Lynn Espinoza is a broadcast news veteran with more than a decade of media, presentation and executive coaching experience. She has developed personal coaching sessions for Fortune 100 C-level executives, corporate communicators of all kinds, doctors, lawyers and leaders in non-profit.
On Giving Speeches and Telling Stories
Posted on July 29, 2008. Filed under: Latest News, The Tip Sheet
I ran across a terrific video interview on my favorite web site for communicators, Ragan.com. It’s an interview with veteran speech writer, Hal Gordon. He wrote speeches for Ronald Reagan and Colin Powell - universally accepted as powerful speakers, regardless of your politics.
Mr. Gordon drives home the importance of peppering a speech with anecdotes. Not off-the-shelf, often heard anecdotes (Tip: don’t use any Chicken Soup for the (whatever) as a resource for speech anecdotes. Trite). He’s talking about personal stories that give the speech meaning, and which give the audience a glimpse of who the speaker is - genuinely.
Here are a few more tips on the effective use of stories and anecdotes:
- If you are a funny person, go ahead and use humorous stories - but sparingly. If you keep them laughing for an hour, they will remember that you’re funny. They may not remember the important content of your speech. Too much humor can also erode your perception as a leader.
- If you are not funny, don’t try to be. Nothing makes a speech go KLUNK faster than a poorly placed pun.
- It’s OK to use a story from another source, if it means something to you. If you find meaning in the story of a historical figure, for instance, that story could be appropriate. Make sure, though, to tie it directly to the content of your speech.
- If you are truly passionate about the content of the speech, chances are great that there are many “back stories” behind the topic. Tell them! Your passion will not be in question if you are telling stories that mean a great deal to you.
As Hal Gordon puts it so well: If your story is personal and true, you can not be insincere. The audience knows that, and will respond in a positive way.
One Response to “On Giving Speeches and Telling Stories”
Leave a Reply
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!