Illustra Image Consulting Blog

Public Speaking: Use Vignettes to Add a Dash of Flavor

We often add intriguing taste to a salad by drizzling on delicious vinaigrette. But you can do the same thing to your public presentations by spicing them up with carefully chosen and flavorful vignettes. These days I am coaching many top business professionals on the power of getting their messages across when speaking on behalf of their firms or as entrepreneurs, and I find that many individuals shy away from this great speaking tool. They just don’t realize the magical power of a vignette. As a member of the National Speakers Association I’ve been trained to incorporate compelling stories into my speeches to really connect with the audience. While I am telling a short story or anecdote it’s fun to watch the body language of those in the audience as they wait with anticipation to find out how the story ends and how it relates to my message of the day.

Here are a few speaking tips I want to share with you, including information about vignettes:

·       Everyone should be out on the speaking circuit today to stay visible and build relationships which will hopefully lead to great business success. But many professionals haphazardly prepare their talks without knowing the power behind their words or how to get their target audience or tribe to connect with what they’re saying.

·       Next time you have to prepare a speech I encourage you to consider incorporating a vignette into it, choosing one that relates nicely to a key talking point or idea you want to get across to those in the audience.

·       What’s a vignette? It’s simply a very short story that you can tell to your audience in less than three minutes. While telling your story, be sure to use vividly descriptive words to actually put your audience into the story so each person can see it unfold in the mind’s eye. But it needs to relate to or reinforce an important point you want to make. Use a vignette, for example, to describe the benefits that clients derive from working with you. When you can speak effectively and let others know the results your clients get from you or your organization it’s a great marketing tool.

·       It’s important to really practice your little story so that you can tell it like a great storyteller. Use your voice like an instrument. Be sure to work on the pace, volume, and inflection of the tone of your voice so that your words command their attention.

·       This is a great way to get your audience to connect with you – especially if you can find vignettes that represent a short case history, a real client experience, or a personal incident that people can relate to. Personal stories are quite effective because they help the audience get to know you and your sense of humor and make you seem more human to them – even if they are not at all familiar with you.

How we utilize the voice and communicate through speaking engagements is an important part of our professional image. Every top leader knows that effective communication is the key to influencing others to take action on their message. I hope you’ll try this vignette technique during your next speaking adventure.

 

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Sarah Hathorn is a professional image consultant, certified personal brand strategist, speaker, and author.

Her company, Illustra Image Consulting, works with high-achieving future leaders and large businesses by enhancing their corporate and personal brand image to take their businesses and careers to the next level.

Blog, Ezine & Website:  www.illustraimageconsulting.com

Copyright 2009, Sarah Hathorn, AICI CIP, CPBS

A Few Speaking Tips for the Business Professional

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the Georgia Chapter of the National Speakers Association. We had an entertaining and dynamic professional speaker by the name of David Newman from Do It Marketing speaking to the group. His speech was entitled, “ Help Me Hire You!  21 Strategies to Get Booked and Stay Booked”. While this topic is for professional speakers looking to earn speaking revenue I thought of how many of his ideas could work for professionals who want to gain more visibility and business by speaking to various civic and non-profit groups. Here are a few of David’s points that I have given my personal branding and image twist for all my clients looking to increase their visibility:   

1). Decide Who You are and Who You Are Not

Most entrepreneurs and professionals working within large companies try to be all things to all people. They go out and speak on every topic that people want to hear versus trying to really talk about their one area of expertise. Talk about that topic in several ways. Always go deep in your conversations not broad in other topics. 

2). Find Your Niche

This is something I love to teach people is how to niche. I spend a great deal of time teaching at the London Image Institute to new image consultants entering the business and encourage them to discover what their niche is to make more money with ease. I think a lot of business professionals don’t really understand who their target market is and how to attract those specific clients. I know a lot of entrepreneurs are afraid to niche because they may be leaving business on the table. When you find your niche, you make more money because your target segment knows you are the expert and not all things to all people.

3). Your Voice is Your Image

When we speak to various groups and organizations to train or try to obtain exposure to book more business our voice is an important part of our image. Is your voice powerful and interesting or is it soft and soothing? You need to be careful that your voice conveys the type of personal brand and professional image you want others to remember. Think about how you want others to perceive you and then design your message to convey your brand attributes.

To purchase David’s version of the presentation on Help Me Hire You, feel free to visit his website at http://www.helpmehireyou.com/entry/123456789987654321.html. I highly recommend it if you are looking to speak to grow your business in any capacity.