Online Speeches that Last, Part 1, By Wayne Kronz

(The following is a speech recently presented by Wayne)

Good afternoon friends and enemies of Truth Speakers Toastmasters, , , ,

and esteemed guests!  (No enemies today?)

      

The circus owner walked into a bar— saw there was a big commotion at the

far end of the bar.  A bunch of people were gathered around, laughing and

hollering enjoying something unusual,

      

He made his way into the group only to discover a cute little duck dancing on

top of a pot turned upside down.  Everyone was enjoying the whole scene.

When things calmed down, the circus owner decided he wanted to buy the

duck.  After considerable haggling, he agreed to pay its owner $1,000 for the

duck and the pot, , , then he left.

About the same time the next day, the circus owner came bursting through the

bar room door, shouting, “Where is the scoundrel who sold me a duck that

won’t dance for a thousand bucks?”

Sure enough, he was sitting there at the far end of the bar, about where he last

saw him, 24 hours earlier.

The man nodded, and asked, “Did you put the fire under the pot?”

Friend, we’re here today to talk about that fire, , , the motivation that made the

duck to dance.

The last time I talked to you, I talked about transformation, , , the process of a

woolly worm turning into a beautiful butterfly.  I further stated that if our speaking

skill were ever to burst into a butterfly, there had to be in intermediate stage, , ,

the cocoon stage. 

And, it’s not always pretty.

Today I’d like to give you’re a different picture of this transformation process. 

It too, has three phases just like the butterfly metaphor.

First stage is the Yar Now stage, , , that’s Indiana talk for “where you are now

with your speaking skills.”  I am from Indiana, you know?

And the last stage, , , you probably already know how to spell it in Indiana talk, , ,

it’s the Wanna Be stage.  I will further suggest that this wanna be stage can

go three different directions.  First, it may be to make a lot of money speaking—

but money isn’t everything. 

Or, you might choose to change a lot of peoples’ hearts and lives and the world

around you.

 

Third, you want to give your speeches staying power, , , year after year.

All these are worthy reasons for you to refine your public speaking skills.

Then, there is the in-between stage, , , you know, the cocoon stage.  In this model,

we’ll call it the RC stage (or radical change phase), , , lots of people in Indiana

can’t spell words like “radical.”  Nor, even know what they mean.

Now, , ,  I’m talking radical!

There’s an old saying among motivational speakers, “If you always do what you

have always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

Dr. Phil says it like this, “How’s that working for you, son?”  Then he does his

Texas thing and says, “Buddy, it’s time for you to make some difficult changes.”

There are three parts to the “radical” changes I’m talking about here today.

(You don't want to miss part two and discover the three radical changes most

speakers need to make to transform their speaking careers.)

Wayne 

Susan Berkley, The Voice of AT&T, By Wayne Kronz

Susan's voice is the one you hear saying, "Thank you for using
AT&T" and "Welcome to city phone banking."

She is also one of the most sought after voice coaches in the world

today.  Ms. Berkley coached the winning team on Donald Trump's

Apprentice Program, Season Four.

And also the long-time "traffic reporter" on the Howard Stern radio

show.Via the courtesy of legendary publicity coach, Steve Harrison,

I have an audio recording of Susan Berkley's, Five Tips for Vocal

Influence. 

Sincerly,

Wayne Kronz

Craig Valentine, One of the Best Toastmasters of Our Time, By Wayne Kronz

He was the winner of Toastmasters International’s speech contest
in 1999. Since then Mr. Valentine
has gone on to be a highly successful professional public speaker
—one of the most in demand it the business.

You can check out his business out at CraigValentine.com. I bring
him to your attention because he represents the possibilities in public
speaking via. the Toastmaster track.

He started out in Toastmaster just like you—with his Icebreaker.
In his first humorous speaking contest, he lost at the club level.
He then activated a level of performance I call tenacity! He simply
pushed and pushed and pushed himself to improve. And improve, he did!

Two short years later, he was the World Champion of Public Speaking
—a title he has parlayed into a handsome six- figure income.

Maybe that doesn’t do anything for you and that’s OK. Two to
five thousand a speech, two to five times a week may not interest
you. And, again, that’s OK.

But I do have the obligation as a “big thinking” individual and a
one of your leaders to at least remind you of what you have in
your hands, once you have become a Competent Communicator.
It is literallythe key to much greater things.

And in our own club, Phoenix (AZ) Truth Speakers (a brand new 
club, December 2011) there is a log-jamb of latent public speaking
talent. I can’t wait until you guys and gals get this thing figured out.

Please—every one of you—always THINK BIG. Keep in mind that only
the sky is the limit for you.

Discover and cultivate your passion as well as your leadership
and speaking skills. And dream! And keep on dreaming as many have
done before you---TM’ers like Craig Valentine.

Sincerely,
Wayne

P.S. On YouTube.com and his own website are an array of videos
of Craig speaking that every Toastmaster should model. Also,
I recommend that you subscribe to his 52 speaking tips he delivers
on audio-postcards. Amazing lessons!

Let’s Look at the Numbers, By Wayne Kronz

Yep, , , let’s look at the numbers, with regard to speech

structure.  Here is an area of insight that many speakers,

amateur and professional, do not consider.

This theme starts with your rate of speech.  Most

of us speak at a rate of 150 words per minute.  So in

Toastmasters lingo, there are about 1,050 words in a

seven minute talk, plus or minus a few words.

A good target number is a thousand words.

Now let’s see what you can do with those one thousand

words. 

It is my opinion that every Toastmaster speech, including
your icebreaker, should be converted into an article you
can publish online.  That can be done easily (and free) in
three arenas.  Your blog.  In article directories.  And
on Facebook, plus a verity of other places.

The catch!  Most online articles and posts are 300 to 600 words in  length.  The simple answer is,

“each one of your speeches can be structured into two 500 plus word articles.”  (“Or three 300 plus

word articles.”)

Problem solved!

Maybe, but let’s look a little deeper.  If so your “series” will be published in a manner that they can

be accessed and read together.  And that’s not always easy to do.

My personal answer to this dilemma is a bite different.  I like to do a summary of my seven minute

speeches in an article that is around 500 words.  (See my post titled, Three Essentials of Every

Speech.)

Don’t laugh at my math.  Two speeches will be around 14 in length.  Three speeches will be about

20 to 22 minutes long.  Stop laughing, , , because I am not!  What do I know that won’t let me laugh?

First, those two speeches of 14 minutes fits perfectly into the maximum time frame of a

YouTube movie.  And I highly recommend that you video tape and post many of your speeches

online.

Second, the three speeches of 21 minutes are ideal, if audio recorded to publish as a CD. 

Now we’re talking money.  On the right topic it could be worth from fifteen to fifty dollars.

So now, how do you like my math.  I sure am glad my second grade teacher taught me my “sevens”

in multiplications.

This line of thinking is what has brought me to the idea that we all should be speaking on a particular

theme in our Toastmaster speeches.

Back to the 14 or 15 minute thing.  If you have a fifteen minute audio on your topic of passion,

it can be transcribed into text, , , and you have a chapter for your first book.

Add a dozen more such 15 minute audios (transcribed into text) and you have just written a

140 page book.  Thousands of speakers don’t understand this simple fact (and math).

Very soon, I’m going to do a small workshop called, How to Get Your Book Out of Your Head

and into Your Computer in 3 Hours or Less.  I’ll do the whole program in a single evening (2 to

3 hours).  If you’d like to attend, it’s free, , , and yes, I’ve already done it! 

Just stop me and ask me when!  Or, email me at waynekronz@gmail.com.  And, stay tuned if you

like for me to continue these nice little “math lessons.”

Sincerely,

Wayne

4 F’s to Finding Great Stories, From Martin Presse

There are a few things I seem to talk about all of the time. 

One is storytelling.  I think it’s one of the primary keys to

effective public speaking.

And, , , another thing that occupies a lot my time is discovering

great resources to help us all as public speakers and presenters.

So here, with the link I’m about to give you, I’m killing both

birds with one stone. 

It’s a link to Martin Presse’s free report 4 F’s to Finding Great Stories. 
I think you’ll find this five-page document very enlightening
and helpful as you develop material for your up-coming speeches.

Let me know what you think about this report!

Sincerely,   Wayne Kronz

Meet Patricia Fripp, By Wayne Kronz

Certainly Toastmasters International has nothing to do with this blog.  I’m merely a member and officer

of a Toastmasters club.

But it is my desire to help every beginning (and all) Toastmaster know how to escalate their learning of
public speaking and related topics.

The best way to learn this wonderful craft is to study the masters who have preceded us and then mimic

what they do.

One of the best of all former TM (and top now professional) speaker is Patricia Fripp.  All beginners
should study her intently.

I’m not even going to say much about her here.  Just take my word for it, , , she is incredible. 

If you want to know more about Fripp, do your own research on her amazing career as a leader
and public speaker.  This kind of research is a little like losing weight.  No one can do it for you!  
Get in there online and find out who Ms. Fripp really is for yourself.

Then study her like a hawk.  And YouTube.com will help you a bunch.  I’ll say no more.  Begin
by watching the video posted here.

I recommend that you watch every video she has posted on YouTube.com.

Sincerely,

Wayne

P.S.  She also has dozens and dozens of excellent articles on public speaking available for you to
read, free of charge.

Three Essentials of Every Speech, By Wayne Kronz

Recently, I was appointed to be the president of a start-up Toastmasters club at my church.  Why? 

Because of my involvement 40 years ago, when I attended, served as president and even won some

speech contests back in 1973 to 1976.

Most of the people in our club are completely new to public speaking and Toastmasters.  But, I’ve

been speaking for nearly 60 years, off and on. 

And I’ve been studying the craft of presenting for most of that 60 years.  I’ve read over 200 books

and countless articles of the topic.

So my position is more like a humble, loving grandfather and or a consultant than a club officer.  The

first speech I gave was titled, Three Essentials of Every Speech.

The remainder of this article is a summary of that talk.  (And it’s my own opinion, not necessarily

anyone else’s.)

Here they are.  Every speech you give should be entertaining, informing and moving!  What ever

you presentation is, beyond this, is a bonus.

Let’s look at each factor, individually.

1. Entertaining.  That’s the opposite to boring.  So whether you are speaking to a bunch of funeral

directors or accountants, they still want to be dazzled by you.  And there are a lot of ways to do that.

Tell a story.  To me, the secret of public speaking is being a good story teller. 

A well placed story ignites attention, interest and engagement in any audience.  A good story will not

only attach your message to the long-term memory of your listeners but endear them to you for life.

Be intriguing.  Intrigue can take many forms.  A profound statement or quotation.  A controversial

opinion. A grand solution to a big problem.  An extraordinary case study.   Your positive attitude.

Be funny.  There’s cliché among old, experienced speakers when asked, “Do you have to be funny

when you speak?”  They always answer, “No, , ,only if you want to get paid for your speech.”

Being funny is a lot more that telling jokes or doing stand-up comedy.  And it’s a topic much bigger

than this article. It’s a lifelong study.  Begin it today!

Secondly, everyone of your talks must be,,,

2. Informing.  Every time people listen to you, they want to hear something they have never heard before. 

They want to hear “the news.”   They want to hear something that is workable and rewarding in their

lives and/or work.

3. Moving.  To many beginning speakers neglect to (in my terms) “go for the throat.”  They neglect

asking people to take action or for the order.

In my view there are three phases to making everyone of your speeches moving.

The first phase is tension or discomfort.  Or, the conflict your listeners feel between “where they are”

and where your message says “they should be.”  It’s important that you, the speaker sets up this

discomfort.

The second phase is your “call to action.”  World-famous web-copywriter, John Carlton says, this too,

is a three phase process.  “Tell them what you have for them.”  “Tell them what it will do for them.”  And,

“tell them exactly what action you want them to take right now.”

If you really want to give a moving presentation, then you should activate this final phase.  Give them

the first steps they should take to activate your message, as quickly as possible.

I favor a one-page handout or check list or cheat sheet to help my audiences follow through on the

principles I have presented. 

At least, tell them what single action they should take “as soon as they get to their desk tomorrow morning,” etc.

Several of the members of our new club have told me that these thoughts are going to be helpful to them. 

I hope they are to you, as well.  If so, write me a comment telling me how you have used one of three

factors to captivate and convince one of your audiences.

Transformation, By Wayne Kronz

As president of Truth Speakers Toastmasters club (Phoenix, AZ), I take the liberty to make my
closing comments of every meeting in the form of a tip, resource or challenge.

Many of these little two or three minute talks will be included in this blog. Here is a first in this series.
(I’d appreciate hearing your comments.)

I firmly believe that two years of participation is a good Toastmastersclub will yield a transforming
effect on anyone’s speaking ability. And so I challenged our group with the idea of transformation.

“Let’s start of with a quick definition of the work ‘transformation.’ A change or alteration, especially
a radical one. I’ll focused on the word, radical!

“You don’t want a moderate or so-so change in our speaking ability. You want a radical one.”

I suggested that the best picture most of us have of the word,transformation is how to humble caterpillar
changes into a colorfulbutterfly. (Then I drew my “worm” and “butterfly” on the whiteboard.)

“You all want be beautiful butterflys of a public speaker, , , darting around the flowers of our new world.
But all we know now is crawling in the dirt of that same garden. It’s not cool image, is it?

“But you also know there is a phase between caterpillar and butterfly. And it isn’t always pretty. You
might even think it is like being dead. It’s not the picture you want to hold in your mind very long.

“But it is necessary!”

We all have to spend the necessary time in the bad spots, the dark cocoon, , , in a Toastmasters club.

Like being tongue-tied when you stand up for Table Topics. Or, like all the “ahas” when you are the
Toastmaster. Or, like running out of time and completely blowing the closing of your speech.

This stuff isn’t pretty but it works.

(Then I draw a likeness of a cocoon

between the first two images.)

“But if transformation is to occur,

the cocoon stage is a must,” and

then I challenge the whole club to

commit to helping each other

through these difficult times.

Then I give them the good news—

this crazy process can actually be

a lot of fun. We all agree that

we’ll make it so!