How do I speak and present like Obama?

http://www.bnet.com/2403-13074_23-290100.html?promo=808&tag=nl.e808

1. Talk About the Audience’s Concerns

Tell OUR story before telling YOUR own.

Start your talk by broadly defining the situation that your listeners face. Then, once you’ve got them nodding their heads in agreement, move on to describe the problems or challenges that are on their minds.

Start where the audience is, not where you are.

Use real life GRASS ROOTS EXAMPLES - with emotion, visuals, real people:

- "The parents who lie awake at night when there children are asleep worrying about how to secure the next mortgage payment or pay their doctors bills"

- "There young boys and girls that spent sleepless nights in the icy cold desert of Iraq"

Once you have their attention, you can lead your listeners wherever you want to take them.

2. Keep It Simple and Catchy

“change you can believe in” — simple and easy to remember.

"Increasing the findability" - simple and informative

Chisel away at your topic until you can reduce your presentation to a core message. Once you achieve this, all your complex ideas can march behind it.

All audiences, no matter how sophisticated, have limited attention spans and a limited ability to retain detailed spoken information. Don’t fear that you’re leaving details out; you must be selective. After all, what good is a thorough and detailed argument if it is inaccessible?

3. Anticipate What Your Audience Is Thinking

When you express one view, the odds are high that people will reflexively think about other, unmentioned aspects of the topic.

A presentation that does not deal with this “evoking of opposites” loses the audience’s attention because it fails to address the questions and concerns that come up in people’s minds.

So anticipate it - Show your audience that you understand the contrary view better than they do, and explain why your proposal or argument is still superior.

"It is a better solution than X because of A,B, C ... however, I do understand that solution X provides 1,2,3 but..."

4. Learn to Pause

Obama has mastered the art of pausing will holding control of the audience attention.

- Pauses to let the audience to catch up with him.

- Pauses to let his words resonate.

- He pauses, in a sense, to let us rest and absorb.

- Pauses also give the impression of composure and thoughtfulness.

Here’s an exercise to help you learn to pause.

• Mark UP your PARAGRAPHS / in THIS manner / INTO / the SHORTEST possible PHRASE_. / First,_ / whisper it, / BREATHING / at all the BREATH marks. / THEN,_ / speak it / in the same way. / DO this / WITH / a DIFFERENT paragraph / every day.

Here’s what the opening paragraph of Obama’s remarks would look like:

• “If there is anyone out there / who still doubts / that America is a place / where all things are possible, / who still wonders / if the dream of our founders / is alive in our time, / who still questions / the power of our democracy, / tonight / is your answer.”

Where you pause is up to you; there are no hard and fast rules. But try it. Slowly inhale to the count of three at each breath mark. Speak as though you had plenty of time. The goal / of this exercise / is to teach your body / to slow down.

5. Master the Body Language of Leadership

Obama’s body language is relaxed and fluid.

It does not display tension or fear.

He’s calm and assertive — which is exactly what you need to be to get people to comply with your requests.

To achieve the body language that’s effective for you, focus on a single attribute — for example, calm — and practice implementing it in the basic motions of your day, from getting dressed in the morning, to leaving your home for work, to greeting your friends and colleagues. Research in the Scientific American suggests that focusing on one word is the most effective way to learn a new behavior. It will probably feel forced at first, but don’t worry. It will soon become natural, and eventually your body language will communicate the right mix of calm and assertiveness.

Finally, you’ll need to rehearse. Practice calmly walking up to the lectern or the front of the room. Arrange your papers calmly.

Look out to the audience with a sense of command, with assertiveness. Let the silence hang for a moment, and only then deliver your opening remarks.

Calmness begets a sense of authority. Behave as if you are in control, and you will in fact gain control and command attention.