptions and be original. And you have to do it under pressure with a time limit!

I highly recommend this game as a way to wake up your brain. We played girls against boys the other night and yes, the girls won. :-)

Microphone reminder

At WEV graduation the other night, I noticed that a few of the speakers still could barely be heard, even though they were using a microphone. So I want to reiterate, because without this tip, nothing else you remember about microphone handling matters:

You still have to speak up and project your voice, even though you are using a microphone. The microphone can't do all the work.

Inspire your audience with a fresh perspective

Last night I attended the graduation ceremony for Women's Economic Ventures' Self-Employment Training program. I went through the 14-week program myself in 2004, and these days I volunteer as a speaker and mentor, and fill in anywhere else I'm needed.

In my post on handling a microphone, I shared that I would be providing mini-coaching to a number of the students in preparation for delivering their elevator speeches at graduation. It was fun to see how the speeches had evolved and improved for the seventeen women I worked with on that day.

The outstanding speech of the evening, though, was delivered by Terry Inglese, the owner of an e-learning company and one of the two students selected as class speakers.

Terry chose "The Wizard of Oz" as the theme for her brief talk, with Dorothy as a metaphor for the growth and change the participants experience in the program.

After an introductory sentence or two, Terry broke out into song. Yes, she sang, "Over the Rainbow," or at least a couple of verses of it. The audience was entranced.

Now, Terry is not a singer. She told us that she rarely sings, even in her native Italian. But, as a teacher, she is always interested in finding new ways for her students to learn and absorb the material she teaches.

In order to get her message across that "the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true," she chose an unusual and rather startling way to make her point.

The speeches and presentations that are most memorable are those that capture our attention, wake us up, and make us think in a fresh new way.

This can be accomplished through humor, as in the speech last night where a pet photographer suggested we persuade our pets to participate by letting them know that treats are involved.

This can be accomplished through metaphor and storytelling, as in the speech from one of the instructors who used "Alice in Wonderland" as her theme and suggested believing six impossible things before breakfast.

This can be accomplished through emotional connection, as in the speech from the other instructor who spoke from the heart when she appealed to her class to stay in touch with her, as she felt like she was sending her "baby chicks" from the nest out into the world.

And this can be accomplished through bringing an unexpected element into your talk, such as music, dance, props, images, games, toys or a hundred other possibilities.

However you choose to engage your audience, do engage your audience.

Try something new and different. Keep it organic and make sure it fits with your topic and audience, and don't just try something for its shock value. But see what happens when you get out of your comfort zone and give your audience a gift of inspiration from a completely new perspective.

Terry Inglese inspired me last night. I told my fellow mentor sitting next to me that, in the next year, I'm going to find a way to sing in one of my presentations!

Have you been inspired lately by a speaker?

My media diet

Cam Beck invited me to share my media diet and, at the risk of having you lose all respect for me or fall into a boredom coma while reading, here goes.

Books:

I've probably already mentioned my favorites here, but here they are again.

The 4-Hour Work Week has helped me get a fresh perspective on how much and how hard I want to work, and how to use my time more effectively.

Made to Stick succinctly and engagingly explains how to make ideas "sticky" and memorable.

Beyond Bullet Points is my bible of visual presentation design. I just bought the new edition, but haven't read it yet. My old one is full of bookmarked pages; I almost hate to start over.

Media Training A-Z puts the potential nightmare of being interviewed for print media or TV into a clean, simple and conversational format. Tons of great advice.

When I'm not reading business books, I'm still reading nonfiction. I just feel too guilty and unproductive reading fiction. Some of my other nonfiction favorites:

A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove: A History of American Women Told through Food, Recipes, and Remembrances

Fast Food Nation

Swallowing Clouds: A Playful Journey Through Chinese Culture, Language, and Cuisine

Her Fork in the Road: Women Celebrate Food and Travel

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

I am also a cookbook junkie. Out of the 100+ cookbooks I own, here are a couple of favorites that I read over and over:

Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia

Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent

The Vegetarian Bistro: 250 Authentic French Regional Recipes

The Vegetarian Table: France

The Vegetarian Table: Italy

Blogs:

Where do I begin? I'm subscribed to 108 blogs.

About 40 of those are in my "top blogs" list, of which maybe about 16 will have new posts daily. Most of those are blogs about business, marketing, PR and public speaking, but there are a couple of clients' and friends' blogs, a dietician's blog, a couple of grammar blogs and some indie design blogs.

Some of my favorites:

Cam Beck's Chaos Scenario
Rowan Manahan's Fortify Your Oasis
Kim & Jason's Escape Adulthood
Andrew Dlugan's Six Minutes
Scott Ginsberg's Hello, My Name is Blog
Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen
Seth Godin's blog
Joan Stewart's Publicity Hound
Dan Santow's Word Wise

The rest, about food, tea, design, art and other topics, I get around to when I have time on the weekends.

Newsletters:

I subscribe to a ton and can't keep up with them all, but my favorite is SpeakerNet News, the absolutely most practical and useful newsletter I receive. It's basically a compilation of tips and resources submitted by speakers. It's brilliant.

Magazines:

We used to be huge magazine junkies, but we've pared down quite a bit. I'm subscribed and committed to Saveur, Gourmet, and Health. Yes, I'm a vegetarian, but I don't find that any of the vegetarian magazines suit the way I like to eat.

TV:

I love crime shows. I watch CSI (only the original, though), Criminal Minds, NUMB3RS, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Monk and The Closer.

Shows that make me laugh include Graham Norton, Ugly Betty and 30 Rock. Parts of Saturday Night Live are funny, mostly Weekend Update.

I appreciate a few competition reality shows, the ones where people win something based on a practical skill or talent, like American Idol, Project Runway and Top Chef. And I love Miami Ink and LA Ink, as I get to fantasize about the design and placement of my next tattoo, and to which incredibly talented artist I am going to pay a bazillion dollars for an amazing work of art.

I've gotten hooked on It's Not Easy Being Green, about a family who are attempting to become self-sufficient and sustainable in an old farmhouse in Cornwall, and Little People, Big World, about a family of both little people and average-sized people living on a farm in Oregon.

Maybe I have a thing about farms. . .

News:

Don't read it or watch it. I like Tim Ferriss' philosophy on "cultivating selective ignorance:" if I see something in the headlines on newspaper stands that looks interesting, I'll look it up online later. If something major happens in the world, people will be talking about it and I'll look it up online if I feel the need. Most news is negative and depressing, and is not even "news" most of the time. So I just don't bother.

Social media:

LinkedIn and Facebook are where I spend most of my social media time, although I've signed up for a bunch of other sites that I don't really maintain. I just started using Twitter, which I think is a big mistake. It's really a waste of time (and here I am only checking e-mail twice a day and being really productive), but I can't quit quite yet.

Music and Movies:

I'm already getting exhausted from writing this list, and I'm sure you're exhausted from reading it, if you've made it this far. So I'm going to refer you to my Facebook profile, where you'll find more than you need to know on my movie and music tastes.

I do love music, but I only listen to it in my car and when I'm working out. I have to work in silence, so there is never music in my office. We saw Rufus Wainwright in concert in March, so I'm still playing a lot of his stuff in my car.

Next, I'd like to hear from:

Carrie Sommer at Sommer Designs
Laura Bergells at Maniactive/More Than PowerPoint, and
Nick Thomas at A Public Speaker's Blog.

Rehashing old content at the same venue?

I spoke at a conference last week, where the keynote speaker rehashed several significant and memorable stories that she had used the year before at the same conference, but in a breakout session.

The conference attracts many of the same people year after year, as it's local and sponsored by an organization on the campus of UCSB. It actually annoyed me that I had heard most of her talk before, and at the same event.

I'm wondering if this is a faux pas, or if it's okay for speakers to recycle the same content for pretty much the same audience, especially if one presentation is a breakout and one is a keynote. . .

When I speak to the same or similar audience more than once, I don't use the same content. What do you think?

A funny thing about addictions. . .

One of my clients, Linda Joy Allan, has started a blog called A Funny Thing About Addictions. She's written a book that's coming out this summer, about overcoming her addictions to alcohol, cigarettes and junk food, and the blog is one way she's reaching out to those affected by addictions.

Check it out!

Be my fan on Facebook

I've added a business page to Facebook; it's my Public Speaking Coaching page!

Yes, it's true, I came up with that completely uninspired title. It was a working title, and then I realized that I couldn't change it once the page was done. So there you go: Public Speaking Coaching is the name of my Facebook page. Sorry.

If you've used my coaching services or purchased my e-course, I would love for you to leave a review. Heck, you can even review Speak Schmeak if you like!

I've got two questions for you to answer in the discussion forum: "What do you love about public speaking?" and "What do you dread about public speaking?" Two of my favorite questions.

And I would especially love to have some more fans. I discovered that I can be a fan of my own page. Neato!

So please check it out and let me know what else you think I should add. It's a little sparse right now.

Preaching to the choir

It's always exciting to talk to people who are already on our side, understand our topic and are motivated to learn more. There's a sense of connectedness and synchronicity, but sometimes it doesn't feel like there's as much significance in speaking to this kind of group, because they already "get it."

We call this "preaching to the choir," and it's frequently seen as a less desirable pursuit than reaching out to and persuading those who are more of a challenge. I wrote a little about this when I asked, "Which audience do you like better?"

Preaching to the choir, however, allows the "choir" to gain more insight, develop deeper understanding, and to better articulate the topic, cause or issue to those not in the choir, and thus, spread the message.

Just make sure you include ways for your choir to take your message further; you can even make your call to action include a specific request to spread the word.

Make use of your choir to reach more challenging individuals, and preaching to the choir will become a more practical and rewarding pursuit.

Defending accessibility

Elizabeth Schwyzer: Part of your company's mission is to make modern dance acceptable to a wide audience -- a controversial concept in the arts. Tell me what it means to you.

David Parsons: I don't have a problem with accessibility. We have enough serious dance companies on the planet.

To tell you the truth, I can't do anything else. It's who I am. I really love connecting with an audience. Part of that is being accessible to them, being able to communicate. We often use pop music; we like really connecting with today's scene.

People really give me sh!t for the accessibility thing, and I stand by who I am. You have to do that. The reality is: We're working.

Santa Barbara Independent interview with David Parsons of Parsons Dance.

It's sad, isn't it, that an artist would have to defend his desire to connect with his audience?

Here are some related posts on accessibility, being a people person, and performance vs. connection.

Photo: Lois Greenfield