4. [ABOUT]
THE AUTHOR
Akash Karia is an award winning
speaker and communication skills
trainer who has been ranked as one of
the Top Ten speakers in Asia Pacific.
He has won over forty public speaking
championships, including the
prestigious title of 2012 Hong Kong Champion of
Public Speaking. He is an in-demand international
speaker who has spoken to a wide range of audiences
including bankers in Hong Kong, students in
Tanzania and yoga teachers in Thailand.
SPEAKERS FEATURED IN THIS
BOOK
Craig Valentine, MBA, an award-winning
speaker and trainer, has traveled the world
helping speakers keep their audiences riveted
and on the edge of their seats. He is the 1999
World Champion of Public Speaking for
Toastmasters International, winning out of more than
25,000 contestants in 14 countries.
4
5. Darren LaCroix is the World
Champion of Public Speaking. He
out-spoke 25,000 contestants from
14 countries to win that title. As a
keynote speaker since 1994, he brings
his incredible story to conferences around the world.
He is consistently the top rated speaker at
conferences.
Lisa Panarello is an engaging,
edutaining Empowerment Coach and
the Founder & President of Careers
Advance. In 2010, Lisa rose above
30,000 international contestants to
Finalist in Toastmaster’s World
Champion of Speaking Contest. Her dynamic Key
Note speeches, powerhouse seminars and interactive
workshops have inspired over 550,000 students and
professionals nationwide.
Jock Elliott is the 2011 World Champion of
Public Speaking, placing him in an elite club
of the best speakers from around the world.
Jock is a very successful public speaker. He
holds 24 state, national and international
speaking titles. He has competed as a finalist
in the ‘World Championship of Public
Speaking’ six times and was second runner-up in 1994.
5
6. In this book, Akash will reveal to you the public
speaking techniques he and the other award-winning
speakers in this book use to keep their audiences
engaged, excited and entertained.
6
7. [CONTENTS]
Introduction
Be Twice the Speaker in Half the Time 9
Chapter One
Speech: Your Dream is Not for Sale by Craig Valentine 18
Evaluation Exercise #1 26
Chapter Two
How to Keep Your Audience Engaged, Excited and
Entertained 30
Speaking Toolkit Summary #1 66
Application Exercise #1 69
Akash’s Recommended Resources 73
Chapter Three
Speech: Ouch! by Darren LaCroix 77
Evaluation Exercise #2 83
Chapter Four
How to Use Head, Heart and Humor to Deliver a Winning
Speech 85
Speaking Toolkit Summary #2 116
Application Exercise #2 119
Akash’s Recommended Resources 122
Chapter Five
Speech: Mission I’m Possible by Lisa Panarello 126
Evaluation Exercise #3 132
Chapter Six
How to Package Your Expertise in a Presentation 134
Speaking Toolkit Summary #3 145
Application Exercise #3 146
7
8. Akash’s Recommended Resources 150
Chapter Seven
Speech: Just So Lucky by Jock Elliott 153
Evaluation Exercise #4 158
Chapter Eight
How to Craft a Speech that Keeps Your Audience
Mesmerized 160
Speaking Toolkit Summary #4 175
Application Exercise #4 177
Akash’s Recommended Resources 181
Chapter Nine
Q&A with Lisa Panarello 182
Speaking Toolkit Summary #5 187
Chapter Ten
Your Free Bonus 188
Chapter Eleven
One Final Application Exercise 190
[Contribute a Technique] 192
[Next Step] 193
[69 Blogs to Make You a Better Speaker] 194
[Acknowledgements] 199
8
9. Introduction
Be Twice the Speaker in Half the
Time
“As long as there are human rights to be defended; as
long as there are great interests to be guarded; as
long as the welfare of nations is a matter for
discussion, so long will public speaking have its
place.”
William Jennings Bryan
You’re here for a reason.
You’re here because you want to transform
your speaking skills and become a powerfully
persuasive speaker.
This book will give you the tools you need to do
just that. It will save you years of trial and error and
show you the blueprint for creating a winning speech.
You’ll pick up proven public speaking techniques that
will help you become twice the speaker you are today.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re shy, whether you’re
an introvert or whether you don’t have much
experience being on stage, as long you’re willing to
learn, I can teach you the secrets to becoming a great
speaker.
9
10. So, what exactly will you learn in this book?
What tools and tactics will you pick up?
By the time you finish this book, you will have
mastered the art of storytelling so that you can keep
your audience mesmerized. You will pick up delivery
tools that will allow you to command the stage and be
a dynamic speaker. You will know how to add humor
to your speech and keep your audience laughing as
well as learning. In just the first chapter alone, you
will pick up twenty-nine super specific tools on how to
keep your audience engaged, excited and entertained.
Learning from Four World-Class
Speakers
What’s the best way to become a great speaker?
It’s by studying other great speakers,
uncovering the techniques they use and applying
those same principles to your presentations.
In this book, you will study the speeches of four
great speakers.
You will read a powerful speech by Craig
Valentine, who is the 1999 World Champion of Public
Speaking. The tools you pick up from Craig’s speech
will enable you to craft compelling stories that keep
your audience hooked onto your every word. If you’re
10
11. looking to create your signature story for your
keynotes, then the tools from Craig’s speech will be
priceless.
You also will read a speech by Darren LaCroix,
the 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking. The
chapter on Darren’s speech will enable you to create
speeches that contain head, heart and humor. If
you’re a competitive speaker, then Darren’s speech is
the perfect speech to study. However, even if you’re
not competing in any speech contests, studying
Darren’s speech will equip you with tools that will
fast-track your growth as a speaker.
The third speech is by Lisa Panarello, who
placed among the top ten speakers in the world in
2010. Studying Lisa’s speech will equip you with tools
you need to deliver clear, information-packed “how-
to” speeches. If you’re a trainer or someone who has
to deliver informational speeches, Lisa’s speech will
show you how to design, develop and deliver effective
informational speeches.
Finally, you will study Jock Elliott’s winning
speech from the 2011 World Championship of Public
Speaking. You will learn how to arouse your
audience’s emotions using value-based language, how
to use the stage masterfully and how to close your
speech with impact and inspiration.
The reason I chose the above four speakers is
because they’ve proven themselves to be among the
11
12. best speakers in the world. Each year, more than
250,000 members in 92 countries around the world
have the opportunity to participate in the
Toastmasters International Speech Contest. This
contest is regarded as the Olympics of Public
Speaking. Competitors deliver speeches that are
judged on message, speech development, speech value
and delivery.
After six stages of contests, the competition
culminates in the World Championship of Public
Speaking Finals, where ten of the best speakers in the
world compete against each other for the prestigious
title of World Champion of Public Speaking.
Because of the fierceness of the competition, all
four speakers have spent hundreds of hours crafting
and editing the speeches you’re about to read. They
have spent agonizing hour after agonizing hour
editing and re-editing their speeches, examining each
word to make sure that it creates the intended effect
on their audience. They’ve invested thousands of
dollars in coaching to create the best speech possible.
I realize that you may not have the time or the
dedication required to spend as much time crafting
your speeches and presentations. However, by
studying these speeches, you will pick up hundreds of
public speaking tools that you can use immediately to
make your presentations world-class.
12
13. No Fluffy Advice - For Serious Speakers
Only
This book contains a gold mine of speaking
information. However, here’s what you won’t find in
this book. You won’t read any fluffy tips about
smiling, making eye contact or dressing appropriately
for a speech.
Why? Because this book is written for serious
speakers. As such, I’m expecting that you’ve had some
experience speaking in public. Maybe you’ve already
read a couple of books about public speaking and
presentation skills. Maybe you’re a member of
Toastmasters. Or maybe you’re a professional speaker
who’s looking for advanced speaking techniques to
make you an even better speaker
But, what if you are a new speaker? Does that
mean you should not read this book? This book will
benefit both new and advanced speakers, but just
don’t expect any fluffy advice such as “make sure you
stand straight.” If you’re looking for that kind of
advice, you should look somewhere else.
Your Workbook
This book is jam-packed with exercises that will
double your growth as a speaker in half the time. It
contains evaluation exercises that will teach you how
13
14. to break apart speeches so that you can study
individual components to see what works and what
doesn’t. It also contains application exercises that will
challenge you to apply the tools you’ve learned. These
exercises serve as your personal workbook, so print
them out and do the exercises.
Furthermore, I encourage you to form a
speakers reading group where you can read this book
together. Read and discuss the speeches together so
that you can learn from each other as well as from the
book. At the very least, find a speaking buddy with
whom you can do the Evaluation and the Application
Exercises in the book.
If you study the speeches, thoroughly read
through each chapter and do all the exercises, I
guarantee that you’ll be twice the speaker that you are
today.
How can I be so confident that the principles in
this book will work for you? Because they’ve worked
for me. Before I discovered the principles in this book,
I struggled to keep my audiences engaged. So I
desperately searched for a formula that would help me
create effective, engaging presentations. From 2008
to 2012, I read more than eighty books on public
speaking. I invested thousands of dollars on
presentation skills DVDs, audios and in coaching with
some of the best speakers in the world.
14
15. The principles you’re about to discover in this
book are the result of all the training and coaching
undergone. They are the result of all the thousands of
hours of stage time I’ve accumulated, the mistakes
I’ve made and the coaching I’ve done. I am sharing
with you the principles that took me from being a
struggling speaker to becoming a national public
speaking champion so that you don’t have to go
through all the years of trial and error I went through.
I want to save you the frustration I went through.
Over the past several years, I have been
fortunate enough to share these principles with
thousands of people from all walks of life – CEOs of
large companies, investment bankers and even yoga
teachers!
But let me share with you the story of an
ordinary guy called John. John is a smart guy – a
really smart guy! He works at one of the top law firms
in Hong Kong. John came to me for coaching because
he had virtually zero experience presenting to a group
of people. In his previous job as an accountant, he
only had to deal with numbers. Now, in his new job at
the law firm, he suddenly was expected to stand in
front of a group of people and clearly explain technical
accounting concepts. Oh, no! John was panicking
because his next presentation was only four days
away. John and I spent four days working on his
presentation content and delivery – I drilled into him
the same concepts you’re going to be learning in this
book.
15
16. The result? John’s first presentation was a
massive success! His boss loved his presentation so
much she could not stop complimenting him on his
“terrific speaking skills!” When John told his boss
about me, she sent me an email asking if I could “work
the magic” on the rest of her team.
The principles in this book have worked for me,
they’ve worked for John and they’ve worked for the
thousands of people I’ve coached and trained over the
years. They can work for you too.
So, if you’re ready to become a powerfully
persuasive speaker and keep your audiences engaged,
entertained and excited, let me share with you the
magic behind public speaking…
Akash Karia
www.CommunicationSkillsTips.com
Malaysia
1 January 2013
16
