Camberwellians And The Business Of Speaking

On 17 October 2018, a variety of people who live, work and network in Camberwell (Camberwellians) gathered together to share their tips on The Business of Speaking with others at Barolo Trattoria, Level 1, 885 Burke Road, Camberwell.

The discussion began with a short presentation from Rod Smith. Here are their tips (paraphrased from notes by Sue Ellson).

Table of Contents

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Roderick Smith – Public Speaker and Social Researcher

Be yourself – not someone else. You can look at the way others present but create your own style. Don’t try and be someone else as other people will notice you are not being authentic.
Learn from skilled speakers – chat to them after their presentation and add some of their techniques to your style
Know your subject matter – make sure it is something you are really passionate about – the love and passion you have for it will come out of the pores of your skin. Know what you are talking about
Eye contact – greet the audience with a smile and try and look at everyone in the audience so that they know you really want to help
Find out as much as you can about the audience – their general background etc. Use hand gestures but not too many. Used well, they can effectively enhance your message. If overdone, it can be distracting.
Ask for audience feedback – what do they like and what other topics would they like you to talk about.
Take time to prepare – make sure you know the location, sort out all of the audio and technical equipment before you are due to speak

Scott Adams – Accountant

Be prepared and print your slides out in case the technology doesn’t work

Mike Mendis – Website Development, SEO, Google Apps, ECommerce

Can feel that eye contact creates a spotlight on the speaker, prefer it if I can’t see the audience

Tony Nicholls – Publicity and Media Trainer

Make sure you have a goal for the audience and share how you can help them achieve that goal

Liz Collis – Government Employee

Be passionate, speak clearly and use a bit of humour

Josephine Rullo – Trainer and Recruiter

Speak slowly and clearly, especially when on the telephone, take down information accurately

Melanie Scott – Service Dog Trainer

For difficult topics that may be difficult to process, can sometimes joke about what is happening, provided it is from personal experience. Prefer not to write everything down and speak from short points and expand on them so that you can have more eye contact

Amanda Mao – Freelance B2B bilingual Chinese Medical Writer and Translator

If you cannot maintain eye contact, look over the heads of the audience. Arrive early to the venue, familiarise yourself with the pointer and technology, follow a structure, tell them what you are going to say, say it, summarise it

Eric Drinkwater – Lecturer at Deakin University in Exercise Sports Science

Avoid using filler words, um, er etc. No need to fill the silence, makes it more difficult to hear, silence is better than ums and ers. Stop, think, say and move on

Ray Usanto – Personal Assistant helping people with Technology and Assistant Accountant

Engage the audience, make sure they are interested in what you are saying so that they will listen the whole way through to the end. Good lectures involve laughter and fun

Andrew McLaren – Family Engagement Consultant

Calibrate the room, may need to liven it up or quieten down a noisy crowd, deal with the trouble maker who asks stupid questions. Adjust your tone and keep moving

Rob Chiarolli – Business and Leadership Coach

Don’t always use PowerPoint as it can be a bit of a crux, bring back attention by using your hands as a memory peg, four points on tips, sub points on knuckles, move your thumb to the different spots so you know where you are up to in the presentation

Jacqui Hutton – Graphic Designer, Marketing, Social Media and Google

Consider going to Toastmasters to learn new skills

Nicky Beecroft – Information Portal for Financial Organisations

Breathe and smile

Ingrid Pich – Fitness Trainer and Health Coach for 40+

Breathe, take in people in the room, calm, as you start, it will flow if it comes from the heart because you know your subject

Percy Cheung – Private Equity Financier

Stand up straight and project your voice, beyond just speaking, articulate your words

Michael Cassarino – Digital Media Specialist

Pausing is an effective way to engage the audience

Rainie Lin – Kindergarten Teacher

Imagine everyone looks like a watermelon if you are nervous, or that they are wearing a helmet

Cameron Sonneveld – IT Consultant

Create a presence during your speech and make it engaging, especially if you are creating video, if not, get the audience involved in some way

Keith Rhodes – Video Producer at Clips That Sell

Especially when creating a video in front of a camera, remember to smile more and be slightly more animated, amp it up in front of a ‘machine’

Peter Everett – Nano Technology Products and Coatings, Retail and Commercial

Need to know your goal and understand it is the audience’s choice to learn. Try and avoid the session at a conference that is after lunch. Start walking around and the audience will follow you around

Gita Gauba – Science and Human Resources Professional

Make sure you read your notes properly, use as a guideline only. A lot of people get sidetracked with story telling and don’t stay on topic. Encouraging some activity is important, and discusssion. It is not about you, it is about the audience

Hersh Bhatt – Digital Marketing and Agency

Always have a narrative. A story can help you be more personable and memorable

Sue Ellson – Independent LinkedIn Specialist, Camberwell Network and Newcomers Network Founder

Explain all terms in a language that everyone can understand, especially if they may not have heard it before, without being condescending, but also include some really good quality content for the people who do know the topic to demonstrate your competence