Bring Out the Super Speaker in You! E-Book

Tillmann Luther

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 147

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

The aim of this book is to present effective, practical models of speeches on the subject of rhetoric and various other inspirational topics. The 44 examples will help you to discover and develop your potential as a persuasive public speaker.

Leseprobe

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Rhetorical topics

Can you hypnotise your audience with your rhetoric?

Free your speech of superfluous fillers!

How to improve your impromptu speaking

How to introduce yourself in a unique way

How to memorise a speech

How TED can help you to be a better speaker

Speak like Hitchcock writes!

Speakers can learn from actors

Speech is golden

The power of storytelling

The secret to becoming a super speaker

Speaking with success

Use humour in your speech!

What can we learn from the ancient orators?

Five speeches that fascinated the world

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears

Ich bin ein Berliner

I have a dream

Stanford Commencement Address

Tear down this wall!

People

Charlie Chaplin: an outstanding, outspoken orator

Winston Churchill: a consummate, compelling and charismatic speaker

David Helfgott: a fascinating phenomenon

Elon Musk: a powerful, hyper-productive personality

Eva Perón: an eloquent, charismatic yet controversial icon

Indira Gandhi: a clever, committed, captivating character

Joel Osteen: a masterful speaker with a mile-wide smile

Learn from the brilliant skills of Mezzofanti!

Lessons I’ve learnt from Shakespeare

Life lessons you can learn from Sherlock Holmes

Viktor Frankl: an inspiring life, an inspirational speaker

What would life be without a little Rossini?

Other inspirational topics

Baroque rocks!

Branding yourself

Copy the character of a cat!

Discover the Superman in you!

How to channel your anger effectively

How to get ahead

It’s by no means impossible to be a possibility thinker

The power of passion

Three things mentally strong people don’t do

To err is… feline!

Why astronomy is out of this world!

Why I cherish the merits of chess

Why I’m mesmerised by mathematics

Preface

The aim of this book is to present helpful, practical models of speeches on the subject of rhetoric and various other inspirational topics.

The book also draws attention to the words and works of a variety of speakers, some more famous than others, from which you can greatly benefit.

For the structure of the speeches, the rule of three has been consciously applied. This may seem a little rigid at first glance, but it is a deliberate decision: the human brain is conditioned to respond positively to a threefold pattern, and this structure has been used intentionally and consistently in the book as a training exercise.

As far as content and language are concerned, all the speeches were deliberately composed in a clear, simple form: the simpler the speech, the better it is for both the speaker and the audience, because the presenter can speak without notes and the listeners can follow the speech with the greatest of ease.

Study these speeches, apply the basic rhetorical patterns, tips and tricks to your own presentations, and bring out the super speaker in you!

Acknowledgements

The Rhetoric Clubs of Zurich and Bern

I must confess that I wasn’t always a very effective or enthusiastic speaker and communicator. However, through studying numerous books on rhetoric, through rhetorical training and through practical application, I was able to greatly improve my performance. I polished my skills with Toastmasters International, a worldwide non-profit organisation which helps members to improve their public speaking skills step by step. I would recommend anybody interested in public speaking to join a rhetoric club.

I started my rhetorical journey with Toastmasters in Zurich. In 2013, I had the good fortune to meet a number of other creative rhetoric enthusiasts, and together we founded a new club in Bern.

My special thanks go to my English teacher, Barbara Baker, for her corrections, suggestions and extremely valuable advice.

Nor should my patient listeners be forgotten. Due to their muchappreciated support, I have been able to continuously develop my rhetorical skills.

My sincere thanks to each and every one of you.

Rhetorical topics

Can you hypnotise your audience with your rhetoric?

Just imagine: your audience is spellbound, hanging on every word you say. “That’s just fantasy! I don’t have a magic wand!” I hear you exclaim. But you really can achieve this by hypnotising your listeners with your rhetoric – without turning them into zombies, of course!

First of all, what is hypnotic rhetoric?

The American psychiatrist Milton Erickson postulated that there are certain speech patterns we use. We programme our listeners with these patterns in every conversation we have.1 By doing so, we can reduce critical thinking, and the embedded speech patterns influence – or hypnotise – our listeners.

In this way, hypnotic rhetoric can be a powerful means to influence people and their opinions, either positively or negatively. So every speaker and listener should pay close attention to this indirect form of manipulation.

Secondly, what are the typical tricks of hypnotic rhetoric?

Hypnotic rhetoric comes in many forms.

First, there’s the ‘embedded command’. An ‘embedded command’ is a way of suggesting an idea without seeming to do so. Implanting the idea in the listener’s mind makes your suggestion more subtle.

This can be done, for instance, by using negatives: “Don’t think of a dog!” or “Don’t think of the colour red!” or “Don’t look in the box!” This will induce the person to think of a dog, to think of the colour red, and probably to look in the box.

Of course, an embedded command can also work without negation. Here’s an example: “Beware how easy it is to say to yourself: ‘From now on, everything will be easier!’”

Another device is ‘thought reading’. You can frequently find this speech pattern in commercials: “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering whether this item is too expensive. Well, I have a big surprise for you!” You may be wondering right now if thought reading really is effective. Well, yes, it is… Did you notice what I just did?

There’s also the ‘yes-set’. Ask your audience some questions to which the answer is ‘yes’. Then, pose a question to which you in fact want the answer to be ‘yes’, as in this sequence:

Do you want to be a better speaker? Do you want to be convincing to your audience? Do you want to buy my book Bring Out the Super Speaker in You?

At this point, many people find it difficult to say ‘no’.

Thirdly, what can you gain from studying hypnotic rhetoric?

Knowledge of hypnotic rhetoric protects you from many kinds of manipulation. And, yes, there are plenty of people who want to manipulate you!

Advertisers use speech patterns, as I mentioned before, but there are other offenders – for example, politicians, your boss, or anybody else who wants to influence you. Of course, there are plenty of good, well-meaning politicians and bosses, but there are many black sheep, too!

The French polymath Gustave Le Bon once wrote: “The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master…”2 A good illustration of this is Joseph Goebbels. He manipulated millions of people through his speeches and his propaganda. But this doesn’t only apply to the masses. It applies to each and every one of us.

Knowing how to use these techniques is in any case a valuable skill for any speaker or presenter to master. It’s another arrow in your quiver of rhetorical resources to make you a highly effective and influential communicator.

As you can clearly see, hypnotic rhetoric can be both positive and negative. Pay close attention to any speaker who might be using it to exploit you! See through their game, and don’t be gullible!

Use the positive techniques of hypnotic rhetoric to your advantage and also to protect others from negative, manipulative or destructive rhetoric! Then your listeners really can hang on your every word without fear!

1https://hypnosociety.com/examples-of-conversational-hypnosis/

2 Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (The Floating Press, 2009), 137.

Free your speech of superfluous fillers!

“Today… uh… I’d like… um… to give… er… a short speech… but I’m… you know… perhaps not… um… a very good speaker… Well… um… okay… I’ll try…”

Sorry – that didn’t sound very good, did it?

Why not? Because I used too many fillers!

First of all, what on earth are fillers?

Fillers are words and phrases we use if we need time to think about what we want to say. They’re ubiquitous in English and all other languages. Other common fillers include “I think” or “I mean” (Of course you think so, and you mean it! That’s why you’re saying it!), or “What I’m trying to say is”, “as I said”, “like”, “you see”, and countless more.

The list of filler words and phrases is endless. You can collect them like stamps or Panini pictures of football players!

But here’s another question about fillers:

Secondly, why are fillers so annoying and distracting?

Some people say that filler words and phrases make a speaker sound more natural or authentic. Michael Erard, an American journalist and author, advances this concept in his entertaining book Um…: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.3 However, not many public speakers share his opinion.

In fact, fillers weaken the clarity and power of your speech. They interfere with your listeners’ ability to follow your train of thought and to understand your message. They get on people’s nerves. They can undermine your credibility. In the worst case, the message you’re trying to share with your audience can be completely lost. Filler words are superfluous, unnecessary and redundant.

So avoid using these annoying words! Without them, you’ll be a much more effective speaker! But what can you do to eliminate them? That’s my next point.

Thirdly, how can you avoid fillers?

There are countless tips and tricks that can help you.

Silence can indeed be golden! Pause and reflect for a moment before you answer a question. If you need time to think, repeat the question you’ve been asked. Try to control your breathing with your diaphragm. Talk more slowly. Use short sentences.

Above all, do one thing: think about why you’re using fillers. One reason why speakers do so is to avoid pauses, because they’re afraid someone in the audience will try to cut them short. But that’s wrong! If you’re presenting an interesting topic, no one should want to interrupt you!

My recommendation for tackling the filler word problem is very simple: ask a friend, a colleague or a family member to point out any fillers you use.

You could also make an audio or video recording of yourself, then check your recording. How often do you use fillers? Which words or phrases do you use repeatedly? Many people are surprised by how often they say “uh”, “um”, “you know”, etc. It can be a real revelation!

Finally, why don’t you join a rhetoric club? The practice and training will help you!

The good news is that once you become aware that you’re using fillers, you’ve taken the first step towards making them disappear.

Try to free your next speech of unnecessary fillers, and I’m sure you’ll reap rich rewards! Never give up! With patience and practice, your presentation will be perfect – full of entertaining facts and interesting information instead of annoying, distracting and superfluous fillers!

3 Michael Erard, Um…: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean (New York: Pantheon, 2007).

How to improve your impromptu speaking

Can you imagine anything more stressful than being asked to give a speech on the spur of the moment? Most people would panic, and probably babble incoherently before coming to an unceremonious stop!

Impromptu speeches – what a nightmare! But have you ever thought about actually preparing and practising speaking off the cuff?

First of all, why should you practise delivering impromptu speeches?

Impromptu speech permeates our everyday life. We’re constantly talking to our customers, our bosses and our acquaintances, and we use impromptu speech in all kinds of situations, both consciously and subconsciously.

Besides these typical everyday exchanges, there are many special situations which require us to speak without preparation:

Your boss spontaneously asks you to summarise the latest developments in your current project.

Or, you’re unexpectedly asked to say a few words of welcome to a large gathering of people.

Or, a friend is celebrating his birthday, and he asks you to say a few words.

Do you see what I mean? There are so many occasions when you might have to give an impromptu speech, and there are just as many reasons to practise talking off the cuff.

Secondly, how can you successfully deliver an impromptu speech?

It’s a good idea to use speech templates. These templates can help you to organise your speech by giving you an adaptable structure. I’ll give you some examples:

There’s the template of past, present, future. Suppose you’ve been asked to deliver a speech for a colleague who’s celebrating his birthday. You could talk about a special memory, talk about the current celebration, and finally, finish your speech with good wishes for the future.

Another template is that of thesis, antithesis, synthesis. What are your arguments in favour of a project, what are your arguments against it, and what’s your recommendation?

Other useful templates include:

Situation, emotion, resolution What is, what should be, what should be done Local, national, international

There are, of course, countless other possibilities!

I also highly recommend compiling your own set of templates. When you find new ideas, add them to your list.

Also, whenever appropriate, tell an entertaining story to liven up your impromptu speech. Stark facts are much less appealing than amusing anecdotes!

Another good tip is to plan an effective ending with, for example, a summary of your main points, or an appeal to your listeners’ emotions.

Thirdly, how can you practise delivering impromptu speeches?

Make a point of keeping up to date with the latest news.

I once received a request for a radio interview in Bern, to be broadcast nationally. I was half expecting the presenter to challenge me to give an impromptu speech. So in the hour before the interview, I carefully listened to the news of the day, and – surprise, surprise! – the presenter did indeed ask me to remark on an item in the news. Thanks to my lastminute cramming, I managed to produce a coherent, off-thecuff commentary!

In any case, make sure you take every opportunity that presents itself to put theory into practice with a short, unprepared speech.

You should always expect to be confronted with situations in which you need to speak off the cuff, so be prepared for your next impromptu speech. With a little practice, you’ll soon master the technique!

Above all, you should never be afraid of giving impromptu speeches. Learn to expect the unexpected and you’ll never be taken by surprise – and you’ll fully relish the feeling of successful, off-the-cuff fluency!

How to introduce yourself in a unique way

I’m sure you’ve all experienced round after round of boring introductions to speeches. They mostly follow the same system and lull listeners to sleep. The first one begins as follows: “Hello, my name is A, I live in B, I work as a C and my hobbies are D and E.” The next speaker and the one after him do it in exactly the same way. This is a very effective way to kill the attention of your listeners! Five minutes after they’ve all rattled off their introductions, nobody will remember the details anymore!

But that doesn’t have to be the case. You can introduce yourself in a much more memorable manner. Here are three examples of how you can leave a lasting impression on your listeners:

First of all, use numbers, not mind-numbing facts!

I’ve often entertained my audience with this technique:

“The following three numbers describe me the best: 62-31-22. These numbers aren’t my vital statistics. They aren’t my telephone number. They aren’t my lucky lottery numbers. These numbers mean: I’m 62 years old; I’m a pastor, so I’m a kind of shepherd, and I have a flock of 31 villages in the Valais, where I’ve lived for 22 years. I want to talk about my hobbies, too. The first one is rhetoric. The second one is rhetoric. And yes, you’ve guessed it, the third one is rhetoric, too! By the way, my name’s Tillmann Luther.”

Now it’s your turn! How can you describe yourself using numbers?

Think about it, and apply it at the very next opportunity!

Secondly, use a star to make your introduction sparkle!

I got this idea from a German public speaker called Michael Rossié. It’s very easy: just draw a star! In each point of the star,4 write a headword in answer to these questions:

What distinguishes you from other people? What’s important for you? What has greatly influenced your personal development? What are your hobbies and special interests? What are your hopes for the future? … and so on.

Then, pick out two or three points and start your presentation – and reveal your name as late as possible. This is guaranteed to be a memorable experience for your listeners!

Thirdly, use storytelling to create suspense!

Introduce yourself with a story. Do it directly, without any explanations or superfluous reflections. The best, of course, is a personal anecdote. The more personal, the better. You’ll find an anecdote of mine under the title Speech is golden