NSA Wisconsin: Your Source for Professional Speakers

One Thing the Best Presenters at SXSW 2010 Have in Common

SXSW is a massive conference held each year in Austin, Texas. New Zealand's Olivia Mitchell was there, and she wrote an interesting post on her blog about what the best presenters all had in common. Many professional speakers get all caught up in the details about how we do things, but Olivia offers up the one thing that makes the biggest difference:

Your style as a presenter doesn’t matter. Whether you’re funny or serious, loud or quiet doesn’t matter. Just care for your audience.

Check out the full post here.

Finding Fulfillment—Physician Style

By Stephen J. Busalacchi
Candidate Member 

If one thing stood out after having spent 56 hours interviewing dozens of accomplished physicians, it was the fact that these doctors love what they do. As I worked on the White Coat Wisdom manuscript, I started to become a bit envious. What gives them such great job satisfaction? First of all, many of them don’t tend to consider what they do work, per se. More than one doc described medicine as more of a calling than an occupation.
 

But this level of satisfaction isn’t limited to medicine. I’m convinced each of us can learn something from those who take great joy in how they spend their professional or occupational time. These physicians exemplify that fulfillment comes after commitment to something bigger than yourself, sacrifice and knowing you’ve done something important for others. 

Take Doctor Sandra Osborn. She is a 2006 graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Late bloomer? Quite the opposite. She’s more like a re-bloomer. She first graduated from UW med school in 1973. Yes, she’s a double-dipper. Doctor Osborn retired after three decades as a pediatrician and then immediately re-enrolled in medical school to mentor the next generation of doctors. Yes, she took those classes all over again, year after year. Sandy Osborn did it because she wanted to do it. 

Osborn, like most of her colleagues, is a lifelong learner. “Med School 2” was just an extension of that penchant for learning and contributing. Doctor Osborn also volunteers for what has to be one of the most demanding and important positions around: service on Wisconsin’s Medical Examining Board. People who don’t have time to formally retire tend to be long-lived. Remember that. 

Part of commitment is to care about those you interact with. The lesson from doctors is to get to know those you’re helping. It’s not just about making a contribution or volunteering at an event. Real satisfaction results when we get to know those we’re assisting. Doctor Mark Timmerman, a family medicine physician, told me the most rewarding part of medicine for him, was the broad exposure he had to the population. It makes him a deeper human being to get to know so many different kinds of patients. 

Doctor Adam Dachman is another physician who finds great satisfaction in establishing rapport with patients. That may be unusual for a surgeon because their interactions with patients are often episodic. But as a musician and composer, Dachman finds inspiration in the individual stories that play out in his office. He writes songs about patients who inspire him and then gives them CDs.
 

But medicine can be depressing at times, too. Early in his family medicine career, Dr. Alan Schwartzstein internalized the fact that doctors can’t save everybody. In fact, they have to try hard not to view that reality as a personal failure, though many still do.
 

Perhaps fulfillment comes when we’re able to both appreciate the good and accept the realities of life, even when they’re particularly unpleasant or even painful. So if we want a fulfilled life: 

• Find your passion
 

• Volunteer 


• Get to know the people you’re helping and empathize with their plight 


• Appreciate the good aspects of your work 


• Share a bit of yourself and your interests in the process 


• Recognize that we’re not all in control of what happens in life 

I couldn’t help but be affected by these physician stories. They inspired me to keep working on White Coat Wisdom. You don’t rise at 5 a.m. every day for three years while working full-time unless you’re really into something. For me, writing this book was without question, the most rewarding professional venture of my life. And it’s affected me in other ways, too. Shortly after completing the manuscript, I quit a stable job and started my own business. These physician stories inspired me to push myself. In two and half years on my own, I’ve had the opportunity to edit a dying UW-Oshkosh professor’s book manuscript, deliver the keynote address for young physicians from the California Medical Association, and co-present a day-long media training workshop for physician leaders at the University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation, among many other activities.
 

But it took me a long time to begin the process of writing White Coat Wisdom, which led to this new chapter in my life. For 15 years, I only talked about writing this oral history. And then somebody showed enthusiastic interest in the idea. He was the first to really endorse the concept and instructed me to go for it. 

“I’d read that! You have to do it.” 

So I did it. I needed a nudge and Ed Fink gave me a kick. Helping others succeed is rewarding, too. 

Stephen J. Busalacchi is author of White Coat Wisdom: Extraordinary doctors talk about what they do, how they got there and why medicine is so much more than a job. To download an mp3 of the 30-minute Downtown Madison Rotary speech, see http://tinyurl.com/me8l93

How to Get Your CSP

by Barb Bartlein
Professional Member and CSP Liason

The much awaited, Oscar-worthy, “How to Get Your Certified Speaking Professional Designation,” flash presentation is finally here. Producer, writer and best actress, Linda Keith, CSP, has created this stunning performance so that you won’t have to remember all of those CSP requirements in your head. Check it out: http://www.mynsa.org/tools/csp_presentation/player.html

Also, please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding the CSP process at www.thepeoplepro.com.

Learn Performance Secrets from Second City

You know of the Second City from their legendary theatres, Emmy-Award winning TV shows and the countless stars they’ve helped create over nearly 50 years. On June 4th, The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) chapter in Madison is bringing in Second City Communications to teach performance secrets on the platform.

Improvisation is all about responding to change quickly and this workshop teaches you how. You’ll learn how to use key techniques of improvisation to successfully adjust and navigate through times of change and you’ll learn how to:

• Increase the ability to be flexible and adapt to change
• Respond to unexpected changes “in the moment”
• Create effective solutions to manage long-term changes

Click here for all of the event details.

A New Forum Comes to Town

by Stevie Ray
Member-NSA Minnesota Chapter

It was late at night last November and Jerome Mayne, a speaker based in Minnesota, was doing what a lot of us do. He was sitting in his office, by himself, wondering whether he was doing “the business” right. Even though he had developed his speaking business for over five years, he still felt like, in some areas, he was operating blind. Too many questions were answered by assumption instead of fact. Were his fees appropriate for his service? How could he get two engagements out of one? How could he expand his market? He made a few phone calls and sent a few emails, but didn’t hear back right away. Jerome shared the same frustration that many professional speakers face, he was alone. He worked alone in his office. Traveled alone. And spoke alone.

As a member of NSA he got a lot out of meetings and seminars, but there wasn’t always enough time to talk with other speakers. Sometimes it was impossible to attend meetings since he was often traveling to speak. He also felt like there were so many speakers to connect with from around the country or across the ocean; not just in his local chapter. He thought, “If there were only a way to communicate with all of them, I’d certainly get answers and ideas.” And he might not feel so alone in this business.

The next day he went to work on his computer and created Speakers Outpost (www.speakersoutpost.com), an online discussion forum for the speaking industry. He started contacting speakers, asking them to join. He certainly didn’t expect the response he got. Launched in early December, the forum already has over 150 members from the United States, Canada, England, Germany, Spain, Israel, Australia, South Africa, and Singapore. The forum is not affiliated with the National Speakers Association, so members include those from within NSA, as well as speakers and service providers from elsewhere in the industry.

The concept is simple. Membership is free, and after registering, members can post questions or reply to other speakers’ posts. Comments can include any subject from negotiating fees, to marketing tips, speaking internationally, client management, even attractions not to miss when speaking in a new city. The feel is informal and friendly, and as such, self-promotion is discouraged.

Part of the success of Speakers Outpost is the variety of members. You not only connect with new and experienced speakers, but service providers, speakers’ bureaus, publishers, and clients. Early response to Speakers Outpost has been very positive.

“Thanks for putting a Web 2.0 site into play for Professional Speakers. As an NSA professional member well past his 10 year pin I have to say that the site embodies the vision of the wonderful NSA members it has been my honor to meet.” Jerry Fletcher, NSA Member Portland, Oregon

The goal of all speakers is to grow their business and create an impact on the audiences they serve. What better way to do that than to connect with hundreds of fellow speakers from around the world and share-or debate-the issues that affect us all. You are encouraged to go to Speakers Outpost and share your wisdom, post a question, and help the speaking industry stay connected. Who knows? Someone from across the ocean may have an idea that gets you booked right next door.

Taking Great Headshots

It's part of the business of professional speaking -- the headshot. It's your first impression when you can't be there. Since it's used in so many aspects of your business (web site, articles, books, press releases, etc.), it's a crucial part of your brand.

After consulting with some friends in the entertainment industry, Misty Williams wrote an article with some fabulous tips to get the most out of your photo shoots. She shares ideas on what to wear, what color background to use, and how to avoid "fat face."

Read the article here.

Reduce Your Dread of Marketing and Sales

Posted by Jason Kotecki
Professional Member

Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients, Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling was one of the presenters at the NSA Convention in San Diego and he was a big hit.

When it comes down to it, speaking is a business, and just like every other business, selling is crucial to success. Michael assures us that sales does not have to be slimy, pushy and disingenuous. You can listen to an interview of Michael, hosted by Pamela Slim on the VoiceAmerica Escape from Cubicle Nation Radio Show. He also shares some insights about creating information products, which can be a great revenue booster for speakers.

Listen to the interview here. (Find the Content Library and scroll down to 8/24/07 - Reduce Your Dread of Marketing and Sales.)

15 Tips for Speakers

Doug Lawrence has been a professional singer, music director, and speech coach and has also done a lot of speaking. Guy Kawasaki asked Doug to compile a list of the absolute necessities of an engaging performance or presentation: Speaking as a Performing Art

Here are some highlights:

Bite your tongue. If your mouth gets dry in the middle of your presentation, try gently biting your tongue. Opera singers use this all the time to release saliva which moistens your mouth.

Use your eyes all the time. Hand gestures, pacing around the platform can all be useful tools in presentation, but the eyes…ah, the eyes have it! If you can’t engage people with your eyes you will eventually lose your audience’s attention. Your eyes always tell people whether or not you believe in what you’re saying! Scan the room, select a person to make a point to, and look right at them. It’s a little intimidating for them, but it keeps you focused on the individuals who make up your audience. Keep moving to new people—right, left, middle—it works! If all else fails, look at each person as though you’ve loved him or her all your life—like mom, or your child.

Get quiet. If you really want to get people’s attention, get quiet suddenly. It will scare the sound guy to death, but I guarantee the audience will pay attention. Singers use this trick all the time. That’s the “you could hear a pin drop” effect. Believe me, that’s what sells your talk!

The Top 100 Speeches

by Jason Kotecki

One of the best ways to improve your own speaking and speech writing ability is to learn from the pros. American Rhetoric has a list of the top 100 speeches of the 20th century.

It features an index to and partial database of full text transcriptions of the 100 most significant American political speeches of the 20th century, according to a list compiled by Professors Stephen E. Lucas and Martin J. Medhurst. Dr. Lucas is Evjue-Bascom Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Medhurst is Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Communication at Baylor University (Texas). 137 leading scholars of American public address were asked to recommend speeches on the basis of social and political impact, and rhetorical artistry.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was ranked number one. Which one is your favorite?

5 Ways to Make Sure Your PowerPoint Presentation Doesn't Suck

by Jason Kotecki

We've all been exposed to PowerPoint presentations that have made us secretly wish someone would pull the fire alarm just so we'd have a reason to leave the room. Nobody wants an audience feeling that way about one of their presentations. One of the keys to making your PowerPoint presentation not suck is by creating it in such a way that the audience doesn't even realize it's a PowerPoint presentation. Here's how:

Ditch the templates.
The first step to a sucky PowerPoint presentation starts right out of the gate with a boring pre-made background template. When people see the same cheesy background image that was just in their CEO's quarterly report snoozefest, they can't help but think, “Oh great, another PowerPoint presentation. Wake me when it's over.” It is a good idea to create a coherent theme that ties your presentation together, and a background image is an easy way to do that, but spend a little extra time finding the perfect – and unique -- background image. Your friendly neighborhood graphic designer should be able to whip up one that looks like a million bucks for a very affordable price.

Easy on the animations.
Just because Applebee's has a million items on their menu doesn't mean you have to eat them all. The same thing goes for animations. You can easily get carried away by adding a LOT of whiz bang spins, dissolves, and animations to your presentation. If you use too many of them, they become a major distraction from the point you're trying to communicate. (And in the worst case scenario, they may make your audience members dizzy and pass out.) If you MUST use animations, make sure you know WHY you're doing it, keep them simple, and don't use more than a few different types. But remember, in the history of PowerPoint, animations have rarely -- if ever -- actually improved a presentation.

Less words.
I will assume that you're not using your PowerPoint presentation as a replacement for note cards. That would be bad, and the audience will be able to tell in about 1.3 seconds (might as well just hand out a written version of your talk and let everybody go home early). If you have too many words on your slides, and you read them, the audience will inadvertently skip ahead, reading the words faster that you can say them. Then boredom sets in as they wait for you to finish. Not good.

Another reason you want to limit the words on your slides is because humans don't like absorbing information both visually and verbally (at the same time). Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia found the brain is limited in the amount of information it can absorb - and presenting the same information in visual and verbal form - like reading from a typical Powerpoint slide - overloads this part of memory and makes absorbing information more difficult. Seth Godin, marketing guru and presentation expert, advises no more than six words on a slide. Ever.

Bigger words.
If you absolutely have to use words on your slides, at least make them BIG. Guy Kawasaki, another presentation expert, has proposed a 10/20/30 rule. It states that your presentation should include 10 slides, take 20 minutes, and should have nothing smaller than a 30 point font. His formula is intended more for things like pitches to venture capitalists, but I think the 30 point font rule is an important one. It makes it easy for audience members to read your slides, no matter where they're sitting. It helps you to keep from cluttering your slides with words, and it also forces you to really think about what you want to say.

Paint a picture.
Instead of jamming your presentation with words and bullet points, look for images – good, powerful, striking images – that complement the point you're trying to get across. Don't be afraid to let the photo take up the entire slide; that will add to the impact. Images can trigger powerful emotional reactions in a audiences, which keep them engaged and on the edge of their seats. Plus, they create helpful memory stamps in their mind. An attendee may think back on a photograph that really struck them, and more easily remember the story that went along with it – and the important message you wanted to share!

By following these five simple – but often overlooked – guidelines, you can rest easy in knowing that your PowerPoint presentation doesn't suck.

Jason Kotecki is a mild-mannered cartoonist, speaker, and author with the mission of helping people diagnose, treat, and cure cases of Adultitis. He is the creator of the hilarious internationally-known comic strip, Kim & Jason, and the author of "Escape Adulthood: 8 Secrets from Childhood for the Stressed-Out Grown-Up." Read his blog, listen to his podcast, reminisce about your own childhood and sign up to receive free comics and tips on escaping adulthood at www.KimandJason.com