Any of these sound familiar?
- “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers…
- “We shall fight on the beaches…
- “You have left it to women in your land…
- “The only thing we have to fear…
- “Ain’t I a woman?
All have two things in common; An amazing script and an inspired presenter. Let’s talk scripts!
You may have not fallen asleep in a webinar, or on-line event (maybe you have?). There is no question however that we’ve all been in sessions where the speaker droned on and on and… yeah, that.
There are really several issues here. And they all matter to the effectiveness of your meeting.
Key Issues:
- Do you (or your speaker/presenter) speak “off the cuff”?
- Is there a script to follow (or at least an outline?)
- Have they ever been professionally evaluated or trained as a speaker?
Back to Fantastic Scripts!
This page is dealing with the first two issues; Speaking off the cuff and having a good script to follow. Most subject matter experts can easily talk for hours about their passion! Just ask Grant about his motorcycle, or ask us about the technology we use for great webinars and meetings. We dare ya!
But that doesn’t make for a good webinar! As a public speaker and trainer, Grant Holmes, (The Webinar Guy) has hundreds, if not thousands of events, presentations and keynotes under his belt. We assure you he can walk into a room and give you forty-five minutes with no prep. But he’ll also tell you that if you want a tight, concise, meaningful presentation, he’ll need to prepare. A lot!
I … never could make a good impromptu speech without several hours to prepare it.
Mark Twain
There are famous quotes attributed to famous men. True or not, they inform the same subject.
Experienced speakers that are in demand can usually pin down a really great talk, watch the clock and cover the points they need to cover and maybe leave room for questions and answers at the end.
But even people seasoned in presenting can have many challenges they aren’t even aware of. Recently, we were invited to sit in on a “government affairs” call that included two officials that (presumably) had a lot of speaking experience. They were certainly comfortable being “on stage”, albeit video or online.
To be frank, they were both horrible! Here were the two issues; One presenter was disorganized and scattered with no cohesive beginning/middle/conclusion to the content and the other presenter “ummmed” constantly. He was so impressed with his image he kept mugging for the camera. It was as if he wanted to make sure everyone knew how important he was.
In both cases, neither were prepared and worse, because their approach and delivery was so distracting- they were totally ineffective. What a waste of time and resources!
That depends on the length of the speech,” answered the President. “If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it… if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now.
Woodrow Wilson
The Webinar Guy can help with your script!
We want you to be amazing! Without peer. Asked to speak again. Asked when your next workshop or webinar will happen! We’ve written hundreds of commercials, speeches, and even course curriculum. Let’s get to work on your script!