25 tips from Craig Valentine's Workshop at Ovation 2011

Craig Valentine, the World Champion of Public Speaking (1999) did a workshop at Ovation 2011, in

Mysore on the subject - "Breathing life into your speeches". He shared a number of useful tips on public speaking, speech crafting & speech delivery.


Following the success of  20 speaking tips from Darren La Croix, I'm capturing the important points from my notes at Ovation 2011:

1. Good luck is when preparedness meets opportunity
2. Breathe life into your speech, bring the audience to you, build a message that stays
3. Essence of public speaking is "Tell a Story" & then "Make a Point"
4. Average leaders place blame, exceptional leaders take it
5. Master what you measure
6. Change small, change soften
7. Your foundational phrase (a phrase that summarizes the essence of your speech) should be less than 10 words 
8. If you can write your message at the back of a business card, only then it can be crystal clear to the audience
9. "No phrase, no stage" - Without a foundational phrase, don't take your message/story to the stage 
10. "What you say is not always what they hear" - You should take the accountability for both the sides of the communication.
11. Speaking is all about making the audience wait...
12. You are always #1 in what you haven't done
13. Speak to one, but look at all. For example, instead of asking "How many of you have been to the US", ask "Have you been to the US"?. Instead of saying "Some of you may be thinking"... say "Now you might be thinking".
14. Make a move on the stage only for 2 reasons - the action in your story prompts movement on the stage (or) you want to indicate the timeline of events
15. Check the VAKS - Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic and Small in your story
16. Don't tell, ask
17. Tap & Transport - Tap into the audience' world and transport them to your world
18. Never be the HERO of your OWN story 
19. Speakers should pay attention to SOFTEN - Smiling, (having an) Open posture and not sitting behind a desk, leaning Forward to signal interest, respecting the other's Territory (space, culture, physical comfort zone, etc.), maintaining non confrontational Eye contact, and Nodding to show show encouragment and active listening
20. Too many speakers convey too much info in too little time. When you squeeze info IN, you squeeze audience OUT
21. In a 10 minutes speech, you should have just 1 point
22. Don't get ready, stay ready
23. If I say it, they doubt it... If they say it, they believe it
24. Specifics stick
25. Public speaking is 1-on-1 enlarged

Also read: 10 leadership skills by DTM Ted Corcoran