Want to Improve Your Presentation Skills? Learn from Hollywood Actor and Speaker
Bob Roitblat presents Hollywood techniques for better professional speaking.
Last week I was speaking for the National Speakers Association Illinois. What a great group and one of my news friends is Bob Roitblat. If you are a regular reader you know I love learning from Hollywood friends and classes.
Look-turn-speak is a technique borrowed from acting that professional speakers and business presenters can take advantage of in two ways. The first is a way to better engage your audience and here’s how it works:
Many speakers lead with their chin as they connect with individual audience members. The speaker turns his or her head towards someone and begins speaking or continues speaking. Yes, there is a connection, but it may feel shallow or random to the listener.
With the look-turn-speak technique you lead with your eyes; the look element. Then you turn your head; the turn element. Then you speak.
By making eye contact first and then turning towards that person, your movement and what you say are perceived as being much more intentional. That individual is more deeply engaged, which helps the whole audience become more engaged.
You can practice this technique by concentrating on doing each step in sequence and soon you will be look-turn-speaking in one fluid motion.
Look-turn-speak’s second advantage arises when editing video from presentations recorded by multiple cameras simultaneously. Whether that means live events, showcases or training videos.
To edit together the various video elements—what in the film camera days was called footage —the editor chooses when to use the footage from one camera and when to switch or cut to footage from another camera. Editors like to cut on motion because it distracts the eye from noticing the cut.
When you employ the look-turn-speak technique you give the editor many more edit points. The editor can, for example, cut on your initial eye movement on one camera angle to the end of your head turn on the other camera angle. Multiple edits points also enable the editor to rearrange the various sections of your presentation to modify its flow, or to expand or compress time.
More edit points and smoother edits equate to a better end product. And that makes you look better, too.
Adding the look-turn-speak technique into your presentation style helps you deepen your connection with the audience and makes you a more valuable speaker.
Now you can see why I was so excited to meet Bob.
Bob Roitblat is a former actor, producer and director, having appeared in more than 60 movies and television shows. As a speaker, he uses his experience as a competitive sailor to draw parallels between building and leading a winning yacht racing team and building and leading a winning business. He helps audiences develop business skills that are effective whether the seas are calm or storms are raging.
Thanks you Bob Roitblat.
Patricia Fripp is an executive speech coach, keynote speaker, and sales presentation skills trainer. Check out her next speech and presentation skills coaching camp in Las Vegas June 28-30, 2013 presented with Darren LaCroix.
