Get To The Point: How To Present With More Confidence & Charisma In Front Of Any Audience

By Eric Feng

SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR BUSINESS PRESENTERS, THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU BECOME A MORE CONFIDENT, CREDIBLE AND COMPELLING SPEAKER.

 

Presented in a Q&A format. this book is jam-packed with over 1,000 ready-to-apply strategies and proven presentation secrets to help you:

• Overcome your nervousness and stage fright once and for all
• Connect with your audience effortlessly when you speak
• Craft stories that keep our audience excited, engaged and at the edge of their seats
• Inject much appreciated humour into your business presentations
• Organise your thoughts into an effective speech that you will remember and your audience won't forget
• Master your delivery and develop a memorable stage presence
• Think on your feet and deliver effective off-the-cuff speeches
• Persuade your audience more effectively and create buy-in for your ideas

By the time you are done with this book, you will be equipped with the necessary skills to persuade and inspire, to turn prospects into clients, and to gain an unfair advantage over your colleagues and competitors!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eric Feng
• Release date: Oct 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215244913

Eric Feng

Eric is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author and a highly sought after public speaking coach to many of the top business leaders in Asia. Some of the clients he has worked with come from well-known companies like Microsoft, Pfizer, OCBC, Shell and FedEx.  The strategies in this book come from Eric's experience of evaluating more than 1500 presentations over the last 5 years. With more than 50,000 copies sold till date, Get To the Point is highly regarded as a trusted resource for business prsenters in Asia.  Recognised as an expert in public speaking by the media, Eric has also been regularly featured on regional media linke Channel News Asai, Channel 8, The Straits Times, The Business Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Radio 938, HRM and Human Capital. In 2012, Eric's evaluation of Prime Minister Lee's National Day Rally Speech was also featured on the national papers. 

Book preview

PRAISE FOR GET TO THE POINT

"Get To The Point is one of those rare, hard-to-find books, which provides aspiring speakers and public presenters invaluable tips to prepare for any difficult speaking situations they may face."

Peter Yeoh

Director, Group IT Audit

Neptune Orient Lines Ltd

"Eric has been a huge resource to our team as a training expert with a high level of energy and ideas. It is great to see his ideas being made more widely available with the publication of his second book. Get To The Point is a practical tool that I will keep handy."

Bernard Dragon

General Manager

sanofi-aventis (Singapore and Malaysia)

A must read with powerful tips on every page to power up your public speaking skills. From a professional perspective in the private banking industry, Eric’s tips on how to add stories and humour in business presentations is definitely a must have if you want more engagement with your clients.

Calvin Foo

Director

UBS Wealth Management

"Get To The Point is a great book! A must-read for all who aspire to be great public speakers – confident orators who enjoy their craft. I am able to relate to the many strategies found in the book as proven presentation secrets."

Matthew Kang

Senior Director

Manulife Financial

His candid personality, along with his purposeful presentation and wonderfully descriptive writing, Eric’s straight-to-the point advice will definitely be useful to anyone who is interested to be a better public speaker.

Adrin Loi

Executive Chairman

Ya Kun International Pte Ltd

Do you wish to be a confident and charming speaker? If you have questions on public speaking, this book presents you the tips! An easy-to-read book with practical ideas.

Jasmine Teo

Regional HR Manager

Bayer HealthCare

"In a lighthearted tone, a rendition of the Eric we know, Get To The Point accurately pinpoints what we need to know to become the speaker we yearn to become. Use these tips and be the star of any event!"

Leong Kaiyan

Area D2 Governor

Toastmasters International

The ‘questions and answers’ approach in this book is a unique and excellent way to share real life experiences and provide useful tools to help one improve their presentation skills with confidence and charisma. I like the summary in each chapter – it is a good way to conclude and helps to provide refreshing tips, especially when we need quick reference in our presentation preparation.

Victor Chan

Sales Director, Tower Cranes

Manitowoc Cranes - Asia (Less China)

The book was able to hit the sweet spot. Comes with very pointed, useful, practical, easy to apply tips and very relevant illustrations. A must buy!

May Leng Wong

Associate Director, Customer Financial Services

Procter & Gamble Asia Pte Ltd

"Get to the Point has given me insights of delivering or conveying an intended message, keeping in mind all other necessary considerations. An excellent read and a must-have tool for anyone who is serious about advancing in their career."

Sheryn Lin

CEO

Icecapade Holdings Pte Ltd

"Eric has yet again come up with an excellent book on public speaking. Get To The Point is an easy read which provides a simple methodology on how to be an effective and persuasive speaker. It is too common for us to jump into preparing a speech without much thought about the audience. Eric’s Get To The Point helps us to look at our presentation from the audience’s perspective. With this insight, we can craft our speech towards the result of getting the audience to in turn see things from our point of view – A technique that will no doubt turn you into an excellent speaker."

David Ong PBM

Chairman

Kreta Ayer – Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee

Eric Feng’s latest book addresses almost any question you might have in relation to putting together an effective presentation. Eric’s heart is clearly to help presenters experience success each and every time they are in front of an audience. You’ll find lots of useful advice and timely encouragement in this book – and you’ll discover that speaking with impact is easily within your grasp.

Tom Estad

Senior Lecturer of Corporate Communication,

Singapore Management University

"Excellent book following The FAQ Book on Public Speaking. The scenarios quoted in this book is so real that you can relate it to individual’s experience. I like the way that Eric provides readers with practical approach to overcome those real life challenges. Certainly, a must read power-packed tool for those who want to inspire and connect with their audience."

Felicia Chan

HR Director

sanofi-aventis (Singapore and Malaysia)

"Get To The Point is an indispensable resource for everyone who wants to perfect their presentation skills and wow the audience. This book contains dozens of easy-to-implement tips for every aspect of the presentation process, both for the novice and experienced presenters.

Eric is brilliant and he gets to the point in this book where you will find at least one tip (if not more) on almost every page. All I can say is this: Reading this book is compulsory before you make your next presentation!"

Nishant Kasibhatla

President of Asia Professional Speakers Singapore (2009 – 2010)

Speaking is a simple enough task, but add on the stress of an expectant audience and the fear of slipping up, it’d shatter the poise of even a seasoned speaker. This book is the perfect foil to this. It’s generously stuffed with real world insights from Eric’s years of public speaking in every imaginable setting from competitions and corporate events to training and mentoring. Written in an FAQ format with practical and immediately implementable answers to the most commonly asked questions culled from hundreds of amateur and professional speakers, it’s a fantastic resource and a monumental testament to the skills of one of Singapore’s youngest and most successful public speakers.

Edvarcl Heng

Media Interrupter

Edvarcl EMPR

"Get To the Point really does ‘get to the point’, laying out valuable information in easy-to-follow nuggets that cover marvellously the art and science of great public speaking. A great balance of speaking technique and simple, practical moves to make you, a great public speaker. Two thumbs up!"

David Lim, CSP

Leadership Coach, International Speaker, and

Best-selling Author of Mountain to Climb

Writing in an FAQ format, this book makes reading easier for the busy business executives and students. An effective presentation must be able to evoke an emotional connection and a call to action to the audiences, covering all relevant points succinity yet being delivered in a humourous manner. A well-delivered speech will make the audience connect with the message, think and act. Eric has shown us how to do just that.

Dr. Leow Yung Khee

Executive Vice President, Group & General Insurance,

Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited

To my beloved Lord Jesus Christ who made this book possible

First published April 2010

Republished Dec 2012 under Point Media & Publishing Pte Ltd

Copyright© 2010-2023 Eric Feng

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except for inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Get To The Point®

How To Present With More Confidence & Charisma In Front Of Any Audience

Author : Eric Feng

Publisher : Point Media & Publishing Pte Ltd

Editor : Joanne Lim & Sabrina Lee

Layout : Unistar Graphics Pte Ltd

Cover design : Ego Branding & Commnications

Published by : Point Media & Publishing Pte Ltd

Website : www.gettothepointbook.com

Email : [e-mail]

ISBN : 978-981-08-5447-8

National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Feng, Eric, 1982-

Get to the point : how to present with more confidence & charisma in front of any audience / Eric Feng ; [editor, Joanne Lim]. – Singapore : Candid Creation Pub., 2010.

p. cm.

ISBN-13 : 978-981-08-5447-8 (pbk.)

1. Public speaking. I. Lim, Joanne, 1973- II. Title.

PN4129.15

808.51 – dc22 OCN565104631

Printed in Malaysia

Disclaimer

All the information, techniques, skills and concepts contained within this publication are based on the experiences of the authors and of the nature of general comment only; and are not in any way recommended as individual advice. The intent is to offer a variety of information to provide a wider range of choices now and in the future. Should any reader choose to make use of the information contained herein, this is their decision, and the contributors (and their companies), authors and publishers do not assume any responsibilities whatsoever under any conditions or circumstances. It is recommended that the reader obtain their own independent advice as we all have widely diverse circumstances and viewpoints.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

Getting Your Audience Interested, Influenced and Inspired

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1. If you only have a time limit of 5 to 7 minutes to persuade your audience, what is/are the most important thing(s) that must never be absent in a successful persuasive speech?

2. What, in your opinion, is the most powerful kind of inspirational speech that will move the audience? (Sharing a personal story? Using a number of short stories? Drawing lessons from history? Constantly addressing the audience with questions for them to think about?) Please advise.

3. How do you make sure that the audience really takes action and improves after the speech, instead of simply walking away feeling energised?

4. I was told that I could increase the persuasiveness of my presentation with a power button. What exactly is a power button and how do I incorporate it into my speech?

5. Is there a structure I can adopt in my presentation to make it more persuasive and memorable?

6. They say that numbers are a great way to add credibility in your presentation and influence your audience. But how exactly do we make the best use of numbers in our presentations?

7. How do you influence the audience to think the way you do?

CHAPTER 2

Conneting with Your Audience

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8. What are some ways to draw the audience into your speech, to connect with them?

9. How do you stay present with the audience?

10. What do you do when the audience does not react the way you want them to, for example, they are less enthusiastic than the last audience who saw you perform the same speech?

11. How should you speak differently when addressing a single person, small group, and large group?

12. How should I encourage audience participation?

13. I am the unmarried sister of the bride and I have been given the task of giving a speech during the wedding dinner. How do I make sure that I don’t bore the rest of the audience?

14. I have to deliver a speech in a public setting. How do I attract positive attention and draw a sizeable crowd to me?

15. How do I ensure that my presentation is memorable?

16. As a professional speaker yourself, what are some strategies you adopt to help you win over your audience?

17. Can you give us a few more techniques to help us connect better with our audience? Preferably techniques that are easy to apply regardless of our experience and where the results are immediate.

18. What should I do or prepare if I have to give a speech to an audience of a different culture and I do not know their customs?

CHAPTER 3

Crafting Stories that Keep Your Audience Excited, Engaged and at the Edge of Their Seats

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19. We have heard so much about the power of stories in a presentation. Can you elaborate on why stories are so powerful?

20. What are the key elements that make a good story?

21. What are the steps in crafting an effective story?

22. How do I make my speech more interesting and more impressionable? Do I start by collecting real-life anecdotes, phrases and record them for future reference?

CHAPTER 4

Injecting Humour into Your Presentation

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23. How can I inject humour into my wedding speech without it being too lame?

24. What do you do when your jokes fall flat and your stories do not amuse?

25. Can you share with us your process of creating a humorous speech?

26. How do we add humour into a serious, business presentation?

27. When I make a joke, should I laugh along with the audience or not? And what’s the difference?

CHAPTER 5

Overcoming Your Nervousness and Stage Fright

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28. Have you ever felt nervous and how did you overcome it during a speech?

29. How do you calm your nerves before you speak in front of a new audience?

30. I’m often distracted by thoughts of not being good enough to be on stage. I (sometimes) lack confidence on stage. How can I improve my confidence?

31. How should people get over their apprehension and nervousness when speaking to a crowd?

32. I will be giving my first lecture really soon. Apart from practice, do you have any tips to overcome a novice’s stage fright?

33.`Sometimes I get unexpectedly nervous when speaking in public, especially when it involves a large group of important people. How do I overcome it?

34. What are some things I can do 10 minutes before my speech that will calm my nerves?

35. We all know how important it is to speak with confidence in front of our audience. Besides learning how to overcome our initial stage fright, are there any techniques you can share with us that can help us speak with absolute confidence?

CHAPTER 6

Organising Your Speech for Maximum Impact

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36. How do you start a speech powerfully?

37. Should every speech start off with a bang? I’ve been told that a speech should start with a bang – something to really catch the audience’s attention. However, not every speech is suitable for that and it may come off as being contrived. I’m a member of Toastmasters and I’ve seen experienced toastmasters use props and do other attention-grabbing things that to me, seem overly dramatic and detract from the speech topic.

38. How do you close a speech powerfully?

39. How do you make a call to action at the end of the speech?

40. How do you generate new ideas for new speeches and deliver them effectively? Sometimes, I lack the inspiration for the topic (not knowing what to talk about, and having already been given a deadline for presenting the speech). Sometimes I don’t feel enough for my script to deliver them effectively.

41. Is it possible to deliver a technical presentation that can be understood by the general audience?

42. Sometimes we are called up to say a few words at a business meeting or a conference. Without the necessary pre-speech preparation, how can we still deliver an effective speech?

43. Can you share with us some ways to think on our feet and deliver speeches off-the-cuff?

44. Please share with us tips on how to deliver an after-dinner speech?

CHAPTER 7

Preparing and Rehearsing Your Speech The Optimal Way

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45. When do you start preparing your speech? Do you do a lot of research? How long is the preparation process?

46. How do you prepare yourself mentally so that you will be aware of what your audience expects to take away from your speech?

47. You select a topic to present to the audience, how often do you rehearse it before the actual date?

48. How should I practice my hand gestures, expressions and body language for speeches?

49. How does a champion speaker like you, find the balance between memorisation and spontaneity?

50. How important is memorisation? I can’t find the balance between speaking naturally and wanting to have the structure of a written speech that I’ve memorised. I find that I focus too much on trying to remember those words and if I miss a word or a sentence I get flustered.

CHAPTER 8

Mastering Your Delivery On Stage

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51. What should I do with my hands when I am speaking? Shall I just let them fall to my sides, or fold them across my chest (which seems very inappropriate to me but I don’t have a better idea)?

52. I love the hand movements of Professor Noam Chomsky. Can I mimic his hand movements? Will it make me look aggressive or arrogant?

53. I have a habit of speaking very, very fast, and a lot of people have considered me to be aggressive and as a result, they get put off by my attitude. Should I slow down? If not, is there a way where I can speak at that speed and yet sound less aggressive?

54. Is referring to notes from behind a lectern really as bad as some say it is?

55. Many say that a speaker should maintain eye contact with his audience. If this is true, with whom exactly should I maintain eye contact with? There are so many people in the audience and making eye contact with every one of them will feel very awkward. Similarly, making eye contact with only one person throughout the speech can be really irritating for both parties. What exactly should I do then?

56. I have realised that during my lectures, I keep my pen in my hand while explaining with hand gestures, is this ok? Are there lecturing taboos such as no holding of pens, notes, or no standing still during a speech?

57. When speaking in front of an audience, what do you focus on? Should it be a certain person, an object, or do you look around at the audience?

58. I think pauses are necessary in a speech so that the audience has the time to digest your message. But how can I take decent and appropriate pauses, and still avoid the pause fillers, such as umm.., well.., etc.?

59. Can you share with us some tips to make one appear really sincere during a speech?

60. What should I do if I am doing ok verbally during my presentation but my hands or knees are visibly shaking no matter how hard I try to calm my movements?

61. Are my facial expressions important? Will I come across as being too ‘plastic’ if I keep smiling throughout my presentations?

CHAPTER 9

Speaking From the Platform – Dos and Don’ts

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62. I am very short and I will look strange behind the lectern. Is it acceptable for me to stand at the side of the lectern?

63. I am going to be delivering a speech on my sister’s wedding. Are there any taboo subjects that I should not bring up? Are mentions of ex-boyfriends a strict no-no?

64. How should you address politically sensitive questions from your audience (those that would end up offending someone no matter how you answer them)?

65. What presentation bloopers should we avoid at all costs?

66. From your experience of evaluating presentations, what are some tips you can give us that can help us deliver a memorable and impactful presentation at a conference?

67. There are many things that can go wrong on stage. For example, the microphone goes dead, an audience’s phone rings, someone falls asleep and starts snoring etc. What should we do when all that happens?

68. Does the venue of my presentation make an important difference? And if so what should I look out for in a venue to give a speech?

CHAPTER 10

Igniting Your Passion from Within

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69. How can one sustain their passion and interest when they travel around the world giving the same, old speech?

70. How do I present a subject I’m passionate about without appearing obsessed?

71. I know that enthusiasm is very important in delivering a message or speech. But sometimes I find it very hard to express that enthusiasm and energy. Very often, I have to consciously tell myself that I need to be enthusiastic. Most of the time, I have to force myself, so it does not turn out well. Do you have any suggestions as to how to muster more enthusiasm especially if we’re not too keen on the topic that we’re presenting?

CHAPTER 11

Finding Your Speaking Style

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72. How can one possess or express charismatic stage presence? So many have tried but so few are able to capture the attention of the audience.

73. Consider the substance, humour and style of presenting a speech. Of these, which is the most important and how much of a pie should they each occupy?

74. Be yourself. We have all heard this cliché so many times, but how exactly does one do it?

75. How do I find my own speaking style?

76. Can you tell us how we can stand out from the rest of the speakers?

CHAPTER 12

Winning a Speech Contest

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77. I have been to a few public speaking contests and I notice age seems to make a difference. While the veterans (speakers in their 40s or have like 10 years of speaking experience) look cool and calm on stage, the younger speakers often seem to lack this coolness or calmness that the veterans have. And sometimes, this is the edge that results in the veterans winning over the younger speakers. Being only 25, how do you overcome all that, fighting the veterans and winning all the way up to district level?

78. Winning Speech vs. Excellent Speech – what are the makings of a winning speech? Can a winning speech be considered an excellent speech?

79. What’s the formula to winning a Toastmaster’s competition? Impact, passion or a great message in 5 to 7 minutes?

CHAPTER 13

Revealing the Secrets of Successful Speaking

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80. How do you review your presentation to learn as much as you can from it?

81. Besides having a strong language background, what other traits do you think a good speaker should possess?

82. Share