Writing and flow can make your speech transformative

Good writing is the linchpin of a presentation. As a Toastmaster, I hear a lot of speeches. The good ones have a beginning, middle and end. The bad ones take the listeners along a path that leads to a fog – they don’t know where the speech is going.

Near hits are those that have a great opening, good solid points, descriptive examples and personal stories that connect, but at the point of wrapping up the speech – the speaker veers onto a tangent before ending it.

Why did the speaker throw in this extraneous element? When writing, your speech should have a  flow to it. Do the points you are making lead logically from one to another? Do your real-life examples support a point or are you just adding them for comic relief? Everything that goes into a presentation – facts, examples, humor and statistics – needs to support the message you want to impart.

A good speech is like a river, it takes the audience on a journey.
Photo by Liz Cezat; Virgin River, Zion National Park

When writing a speech, if it appears that you have too much stuff in the form of a double ending or content that doesn’t flow, you need to closely examine the extraneous elements. If an element is indeed a supporting point of the speech, put it where it belongs. Maybe it needs to go toward the front of your presentation or in the middle. It if doesn’t fit anywhere, cut it out. Think of great films and how many scenes are left on the cutting room floor.

Now, picture a river with a strong current. You want to take your audience in at one point (set the stage), and then have them travel with you along that river – learning and ideally being entertained as they go. At the end, put them on solid ground with new knowledge gained. Give your speech legs – take-away points the audience can either act on or reflect upon.

It’s true that the audience forgets much of what is said in a speech, but if you can create a good flow to your speech and have an ending that wraps up the most important points, the audience will be delighted not only with the presentation but with you as an expert.

Exceptional speeches stick with audiences for years because they’ve imparted new knowledge. Your words can motivate your audience or inspire them to change a behavior or viewpoint. With a bit more attention to content and flow, your speeches can be transformative.

If you need a professional speech writer, please contact me at info@cezatcreative.com

After the speech ... lead with the news

Get more mileage out of speeches by writing them "news style" for newsletters and press releases. (Photo by Liz Cezat)

Leading with the news is one of the best ways to get a reader’s attention. When it comes to reporting on an executive’s speech, many corporate publications and association newsletters write a lead only telling who spoke and where they spoke – rather than what was said.  Then, the writer may throw in a bunch of background information, such as the audience included members of an ad hoc committee that is working on shoring up quality standards in the industry. (ho hum).

Who wants to sift through a bunch of corporate-speak before getting to the meat of the article? If written news style (typically how journalists write for print media and corporate newsletters), the lead sentences should contain the elements of “who, what, when and where” – “why” is optional.  

The “what” would be the most important take-away from the speech. Any good speech typically has one to three main points that the speaker wants the audience to know. The other main points can be elaborated on further down in the article. But they too should come before a wordy explanation of what the ad hoc committee does.

Think of an inverted pyramid, with the most important information at the widest point (or at the beginning of an article), supported by details as you read on. The very end of the article – the tip of the pyramid – should contain the background information that is nice to have but not essential to the story. That way, if readers don’t finish the article, they still have the main take-away points.

The beauty of using a freelance writer, such as myself, is that I know how to structure the article (or press release) to get the key concepts across in an informative and engaging manner. Too often, the staff writer may actually only be wearing that hat in addition to performing HR functions. Or, the staff writer may be too immersed in industry jargon to deliver the news from the speech in a fresh, reader-friendly manner.

Take a look at your company's press releases regarding speeches and see what approach is taken. Is it "corporate speak" or news style?

Find bigger donors through social media

It’s no secret that fundraisers keep dossiers on people of high net worth when they are cultivating them for a major gift. To speed up the time frame between collecting information and getting to the “ask,” it pays to link-up with or follow some high net worth individuals online.

Many high net worth individuals have staff or assistants who do their social networking for them. You may need to go the circuitous route: follow their companies, their spokespeople or their foundations. Chances are they don't have a Facebook page but check anyway. Some may be on LinkedIn. Their foundations or companies likely have a Twitter account. These high net worth individuals can be tracked online in some fashion.

For universities, alumni are a major group of supporters. If you are a fundraiser at a college, join your organization’s alumni group on LinkedIn. Glean information from alumni about their allegiance to their alma mater, find out how many received scholarships and frame a question about whether they would support a student through a scholarship. Make the initial “ask” in a conversational manner rather than a formal request. Then follow-up with a phone call, e-mail or personal visit. Don’t put someone on the spot on a visible communication stream.

On Twitter, search for: family foundation, CEOs, and board of directors. These categories could produce some surprising new sources of donors or advisers who work with high net worth individuals.


Get creative about finding your supporters online. Do you follow prospective supporters and funders? Have you made a successful “ask” of someone who you met on social media? Share your story.

A potential donor inquires about supporting the Heidelberg Project in Detroit. (Photo by Liz Cezat.)

13 ways to make life better in 2013

Irma Thomas, Soul Queen of New Orleans, performed rousing spirituals at Noel Night in Detroit. 

Photo by Liz Cezat.

These “daily living tips” can apply to both your personal and professional life. I’m a bit rusty practicing some of these, but know they have the power to keep me grounded and also soar. I debated about whether to put this on my professional or personal blog, but decided on the former to give you a sense of who I am aside from being a writer and marketing consultant.

May this be a great year for you and those you are closest to. Here are my top 13 tips:

1.     Love. It’s the most important thing in life.

2.     Fix things that are broken. (Your relationship. Your car. Your computer. Your house. Your clothing. Your skis. You get the picture.) The more things are left broken, the harder they are to repair or replace – cost-wise and psychologically.

3.     Find your strengths and skills and apply them daily. It will give you a sense of accomplishment.

4.     Eat vegetables. It helps ward off disease.

5.     Find a sport or exercise that you like and do it regularly. I’ve been swimming three miles a week for nearly 30 years. A woman that I met at the fitness center has been running 20 miles a week for 25 years. Your exercise regimen doesn’t have to impress anyone, it just needs to make you feel good & stay fit.

6.     Pay attention to your money. I’m reading Suze Orman books so I don’t fear money management.

7.     When things get rough for you, help someone else. Let people know you are having a setback, so they can give you some support.

8.     Smile at a stranger. It will make you feel better, especially if they smile back.

9.     Motivate one another. A compliment. An attaboy. It empowers us to do our best. I’m writing this blog post because I was inspired by Scott Frangos, who gave me an endorsement for social media on LinkedIn.

10. Organize your office, your home, your closets, your car. You can find things faster and get rid of things that bog down your life.

11.  Plan something.  A party. A vacation. Lunch with a business associate. A seminar. It gives you something to look forward to.

12. Don’t over think anything. Perform an action that puts into practice what you are thinking.

13. Find a spiritual outlet. For me, it’s God. But it’s also nature. I pray the rosary for those who are sick or in need of prayers.

Let me know what you think of these and feel free to add some of your own.

Presentations must take root to take effect

-->

While ideas made during a presentation might be soaring, like this
gorgeous artwork in Tacoma, Wash., a good speaker must also make them concrete.  Photo by Liz Cezat.

As executives and leaders, we are highly motivated to connect with others in our presentations. It excites us to speak in front of an audience of listeners who may be forever changed by what we tell them. We want to share what we know about a particular subject so that the audience can benefit from our knowledge, expertise and experience.

My presentation roster focuses on three subjects:

1.     How to write effective e-mails

2.     Marketing professional services

3.     Connect with key audiences through social media

My goal is for the salient points to take root and ultimately become a part of an individual’s work habits. Toward that end, it’s not enough to simply hear an idea expressed, the audience must also be shown how to activate it. I provide work sheets so the audience can incorporate new ideas discussed during the presentation into their process. To make it stick, I often provide concrete examples of how an action has yielded results. And we all want results, don’t we?

The strongest points of a presentation should be available on handouts and in slides for future reference. I also send follow-up e-mails to the audience to reinforce points made during the presentation. These e-mails can be spaced a week or two after the presentation to remind participants of the salient points. I remind them that I’m available via e-mail or phone as a resource if they have any questions about what they learned. The e-mails also serve as positive reinforcement to those who have already incorporated the new ideas into their workflow process.

Speakers are messengers of the moment. What we say strikes a chord based on the life experience of the listener and their openness to receiving that message. But too often, the message is fleeting. Heard but forgotten. To make that spark of a new idea take root, the reinforcement tools of handouts, work sheets, slides and e-mails take the lessons learned one step further – being deployed into a worker’s process.

Three rules of alignment as a small business owner

If you have your own agency – PR firm, marketing consultancy, graphic design agency, career coach, etc.) – there are three practices that must be in alignment. Before I tell you what my best practices are, think about what’s most important in your
business and let’s see if we are on the same page.

Photo by Liz Cezat. Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, Mich.

In my practice, I have determined that these are the most important trio of traits: discipline, focus and making connections. Talent is a given. If you didn’t have talent, you wouldn’t be pursuing a small agency model because no one would hire you.

Here’s a rundown of the trio.

1. Discipline. If you have your ducks in a row – business plan is set, client base is steady, office systems are up and running – attend to client work first. Whether you do it yourself or assign it to a partner, associate or freelancer – get the project in the works and manage it. Take care to produce the results that the client has specified. No surprises. Fulfill the need – on time, within budget and meet expectations.

2. Focus. There are so many distractions in a day. If you are focused on what you do best, then you shouldn’t have a problem getting the work done. Focus can make the hours seem like minutes. Work on your most challenging client projects at prime time. Are you most productive at 7 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. or 5 p.m.? Know your cycle. Once you can accomplish your client work in a focused manner, try to use that strategy for the work that you don’t like to do. Establish a specific time to do billing, make prospecting calls, and organize your projects, and then focus solely on that. It then becomes routine.

3. Connections. Set aside time daily, weekly and monthly to fortify your connections and meet new people. How can this be readily achieved? Reach out on social media – that can be a daily practice. Attend one to two meetings a week to get the word out about your business and forge new partnerships. Make calls – no robocalls please – or send personalized e-mails. Attend meetings that your clients and prospective clients attend. Learn what matters to them and what they want from your company. Follow up with a LinkedIn invite or ‘nice to meet you’ note. Then, stay engaged. Be pleasantly persistent.

Set up appointments based on interest and the need to see clients face-to-face before they sign up for your services. If you can build trust via your brand (website, white papers, blog, collateral marketing pieces), a phone call or e-mails, a meeting may not be needed.

Follow this triad of business practices and your agency or solo practice will be humming along.

Research and interviews that make the grade

With the Internet resources today, interviews and reports are much more compelling and a whole lot easier to research and write. When I first started my business in 1994, doing background preparation for a CEO speech or a major profile was like going down a blind alley on the Internet. It took hours, involved looking at horsey typeface (typically multi-colored and different fonts), had few if any decent pictures, and often led to dead-ends.

What's the story behind these newlyweds? (Photo by Liz Cezat)

Now there’s Google and other snappy search engines that take you where you want to go in a matter of seconds. In preparation for interviews, I typically “google” the person or subject to supplement what I already know. It is through this compilation of written reports and YouTube videos that I gather the kernels of questions I will ask the interviewee.

Aside from my own curiosity, I am guided in my writing by the audience of the newsletter, magazine or report. What do the readers want to know about this person or topic?

If they are donors, they often want to know what motivates a philanthropist to donate to a specific cause. Was there an incident in their childhood that caused them to favor a certain nonprofit organization as an adult? Did one of their children sustain a debilitating injury or chronic illness that changed the family’s life? Readers are also curious about the type of business or investments that enable a philanthropist to be a major supporter of an organization.

For alumni publications read by both recent graduates and older alumni, learning about a fellow alum’s path to success is always of interest. Poignant stories that tell of a special relationship connect with readers emotionally. Did the couple elope at 18 in order to leave the country and start a new restaurant chain that made them multi-millionaries? Reports about how an individual overcame adversity or seized an opportunity make for riveting reading.

I try to ferret out the unique aspects of an individual and that typically comes out during the actual interview. Thus, I must be alert to where the conversation is going if it strays from my set questions. If the thread of the interview takes me to a new place, I tend to explore it. That thread may reveal information that makes the finished article much different than it otherwise would have been. Whenever possible, I also ask colleagues or friends of the individual for insight into his/her personality, actions or achievements.

Let me know if you have a topic or individual that your organization or business wants to highlight in a newsletter, blog, magazine or special report. I’d be happy to do the research and writing.