Hey everyone, this is Sean K. with Velocity Videos, and today I'm going to give you three red hot tips on how you can speak out without any preparation, zero preparation, and how you can make a great impression. I think of impromptu speaking kind of like going out into the wilderness. Pretend you were dropped off in the wilderness and you didn't know where you were, right? If you had a map and you had a compass, you'd eventually be able to get out.
the jungle, right? Because you could make your way and find your way out. Well, that's kind of what I'm going to give you today.
I'm going to give you three tools, three key things that you can do that can be your compass or your map. So no matter what situation you're in, you can get out of the jungle, and reach a place where you want to be. Have you ever been faced with a situation where you had to give a toast or someone last minute came up to you and said, hey, I need you to speak for a few minutes. Could you say a few words?
Now, were you the person that was welcoming it and ready to shine? Or were you someone that was, oh, no, I don't think I'm ready. I don't think I can do it.
I haven't prepared. Because there's going to be plenty of those opportunities and true leaders are people that are able to offer value, you know, can. communicate. So think of that. Think of speaking out as the ultimate advantage.
And what I mean by that is a lot of people are afraid to speak out. A lot of people are afraid to offer their ideas. You might be saying to yourself, well Sean, I'm not a public speaker. I'm not good at speaking without preparation. I need to prepare.
I felt the same way. I felt the exact same way. But there are key ways that you can look at speaking impromptu that are going to help you get a lot better.
Before I even get into my tips, I'm going to give you one big tip right here. And that is get a note card and write a note. And right on it, three key ideas that I think are the basis of success in any type of speaking environment. Whether it's impromptu, prepared, in a group environment, whatever they are.
These are the three top tips. Number one is, I am centered no matter what. Get yourself in a place where you feel poised and centered.
And the best way I've found to do this is to move slowly. Move at your pace. Do things on your terms, not other people's terms. because I find that's when people get lost when they speak impromptu is they get lost when they feel pressured by outside circumstances, by people in the room, by what people think, by people pressuring them. That's where they feel uncomfortable.
But if you feel focused, if you feel centered at all times, you're gonna be able to handle any situation. Any rainstorm that comes your way, you're gonna be still and be able to handle it. So always think, I'm always centered no matter what.
Second thing I tell you to do is enjoy yourself. Just make sure you have a good time because if you're enjoying yourself, the audience is going to. And what I mean by that, put a smile on your face, feel good about what you're presenting, that's gonna do light years for everything that you come across with.
And the third piece of advice. You cannot lose. It is a complete win-win to speak, to offer your opinions. You're going to be offering your ideas.
That's going to be contributing. That's going to be impacting people. You're going to be doing more good than not by not expressing yourself.
So you can't lose. You always win. And you're always learning. Think of it always like a learning experience where you're always learning.
So you can always win. These are the three hot tips. Number one, the first tip is less is more.
I've seen countless... people speaking and I've done this many times I feel I'm pressured by the situation I feel the force is coming on me and I start rambling and rambling rambling let me give you an example let's say someone asked you talk about happiness and talk about don't worry be happy talk about that phrase I could say there was this Bobby McFadden song called don't worry be happy and it was written a long time ago and blah blah blah blah blah and I could bore you to tears or I could just say Don't worry, be happy. And just pause.
And get people's reaction to that. Less is more. Speak very concisely with your words.
And leave a lot of space for people to digest it all. That's going to create a lot more impact. Be very sparse in your words.
Less is more. It could create a lot more impact. Number two, start with a question.
So get people excited by starting with a question and involving them. You could say, if people were asking you about smiley faces. for example. You could say, what does a smiley face mean to you?
Have you ever seen a smiley face and just grinned ear to ear because it just made you feel good? Has that ever happened to anyone here? By asking that question it opens people up, makes people feel better.
The third point is give your angle, your story. What I mean by that is you doing a video or you giving a speech is just like every other speech, meaning people have given the exact speech that you're about to give. They've said the exact content that you're about to say.
Think about it. There's billions of people in the world. There's probably someone that said the exact same thing you're about to say.
So what makes yours any different? Well, the thing that makes it different is your story. You know, your angle on it.
So always think, when you're going into an impromptu situation, how can I make it personal? How can I give my angle on it? If you do that, you're going to create a lot more interest.
An example is, let's say... The smiley face example. If I was going to give a little mini talk on smiley faces, right?
I could say, well, you know, a smiley face, it's a round circle, it's yellow, and that kind of thing. And that's kind of boring, alright, if you talk about it like that. But, if I made it a personal example and I said, you know what?
My mom, whenever she sees a car with dirt on the car outside or a fogged up window, what she'll do is, with her hand, she'll draw a smiley face in it. to kind of pass along some happiness to whoever finds it. That's an example of a personal story in our family, like whenever we see a dirty car, we'll draw a smiley face on it just to pass along some good vibes. How cool is that?
That's a lot better example than, oh, a smiley face is yellow with two dots in it and a grin, right? So make it personal, bring it alive, talk about it personally. My action challenge to you is this.
Whenever you have a chance to speak off the cuff in any situation, give it a shot. Whether it's asking a question in class or volunteering an idea, whatever you feel comfortable with, but stretch yourself a little bit. Try something new.
to become the person that contributes and participates. Remember, a low, quivering voice is still more powerful than a thousand silent men. So whatever you say, it's going to make an impact.
Make sure you contribute and make it important. I hope you enjoyed those tips. Go on to the next video in this communication series.
Bye for now and I'll see you later.