Discover 10 ways to improve your speech, help you audience to learn, and get asked back.

1. ways to know if
SUCKS!
YOUR SPEECH
10

2. Okay, you delivered
your speech.

3. The audience applauded.

4. You feel like a rock star!

5. I hate to burst your bubble,
but..

6. Audiences always
applaud
(it’s good manners)

7. So if your speech
sucks..
you won’t know

8. Here are 10 mistakes you want to avoid

9. #1 Thanking the audience
Really!? We know you’re happy to be there!
Thanking the audience is self-serving - get
on with what you came to deliver.

10. #2 Start too slow,
finish too fast
Big mistake. Practice your
first five minutes and know
when you need to be: 1/4
way, 1/2 way and starting
your close.

11. #3 Making it all about you
Heroic stories about parachuting to
work after pulling a family of eight from
a burning house are all about you.
Tip: Share when you failed and your
audience will lean in.

12. #4 Forgettable content
D.U.F.A. (Don’t Use Forgettable
Acronyms). Keep your core lesson
to three points and make each
lesson memorable*
* like ‘sharpen the saw’ and ‘seek first to understand’

13. #5 Uncomfortable
moments
Three things to avoid early
in your speech: asking for a
volunteer, walking into the
audience, or asking them to
share personal information.
(Timing is everything.)

14. Long bullets, too much text,
and free clip art make you
look like an amateur. Use
fewer slides, keep bullets to a
minimum, and use big, bold
images.
#6 Ugly Powerpoint
(Or no slides at all)
Tip: Limit each slide to 3 bullets and
only one line per bullet.

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16. #7 Reading your slides
Bad enough your slides are crowded,
don’t make it worse by ignoring your
audience and reading them.
Tip: look at one person at a time and everyone
will feel like you are looking at them.

17. #8 Using old material
Don’t tell the starfish story,
Thomas Edison failed 5,000
times, or “Our deepest fear is
that we are powerful beyond
measure.”*
(Get original content.)
*Marianne Williamson

18. #9 Too much content
Instead of piling on more
content, use stories, get
the audience involved,
and slow down.
Fact: Within one hour your audience
will forget about 50% of what you
share. Art Kohn, Ph.D

19. If an event planner invites you to go
overtime - don’t believe them.
Delegates can read time and they
want their breaks.
#10 Going overtime
(Finish on time. Period.)

20. Quick Summary (what to do)…
#1 Launch right into your material
#2 Pace yourself and never rush the ending
#3 Be vulnerable, share when you failed
#4 Deliver three memorable solutions
#5 Build audience engagement
#6 Clean up your Powerpoint
#7 Look your audience in the eye
#8 Use original material
#9 Less content is more memorable
#10 Don’t go overtime. Period

21. Photo Credits
“Okay, you delivered your speech” www.flickr.com/photos/76349034@N04/18341478711
“Making it all about you” www.flickr.com/photos/23844045@N06/11939035745
“Forgettable content” slide www.flickr.com/photos/45173973@N02/9006109724
“Uncomfortable moments” www.flickr.com/photos/49752896@N07/10425544294
“Ugly powerpoint” www.flickr.com/photos/49752896@N07/10425985243
“Reading your slides” www.flickr.com/photos/45173973@N02/9006113844
“Too much content” www.flickr.com/photos/23844045@N06/11941347716
Audience applauding (this page) www.flickr.com/photos/95442476@N00/206971552

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23. Are you ready for…
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24.
YES, I want my free book!
Download your
FREE COPY!
Are you ready for…
ESSENTIAL
SMALL BUSINESS
TOOLS
20 Tools That Let You Focus on What
You do Best While They do the Rest
www.hughc
ulver.com/
essentialtoo
ls

25. YES, I want my free book!
ESSENTIAL
SMALL BUSINESS
TOOLS
20 Tools That Let You Focus on What
You do Best While They do the Rest
www.hughc
ulver.com/
essentialtoo
ls