It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It: Ready-to-Use Advice for Presentations, Speeches, and Other Speaking Occasions, Large and Small

By Joan Detz

Why do some speakers succeed while many bore their audiences and lose their listeners? Speaking coach Joan Detz has worked with top clients for more than 15 years and has the answers. In this useful and lively book she presents strategies and tips for speeches, sales presentations, brief remarks, job interviews, Q&A sessions, panels, and more -- every situation that requires something to say.

Topics include: organizing your message * finding terrific research * using storytelling techniques * preparing the room * handling technical glitches * working with other speakers * measuring your effectiveness * making the most of your voice * mastering humor * using body language * conquering nervousness * building audience rapport * tapping the power of persuasion.

Filled with checklists, tip sheets, self-evaluations, and practical advice on every page, this thorough and invaluable guide takes the mystery out of our most dreaded experience. This book will help you say it better-whether you're talking to one or one thousand.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Oct 12, 2000
• ISBN: 9781466804210

Joan Detz

Joan Detz, author of How to Write & Give a Speech, and It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It, coaches executives, offers media training, and teaches presentation skills workshops. The Joan Detz Speechwriting Seminars have trained speechwriters for The White House, prominent executives, university presidents, and top military leaders.

Book preview

Preface

THIS BOOK OFFERS practical advice for anyone who ever has to say anything to anybody—which is to say, this book is for all of us.

The bottom line is: We all need to communicate. And we need to do it well if we’re going to be successful—successful at work, at home, and in the community.

I hope this book will show you how to say it better. Above all, I hope this book will help you feel more confident when you talk with other people.

The following pages are filled with real-life examples, practical tips, and podium-tested advice. You won’t find any abstract theory here. Why? Because I’m not much of a theory person. And you know what? You’re probably not a theory person, either.

If you’re like most people, you want ready-to-use tips—practical speaking advice that you can put to good use right away. You’ll get those communication skills from this book. And you’ll gain the confidence that comes from knowing you can get your message across.

After all: It’s not what you say…it’s how you say it.

So read on.

Section One

What You Say

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.

—George Eliot, English novelist

THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK reads It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It. But I have a confession: That might be a slight exaggeration. Because what you say does matter…it just doesn’t tell the whole story.

Let me explain.

Maybe you have to run a community fund-raiser, or meet face-to-face with a sales prospect, or handle a tough job interview. Maybe you have to give a short presentation to a few colleagues at a department meeting, or give a big speech at a professional conference.

Whether you’re talking to one person or a thousand, you certainly need a message. And that message must be targeted to your listeners’ needs.

Before you decide what to say, ask yourself these important questions:

(1) What do they want to hear from me?

(2) What do they need to hear from me?

(Pamela Harriman, former U.S. ambassador to France, once defined leadership as the ability to tell people not what they want to hear, but what they need to know.)

(3) What do they already know about this topic—and where did they get their information?

(4) What misconceptions do they have?

(5) What problems do they face—and how did those problems develop?

(6) What solutions have they already tried?

(7) What message would be most comfortable?

(8) What message would be most troubling?

(9) What information could save them money?

(10) What information could save them time?

(11) What changes would I suggest they make?

(12) What recommendations could they put into practice most easily?

(13) What advice would be welcome?

(14) What advice would be resented?

(15) What perspective can I bring to their unique situation?

(16) And, perhaps the most important question: What can I say to them that no one else could say as effectively?

Once you ask yourself these basic questions, you should have a pretty good idea of what to say. And that’s important, because you certainly need a message.

But good presentations demand more than a message. And that’s why this chapter—the content chapter—is the shortest in the whole book. As you will soon see, good communication isn’t just what you say, it’s how you say it.

Section Two

How You Say It

Whatever you do, kid, always serve it with a little dressing.

—George M. Cohan, theatrical producer

Choose Your Best Communication Option

This may sound like heresy coming from a speechwriter and speech coach, but giving a big speech isn’t always the best way to sell your message. So before you automatically begin to prepare a formal presentation, ask yourself if an alternative method would work better.

George Washington didn’t give his Farewell Address orally. Instead, Washington wrote the Address (with a little help from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton), and had it printed in a Philadelphia newspaper.

Consider your own alternatives, as well.

face-to-face

One-on-one communication is both personal and persuasive. Longtime Kentucky senator Wendell H. Ford didn’t waste much time giving speeches on the floor of the Senate. As he put it: Why make a speech when you can sit down with your colleagues and work something out?

talking points

Maybe you shouldn’t prepare a fully written text for the speech. Informal notes might be more flexible and serve you better. This improvisational style has worked well for Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. She may start with basic talking points, but as the dialogue progresses, she then expounds the U.S. position.

question-and-answer sessions

A Q&A format gets your message out and also lets you respond to the unique needs of each audience. One caution: Handling a Q&A session takes great skill, and you’ll need to practice.

public appearances

Sometimes, just being seen is enough—and it’s certainly a lot less work. President Bill Clinton seemed nonplussed when the public-address system failed during his scheduled speech at the Little Rock, Arkansas, airport. Ditching the broken microphone, Clinton just laughed and hollered to the audience, So what? I didn’t want to give a speech today anyway! With that, Clinton pleased the crowd by signing autographs.

silence

When Frank Sinatra died, Las Vegas honored the singer by dimming its lights. For one minute, the Las Vegas Strip slowed its pace and paid its respects to the legend who had drawn millions to his shows.

voice-mail messages

Do you want to nip rumors in the bud? Consider using an all-employee voice-mail message—an effective and fast technique to inform a lot of people at the same time.

e-mail messages

Rather than holding a traditional press conference, Judge Hiller B. Zobel effectively used e-mail to announce his decision in the highly publicized trial of British au pair Louise Woodward. His unprecedented use of e-mail in 1997 made the text of his ruling instantly available on the World Wide Web.

reports

Complex material might work better in a written report—where readers can take all the time they need to comprehend the details.

letters

Want to share confidential information? Persuade? Apologize? A personal letter might work better than a public presentation—allowing readers to digest the message in a private atmosphere.

op-ed pieces

Need to address an important community issue? Rather than just giving a speech to forty people at a local meeting, you can reach thousands by writing an op-ed piece for the newspaper.

Think of your options as a communication toolbox. Here’s what I mean:

Did you ever notice that plumbers bring huge toolkits to every job? They typically wind up using only one or two tools, but they bring the entire kit because they never know what will work best in a given situation.

Well, that’s exactly how you need to think about communication skills. No magic method will work in every situation, but if you have a variety of communication tools in your skills box, you’ll be prepared for any event.

So, review your options, and then decide the best way to communicate your message. But once you commit to giving a presentation, you must remember: it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.

Here are some important factors that will determine how you develop your speech.

How Long Should You Talk?

"There’s great power in words,

if you don’t hitch too many of them together."

—JOSH BILLINGS, NINETEENTH CENTURY HUMORIST

Business executives often ask me, How long should I make my presentation? My answer is simple: How short can you make it? In other words, if you can get your message across in fifteen minutes, why take thirty-five? To sound more intelligent? To impress your audience? To show how hard you worked?

Think again.

Think like Muriel Humphrey, wife of Senator Hubert Humphrey. Reflecting on her husband’s penchant for talking on and on, Muriel once commented, Hubert, a speech does not have to be eternal to be immortal.

The truth is, no one likes a speech that runs too long. Even if your speech is interesting, the audience will want it to end. (Of course, if your speech is boring, the audience will want it to end even sooner.)

In 1841, President William Harrison gave the longest presidential inaugural address ever—running on for nearly two hours (during a snowstorm, no less)—wearing no hat and no coat. President Harrison died of pneumonia a month later. There’s got to be a lesson in that