![Ep. 238- NEW!😮PUBLIC SPEAKING TIPS! Noooo Boring!💤[Speak to SMALL Groups, BIG Groups, ANYONE..with these TIPS!]🔥🔥🔥 — Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson cover](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstorage.buzzsprout.com%2Flut7800x7vdo0hshvctrizy6rpxv%3F.jpg&w=1920&q=75)
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Welcome to do this, not that, the podcast for marketers. You'll walk away from each episode with actionable tips you can test immediately. You'll hear from the best minds in marketing who will share tactics, quick wins, and pitfalls to avoid. Also, dig into life, pop culture, and the chaos that is our everyday. I'm Jay Swedelson. Let's do this, not that.
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We are here for do this, not that podcast, presented by Marigold. And one of the most popular episodes we've ever done of the podcast was about public speaking. And we did not even scratch the surface on some of the tips that I want to share. So we're going to go through some other public speaking tips that I think could be super valuable. And we talk about public speaking. This is not you just getting up in front of a big audience. Public speaking can be you running a Zoom meeting. It could be you in a conference room with five other people. It could be you at a cocktail party talking to five people. Public speaking is when you're talking to any group of people. And certainly this applies to when you are talking on stage in front of big group of people. And why me? Why should you listen to me? Number one, you shouldn't. Not on anything other than reality tv. That would be a good topic, because I'm all about that. But as it relates to public speaking, yeah. I give about 100 speech teachers a year in all sorts of different places, online, everywhere, and they get decent reviews. And that's where my information comes from. I didn't take a formal class. I just know what resonates and what doesn't resonate. And that's what I want to share with you. Because I think a lot of the information out there about what you should do or shouldn't do comes from people that are epically boring. And if you follow what they say, you too will be boring. So I don't want you to be boring. I want people to pay attention to what you're saying. So let's jump into it. Number one, never memorize a speech again. This could be a small webinar. It could be a meeting on Zoom. It could be a speech to a lot of people. Do not memorize your speech. Ever. There is nothing more boring than to hear somebody recite something that they have memorized because they're not really into it. They're just trying to remember the next word that they're supposed to say. So never memorize your speech. And the other problem is, if you do memorize it, what happens is if you miss even One syllable of what it is that you know that you're supposed to say. You are all screwed up. You are off track. I hate when people memorize their speech. Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't practice, right? Doesn't mean you shouldn't practice what you're going to say, and you should practice. But there's one very specific way that you should practice what you're going to say when you rehearse. Rehearse with a lot of background noise, rehearse with the TV on, rehearse when you're going on a walk. And yeah, you'll look ridiculous, talk to yourself. But you want to rehearse when there's a lot of distractions, there's a lot of stuff going on. Because when you ultimately do speak in that conference room, on that zoom in front of a big live audience, it's not going to be this perfect isolated thing where nobody's making a noise and nobody's moving around. So when you rehearse, you want to rehearse in that kind of real scenario to be out and about. Now, when you talk about anything, when you are giving your talk or you are presenting, okay, you never want to talk about anything that's older than a year ago. So if you are talking and it is, you know, February 2025, you don't want to say, and in July 2023, blah, blah, blah, instantly, nobody cares. You're like, that is old. They won't say they don't care, but they don't care. Anything older than a year ago. Do not include in your presentation, even if you can't find something more recent, because it is not. It doesn't matter anymore. People don't feel like, okay, is that still accurate because it's older than a year old? Find something new or don't use it at all. And let's say you are giving that speech in February of 2025. And let's say you have some data from four months ago. You don't say that the data is from 2024. You say, this is information from four months ago. What sounds older to you? The year prior, right? Or four months ago, it's the year prior. So you want to reference. Don't try to use that year in your speech because it makes people think it's old information. The other thing is that at some point you're going to ask for question and answers, right? You're going to say, does anybody have any questions? You always want to make the audience feel like they're part of what you're doing that, they're comfortable in participating. Whatever that first question is that somebody asks, okay, the whole entire audience or the people in that room or on that webinar, everybody's trying to, like, feel out, should I ask a question? Whatever the first question is that somebody asks, as soon as they're done saying, you know, and that's their question, you say, you know what? That's a great question. Or, that's a really good question. I'm glad you brought that up. You validate the person that asked that question immediately. Because when you do that, everybody else that's there feels more comfortable participating. You instantly say, that's great. I'm so glad you brought that up. That's a really interesting point. Validate that first question. Always. Another thing you want to think about doing is filling the space. What do I mean by that? If you're on a stage, you want to move around a lot. Don't stand behind some sort of lectern, some sort of podium is so epically boring. You want to feel this. Fill the space. Walk from side to side, make everybody that's there feel part of it. And even if you're in a room, a conference room, you want to move around a little bit. Even if you're seated, you want to move your arms around a little bit. You want to fill whatever space you're in, even if it's on zoom, you want to move yourself, you want to move your arms, move your head, move your thing, fill the space. Because it's more engaging, it gets people more interested. It's in the subconscious. It gets them more energized to be a part of it. And the absolute worst thing that you can do when you do any kind of public speaking is when you ask the audience a question. Make sure everybody feels comfortable with the question. Don't make your audience feel stupid. So if you turn to your audience and you say, who here knows what ABM means? Which means account based marketing, but only, like, half the audience might know instantly. You'll get a few hand raises that go up, but a lot of people won't raise their hand because maybe they don't know. Don't ever assume that your audience knows the thing. And the worst thing you could do is ask a question that is not basic enough that everybody knows, right? You want to ask questions like, who here loves horror movies? Everybody has an opinion on that. They can participate. You can't ask something super technical that somebody might not know because you will lose that audience member instantly because they feel embarrassed Never embarrass your audience. Okay, so before we get into since you didn't ask, which is the ridiculous portion of this podcast, always ridiculous. I wanted to let you know that this podcast is presented by Marigold. Marigold is awesome. They are a roll up of sale through campaign monitor, Myemma, Cheetah Digital Live clicker. And yeah, I've talked about them a lot because they're awesome. They're my email sending platform and they have this new loyalty guide. If you don't do loyalty marketing, you are leaving the most important thing on the table to really connect with the people in your database, your customers. Right? If you go to jschwedelson.com Marigold that's jschwedelson.com MariGold you can download Marigold's new loyalty guide. And I'm telling you, as you're planning for 2025, grab this thing. Get loyalty going. Make your customers feel that you appreciate them. That's jschwedelson.com Marigold it is free. All right, let's get into since you didn't ask, which is the ridiculous portion of this podcast. Oh my God. I was at a holiday party the other day. It was amazing because one of my buddies, he shouldn't have been there. He wasn't feeling well and he was, I was standing like near him, not next to him. And out of nowhere, it wasn't because he was a drunk or anything like that. He threw up. He threw up on the floor. On the floor, like in this dude's house. And it was a disaster. And it was amazing. And it, I mean, everything you can imagine happened, happened. And of course. Oh, my God. Are you okay? Are you okay? Not me. I'm like, that's amazing. He's fine now, by the way. Nothing's wrong with him. He just like, I don't know, he ate something. I don't know what's wrong with him, but that's amazing. And it got me thinking about other party fails. So I'll tell other party fails of my party fails. So this always stuck in my brain when I got married. Okay, we sent out. This is so bad. We sent out save the dates. You know, you send out a save the date and early, early on in the process and then later on you send out the invitation. Well, we screwed up. And we sent out save the days to a handful of people that for whatever reason, our list got messed up. We never sent them the invitation, right? So then it became the day of our wedding. And I'm like, where's so and so how come? Where are they seated? Where? Whatever. And in that moment, we realized there was a handful of people we sent save the dates to that we never sent the invitations to. And to this day, they never talked to me again. There was like three of them. Never talk to me again. Whatever. That's their problem. The other party fail was it was my daughter's birthday a while back now, and she was very into Dora the Explorer. You know, the Nickelodeon girl, travels around. Whatever. So I was like, oh, my God, we're going to get a Dora. You know, a big somebody in a costume like Dora to come to the party and surprise her. And so I don't know. I must have found this Dora. I don't know where I found this Dora. Online. So we hire the Dora, and the door shows up to the door in full costume, giant door head, door outfit. They come in and my daughter's like, oh, my God, this is so great. And all the kids are like, this is so great. And then after like five minutes, I was like, what's up with Dora? She was like, kind of like leaning against the wall, not really interacting with the kids. And so I walk up to the door, I'm like, dora, can you hear me? And the person goes, yes, I could hear you. I'm like, what's up with you and Dora? Which oddly was a dude, whatever. Dora goes, I don't feel that well. I go, okay, what's up? And they go, can I sit down somewhere? So we went into this room right where all the kids next to where all the kids were. And Dora took off her head, you know, her big thing. And he's like, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm crazy hungover right now. I'm like, dude, I can't have drunk Dora at my daughter's birthday party. What's wrong with your clown? And then the worst thing ever happens. My daughter comes in the room with a bunch of her friends because they were running around the house and they see Dora with no head on. And it was a dude and crying. What's wrong with Dora? Oh, my God, it was so bad. I kicked drunk Dora out of my house. I was so angry. I'm like, drunk Dora, what is wrong with you? You can't be hungover, Dora, and take your head off. Anyway, I don't know what I'm talking about. Listen, I appreciate you being here. I hope you got something out of these public speaking tips. Leave this thing a review. Be awesome and hit me up@jschwedelson.com that's where a lot of stuff is, and you rock. Later.
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Title: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Host: GURU Media Hub
Guest: Jay Schwedelson
Release Date: December 13, 2024
In Episode 238 of "Do This, NOT That," hosted by GURU Media Hub and featuring Jay Schwedelson, the discussion centers around dynamic and effective public speaking strategies. Jay leverages his extensive experience working with approximately 100 speech teachers annually to provide actionable tips aimed at enhancing both small and large group presentations. The episode emphasizes moving away from conventional, often monotonous public speaking techniques to engage audiences more effectively.
Never Memorize Your Speech
Jay vehemently advises against memorizing speeches, highlighting that it often results in a lackluster delivery. He explains that memorization can make the speaker appear disengaged, merely reciting words without genuine interest.
"There is nothing more boring than to hear somebody recite something that they have memorized because they're not really into it." [04:15]
Alternative Approach: Instead of memorizing, Jay recommends practicing in environments with various distractions to simulate real-life speaking conditions. This method helps speakers remain flexible and authentic during their presentations.
Practice with Distractions
To ensure adaptability, Jay suggests rehearsing speeches amidst background noise, such as having a TV on or taking walks while practicing. This prepares speakers to maintain composure and focus even when unexpected disturbances occur during actual presentations.
"When you rehearse, you want to rehearse in that kind of real scenario to be out and about." [05:30]
Use Current Information
Staying relevant is crucial. Jay emphasizes avoiding references to information older than a year, as outdated data can diminish the speaker's credibility.
"If you are talking in February 2025, you don't want to say, and in July 2023,... because it is not. It doesn't matter anymore." [07:10]
Tip: Reference the recency of data in relative terms (e.g., "four months ago" instead of specifying the year) to maintain the perception of up-to-date information.
Effective Q&A Handling
Jay highlights the importance of creating a comfortable environment for audience participation during Q&A sessions. Validating the first question can encourage others to engage without hesitation.
"As soon as they're done saying, you know, and that's their question, you say, you know what? That's a great question. Or, that's a really good question." [08:05]
Fill the Space with Movement and Gestures
Engaging body language is key to captivating an audience. Jay advises speakers to move around the stage or room, utilize hand gestures, and avoid static positions behind podiums or lecterns.
"Fill the space. Walk from side to side, make everybody that’s there feel part of it." [09:00]
Benefit: Dynamic movement and gestures subconsciously energize the audience, making the presentation more lively and memorable.
Ask Inclusive Questions
When interacting with the audience, it's essential to pose questions that everyone can relate to, avoiding overly technical or niche topics that may alienate some listeners.
"You can't ask something super technical that somebody might not know because you will lose that audience member instantly." [10:20]
Example: Instead of asking, "Who here knows what ABM means?" opt for more universal topics like, "Who here loves horror movies?"
Throughout the episode, Jay shares personal anecdotes to illustrate the pitfalls of ineffective public speaking. He underscores the importance of authenticity and relatability, drawing from his interactions with numerous speech teachers and his own experiences in various speaking engagements.
One notable insight is the balance between preparation and spontaneity. Jay emphasizes that while thorough preparation is vital, over-reliance on scripts can hinder a speaker's ability to connect naturally with the audience.
Episode 238 of "Do This, NOT That" offers a comprehensive guide to elevating public speaking skills. By discouraging memorization, advocating for realistic practice conditions, emphasizing the use of current information, fostering comfortable audience interactions, promoting engaging body language, and advising on inclusive questioning, Jay Schwedelson provides valuable strategies for marketers and professionals alike to enhance their presentation effectiveness.
Listeners are encouraged to implement these tips to create more engaging, authentic, and impactful presentations, ultimately driving better connections and results in their marketing endeavors.
Notable Quotes:
This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to refine their public speaking abilities and make meaningful connections with their audience. Jay Schwedelson's practical advice, grounded in real-world experience, provides listeners with the tools necessary to transform their presentations from mundane to memorable.