The subjects discussed focused on Rod’s views on speaking and his new book -

Black and White Alignment, The Secret of getting your Sales and Marketing teams working together.

Listen to these great interviews and don’t be fooled by Rod’s self deprecating comments at the end.  There is pure gold contained within them, the core ideas reflect The Speaking Well philosophy and the training that can be gained at The Speaking Well and Toastmasters International.

Rod ends with a comment that emphasises his belief that speaking training is the greatest personal development he has experienced in his life and refers to the excellent training environment that is ‘Toastmasters’.

Both I and Tony completely endorse the fact that Toastmasters is a truly excellent place to both start and develop your speaking skills.

Ironically and very funnily, though the 3 of us are speakers, the interview did not start smoothly. I’ve left this part in for you all to hear. We soon get underway though. 

The interview areas covered included:

The difference between a speech and a seminar

Speaking style

Larry Winget – One of America’s top speakers

Rod’s book

Branding

Public speaking and schools, the Sir Jim Rose report

Speaking, the greatest personal development in your life

The lessons learned included:

No matter how long your speech, get across one simple message

A speech has an element of performance; a seminar is much more conversational

In a seminar the content is king, in a speech the messages and ideas are king

Put more of yourself into a speech

People want to hear from individuals

 Some quotes from Rod:

 “A speech is a broadcast rather than a conversation”

 “My job is to give the people who like me, more of me”

 “Amplify what you do well”

 “Emphasise your own personality, extremes work”

 “Delight the few and attract the many”

 “The Toastmasters environment is excellent”

And for more about Rod go to:

http://www.rodsloane.co.uk/

http://no-bullbusiness.blogspot.com/ 

“We all know Rod Sloane as a Marketing Expert and those who have heard him speak know that he is a superb speaker and he is also a speaking expert” – Tony Lazar

 
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

The 14th September saw the second heat of the Corporate Speaking Challenge where some of the UK’s best  business speakers and me (hey, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of self deprecating humour) competed in central London for a coveted place in the final in 2 weeks time.

The challenge was to deliver a speech of up to 6 minutes on the subject of:

“Recession – The light at the end of the tunnel”

Here is my speech and my introduction, the latter of which I comment on below -

Guess what? I’m in the final, so I hope to see many of you there.

The final on the 28th September will be at St Mary le Bow Church, Cheapside, London EC2V 6AU.

Nearest Tube: St Pauls (Central Line) which is 200 yards away. This amazing venue in the heart of the City is the home of Bow Bells. Registration begins at 18:15 ready for a 18:45 start and everybody is welcome.

With regard to the introduction everyone was given a minute to introduce themselves.

Very often when giving a talk someone else will introduce you and whoever does this, one particular element is essential  in establishing  your credentials.

The introduction should explain how you are qualified to speak on the subject and therefore establish why anyone should listen to what you have to say.

Since this was a business speech focused on the ‘Recession’, I therefore spent some time explaining my business background and my particular expertise with regard to ‘Recession’. As a second strand to my introduction I then focused on experience and expertise in communication.

There are many other facets to introductions which I look forward to covering later.