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Ty Boyd - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Ty Boyd, who is in the NSA Speakers Hall of Fame and the NC Broadcasting Hall of Fame, is CEO of Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems. Boyd instructs Fortune 1000 executives in how to communicate more effectively with their customers. His company has taught public speaking skills to executives in 40 countries through its Excellence In Speaking Institute and other communications programs.
[View Ty Boyd's Extended Author Bio]
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- Know Your Audience
[News-and-Society:Pure-Opinion] You may have heard my sermon on knowing your audience. I preach it because I truly believe that the more you know about the audience and the more you focus on them the better your presentation will be. There are lots of ways to do your audience research, particularly with the advent of the Internet.
- Practice Confidence
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] Practice, as you have heard me say, doesn't make perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal. Practice makes confidence. The better you know your material, the more confidence you have and the better the presentation ultimately is.
- Grow Or Be Left Behind
[Writing-and-Speaking] School is never out for high achievers. These are the people who are the most successful. They understand that the key to success is that if you are not growing and improving in all phases of your life you will be left behind.
- Put Your Mouth Where Your Money Is
[Business:Fundraising] Responsible businesses are involved in charity from a financial standpoint, giving what they can to support their charities of choice. Some also get involved in community service work, like giving their employees time to volunteer in service organizations. These are all laudable activities, but I think maybe we all should be doing more.
- Connecting With Your Audience
[Business:Presentation] Connecting with your audience is crucial whether you are selling an idea to the public or a product to a Fortune 1000 executive. It all starts with eye contact.
- Success Secrets
[Self-Improvement] Everyone seems to think that the best leaders, salespeople, athletes or performers in any business or endeavor utilize some mysterious formula or have secrets to which mere mortals are not privy. People think that because I was on the professional speaking circuit for years that I also must have some arcane knowledge that I'm not sharing. There is a secret that the best know.
- Well Spoken Resources
[Business:Presentation] More than half our gross national product now resides in the information sector. Our economy has move from manufacturing to knowledge, yet corporate America does not seem to understand how to capitalize on this fact.
- On The Road To Success
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] Looking down the road to success at those who are striding confidently toward their destinations, I see a common thread. Superior personal communication skills are the common element in the success of great leaders, managers and sales professionals.
- Know Your Script
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] I got my first big job promotion in the late 1980's. One of my first major marketing presentations was to the entire Field Sale Force, over 700 people in a giant hotel ballroom. I knew that I had to "motivate" them, yet I was scared to death. My boss, a seasoned veteran of giving many of these presentations, asked me what I was so afraid of. As I explained my nervousness with all the details in my 20 minute message, he just smiled as told me to remember one thing: Only you know the script.
- Get A Job
[Business:Careers-Employment] More than one million college grads hit the job market this spring, and their prospects of finding a decent job have improved, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. But what if you aren't in one of the hot job categories or markets? You better have some other intangibles to fall back on.
- Actions Speak Volumes
[Self-Improvement] Where do you spend your leisure time? What kind of people do you find there? What does that say about who you are? What does that tell the young people in your life about you?
- Off The Cuff
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] Mark Twain once said that it took him three weeks to prepare an impromptu speech. This is a luxury you may not have when someone says, "Could you give us a brief overview of that project your team is handling?"
- The Best Kept Leadership Skill
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] What would happen if you knew and practiced the best kept secret of leadership? You would be able to gain cooperation for your initiatives, build rapport easily, and lead people instead of manage them. You also would be highly valued as an employee and for better, more responsible positions.
- Using Technology In Your Presentations
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] Business presenters in particular often use technology to support them. But too often, the technology, not the presenter, becomes the star of the show. Here are a few tips on how to maintain control over your PowerPoint presentation.
- Occasional Speaking
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] When you are called upon to speak whether it is to deliver a toast at a wedding or a keynote address, you need to consider each as a special occasion and review the who, what, when, where and why of the event.
- Short Attention Span Theater
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] In Abraham Lincoln's time people would listen attentively to a two hour speech even if the speaker was not that well polished. Oh, how times have changed. Today, our kids watch an average of more than eight hours of TV per day. Adults sit in front of computers at work all day, responding to email and voicemail immediately, while still trying to do their jobs. Americans already had short attention spans, but this reliance on technology and multi-tasking has cut them even shorter.
- Reviving The Art of Public Speaking
[Business:Presentation] Harvard University has issued a report calling for the increasing integration of public speaking into its undergraduate curriculum, and I applaud this initiative. Public speaking skills can make a career. Lacking these skills can break one.
- Please Allow Me To Introduce...
[Business:Presentation] Too few people are introduced effectively when giving a speech or a presentation. I always advise speakers to write their own intros. It’s sometimes the only commercial you will get.
- How To Be An Emcee
[Business:Presentation] There are 12 things I have learned over the years as an emcee at hundreds of pageants, fairs, award ceremonies of every description, the annual International Retailer of the Year Awards in Chicago, and the Positive Thinking Rallies. Follow these 12 rules and you'll be a successful emcee, too.
- Failure To Communicate
[Self-Improvement] We often forget that communications is a two-way street. There is listening as well as speaking. Many people – myself included – find that listening is the hardest part of the communications equation.
- A Carousel Of Color
[Business:Presentation] If you remember black and white TV, you are dating yourself. Perhaps even carbon-dating yourself. But I remember sitting in rapt attention when color TV came to town. Your audiences will do the same if you add some color to your presentations.
- Monotony Most Foul
[Business:Presentation] Monotony should be on the FBI’s most wanted list. It has killed more presentations than any of the deadly distractions. Everyone, not just those trained to perform critiques of speeches, picks up on monotony in a presentation.
- How To Make A Blue Ribbon Presentation Every Time
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] You can make a Blue Ribbon presentation each and every time if you follow these 14 rules.
- Passion Play
[Self-Improvement:Attraction] I remember a football game from last season when the Philadelphia Eagles were hosting the Carolina Panthers. One of the announcers said something like this: "If this game is about passion, it's about Deuce Staley! If it’s about passion, he will be the last guy standing. No one puts more heart and soul into this game." What will people say about your work, your life and how you play your game? How will they hear your voice?
- Important Days Ahead
[Self-Improvement:Positive-Attitude] Humans tend to categorize things by large or small, bright or dull, special or ordinary, and so on. For instance, we categorize holidays as special with the implication that other days have nothing going for them. Every day is important.
- Summer Reading For High Achievers
[Reference-and-Education] Achievers read voraciously because they know the benefits. Research shows that readers can write and concentrate better than non-readers. They also are quicker to pick up subtleties, and are better able to understand how other people think and feel.
- Feedback
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] I believe that asking for and acting on objective feedback is the best way to improve your speaking skills. Honest, objective feedback helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, so that you can enhance the former and repair the latter.
- What's Your Zipline?
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] Are you using the challenges you have faced and overcome to push beyond your limits?
- Get Real
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] Humans are born storytellers, but our education system doesn’t help us develop these natural talents that we all have. Instead, society increasingly homogenizes us, covering up the things that make us unique. The media, too, bombards us with messages that encourage us to emulate the celebrity of the week, or to try the latest fad.
- It Ain't About You
[Self-Improvement] I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to meet and work with some of the best top-of-the-line executives in the world. Learned a lot from them, too. Today's lesson form these leaders: It Ain't About You.
- Being Perfect Is An Imperfect Objective
[Self-Improvement] Perfection is an unattainable goal for us imperfect humans. But knowing that doesn’t necessarily stop that little voice inside our heads from setting us up for failure. You can hear it saying, “they’re not going to like the way I look, the way I dress, the way I sound or what I have to say.”
- An Ounce Of Passion Is Worth A Lifetime Of Technique
[Self-Improvement] I believe if you have no passion – either for a presentation or your job – you are wasting your time. Whether you call it passion, fire in the belly, energy or enthusiasm, that’s what people remember, not your flawless data.
- Intimacy Isn't Just Victoria's Secret
[Self-Improvement] What is it about some people that makes you want to open up to them, and with whom you feel really comfortable? These people, almost miraculously it seems, are able to develop an intimate bond with anyone. Think Oprah.
- Grand Opening: The Key To Great Presentations
[Business:Presentation] Whether you are speaking in front of a civic group or making
a sales presentation, your opening can make or break the
deal. Unless you grab the audience at the beginning, they’ll
be sleeping through your most important information. You must craft an opening that cannot be ignored.
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