‘Ask Patricia Fripp Your Public Speaking Question’ Archive
THE Executive Speech Coach Patricia Fripp: Q and A
After my National Speakers Association NSA WEBINAR on presentation skills, with Tom Drews as my moderator, there were questions. Here they are an the answers.
Q. How long should a signature story be?
As long as it takes to make your point and continue to engage and delight your audience.
The longer the story the more ideas to be developed later in the speech.
Q. Do you ever recommend to a speaker that they get some training on their use of voice…like breathing, vocal support, pitch variety, volume?
Yes. Your best bet is with an acting coach or perhaps a Yoga teacher.
Q I realize this is really basic, but what in your mind makes a good signature story?
The signature story needs to be somehow connected to your premise or central theme of your speech. Well-developed characters, dialogue, emotional connection and relevance to the audience. A good chuckle is a bonus. As my World Champions Edge partner Darren LaCroix says, “The problem is funny, the solution is serious.”
Q. My job when speaking is to inspire people to believe they can do something they probably will never achieve – I know that and they don't. (Getting books published successfully) Their odds are microscopic with their memoirs of living in Wisconsin and having a sick cat. I feel guilty about being enthusiastic, feel guilty when I'm honest, but the truth is, 90% of the people at a conference are wasting their time being there. The specific question is, how does one speak to the 1-3% who will actually apply one's message and not be disturbed by the rest who will not? Anthony Robbins told me that only 2-3% of his audience ever applies the message.
As the first president of the National Speakers Association, Bill Gove said “We are responsible to our audience…not FOR our audience.” As long as you give the information on HOW, your excitement of WHY, and your personal successful experience that is all you can do. If it bothers you too much…change the topic. As I tell speakers when I teach them how to construct and deliver a speech… “You may have the talent, do you have the patience?”
I once asked Bud Friedman, Founder of the Improv Comedy Clubs, “Is there such a thing as natural talent?” He said, “Yes, however there is no such thing as overnight success.”
That is worth tweeting!
Q. What are some of the best ways to reduce stiffness and rigidity in movement in their delivery? This would include gestures.
Warm up before you go on stage. Again, an acting coach will teach you what actors do.
Remover the stress from your face with “chewing” exercises, shake the tension out of your arms and legs. Robin Williams does jumping jacks, Mick Jagger has a mini running
Area so he can run up and down for 20 minutes before going on stage. I do accept the front tables to sit with the VIPs before my speech if I am not the first on the program. It is tough to be dynamic from sitting down for 2 hours. I need to be pacing and getting the words into my body.
Q. Your PowerPoint is great. Do you use it a lot?
My PowerPoint is created by my associate Jim Prost. Yes, I use it 100% of the time for training and my speaking schools. Often, with a lot less slides, in keynotes as well. For webinars you use a lot more slides to keep the audience engaged.
My next school on Public Speaking Skills is in Las Vegas June 10-11.
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is an in-demand keynote speaker, executive speech coach and sales presentation skills trainer.
In 1984 was President of NSA.
www.fripp.com
Public Speaking: How did Patricia Fripp get started?
Q. When did you first start speaking? How long until speaking became your full-time job?
In 1976, when I was San Francisco’s #1 men’s hairstylist, I started delivering seminars to hairstylists for a hair product company called Markham. Through recommendations from my executive clients, Rotary Clubs and men’s breakfast clubs invited me to speak. Afterwards, the audience members often came into my salon. I quickly realized that this was an inexpensive way to promote my business.
It paid well, too. After one of my first Rotary Club speeches, someone asked, “What would you charge to say all this to the Oakland Appliance Dealers?” and I said, “$50.” At my next talk, someone else offered $125. By 1977, I was earning $175 as a speaker outside of the hairstyling industry.
With that, I decided to go to my first National Speakers Association (NSA) convention. I was sure that no one would want to talk to me, since I had only spoken in front of Rotary Clubs and hairdressers. However, two amazing things happened: I realized this might be something I wanted to do in the future; and I was discovered by a big-time promoter named Mike Frank. He booked me to speak to two thousand people on the same program with Dr. Robert Schuller, Pastor of Garden Grove Cathedral. I left my first NSA convention believing that perhaps I could be a speaker!
One of the best decisions I made was to view professional speaking as a long-term goal. Here was the dilemma. I loved my hairstyling business and was two years into a ten-year lease. My goal was to remain a hairstylist until age forty and then become a professional speaker. I started hairstyling when I was fifteen, so by forty, I figured I would have spent twenty-five years behind a chair.
As it turned out, I “retired” at thirty-nine because I became President of the National Speakers Association—the first woman to achieve this prestigious position. Since the presidency took so much time, it turned into the perfect transition. My motto became, "I used to work on the outside of people’s heads. Now I work on the inside!"
Want to get started increasing your speaking skills?
Fripp Webinar January 22 with Business Expert Webinars.
Patricia is known for simplifying and demystifying the process of designing and delivering powerful keynote speeches and sales presentations. She provides customized presentation skills training for a variety of professionals in different industries. If you are searching for basic or advanced training and coaching in presentation skills, public speaking, business communication, speechwriting, and media training, Patricia Fripp can help.
Hiring Professional Speakers: How to Avoid Mistakes
How to Avoid Mistakes When Choosing a Speaker
You are planning your company’s next meeting and you want everything to be perfect. You’ve got a location, theme and date. The only thing left is to hire the speaker. Where do you turn? How do you know what kind of speaker is best for your meeting? Here’s a checklist:
1. Do your homework. Many organizations and associations keep a data base on speakers — who is good, who is not, who is reliable, who cancels at the last minute, and other details. See if your group has one. If you had a speaker last year you loved, use him or her as a resource to recommend someone who will be a good fit for your group. Continue reading ‘Hiring Professional Speakers: How to Avoid Mistakes’
Executive Speech Coach comments on public speaking & President Carter
My East Coast Fripp Associate Sims Wyeth always proves you can say something worth knowing in a few words.
In 1976, President Carter got elected on the grounds that we needed a government as good as the people. In 1979, he told us we had a “crisis of spirit,” implying he needed the people to be as good as the government. He never recovered.
“Talking Down” happens when you utter a single word that implies a lack, a flaw, or a failing in your listeners.
Your audience may have lacks and flaws, but appealing to their deepest aspirations works better than a finger-wagging, flaw-finding sermon.
Sims Wyeth
By the way…just finished my Patricia Fripp Speaking and Presentation Skills School. It went really well.
Your Questions?
Would you like to ask me a question? If you make it short and specific it will be easier to give an answer that is helpful. -Fripp
Ask Fripp Your Question About Public Speaking
I am happy to answer your questions! However, the most difficult thing for us all to learn, myself included, is to edit our remarks. So, can you make your questions, clear, concise, and if possible in one sentence?
Thank you,
Patricia Fripp
