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Too Bad Only the Good Speakers Will Listen to You
by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
"Public
speaking is the only regularly-performed public art where the
majority of performers refused to submit to the artistic conventions."
That's the opinion of Chicago speech writer Dan Conley.
Prior
to going independent, Dan was the speech writer for Virginia
Governor Doug Wilder, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, and
IBM's Senior VP for Sales Bill Etherington.
Dan
told me, "You give very well-written advice about grabbing
an audience's attention. Too bad only the good speakers will
listen to you. I've been a professional speech writer for
a dozen years, and it seems to me that the only coachable
speakers, whether they are business executives or elected
officials, are those who understand that a speech is a performance.
Being a speaker is no different from a being stand-up comic,
actor or musician.
"Every
bad speaker I've ever known believes that he is above giving
a performance. Public speaking is the only regularly-presented
public art where the majority of performers refused to submit
to the artistic conventions. I wonder how they would they
like to attend a show where the musicians turned their backs
to the audience? Or the stand-up comic refused to wear a microphone,
so only the first two rows could hear?
"Well,
Patricia, I know that speech coaching is one of the things
you do for a living, and I'm sure you catch more flies with
honey than vinegar, but the state of the art has become very
distressing for me. I've had it with people who think slides
are stories and who think their job title is a substitute
for stage presence.
"Public
speaking," Dan concludes, "may terrify many executives, but
their contempt for the art of speaking shows a horrible disrespect
for those who have to sit through their mindless ramblings."
Thanks,
Dan, for your insightful comments. I couldn't agree more.
(307 words)
For more
information on individual or group speech coaching and speaking
schools visit: http://www.executivespeechcoach.com
For
books, tapes and videos on how you can be more effective on
the platform http://www.fripp.com/publicspeakingresources/
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based executive
speech coach, sales trainer,
and professional speaker
on Change, Customer Service, Promoting Business, and Communication Skills.
She is the author of Get What You Want!, Make
It, So You Don't Have to Fake It!, and Past-President of the National
Speakers Association. Meetings and Conventions Magazine named Fripp "one
of the country's most electrifying speakers!"
We offer this article on a nonexclusive basis. You may reprint or repost
this material as long as Patricia Fripp's name and contact information
is included. PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800
634 3035, http://www.fripp.com
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