Elizabeth Van Den Bergh, Author at Elizabeth Van Den Bergh, Intl. Speaker Coach • Page 4 of 9

Most of my clients are entrepreneurs, CEOs or working in other leadership positions. I also meet many small business entrepreneurs. One common thread is that they’re very busy. Successful leaders are mindful about how they spend every single minute.

It’s no surprise then, that when these leaders are asked to speak in public, the one thing they are thinking is:

How do I prepare a speech in as little time as possible?

They realise very well that speaking well is important, and that preparation is necessary to deal with speaking anxiety. They just want to do it efficiently.

Today I’d like to share with you an excerpt of my CEO playbook for delivering speeches. The section on preparation contains tips that are useful to anyone looking to prepare a speech in half the time while doubling their impact.

I’ve compiled them into a handy list of 7 steps:

The 7 steps to efficiently prepare a speech

The steps are:

Identify your purpose. Why are you speaking?
Know your audience. What are their aspirations, pains, …?
Add significance. Why should the audience care?
Define your clear message. What should your audience remember?
Establish your structure. Develop a middle part with one or two points supported by an anecdote, story, and preferably backed up by facts and data.
Prepare a strong opening and a strong ending.
Rehearse.

1. Define your purpose

For a speech to be effective, it must have a clear goal. A goal also helps you focus while creating the speech.

Ask yourself: do you mainly want to…

entertain?
inform?
persuade?
motivate?
inspire?

Note: these goals may overlap, and one does not exclude another. But one must be your main goal.

2. Know your audience

In order to connect with your audience during speeches, it is important to be able to place yourself in their shoes. Only from this perspective can you truly communicate understanding and establish rapport.

To know your audience is to engage your audience.

The Empathy Map is a handy technique from the world of user experience and marketing, where it is used to better understand potential or existing customers. It works remarkably well when you prepare a speech, too.

The big idea is to go over the different areas in the map and come up with the elements that create your listeners’ mental world in relation to the topic.

Suppose you are to deliver a speech on the use of sugar in processed foods. Some questions the empathy map would trigger are:

What do they think about the use of sugar and how does it make them feel?
What do they hear about sugar from their environment or in the news?
What do they see when it comes to sugar, e.g. in terms of advertising or packaging?
What do they say about sugar to their peers? What do they do – what actions do they take (or not take)?
What pain, or significant disadvantages, do they associate with sugar?
What gain, or significant advantages, do they associate with sugar?

Note that the answers to some of these questions will overlap. Don’t worry about that — this is just a brainstorming tool to trigger relevant information stored in your memory. The point is not to organise information in any neat way.

Try it, even if it’s for 5 minutes! You’ll be surprised how helpful the answers are for:

finding an angle
finding the right words
creating goodwill
overcoming resistance
and much more.

3. Add significance

Why significance is key when you prepare a speech

Crafting any good story starts with the why. What’s the point exactly?

There’s a saying in public speaking: you win the heart before you win the mind. Knowing the why of your speech is essential in accomplishing that.

Speakers engage an audience by being significant; by creating meaning. Audiences feel engaged when they have the feeling the talk is also about them. A great example is Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I have a dream’ speech. The audience did not come to see Martin Luther King, they came because they identified with his ideas. They felt his speech was about them, their lives, and their dreams.

That explains the importance of step 2: Know your audience. You can only add significance if you have a clear image of the receiving end of your speech.

How to find your speech’s significance

To find the significance of your speech, ask yourself the following questions when you prepare a speech:

Why am I giving this speech?
What do I believe, that I want to share? What do I stand for?
So what?! Why should my audience care?

4. Define your clear message

Today, people are flooded with information. There is an image circulating on the web which goes so far to say that a person today receives more information in a day than a person in the middle ages in his entire life!

True or not, we can all agree that in a device-rich world, the information intake has never been more intense.

How does that translate to speeching? Well: to make your speech memorable, I suggest you focus on extracting one key message.

Your key message should be as simple as possible, regardless of the complexity of the issues and topics at hand. It will consist of one or two phrases that express your main point.

If that sounds daunting, let’s look at a model that can help.

The Message House model is a time-tested PR tool to condense complex stories into a thematic ‘house’. This house is made of a set of three messages that together form the overarching key message (called the Umbrella Statement in the model).

The Core Messages on the second level represent your Umbrella Statement, but in greater detail. They can be supporting arguments, sequential steps to take, conditional statements, descriptive (think: who, what, where, when, why and how), or of another kind.

Finally, the lower part of the house provides evidence, proof points and support. This is the foundation of your story.

How to use the Message House

In some cases, your Umbrella Statement (that’s your key message) will be very clear to you. If that’s so, it’s useful to come up with the 3 Core Messages that make up the Umbrella Statement.

At other times, you’ll have 2 or 3 messages in mind as you prepare a speech. In that case, consider those your Core messages and start to look for the single Umbrella Statement.

Examples of Umbrella Statements and their Core Messages

We need to allow our employees to do more remote working.
- Employees lose time and energy in traffic.
- Some employees report they feel less productive in larger office spaces.
- Candidates for jobs that are hard to fill, are not attracted to our current policy.
We’re going to paint all of the streetside walls of our shops bright yellow.
- First, I will introduce the idea at the annual shop owner’ meeting.
- Then, I will have the team communicate the exact steps to each shop owner.
- Finally, our sales representatives will check each shop they visit.
We’ve generated the most profit in the history of our company.
- The Polish and Swedish teams did exceptionally well.
- May and June were top periods for sales.
- Orange bicycles are super popular and account for a large part of the profits.

5. Establish your structure

The way you organise information is essential if you want your audience to follow and understand your speech. Ideas must be put together in an orderly manner.

I therefore recommend every speaker to use an outline as the backbone for their speech.

An outline is simply 10,000 feet view of your speech. It’s as if you would zoom out completely and see the major turns your speech takes.

Why use an outline?

That’s easy: our brains are simply not capable of creating quality content from beginning to end.

Compare it to cooking a meal. Imagine yourself standing in front of different foods. Without thinking ahead, you grab a couple of ingredients and start cutting, cleaning and preparing them.

Unless you’re an experienced chef, that won’t result in a remarkable meal, will it? Without a gameplan to prepare a speech, the end result of your creation will be underwhelming.

Here are a few general directions your outlines can take. These are based on effective storytelling principles:

Problem – pathway – solution
Problem – solution – reasoning
Situation – complication – solution
Past – present – future

After you’ve decided on the general direction, flesh out your outline. See if you can describe your speech in ten to fifteen bullets. Refer to your Message House (see previous point) to make sure your outline includes your Core messages.

What structure works best for your purpose? Do you have a preference? Try a few structures for your speeches and choose the one that is most persuading.

Next, integrate even more storytelling. Your bigger picture might be represented by a story, but can you integrate ‘mini-stories’ to illustrate specific points?

6. Prepare a strong opening and strong ending

Scientific research shows it again and again. If you ask people to rate a certain experience they had recently, they will base a lot of their opinion on how it began and how it ends. Looking back at an experience, whatever happens in the middle seems to carry less weight for us.

A classic example is a visit to a restaurant. Smart restaurant owners focus extra on doing two things impeccably: the welcoming and the dessert. Although they pay great attention to the overall experience, of course, they know that a sloppy greeting of their guests, or a below-standard dessert, can easily spoil their guests’ memory of the whole evening.

For you, it means it’s smart to think twice about how you open and how you close.

Ideas for a strong opening

Here are a few angles to inspire you in crafting your opening:

‘Start with a bang’: use a quote, bold claim or striking fact, or ask a question.
‘So what?’: Go straight to the point and open with why your audience should care.
‘Introduce yourself’: But do it in a compelling way. Tell a juicy story. What would the tabloids write about you?
Make the purpose clear – What impact do you want to achieve?

Ideas for a memorable ending

Repeat your Key Message. Think ‘key takeaway’. This is a natural-feeling and effective way to make a firm point.
Refer to the beginning. Most good stories develop in a circular way. A problem introduced in the beginning gets solved in the end. Balance gets restored; etcetera.
Present a call-to-action. If you want your audience to take a certain action, always end with that.

7. Rehearse

1. Write out, practice and tweak (optional)

At this point, you could write out your speech in full text – if you have the time.

Read your text out loud for a few times until you’re comfortable with the content. You will probably still tweak a few parts.

If you don’t have the time, or you feel comfortable working with just bullet points, feel free to skip to step 2!

I do highly recommend you write out your opening and ending.

2. Bring back to bullet points and practice again

Once on stage, you don’t want to hold the full text of your speech in your hand. You will be tempted to look at it often, which will break your connection with the audience.

So now, reduce your text to a list of main points, keywords, facts and anecdotes. And practice your speech again. Refer back your outline from step 5 for the general structure.

This will also help you memorise the speech completely by heart faster.

Do I have to know my whole speech by heart, you ask?

My answer is: not necessarily. But as just mentioned, do know your opening and ending from the inside out.

3. Take your practice to the next level

Here are my rehearsing tips for the best results:

Record yourself. Most beginning speakers find this tough, but it’s an essential way of spotting weaknesses in your speaking and improving them.
Practice for real people. The gap between practising in front of a mirror and practising in front of a crowd is just too large. Practice for a small group of colleagues or family members to get used to the stress that comes with having an audience.
Ask for specific feedback. If you practice in front of people, help them evaluate you by asking them specific questions. It could be the content, your body language, or your opening. Anything you feel you need feedback on.
Rehearse often. Once you’re happy with your speech’s content and your performance, practice your speech ten times – if you have that luxury of time. If you need more practice, go for it. There’s no better confidence booster as knowing you’ve rehearsed your speech until it hurt 🙂

That’s it!

Although I could elaborate on each on the above points, this provides you with a larger plan to optimally prepare a speech.

Are you a busy professional looking for a speaker coach to get you from good to great in the most efficient way. Look no further. I am here to help all my clients achieve exactly that.

“I knew that Elizabeth really understands what I want to achieve and whom I want to reach, and that she is a bad-ass coach with mad skills. When I was asked to give a keynote at an event, I was determined to really take my talk to the next level. So it was a no-brainer to work with her. Could I have done it on my own? Perhaps, but it would have taken me more time, stress and effort and I would not have achieved the same results. Working with a coach who you can trust, like Elizabeth, creates an extremely comfortable starting position, which made me step onto the stage on the Big Day without any nerves.” – Anouck Meier, CEO of Ampersand

Book your free call via this link.

Here’s an interesting take on what it feels like to be an outsider.

This is a feeling that many women in the working world experience on a daily basis. Many men are not conscious of this — which makes for a very interesting situation when the roles are reversed for once.

The feeling of being in a minority is a huge factor in how you experience or approach speaking in front of an audience, which is why I’d like to include this on our blog.

Here’s the story:

I had my first Christmas party of the year at The Library Group in Brussels which is ran by Anne-Sofie van den Born-Rehfeld and her team. As always, it was a great event with wonderful people.

When I was about to go home, I ran into Gaëtan Vanreusel. I had to think for a second where I knew him from, and then it hit me. ‘Weren’t you the only man in my Powerful Speaking for Women session for Leadarise some years ago?’

And he was! Gaëtan Vanreusel is an executive recruiter who founded Camario. His company won Best Excellence Recognition Award” at the HR Excellence Awards in November 2019.

So I asked Gaëtan a couple of questions on what that experience felt like, and thought I’d share the conversation with you. Many thanks to Gaëtan for letting us share his experience with everyone reading!

How did you end up to be the only man in a group of women?

“As a member of The Library Group, we are invited to events now and then. In a discussion with Anne-Sofie, I mentioned I had some trouble speaking in public. She then told me about a seminar that was planned at The Library by a great trainer. Seats were limited, she asked me if I was interested in joining, and I was glad to. Looking back, there was one thing she didn’t mention…

Arriving at the event itself, I was welcomed inside… only to realise I was the only man among 30+ women! I had just joined what was supposed to be a ‘women-only’ event.”

Was this the first time you were the only men among a group of women?

“I have never experienced anything like this before. I am usually quite an extraverted and highly sociable person, but I now felt I was in unknown territory, and that quieted me down.

I felt a bit uncomfortable for a minute, not sure how I was going to be accepted as a man in the audience. I really felt like a minority.

I’ve said before: “Hey, I wouldn’t mind being part of a minority”. But here, I really got the experience of getting all the attention that comes with it. It made me feel vulnerable.

Not knowing how man-friendly the crowd would be, I paid extra attention to what I said or did, being afraid of being misunderstood or being undermined.

It also made me think afterwards on why had I felt like this. I work with many women every day. But it’s remarkable to realise that I did not know what to expect in this situation, or what the ‘social pattern’ would be.”

I really got the experience of getting all the attention that comes with it. It made me feel vulnerable.

Did it make you reconsider how others experience being part of a minority in a professional context?

“Absolutely. I just didn’t realise what certain women were experiencing or how certain situations made them feel.

To be frank, I think before this, I was sort of missing the point. I used to think that negative experiences in this context had to do with the person in question probably being over-sensitive.

What I see now is how much social pressure is put on you when you are part of a minority. It was intimidating to stand out so much, and I suppose I was afraid of not being valued or judged beyond just my gender.”

What else did you take away from this evening?

“During this event, many women shared their experiences working in men-dominated environments. I realised that what I was experiencing these couple of hours, was actually everyday life for many women…

This experience of first being the only man and second, hearing all these different stories of how women need to fight for respect and equal treatment, was a real eye-opener.

It made me aware of how fragile we feel as part of a minority group. Since the experience, I try my best to give people who may feel part of a minority group, sufficient space to let them be who they are — without the need to conform themselves. I try to make them feel accepted, included, and like a part of a friendly environment.”

I try my best to give people who may feel part of a minority group, sufficient space to let them be who they are — without the need to conform themselves.

What is it that you will never forget about this experience?

“The mixed reactions I received as an extreme minority. For example:

Being eyed critically. I could see some women thinking, “What the hell is he doing here?” “Doesn’t he notice he’s the only guy?”.
Being taken “under their wings”, which sometimes came across as patronising. “Are you all right?” “Not too impressed being the only man here?” “Well, I have no problem with you being here!”
There was the very friendly type constantly making conversation and putting me at ease, taking my attention off of the seminar contents. I couldn’t help thinking, “She wants me to pay more attention to her… This must be how a woman feels when men don’t leave her alone…”

All this may sound silly, but those are the things that stuck and that I won’t forget.”

It’s something that needs to be talked about more. I think men need to be more receptive about this, but I would also sincerely invite women to mention it more.

What do you tell other people about this experience?

“I encourage them to communicate more. I personally did not realise how some women struggle to be respected, listened to, and treated equally.

It’s something that needs to be talked about more. I think men need to be more receptive about this, but I would also sincerely invite women to mention it more. I am convinced most men don’t have a clue, and an experience like this would foster great progress in the matter.

I feel fortunate to have been able to experience this. If it were not initially based on a misunderstanding, I probably would never have been ‘invited’ to such an event. Why not invite a man to a women-only work session, yoga class or gym once in a while?

After this experience, I am convinced that still in this day and age, we need to keep fighting for equal rights for men and women in our everyday lives. Plus, we need to make sure we protect ‘our’ minorities. I can’t ignore that any longer.”

Thank you for sharing, Gaëtan!

What can you take away from this story to improve your public speaking?

What fascinated me most about our conversation is that Gaëtan went through a transformative experience. One that changed his view of the world forever. And it’s exactly these experiences that are the perfect starting point for a brilliant speech.

Imagine for a second that Gaëtan had heard female colleagues complain about company culture, and had then agreed to give a speech, based on a meeting with these women, to encourage better gender equality.

Everyone can gather knowledge and create a speech around it. Only the bold go after actual experiences and instantly set their story apart from the rest.

Now, imagine him creating and giving a speech with the same purpose, but after his unique experience. Which, do you think, will have the most impact?

Everyone can gather knowledge and create a speech around it. Only the bold go after actual experiences and instantly set their story apart from the rest.

What do you take out of this interesting story? Let us know in a reply beneath.

Are you planning a New Year’s speech, but are you experiencing a writer’s block?

Know that’s completely normal. Writing a memorable New Year’s speech is tough. Because it’s a milestone speech, it can seem like an overwhelming task.

Still, it is the perfect occasion to look back and look forward together, and thank the members of your team.

Here are my tips to prepare your New Year’s speech. (See text below video for tip details)

1. Define your speeching intention

There are unavoidable elements to a New Year’s speech, which we’ll look into below.

But to start off, ask yourself: What do I want people to take away, say one week after the speech?

Think not only in terms of what you want people to know, but also what you want them to feel and do.

For example:

What will they know? That even if this felt like our best year ever, they can prepare for an even better one
What will they feel? Proud, excited and curious
What will they do? They will act motivated and keep the objectives clearly in mind.

This way, you get one clear message that gives your speech direction.

2. First, look back

New Year’s is the time to review the past year. There are different angles you can mix and match:

Spot trends: As a leader, people look to you to paint the bigger picture. What are remarkable developments in the world? Your industry? Your organisation?
Tell stories: Every year has its good stories. Which can you use in your speech, that illustrate your main point? Or maybe they are just plain funny.
Give credit: In true holiday spirit, call out those that have accomplished valuable things. You will win hearts and confirm your image of a leader who is well aware of the value of their team. Try to include people on every level — not just your management team.

3. Then, look forward

New Year’s is also the time to formulate resolutions. Leaders have a vision. What are the big goals you are setting for your organisation or team?

These can be numeric (growth in sales, staff or offices, for example), but it might be appropriate to formulate ‘softer’ goals such as what you as an organisation will make happen in the world.

People love to have a direction to work towards, and this is your occasion to provide it as a leader. This is your ‘I have a dream’ moment!

4. Keep it light

Every speech has a context.

In the case of a New Year’s speech, that context is: your people have the holidays just behind them. They’ve had their fair deal of family dinners and receptions. They’ve probably eaten and possibly drank more than was good for them.

The message here is: a New Year’s speech that is too serious or too long is a bit like a cold shower at this point. Better to inject some warm feelings and a sense of humour.

5. End clearly and on a high note

As always, the end of your speech determines the final impression you make.

Ever had a splendid meal at a restaurant, but the dessert was disappointing? Then you know what I mean. So don’t waste that chance.

In the case of a New Year’s speech, it’s good practice to bring out a toast.

You could prepare your audience by using a ‘bridge phrase’ toward the then of your speech, such as:

“So, as I close this toast and we bring in a new year…”

And then you bring out your toast. Here are a few of our favourite ones:

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” — T.S. Eliot
“Here’s to a bright New Year and a fond farewell to the old; here’s to the things that are yet to come, and to the memories that we hold.”
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — Dan Millman
“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” — Brad Paisley
“May all your troubles during the coming year be as short as your New Year’s resolutions.” (a funny one – ideal for keeping it light 😉 )

You can of course find another quote about change or gratitude that you like, or write your own.

Good luck writing your New Year’s Speech! Which tip will you implement? Do you have additional tips? Let me know in a comment.

Here’s a quick summary:

We’re updating our tagline to More Than Public Speaking — because 1) we ultimately coach clients to be better leaders and 2) we help clients with spoken communication in a broader sense.
We’re moving our website from montisonline.be to speaker.coach. It’s clearer, international, and ambitious.
We’ve released a public speaking email course that is entirely free of charge.

As the end of 2019 approaches, I have a few announcements to make!

But first: a quick recap of the past year at Montis.

Montis started as my ‘business baby’. But in 2018, my husband Jelle quit his practice as a marketing and copywriting consultant and joined Montis.

Needless to say that shifted Montis into a different gear! Jelle’s excellent skills in copywriting, content marketing, sales funnels, and other areas have taken the business to a new level. From a regular newsletter to a marketing automation programme and the debut of our online store — Montis is getting more digitally mature every day ????

It has been amazing, for example, to see our 2-day Summer School training sell out in no time thanks to our new sales funnel.

Having Jelle join Montis was both great and challenging.

Great, because I could use help with structuring and digitalising the business. It’s also very convenient to have a sparring partner for your strategic decisions, and simply to have someone to share the good, the bad and the ugly that comes with running a business!

Challenging, because being at the same time a couple, parents of two young children, and business partners is at times super intense. Different strategic views, different priorities, different characters, never enough time… you get the picture.

But: I feel the pieces have now fallen into place and we’re running a smooth machine. Teamwork makes the dream work.

And now: on to what’s new with Montis!

1. We’re updating our tagline

Starting from today, our tagline is More Than Public Speaking.

Why? Well, we’ve grown a lot over the past year, and we feel this tagline covers more accurately who we are and what we stand for.

When I started Montis, I based the company on the assumption that every ambitious professional would, at some point in their career want to improve their public speaking skills.

Not just for the sake of better speaking, but for:

creating goodwill and making an impact
visibility
powerful presence
personal growth, and
inspiring and connecting people

We’ve seen again and again that these positive ‘side effects’ of public speaking training extend far beyond ‘the stage’. Ultimately, we are coaching people to be not just better speakers but better leaders.

Secondly, our clients are increasingly looking for ways to speak with more impact in different situations besides the classic keynote speech.

Our coaching projects have included:

presentation skills
pitching to prospects or investors
nailing job interviews
creating memorable panel interventions
‘train the trainer’ style coaching
making yourself heard in meetings
how to rock the room
making difficult conversations easier
telling your story

So even if our tagline promised just ‘public speaking’, in reality, we help clients with spoken communication in a much broader sense.

(And with a seasoned copywriter on board, it might include written communication soon;-) )

2. We’ve moved to another URL

We felt it was time to say goodbye to our long-time web domain, montisonline.be.

Why? 1) It seems a little dated to have the word ‘online’ in our domain name 🙂 and 2) we wanted something more international. Our list of foreign clients is growing, plus we have online courses in English in the pipeline and are expecting to sell these worldwide starting from 2020.

After some searching, we found a URL that we liked and was still free: speaker.coach.

Yes, it’s eccentric. It not a .be, .eu, .com, .net or other familiar type of domain. It’s nonconformist — which we like ????

What else we love about it:

it’s super clear — the URL says everything
it’s international — not tied to a county or region
it’s ambitious — it communicates this is the place to be for speaker coaching

Note to email subscribers: we will email you from

[email protected]

starting from today. Please update your contact list or whitelist to keep receiving our emails.

3. We’re launching a free email course

A big priority for 2020 is to serve more clients in a more scalable way. We’ll always do live and personal coaching. Still, we want to extend our offering with products and services that a larger number of people can benefit from without depending on our agenda or availability.

As part of that plan, we’re launching our very first ‘product’ in English: a free email course called The Three Pillars Of Powerful Speaking.

This 6-lesson email course teaches the fundamental principles one needs to know for public speaking with impact.

A paid (but affordable) video course will follow soon — the Dutch version is already available, and it’s a matter of translating that to English.

More than a business, we are a growing community

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a fantastic range of people. From tech startup entrepreneurs to CEOs of huge corporations, to fierce fempreneurs and leaders at the European Parliament.

From the world champion in dog grooming (really!) to a stress and trauma therapy professor to a CIO who spoke at the annual SAP conference, and the former aide of Nelson Mandela.

What they all have in common is that they are at the same time ambitious, professional and kind-hearted. Forward-moving problem-solvers and optimists, willing to make a positive impact.

With never-decreasing enthusiasm ????

We can’t wait to serve ‘our people’ even better in 2020.

But that’s more than enough about us. What are your needs regarding public speaking training? How would we best help you in 2020? Let us know in the comments.

Love,

— Elizabeth

PS to receive our updates plus free speaking tips, your best bet is to subscribe to our newsletter. Or enrol in the free course — you’ll receive our updates after the course is done.

Speaking to an audience creates stress for even the most seasoned speaker. By adequately preparing your message and empathising with your audience, you will have more impact on them.

This is part of a longer article that was published on MT Magazine (Premium article for subscribers)

Writer Mark Twain, who was never shy of a tasty quote, already knew: ‘There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars. ‘

Every speaker gets nervous when he or she needs to talk to a large group and that is very normal: we speak with a purpose, we want to have an impact, convince people, but we do not know our audience. Or maybe we do know our audience and that makes us even more nervous. Because in any case, you are vulnerable as a speaker.

Keep the tips below in mind and you will address your audience more calmly and with more impact.

1. Prepare yourself well

Failing to prepare… is preparing to fail. You may already be a gifted speaker or think that you are, you do well to prepare every speech.

Think especially well about what message you want to convey. ‘Limit yourself to one main message, and optionally add two additional topics,’ says speaker coach Elizabeth Van Den Bergh (photo).

‘Whether you write out your speech beforehand or not is up to you: do as you feel comfortable, but you must have rehearsed it in advance. Ask yourself: What does my audience think, know and feel right now, and what do I want them to think, know and feel after my speech. That question will provide ideas for what you are going to say and how you are going to say it.

Suppose you have to give a New Year’s speech as CEO after a bad year, but despite the disappointing results, you want to motivate your team and send them a positive message.’ What are they feeling now? Doubt, fear, disappointment? What feelings do I want them to have in 20 minutes from now? Enthusiasm and trust.

2. Map resistance and tangent points

Of course, you need convincing arguments when you speak to people and want to convince them of your message.

If you as CEO want to get your board of directors and investors so far as to take out their wallets for the innovation you’ve been planning for so long, it is very important, according to Van Den Bergh, that you examine the common ground with your audience, but also where you’re on different levels and thus where the possible resistance could be.

‘You should definitely define that and incorporate it into your story. Because if you bring a one-sided positive story, you are guaranteed to get all the tricky questions afterwards at the Q&A’, she says. ‘You can easily anticipate that in your speech with phrases like ‘I can see you think, Carl, that…’ And that’s also how you lower any tension. And avoid annoying questions afterwards.’

‘If you bring a one-sided positive story, you’re guaranteed to get all the tricky questions afterwards’

Since he founded TED in 2002, Chris Anderson has seen many speakers at work from the first row. He has a clear view about what a good speaker should do.

During both your preparation and your speech you should build up your message incrementally, with concepts that your audience already understands. Their position is your starting point.

‘Speakers often forget that many terms and concepts they use every day, are utterly unknown to their audiences. Metaphors can play a crucial role in showing coherence, as they reveal the desired pattern shape, based on an idea that the listener already understands, “he advises future TED speakers in a video message.

‘A vivid story delivers a satisfying ‘aha experience’ when it takes its place in our brains. That’s why you need to test your speech with friends you trust and discover at which point they get confused.’

3. Breathe calmly

How you breathe is a crucial part of speaking. Those who control their breath can give calm speeches. Especially at the start of a speech, controlled and quiet breathing proves to be difficult for many.

‘I like to compare the beginning of a speech with someone who jumps in the pool during their holiday’, says Van Den Bergh. ‘You know that the water is cold, and yet you jump. Your breath is cut off for a moment. That also happens when you step on the stage.’

‘That is not the moment to start speaking, but to take the time to breathe calmly. So that you can start in peace and with sufficient breath.’

Watch our video about the Swimming Pool Tip:

If you don’t, you will speak too quickly and make a nervous impression. You run the risk of losing your audience from the outset. As in any other context, your first impression when you speak is essential. Those who feel comfortable will also leave a better impression on their audience.

The other 4 tips can be found at MT Magazine (premium article, in Dutch).

Speaking in online meetings: My 21 top tips for more impact

What makes an online meeting so different?

Practical speaking tips for online meetings

Warm-up before your online meeting

Tips on how to get the most out of your voice

7 steps to prepare a speech in a surprisingly short time