Public Speaking for Real Estate Agents · 2018-07-09 · Eliminate Stage Fright And Build Self...

Public Speaking for Real Estate Agents

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Identify Your Purpose ......................................................................................................................................... 5

Prepare Your Speech ........................................................................................................................................... 7

Prepare Visual Aids ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Create A Mock Presentation ......................................................................................................................... 12

Eliminate Stage Fright And Build Self Confidence .................................................................................. 13

Incorporate Personality Into The Presentation ....................................................................................... 17

The “Extra” Needed To Help Convey A High-Impact Message ............................................................ 19

Incorporate Good Body Language ................................................................................................................ 20

Surveying The Audience ................................................................................................................................. 22

The All-Important Q&A Session ................................................................................................................... 24

Engage The Audience ...................................................................................................................................... 26

Items Of Prepare Prior To The Presentation ............................................................................................ 29



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Day 1 Speaking in front of people (e.g., a group of realtors, clients, prospects, a team of real estate agents, etc.), large crowds in particular, is usually perceived as the most stressful experience imaginable. The following ideas in this course are designed to help you, or anyone for that matter, convey your ideas and messages to either one person, or a large group in just about any setting. Creating an effective presentation can seem very overwhelming. Outlined below are strategies one can use to create an effective and powerful speech in 30 minutes or less, regardless of the target audience.

Identify your purpose

The importance of goal-setting must not be overlooked when preparing for any presentation. Before beginning any presentation, define your objectives. It’s crucial that to begin with the end in mind. Ask, “What do I want to achieve from my presentation?” “What do I want my audience to receive?” “What do I want my audience to do next?” First preparation process is to identify your purpose. The purpose of the presentation can range from creating awareness, educating, fostering understanding, generating impact, selling a product, or even to inspire your audience. Always remember that you’re presenting to give, not just gain. As such, your goals should be aligned with allowing the audience to benefit from your presentation.



Purpose-setting must be extremely clear, not just to yourself, but to the audience as well. This helps them internalize the benefits they gain from listening to you. For example, when presenting to a group of prospective clients, make your purpose client-centric and benefits oriented (i.e., how will they personally gain from the key aspects of your presentation). Keep the purpose focused on them and the presentation will be much more engaging and well received. The biggest mistake of public speaking is starting with the wrong purpose. Mediocre speakers presenting without a specific purpose can easily cause stress and anxiety. Many speakers often mistakenly assume or even subconsciously decide that their purpose is audience validation and approval. This hollow purpose causes intense pressure on the speaker to be absolutely perfect in order to win unanimous approval and causes a great deal of anxiety. This “stress-producing” purpose is obviously counter-productive.

Once the purpose of your presentation is set, it’s easier to craft the presentation around that purpose in order for it to be achieved. Remember, the essence of public speaking is not to GAIN, but to GIVE. Presenting with that mindset, will automatically sync your body language, tone of voice and craft content results in optimum impact for the audience. With that, you immediately attract the attention of the majority. To conclude this section, here’s a quick summary:

Before writing your speech, clearly define your objectives and ask, “What do I want to achieve with my presentation?”

Set goals that benefit not just yourself, but the audience as well.



Now that you’ve identified the purpose of your presentation, it’s time to move on to the next stage.

Prepare your speech

Now that you’ve identified the presentation’s purpose, it’s time to start drafting your speech or presentation. But first, it’s important to clarify the topic. To ensure the topic is crisp, clear and succinct, try out the “business card test” (i.e., can you state your main idea on only one side of a business card?) If so, you’re ready to move on. If not, keep working on it until you can. Now, it’s time to start drafting your speech. Grab a sheet of paper and at the top of the page, clearly state your topic and goal of the presentation. Then write the opening lines with 4-5 key points to follow. Next, back up these points and summarize all in the conclusion. This is your outline. Now that you’ve accomplished this, begin crafting your presentation based on the completed outline. Before moving on to the next step, let’s take a quick detour and visit one of the greatest and most notable speeches made in human history - yes, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream.” Did you know that the most important, most often-quoted and most powerful part of his entire speech, his iconic “I have a dream” statement, was made only in the last quarter of his entire presentation? It makes you wonder how he managed to capture the



full attention of over 200, 000 agitated, and angry civil rights supporters? It wasn’t his commanding authority or presence. Reverend King had a powerful introduction. He started, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” Martin Luther King, Jr. started with a strong, passionate story which set the mood for the rest of his speech. When you begin crafting your speech or presentation, remember that the most important part is the introduction. If the audience’s attention is not captured within the first 30 seconds, keeping audience attention will remain a challenge. Your introduction can make, or break, the entire speech. Remember that a strong opening is King, pun unintended. Start with a probing question, a strong statement, a personal story or even a quote. These elements not only set the mood, but also pique the audience’s attention and hooks their focus sufficiently to hook them for the rest of the presentation.

Now that you’ve crafted a powerful introduction, move on to the core presentation points. Each of these points should be augmented and supported by interesting stories, illustrations, historical references, humorous anecdotes, and examples to which the audience may be able to relate. Common stories or illustrations can creatively include references to common childhood occurrences, growing up pains or even teenage experiences, so use these stories and examples to further reinforce your point (Humans are sensory creatures). Engaging more than just one sense galvanizes audience attention and interest. Remember to include descriptive language for hearing sensory learners and vivid images for the visual sensory members of the audience. Using analogies also help audience members to connect the dots. Remember to open and close each point with a clear transition. This makes it easier for the audience to follow your story. For those selling or motivating the audience, you may even address their pain, stress on the benefits of taking immediate action, and/or suggest a recommended course of action followed by closing remarks. Now that you’ve detailed all the main points of your presentation, start writing your close. A common, but effective, conclusion is a summary. This can be followed by an appeal or a call to action to challenge the audience, which is completely dependent on your purpose and topic. Run a quick summary by the audience and, if necessary, outline clear guidelines and next actions with the information you’ve just provided so they feel like they’ve left your presentation with something tangible. Here’s a quick summary of the preparation process:



1. Identify your purpose 2. Clarify the topic 3. Draft the speech 4. Craft the introduction 5. List the main points you wish to convey 6. Write the close and end the presentation with clear step-by-step next actions

for your audience. Let’s move on to the next part of this session.

Prepare visual aids

In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s time, visual aids weren’t just a luxury, they were a hassle, and in some cases, an impossibility. Thanks to technological advances today, there are projectors in almost every event or presentation venue, or a white board with markers at the very least. Accessibility to visual aids today is easy. Why are visual aids so important? They stimulate more senses and forces audience members to link the two together. This inadvertently helps keep them awake and focused throughout your speech. Most importantly, they allow for further affirmation of your presentation points to the audience. It naturally increases the number of associations their brain makes which can heighten audience recall of your topic. Let me share with you two very commonly used, and highly



effective, visual aids that will captivate the audience’s attention and help cue you throughout the presentation. First, flip charts. Flip charts are large pads of paper mounted on a portable easel. This visual aid is best used with a relatively small audience - typically 20 or fewer - unless there’s a camera to magnify the chart for the rest of the venue. Use bold or dark colors against a white flip chart to increase the ease of reading. A flip chart can be prepared prior to your presentation, but the power of the flip chart is that it can be used for drawing or writing during the presentation. Many motivational speakers adopt the flip chart … why? Because in comparison with PowerPoint presentations, a flip chart allows the presenter to have a wider, more fluid range of body movement in order to reinforce and emphasize presentation points with gestures and body language. Next, the PowerPoint presentation. Typically, today using a laptop, a projector and Microsoft PowerPoint or the Apple Keynote program is the norm. Technological advances have allowed for dramatic, high-resolution visual aids with animation and simulations. Computer-based visual aids have become the standard for many technical, educational and even business-related presentations. PowerPoint presentation versatility makes it easy to use for both small and large audiences and can convey both simple and complex information. Today with remote control devices, visuals can change as one walks about the stage. If you’ve ever watched TED videos online, this dynamic movement is demonstrated when presenters move around the entire stage. The challenge with computer-based visuals is to keep them simple. Consider the following when crafting your presentation:

1. Font. Not only is font-size important, the choice of font affects readability significantly. Always stick to high readability fonts such as “Times New Roman”, “Arial” or “Helvetica”. San-serif fonts are preferred as they usually increase readability. Don’t worry about whether you think these fonts seem “boring” or “distasteful” … scrap that thought. The audience will thank you for making it easier on their eyes.

2. Colors. Choose colors that heighten readability. Remember that red text against a

black background is a terror to read, and vice-versa. High contract colors between background and font is key. Stick to pale, pastel backgrounds and dark text color such as black, or dark browns or grays. Black/brown or dark backgrounds should have white text color. And, remember that the text should only have a maximum of three colors. If you fear that the presentation has become too monotone, then opt for colorful images and pictures to add a splash of life to your slideshow. However, choose pictures wisely so they don’t upstage your presentation.

3. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple and Suggestive. We’re talking about the text. It’s a presentation

faux pas to read slides to the audience. Know everything inside out and only occasionally turn to slides for a cue or reference. The text in your visual aids should only allude to the main points. Supporting detail can be presented verbally. Use bullet points instead of full sentences in order to decrease the wordiness of a visual aid. This also applies for charts and diagrams. Keep them simple. Don’t present a full-fledged chart with 20 components to decipher. If the presentation requires charts and graphs, slice the data for the audience beforehand. They don’t need to know everything, only key findings and significant statistics.



4. Less is more. This relates to any animation. Use animation to reiterate a point, or even

create some drama and suspense. Animating every single word or object in the presentation is a huge no-no. Not only will it heavily distract the audience, it may also give them a headache.

To summarize:

Flip charts are great to use with smaller crowds and offers a wider range of movement.

When using PowerPoint or keynote slides as a visual aid, remember the 4 rules to increase readability and audience attention:

o Simple font o Sharp contrast and minimal colors o Keep it simple and suggestive o Less animation is more.

In conclusion, visual aids really help presentation delivery and effectiveness and their use is strongly encouraged. However, avoid the number one mistake made by many novice speakers … Don’t let visual aids control you. You control the presentation. The visual aid is merely an “aid,” not the entire show. Use aids to reinforce and support your presentation points. Don’t make visual aids the center of your entire presentation. Remember, the point of visual aids is to motivate the audience, arouse their imagination, and help them empathize with the purpose and content of your presentation. Now that speech and presentation basics are covered, let’s move on to something a little bit more practiced.



Create a Mock Presentation

One way to eliminate stress and fear before presentation day is to rehearse.

Consistent practice will not only boost confidence, it also helps you remember and become more accustomed to the material. Let me run through the basic structure of a rehearsal. First, memorize the opening sentence. This is crucial because it kicks of a rhythm that enables the rest to flow more smoothly. Next, memorize your sequence of main points in the presentation. Try to come up with acronyms for your points and run them through your mind constantly while preparing.

Also, remember the specific transitions in between each point, Relate your transition sentence to each main point for easier recall during the actual presentation. Last, remember those stories you intend to share that make the presentation more dynamic and interesting to the audience. Don’t create stories. Use actual personal experience as a basis for stories. This makes it much easier to memorize details and feelings, and the story will come more naturally. Even if you forget the flow of the story, your memory will help keep the story intimate and natural.

While practicing, it’s important to smile and speak aloud, even if you’re alone. Presenting in your head is not the same as speaking it aloud. Simulating an actual presentation even when alone can help build confidence and help create the atmosphere of an actual presentation. Simulate means going all out. Smile, use gestures, refer to visual aids, and practice posture … all this may seem silly, but it really helps increase energy and enthusiasm, which indirectly injects this same energy into the audience on presentation day. When simulating the presentation to an actual audience, start by asking friends and family to help. If nervous when speaking to a large audience, start small. Start practicing to an audience of 2 (parents or siblings perhaps). Gather their feedback and move on to a larger practice group of 4. Ask friends to sit in and provide honest opinions. Then if you’re able, move on to a practice group of 8 and so on. Remember to obtain feedback from every group and reflect on the constructive feedback for the specific things that can be improved. Ask every practice audience to be critical and forthcoming with everything. You want to learn from your mistakes, big or small, before actual presentation day. Another important best practice is to record your rehearsal. Record in video format to self-critique your own presentation aside from the practice audience. View from the



perspective of a viewer or listener and identify mistakes, flaws or hiccups. Focus attention on presentation pacing, timing, and take notes after each practice session. Last, body language is particularly important. It sends subliminal messages to the audience. Walk straight and tall, make constant and firm eye contact, smile constantly and use gestures to help inject some versatility and movement into your presentation. Not only will this convey a less wooden message to the audience, this can also help to dissipate nervous tension. To summarize, practice, reflect, practice. That’s the key to presentation success. Rehearse to small groups, slowly increase the headcount in those groups and obtain feedback from your mock audience. Record rehearsals and analyze your speech and presentation style, and place particular emphasis on body language. Day 2

Eliminate stage fright and build self confidence

Do you cringe at the thought of walking on stage? … Overcome by sweaty palms, a racing heartbeat and/or shaky legs the moment you take the first step on that platform. If so, don’t think any less of yourself. Fear of public speaking is highly common and almost everyone has experienced or felt it at one point in their lives. In fact, statistics show that



some degree of public speaking fear/nervousness affects an estimated 95% of all speakers. Recent studies in the United States reveal that fear of public speaking actually ranks higher than fear of death! It’s a bit bizarre that the general American public’s fear of facing crowds is greater than the prospect of dying? That being said, let’s dissect this common feeling in order to understand it better. Let’s start with what is fear? Fear is defined as the anticipation of pain. Yes, that’s right … Fear is not pain, but the mere anticipation of it. There are 5 causal elements of stage fright:

1. The perception or imagination that people will judge. 2. The possibility of failure. 3. The inherent need to do well in order to avoid failure. 4. The feeling of uncertainty of whether one can do well. 5. An excessive focus on one’s own behavior and appearance.

The reason why we experience uncomfortable fear symptoms is because this fear is actually a psychological condition that manifests physically via these symptoms! So, in order to prevent these symptoms, we have to conquer fear. How do we do this? By attacking every one of the 5 causal symptoms. In this session we’ll reveal 6 very simple steps to help overcome the fear of speaking to audiences on stage. Step 1: Be audience-centered. To conquer fear, remember that the presentation is not about yourself. It’s about the audience. Focus on their needs, rather than on how you’ll perform, and fears will naturally dissipate. The truth is no one really cares about voice or appearance. The audience is more interested in what you have to offer them. Concentrate on how to provide optimum benefit for the people listening to you. If you’re selling a service to other real estate agents, concentrate efforts on selling the benefits of your service to the audience. If you’re sharing a learning exercise, focus on how they can benefit with what you have to share. Whether or not you’re telling a story to build rapport or delivering a sales pitch, focusing on the audience’s needs can help ease your fear. Step 2: Accept that you make mistakes No one is born a perfect speaker. Good public speakers aren’t born, they’re made. Do you think Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered that amazing speech on his first try? He was a Reverend who had delivered countless speeches and sermons prior to “I Have A Dream”. Even he made mistakes. So, if you screw up, does it really matter? What’s most important is that you learn from your mistakes. If a mistake occurs, no one in the audience is going to disapprove if you backtrack and amend that mistake. In fact, it’s more credible that you do. In order to improve and be better, take risks. Think of your presentation as an opportunity to benefit and convey amazing information to the audience. And remember this, Thomas Edison failed thousands of times before he invented the light bulb. And did it deter him? No. His inventions, spread across the world today, are constantly innovated. Do you want to be a Thomas Edison, or stay in the shadows because you’re fearful of failing?



Step 3: Ditch all that negative self-talk Remember the causal elements of stage fright and you’ll notice that all of those elements have a recurring theme - negative self-talk. Much like how the seeds of a tree determine its fruits or end product, how we internalize things has a significant impact on how we externalize to others. This means that actions and fears are actually influenced by our subconscious minds. Negative self-talk not only drains your energy, it demotivates you. Overcome this by replacing all that negative self-talk with positive actions. Make it a daily habit to stand in front of the mirror, posture erect, and with a smile on your face. Replace the “I can’t do this,” “People will judge me” and “I’m going to fail” thoughts with phrases like “I feel energetic!” “I’m prepared and focused!” “I am delivering value to my audience!” and “The audience is my friend, not foe.” Eventually, attitude and actions will follow. Step 4: Convert fear into positive energy. In addition to making thoughts more positive, one can also convert physical behavior? Convert stage fright symptoms with the power of visualization and belief. For example, sweaty palms and a racing pulse are also symptoms of an adrenaline rush. So instead of attributing negative thoughts to a racing pulse and sweaty palms, why not channel these physical reactions as positive adrenaline energy? In other words, interpret those symptoms as excitement and optimism for your presentation? This not only eases anxiety and fear, it also kickstarts alertness and energy. Physical reactions are what you make them to be. That said, if you find yourself blanking out midway through the presentation, don’t panic. Choose one of two routes. Either be honest and tell the audience you forgot, then refer to your notes and share a self-deprecating joke on forgetfulness or take a brief side track and tell the audience an engaging, humorous or interesting story that happened to you recently. Both routes allow a minute to realign thoughts and humanize you with the audience in a moment of humor or human interest. If dry throat is a stage fright symptom, tell the organizers beforehand to prepare a glass of warm water or tea (cold drinks constrict the throat and cause more discomfort than comfort) and take an occasional sip in between your points. This not only gives the audience a minute to take notes, it also offers a moment to recoup thoughts and ready yourself for the next section. Remember to only take a sip, and not gulp down the entire glass. Step 5: Present daily This is not just about practicing every day, it’s about incorporating it into your daily life. Speaking to an audience is no different from one’s day-to-day interaction with people. With every conversation, you’re either trying to convey a message or sell an idea. Both require the same skills and elements found in a public presentation. Understanding this concept helps presenters feel much more confident and powerful on stage. When talking to friends, try to visualize being on a stage and imagine that they are your audience. How they react in that scenario is really how an audience will likely react to you on stage (with the exception that friends can actually interrupt you). A best practice for gaining confidence and overcoming fear, is to incorporate elements of your public speaking skills in daily conversations as you



interact with your broker, agent colleagues and friends and family. Be attentive to how they respond, so you can tweak and refine conversation style to produce the desired reactions. Step 6: Practice Makes Near Perfect. Although practicing was discussed earlier, its importance bears repeating. The more you know and practice the material, the more confident you’ll be. Fear of forgetting will disappear almost entirely. As previously mentioned, practice your presentation on 2 people, then 4, 8 and so on. Carefully gauge your feelings throughout the presentation as to whether it’s confidence or anxiety and record your practice audience feedback. Again, remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect at first, but know that confidence rises as you continue to practice. With time and sufficient practice, presentation skills will drastically improve to the point where you no longer have to worry about being embarrassed or making mistakes. Before moving on to the next point, let’s quickly summarize the 6 steps to help overcome stage fright:

Be audience-centered Accept that you can make mistakes Ditch your negative self-talk Convert your fear into positive energy Present daily Practice makes near perfect.

Now that you’ve got the basics of presentation preparation and the steps to eliminate stage fright, let’s move on to personalizing your presentation.



Incorporate personality into the presentation

One common trait among great presenters is that they have a distinct style that makes speeches memorable and helps inject their individual personality into the presentation. This helps keep the audience excited. Obama often incorporates slogans and refrains in his speeches, and Steve Jobs is a visual-zen master who designs strategic placements of empty slides in order to make his images stronger, and more prominent when they appear. Like Obama and Steve Jobs, allocate the time to focus on conveying your style in the most exciting manner possible. One way to incorporate personality is to integrate personal stories in your speech or presentation. This is not only an effective way of exposing the audience to who you are, it also helps them relate more emotionally and personally. A personal story that usually works well is the success / hero story. Tell a story about how you overcame some life challenge or perhaps a real estate experience relevant to the presentation. This not only allows the audience to relate, sympathize and/or empathize with you, but also adds some credibility and authority to what you’re about to share with them.

Another way of blending personality in the presentation is to illustrate your physical style. Typically, this is done by how you dress. It’s important to look the part of the message you’re trying to convey. Top Internet marketer, Frank Kern’s, selling point is freedom. This is why whenever he speaks to audiences, he’s in surf shorts, a loose t-shirt with his hair in wild disarray - he’s subliminally conveying the message of freedom to his audience. That being said, there are a few guidelines you should consider when deciding what to wear on stage.

First, keep jewelry to a minimum. Adorning yourself with too much “bling” can distract the audience from your speech, and the only thing they’ll take back with them at the end of the presentation will be how bright and shiny you were. Second, stay away from overly colorful articles of clothing. A pair of pants with stripes in 5 contrasting colors may appear a bit clownish and lessen your credibility or authority. That being said, overly monotonous clothing may blend into the background, making you irrelevant and completely unmemorable to the audience. Clothing should only augment and reinforce your point, not run the show. Always remember that the audience’s main focus should be on what you have to share with them, and nothing else.



Humor is another fantastic way to inject some personality into your presentation. Not only does it grab the audience’s attention, it also livens up the atmosphere. However, if you choose to use humor in the presentation, make sure jokes are original, and not cliché. Don’t make fun of audience members. Instead, use light self-deprecating humor that always works well. For example, if you’re a person of short stature, poke a bit of fun at your height to illustrate a point relevant to the presentation. If jokes are falling flat on the audience, don’t be dejected. Punctuate them with short, nonchalant quips such as “O.K., I’ll remember to keep that to myself the next time.” or even “Well, my mom thought it was funny. I’ll remember not to ask for her advice on humor next time.” At the end of the day, incorporating personality basically means be yourself. Your audience may not be psychic, but they’re able to see through a false persona. Therefore, there is no better physical presentation than your genuine self. So, relax, loosen up, and have a great time. A relaxed presenter automatically opens up the audience. The audience is a mirror of who you project yourself to be.



The “extra” needed to help convey a high-impact message

Let’s discuss some extra elements to add to your presentation that gives it that extra “zing” to go from good to great. Platform/stage skills play a crucial role to get the audience to not only pay attention, but to also get them excited and enthusiastic about your message. Presentation pacing, pitch, tone, voice volume all play important roles in helping to convey your message effectively. These tools help clarify, support and emphasize your message. Consistently maintaining high voice volume and loud vocal tone will make you come across as excessively authoritative or aggressive. Low volumes and soft tones may make you come across as too timid and hurt speaker credibility. A lack of vocal variation will make you sound too monotonous. The best delivery is to speak in a wide range of pitches and tones. Adding variety to your vocal pattern is a surefire way to engage audience attention and reinforce key ideas. Additionally, a well-timed moment of silence or pause can help to emphasize certain ideas, or in some situations, dramatize the message with a little suspense or anticipation. Some effective uses include pausing after telling a joke to accentuate a point of give the audience a moment to quiet their laughter. Another effective pause is right after you’re introduced to the audience as it gives them time to refocus their attention on the presentation.

Aside from tone of voice, body language and gestures are also important components. They help punctuate a more meaningful and memorable presentation. Did you know the human body contains more than 700 muscles? Only a handful of those muscles are used by speakers. Speakers tend to focus most of their attention speaking the perfect words, thereby forgetting that our bodies speak louder than words ever could. Body language doesn’t mean using your arms and fingers in a death grip clutch on the lectern, or frenetically clicking on PowerPoint slides. It means allowing your body to move naturally. While a strong message is important in a presentation, effectiveness as speaker is really about the ability to invoke attention, interest and emotion in the audience through non-verbal communication. An amazing message conveyed with terrible body language does



not get the point across. Why is that? Because listeners will judge you and your message based on what they hear and see. When speaking to an audience, body movement can be used as a very effective tool for adding emphasis and clarity to words. It also plays a very important role for convincing the audience of your enthusiasm and sincere motive to educate and share. No matter the purpose of the presentation, your projected exterior self must be appropriate and relevant to what you say.

Incorporate good body language

Outlined below are tips on how to incorporate effective body language into your presentation …

Start by maintaining eye contact with the audience. Don’t just continuously gaze throughout the room, instead, try focusing your sight on individual audience members. You’ll create a bond with them just by looking them directly in the eyes for 3-5 seconds. Using eye contact makes everyone in the audience feel involved and connected to you.

Second, during practice sessions have a listener note any distracting mannerisms such

as fidgeting, twitching, lip-biting, or any other unusual quirk. All these traits distract the audience from the presentation’s message and focuses their attention on your



nervousness and fear. This will immediately discredit your authority on the subject matter and decrease the amount of trust the audience has about your message.

Third, allow your body to move naturally by moving from one spot of the stage or

platform to another. Examples include walking to the other side of the stage as you move on to the next point or move toward the audience when you ask a question. These subtle moves help the audience subconsciously visualize your transition from one point to another and helps to emphasize certain topics.

Last, remember to smile and express facial emotions. A smile goes a long way to help

the audience open up. That being said, constantly smiling throughout the entire speech only makes you look awkward and strange. A variety of facial expressions relevant to the presentation can help further punctuate your message. Surprise, curiosity, sadness, anger are a few emotions to use for better audience visualization.

In summary …

A variety of relevant platform/stage skills and effective use of body language can help to punctuate your message and delivery.

Always vary tone of voice and body movements and apply them with relevance to the salient points in your presentation.



Day 3 Now that we’ve covered crafting your presentation, personalizing it and making it extraordinary, we can move on to more advanced items. In this session, we’ll talk about ways to help deal with an audience you’ve never met before and how to connect with them. Additionally, we’ll cover the important, and often nerve-wrecking Q&A session that normally follows a presentation.

Surveying the audience

Another core component of a strong presentation is audience interaction. The final part of any presentation - answering questions from the audience - can help build trust and further establish your credibility as an expert on the subject. However, this is the part of the presentation where you have little to no control. Therefore, the first step to successfully execute this phase of the presentation is to know the audience better. Prior to the presentation, do a quick survey of the audience. There are a few ways to accomplish this and the methods are completely dependent on the nature of your presentation. If you’re one of several speakers presenting to a large crowd of people, take a few minutes to mingle with the audience before your turn. Speak to them to determine their general age range. Ascertain if your cultural references are relevant and quickly assess their careers and stages of life.



However, if you’re speaking to board of directors of a large organization or several organizations, you may not have the luxury of mingling casually before you present. In that situation, it’s advisable to do some quick background research of these specific individuals and their respective company profiles. If you’re unable to do both, then ask the organizer for the expected or targeted audience profile and work from there. Of course, it makes sense to be as proactive as possible to research and gain some insight about your audience. Perform research even from Day 1 during your preparation phase. Here’s why going through all this trouble is worth it. By being aware of the characteristics and demographics of the audience members, you can customize the presentation and pick supporting points, anecdotes or analogies that reinforce your presentation. Speaking to a group of real estate agents, for example, is different from speaking to a group of real estate brokers. You’ll find that audience-surveying is especially important when you’re doing a technical presentation. In those situations, assess the audience’s level of awareness before crafting your presentation to make it match and engage audience expectations. Great public speakers understand that mistakes can always be overcome with audience connection, and information is greater shared with a stronger, more intimate connection. If the audience is connected, you’re less worried about forgetting a point, making an awkward statement or even looking slightly disheveled. You’re less anxious about the “what ifs” … “what if I fall?” “what if the projector breaks down and my slides are gone forever?” or “what if I … and so on.” With a connection, you’re automatically less worried as all will be forgiven. For real estate practitioners giving a presentation to a real estate related audience, survey audience members by asking questions and kickstarting conversations. Some questions/conversation kick starters to engage real estate related audience members include:

For a general real estate audience … o Tell me what real estate field you work in … o How is your business? … o Are you a business owner or work for a company? … o What do you see happening over the next year or so? … o What expectations do you have in with this seminar, event, presentation? … o Is there any disruption in your industry? … Your opinion? …

For residential/commercial real estate agents or brokers … o Do you manage, sell real estate or both? … o Where is your market located? … How is business? … o Are you in business for yourself or work for a firm? … o What do you anticipate business over the next year or so? … o How do you think this seminar, event, presentation will help you? … o Any disruptive dynamic occurring in your business today? … o What are your thoughts on the state of your industry today?



Of course, these are but a few suggestions. No doubt as you engage in conversation with audience members, many more closed and reflexive questions are inevitably asked as you converse with each member.

The all-important Q&A session It’s not farfetched to say that most presenters are extremely relieved and extremely worried at the same time when they reach this final phase of their presentation. They’re relieved that it’s now over, but their also deeply anxious about the questions that may come their way. If you find yourself in this position, remember to keep cool and the session is still within your control. The general rule of thumb for handling questions is to listen intently to the question, answer it, and then quickly bridge it to your presentation agenda. If you need a minute to think and regroup to answer the question, then repeat the question for the rest of the audience. This also helps the audience become more aware of what exactly you’re addressing.



When selecting an audience member question to answer, don’t finger point them. In many cultures, this gesture is perceived as rude and aggressive. Instead, gesture at them with your palm faced upward, as if welcoming someone. While answering the question, maintain eye contact with the person who asked the question. Give him/her a succinct, yet precise response and then move on to the next question. Maintain credibility by offering facts to support your answer and always be diplomatic. If asked a question that’s unrelated to the topic or completely outside of your field of expertise, politely explain the reason for not answering that question or even covering the topic. If asked a question in an aggressive or particularly argumentative tone, our suggestion is to give a brief answer then immediately move on. Some questioners may try and trap you into a debate which is usually time-consuming and will bore the rest of the audience. Try to avoid falling into an open debate with that individual by rephrasing their question, suggest addressing it after the presentation or offline, and quickly move on to the next question. There will come a time when you’re unsure of the answer to someone’s question. When that happens (and it will), be honest and explain that you really aren’t sure if your answer may be accurate. However, go the extra mile by promising to gather information to get the answer back to them. It’s important to obtain that person’s contact information from the organizer or the person to provide the best answer, or at least an acknowledgment. Alternatively, offer the question to other members of the audience and see how they respond.

In some situations, there may be complete silence the moment you open up the Q&A session. When that happens, many speakers may immediately move to close the session altogether and exit the stage, but if you’re greeted with silence, it may mean that you’ve either (a) lost

the audience completely, or (b) have a really shy audience. If you’ve exercised the best practices in this book, the latter option is likely the case. For example, if speaking to a primarily Asian audience, you’re less likely to be bombarded by questions due to their more bashful nature. In that situation, I would suggest not closing the session and instead share answers to some frequently asked questions about your presentation topic. This way you’re covering all bases and making sure that added value is delivered to the audience now that the presentation is over.



Engage the audience One of the keys to a successful presentation is audience participation. By involving the audience in the presentation, you’re helping them focus and better-relate to the material presented. Encourage them to take immediate action with your ideas shared after the session. Go the extra mile achieve audience participation. Your role as a speaker/presenter is not just to convey a message, but to also facilitate the absorption and the application of this message. A truly successful speaker truly cares for the audience. One of the fastest and simplest ways to stimulate audience participation is to use an ice-breaker at the very start of the presentation. Ice-breakers are particularly useful for long seminars but can also be used in shorter presentations that allow the audience to move around and shake things up before actually beginning. A good ice breaker is by asking all members of the audience to stand up and introduce themselves to at least 2 people around them and offer a short, quirky, random fact about themselves.



If time allows and it’s a large group, split your audience into small or partner groups and involve everyone in various activities. In order to fully maximize audience participation, direct the groups to elect a leader or a representative to share the group’s findings and voice their unanimous thoughts. During long presentations, it’s easy for the audience to get either groggy or antsy. Perhaps start or break up a long presentation session with exercise. Ask them to stand up, raise their arms, swing about, or even allow them to have a nice cat stretch. Perhaps even have them stand and move to upbeat before starting or continuing the presentation. Another creative way to connect with the audience and encourage interaction is to throw out a question to the group before starting your presentation. A common, but smart question is to ask what they expect to gain from the presentation, and at the end, review these points with members of the audience to highlight precisely what you’ve covered and how it matches specific expectations. This is a constructive way to allow the audience to connect the dots and actively search your presentation for key takeaways. Occasionally, you may wish to gather input from the audience. Let us share a simple and effective method for doing so. It’s called the “Ben Franklin Close”. The only materials you need are a whiteboard or flip chart and a marker. Start by splitting the paper vertically down the middle and labeling one column ‘pros’ or (+), and the other column ‘cons’ or (-). Then, instruct the audience to shout out answers and ideas while you write them down. This not only stimulates their tired minds and kickstarts thinking, it also offers a moment to recoup, rethink your presentation, and decide on follow up actions. It’s not unusual to be faced with awkward, less-sociable members of the audience. In more conservative cultures, open, casual communication and interaction is not the norm. In order to avoid awkward silences and stony glances, pre-select a handful of volunteers to be interactive, involved and help contribute to answering questions and engage in the presentation. This may help to overcome an awkwardly quiet session. In the situation where there is no response to a question, be prepared to answer it yourself. However, do not take the silence personally. Every public speaker has faced a stone-faced or less sociable audience at some point in time.



One option to encourage interaction is through “bribes”. No, not the illegal kind, but perhaps small “secret” gifts you can throw out to the more bold and outspoken members of the audience. Rewarding them for participation may stimulate others. Rewards may include inexpensive custom pens, notepads, folders or even keychains. Last, but not least, your goal is to inspire audience involvement, help them to feel good, and to motivate them to take action. Remember that people act for their own reasons and motives, not yours. Therefore, it’s important to provide them with an environment that encourages engagement and response to your message. Just a quick summary of what we just discussed:

Consider using ice-breakers prior to or during your presentation Suggest warm-up exercises or even dance movements to maintain an upbeat flow

of energy Get to know the audience and how your presentation takes them closer to meeting

their goals and expectations Consider offering small, inexpensive gifts to encourage more active participation Remember the goal is to achieve audience interaction that makes for a more

vibrant and constructive presentation session and positive audience perception of you.



Items of prepare prior to the presentation

Now that we’ve covered the basics of speech preparation, speech personalization, vocal energy, body language, platform skills, audience surveying and audience engagement, let’s move on to the final part of this course - the key items needed prior to the presentation. Here are a few quick tips to help make your presentation smooth and seamless …

1. Don’t hesitate to use cue cards. If unsure of your ability to memorize an entire speech, don’t fret, no one really expects you to. Notes or cue cards can easily be created that help with your entire presentation. Many public speakers make the mistake of printing an entire essay on a bunch of cards. Don’t fall into that trap. Remember the presentation outline created at the very beginning of the speech-crafting process? Use that outline to create a handful of cue cards. Sprinkle short notes and reminders like “Tell funny real estate story” or “Show chart about market differences.” Cue cards are extremely useful elements in any presentation, and like any other speaker, don’t hesitate to employ the cards to ensure strong presentation flow and continuity.

2. Rehearse your opening and ending repeatedly until perfected. As mentioned

previously, Introduction is King. The first few minutes, or even seconds, of your presentation will affect audience reaction, their expectations, their likely engagement, and the amount of their focus and attention.

3. Be cautious and don’t “over-rehearse.” Remember, it’s really important to be natural.

Rehearsing too much or over-thinking the presentation may make you stiff and wooden. While preparation is key, it’s critical that the presentation is conversational and natural, not memorized. Rehearse the full speech the night before and then stop. Forget it and relax … You’re ready!

4. Be mindful of “uhms and ahs,” “you knows,” etc. or any overuse of same words or

phrases over and over again. You may not notice these, but the audience will. Watch what you say and keep them to a minimum.

5. Monitor the audience. The moment you sense you’re losing them and they’re phasing

out of the presentation, adjust speech, improvise and project forcefully. Alternatively, a quick break to get them up and moving is always a good exercise as well.

Get a good night’s sleep the night before because lack of sleep results in frayed nerves … and it will show. When not sufficiently rested, you’re more likely to succumb to nerves, hand jitters, and stutters, all of which damage not only the presentation, but your credibility. Avoid all that, and if you’re not a coffee-person, don’t try to compensate for lack of rest with a cup of coffee. Caffeine does not just keep you awake, it can cause you to be overstimulated and less composed.



On the day of the presentation, arrive early. There are many benefits to arriving early:

First, you don’t want to be rushed and waltz onto the stage unprepared. Arriving early allows for an internal review prior to actually presenting. It also helps you to come across as cool, calm and collected - important components in conveying confidence. When not rushed, you’re also less likely to forget things.

Second, as mentioned previously, arriving early allows you to mingle with the audience and get to know them better. Stand outside while they’re registering and converse with them. Work to discover their goals and expectations from your presentation, or even why they decided to attend. Simple actions like that allow the audience to connect with you. This way, a bit of bonding helps you to be less anxious and/or nervous.

Last, but most important, have fun. It may sound impossible, but there are neurons in your brain called “mirror neurons.” Like their names, they mirror your actions. If energy is high and your tone upbeat, the audience will mirror the exact same thing, and reciprocally, if energy is low and your tone monotonous - they will mirror boredom.

Enjoy and be passionate about your opportunity to present. In other words... be emotionally engaged and relax … you’ll have fun!

Public Speaking for Real Estate Agents · 2018-07-09 · Eliminate Stage Fright And Build Self...

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Transcript of Public Speaking for Real Estate Agents · 2018-07-09 · Eliminate Stage Fright And Build Self...