Teaching Those You Teach

Presenting your message is not enough. If you are highly achieving presenter, you'll take a big part in helping your people learn what you are presenting.

Here are five ways you can help your audience receive your message more effectively.

1. Proper Note Taking. For a learners notes to help maximize one's memory, it is important that a learner is able to record the speakers ideas in their own words.

Help them as you go alone with comments like, "you'll want to write this down," "this will be point two," and my favorite, "this one will be on the test." (Even if it ain't so.)

2. Paraphrasing. This is like the above note taking, except that care is given to the actual words the note taker uses. Ideally, the words the learner replaces of the speaker's with has equal or added meaning to the learner.

3. Predicting. It will help a listener to project a speakers message into the future.

This "projection" allows a person to simulate the material they are learning in the theater of their mind.

4. Questioning. A good Q and A will help your audience learn your principles much better. Challenge your audience to come up with creative and meaningful questions, , , and then dig into answering them.

The quantity and quality of the questions brought forward by your audience members will go a long way toward a productive and collaborative learning session.

5. Summarizing. This much talked about concept is seldom used in most learning environments. Plan a specific, "Now what did we learn here today?"

Merely presenting your material is not enough. Helping your people in the listening and learning process is imperative if you want maximize your message to those who come to hear you present.

Wayne

Entertainment Equal Impact (Part 1)

PowerPoint? The Whiteboard? A Flipchart? Even a high-dollar multimedia-media extravaganza? How effective are these commonly used medium? Really?

(I have my ideas.) Used correctly, in the right framework and any of these can boost your audiences understanding of your message many fold.

Are there better visual media than the ones listed above?

Yep! The Entertainment Media!

I will list four of them for you today and as time goes by, I'll discuss them each individually!

1. Comedy! Ninety percent of all presenters can vastly improve their up front performance through a new and tactical use of added humor in their speech or presentation.

Volumes have been written on the subject of using humor in public speaking, but to little of it has been read and applied. In the future we'll dig more deeply into how to go about doing this.

2. Ventriloquism. The sky in the limit for any presenter, in this category, , , and you don't have to be a Terry Fator to do it.

But, , , this skill does take a lot of work for most people who attempt it. The most important elements are dedication and then lots and lots of practice.

It is difficult to measure the learning impact of a good ventriloquist aided presentation.

3. Magic. Of the four methods mentioned in this article, magic is probably the easiest one to learn and apply to your presentation. In a future post, I'll cover the simple "first steps" to mastering the use of magic in your speaking.

4. Music. Readers of MethodMap.blogspot.com already know that I am very high on the use of hand-drawn visual aids and storytelling as "the best visuals you will ever use."

But, in my heart, I readily concede that music is the ultimate visual aid, , , and in a few days I'll explain exactly why it is so.

David Pogue is the technology editor of The New York Times. He is also a prolific speaker on technology and how it interfaces with real life and work.

He plays the piano (average). Sings (below average). And, he writes his own material (better than average). Put it all together, and he gives a very entertaining and educational speech. You won't want to miss his stuff. I hope you enjoyed his video (above).

Wayne

The Paradox Box

A typical situation most speakers and presenters face is to explain paradox and contradiction.

The simple way to illustrate paradox is with a simple rectangle and a diagonal line running form one corner to opposite corner.

Check out this little diagram. The more you work, the more the more energy you use.

On my favorite list of favorite “presenters” is Dr. Howard Hendricks, of the Dallas Theological Seminary. His tenure has spanned from 1951 until now. (He is still going in his eighties.)

He has been a huge part of many influential church leaders. Thousand and thousands and thousands of them.

I’ve watched his work since the early ‘60’s. My evaluation of his illustrious career is that, “he is the greatest teacher of teacher in my lifetime.”

Back in 1988, he and his star student, Bruce Wilkinson, published The 7 Laws of the Teacher series.

In the workbook for that course, Hendricks included a model and with that model this quotation, “The higher your predictability, the lower your impact. Conversely. . . the lower your predictability, the higher your impact.” *

That simple graphic has influenced my teaching profoundly every since.

His publisher has this visual aid locked by a copyright so I can’t reproduce it for you. But if you substitute the words predictability, and impact for work and energy and you’ve pretty much have the message.

Predictability kills presentations and speeches. Impact is the reward for being creative and changing things up. These two approaches are world’s apart.

You can use this same visual approach to illustrate any paradox that you want to discuss.

Wayne

P.S. So, add this to your list, , , "another visual aid you can use in tomorrows' presentation."

* Dr. Howard Hendricks, The 7 Laws of the Teacher, (Atlanta GA, Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, Inc., 1988) p.78

My Favorite "Cash Machine" Speaker

Who is the best public speaker in the world? I’m already committed to Don Hutson. But I still have all my category favorites.

One of those categories is “Cash Machine.” That means the ability to speak and then sell like a mad man or woman from the front.

My favorite in this category is Phil Town, the bestselling author of Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! and now Payback Time: Making Big Money is the Best Revenge.

Town is a stock market investing expert.

He also speaks to arena-size audiences in major seminar events like Peter Lowe’s “Get Motivated” program. Crowds are typically around 15,000 (up or down).

Most often he finishes off his hour long speech by selling a software program that helps investors pick winning stocks. As I recall, the cost is about $500 for the software and six months of subscription to the online tools runs another $500.

That’s a thousand dollar ticket.

It appeared to me that he closed at least 20% of his audience. (I don’t know for sure.) But the math is pretty exciting any way you look at it, , , 20% would be around 3,000 takers or about 3,000,000 Buckeroos.

Maybe I was wearing rose-green sunglasses the last time I saw him and it was only half that many takers, , , that’d be a mill and a half of revenue for his hours work. Anyway you cut it, , , Phil Town knows how to make the cash register ring!

If you ever get the chance to hear Town do his entertaining and educational thing, don’t miss it. Here's a video of his opening stories.

Oh yes, at one time a few years ago, he was doing this two or three times a week, , , maybe more.

And he’s not the only person on Planet Earth that is doing it. I know in the internet marketing world that Armand Moran and Stephen Pierce have each sold nearly a million dollars worth of products after one single presentation.

Why am I telling you this stuff? And, what in the world does what Phil Town does have to do with visual aid design and use?

Because Town’s lead story is so powerful.

Once a white-water rafting guide on the Colorado River, , , He grabs his audience attention with one of his choice rafting stories.

Draw and draw and draw (as I recommend), , , or, , , play on PowerPoint ‘til your eyeballs pop, , , but you’ll never create a better visual aid than one like Phil Town’s opening rafting story.

Stories (watch my lips) are potentially the best visual you will ever use!

But don’t take my word for it. Watch his video, , , and then tell me I’m full of it. Or, even tell me that you can’t tell a story just as compelling as Phil Town’s.

And so add Signature Storytelling to your "visual aids you can use tomorrow," file. It is imparitive that you get yourself a few poweerful "signature stories."

Wayne

There are two kinds of golf balls, , , that’s right only two kinds. Dry ones and wet one.

If you play golf, you know how one kind can effect your game quite positively and how the other kind can devastate your game. Yet, at general appearance both balls look very much the same.

People are much like golf balls.

There are only two kinds of people. Yep, only two kinds.

The ones who have given you their email address and those who have not.

If you are a public speaker, teacher, trainer, or online marketer, , , the people on your email list are a special kind of people. They are the salt of your Earth. They’re “your people.”

They’re like money in the bank to you.

I cannot over emphases this fact. As an ambitious presenter, it is vital to maximizing your profits that you build a strong, responsive email list.

And, as they say, “the money is in the list.” (Actually, the money is in your relationship with your list.)

Why am I telling you this? "I’m a speaker, not an information marketer," you may be thinking. This may come as a shock to you, , , but it’s your marketing that will make you the big bucks, not your speaking.

Add this point to your thinking, , , savvy marketers tell us that every name on your email list can be worth one dollar of profit to you every month. Five thousand names, , , $5,000 of additional profit every single month.

Even if you are not a very good email marketer, you can still pull 50¢ per name in additional revenue.

So as people visit your website or blog, keep in mind how nice it would be for them to be on your email list.

Wayne

P.S. Later we’ll talk a lot about how you can use your visual aids as a means of building a large and hungry email list.

Everyone Has a Hero

I have mine. Brian Buffini, Don Hutson and Phil Town. Armond Morin. Dan Roam. And, of course Zig Ziglar. And I have others.

But I have one more—you!

You for being here digging. For your digging for a real way to positively effect the way the world lives their lifes.

And, especially because you have figured out that having a strong visual package is an incremental part of your success. That’s why you are my number one hero.

I appreciate you, so I’m going to share with you an approach that can insure your long-term prosperity.

To do this, let me introduce you to three more of my heroes, Frank Kern, Michael Koenigs and Ryan Deiss. If you know the workings of internet marketing you probably already know who these men are.

If not, , , these are marketers at the highest level.

A little over a year ago, Kern and Koenigs introduced a crude whiteboard drawing they called their “Paid for Life” business model.

They used this hand-drawn, quickie to promote their “Paid for Life” seminar. They did the program as a fundraiser for Koenigs wife’s favorite charity. They sold out the seminar and as I remember, raised over $700,000 for the cause.

All from one simple whiteboard pitch.

These two “gentlemen” have a friend in Austin, Texas, , , Ryan Deiss. Deiss is an online marketing genius. He knows exactly what works and exactly what does not.

A few months after Kern and Koenigs did their “Paid for Life" thing, Deiss came out with a program he called the “Continuity Blueprint.” He did his pitch on the back of a napkin.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were made by all.

Friend, , , both of these visuals were very simple and easy to draw. Yet, they worked like gangbusters in the marketplace. And the good news, , , anyone can use their technique. Especially, you!

I have included my fancy version of both of their business models. But I must make this disclaimer, , , I’ve made them look prettier but I have not made them more effective.

The real reason this trio are heroes of mine is that they are using, with great effectiveness, the business model that I recommend to you, , , to insure your long-term prosperity. . .

The Continuity Approach. It can make you rich. Study it. Learn all you can from Kern, Koenigs and Deiss.

I think every public speaker should be learning about and planning to develop their own continuity program (membership site, tape of the month or newsletter, etc). Recurring income should be the goal of every deep-thinking presenter. At least, , , that’s my opinion.

Wayne

P.S. Oh yes, an abbreviation glossary for Kern and Koenigs model, , ,1. IP = Information Product, 2. CGM = Customer Getting Machine, and 3. C = Continuity.

An Open Letter to All Presenters

I write to a very, very large audience—every person who chooses to get up front, speak and then answer for the results of that presentation. I suppose that’s a few million, in America, alone.

They tell us that former president, Bill Clinton is the highest paid speakers in the country. He is on one end of the scale.

On the other end of the scale is a whole new crop of middle-schoolers who are making their very first oral book report. Most of them are scared to death of the assignment.

But, within that great group of students there is a “chosen few” who think of the experience as, “this is pretty cool stuff.” And further think, “I’d like to do this again.”

Between the extremes of a former president and the “wanna be speaker kids,” is that unique portion of our population to which you and I belong. Like I say, a few million of us.

My grand goal is reach them all. (So I need your help.)

This group is a diverse one.

From rank amateur to polished, and prosperous professional or millionaire celebrity. All levels of experience, confidence and credibility are included. Some are in business. Some in education. And, some public service. There’s the preacher, the politician, and the performer. And the list goes on.

What All Presenters Have in Common

First, you have identified public speaking as your way to make a difference in your world.

Second, it is not enough for you to get up front and do your thing. You want to be a change agent. You desire strongly to have your ideas accepted.

Another thing that drives you, , , the overwhelming need for constant improvement. You are always hunting ways to move your presentation skills to the next level and beyond.

How to Make a Difference

And meet most of your other goals. Build a life-changing topic and have it driven home by a powerful visual aid.

To my knowledge, no one else of Planet Earth teaches this principle as a major part of speaking success. My friend, , , get yourself a hot topic and a simple, easy to understand Theme Model and you are on your way.

And so, it doesn’t matter where you fit on the spectrum.

Even if you have a name like Antion, Blanchard, Collins, Fripp, Gleeck, Kiyosaki, or Roam—you need to know how to create a strong model for everyone of your speeches.

So join me now! Nowhere online or offline can will you find so much quality information at so little cost (free) about developing this vital skill.

All I ask, , , is for you to tell all your “speaker type” friends about MethodMap.blogspot.com

Wayne
Thanks!