Let’s continue with the question-and-answer session which occurred during live speaking for linear seminars, which I’ve conducted across the United States.
Q: How soon before the next speech to start preparing?
A: I'm always collecting material for the next speech. Every speech I have I overload with stories and anecdotes and quotes. I know I can't include it here, but it's good enough to be in here. I'll save that for my next presentation. That I'm saying, oh, like, you know, I might. If I'm going to give a 30-minute presentation, I'll get an hour speech.
Q: I'm aware that the best way to make the point is through stories but where did those stories come from?
A: They're all have to come from personal experience. A lot of the stories come from other people's personal experiences that I hear about stories that I hear like the lady I told you about from Jamaica, whose mother died. So I'll take other stories that I hear from other people just in everyday conversation. I can get several speeches out of this room from people who I talk to, and I'll use those stories.
Q: But does that mean you have to sort of keep a file on all those stories?
A: That's absolutely right, because you get ideas from everywhere and then when you go to give the speech I mean, you got tons of ideas, but one fits that point you want to make when you lay out your speech using the material that I have you get a format. That's how you sit down and craft.
Q: I understand how you dealt with people from the realty company, but I just found out that you gave a motivational speech to the American Veterinary Association. I think it was Phoenix. And how can you tailor it to something like that?
A: First of all, I gotta to find out… what was it they were looking for? What did they want? What I did was I got their objectives, what they wanted to achieve. What I wanted to do is give them that same information, entertaining the traditional way that they told themselves, that was a compass and their mission statement, and I gave it to them, and I style where I wanted to take them. I used to be intimidated by audiences. You know what I say? Don't let them switch you out of position. Be who you are. Using their material and I did it my way.
Q: Do you get into writing or is verbal, okay. And can you use someone else's story?
A: I don't get in writing. I just don't use their full names. I don't have a close relationship with the person have not gotten okay from that person tell the story.
Q: I have two friends that keep encouraging me to do but I'm kind of where you were. I do not have a degree. And sometimes I refuse to do things because I'm because of the fact that don't have the degree and everybody else has all these potential that they keep saying, Well, you know, I got this degree. I'm from here and I'm from there. What do you have? And basically, the only thing I have is my experience.
A: Well, so you got a degree from the University of hard knocks, and that's why I tell people work and being natural that naturalness, and warmth is what people want.
When you begin your speeches, you have a fear…
You’ve got to give yourself a pep talk.
Also, listen to tapes get pumped.
I listen to music, get pumped up before I'm gonna give a speech.
Q: Buddy are quite a few people spoke about the fear factor and what I have found has been occurring in my speaking life recently is that I have been called upon and I have gone be only in the audience or a participant to participant but to support the speaker I've been called upon to speak totally unprepared. How do you overcome that? Yes.
A: Oh, just say no. Hey, Bill, yeah, that used to happen to me it really happens to you locally, you know, people who know you, because they know you, they think they shouldn't have to pay you. And then pay a stranger from out of town who's not as good as you and then tell you, you know you’re better than them and we paid them all that money. Excuse me?
Because you see, I would not I would not do that to the speaker. Not let them put me in a position of embarrassing a speaker to come up and speak after they brought the money in to speak.
Some people just don't know when enough is enough. I will not give a speech after the speech. I just want to thank you very much. It's really been great. And remember, this is your dream. And that is my speech. Thank you and I go sit down.
See you next week
