The following excerpt was taken from SPLASH! A Leader's Guide to Effective Public Speaking. [Introduction written by Chris Brady]
Beginning public speakers usually think there are three main types of speakers: good, bad, and somewhere in between. Advanced speakers—those who really know how to read every crowd, speak to each person’s heart and mind in a way that moves them deeply, and leave the listeners forever changed.
For top leaders, public speaking is about SPLASH!
In truth, splashes are amazing. They cause immediate waves, followed by a lot of ripples. And in the process, many people get wet or even muddy. If you’ve ever visited Sea World and watched the giant splashes from the whales arch far into the sky and then drench a stadium full of people, you know what a successful speech is all about.
In fact, if you watch a Sea World crowd, even the people far up in the top bleachers, who don’t get a drop of water on them, react to each huge splash by jerking backward, covering their faces, and acting in other ways as if the wave were coming right at them.
Every drop from a big splash causes a series of ripples. People go home and share what they learned and, even more important, what they felt. SPLASH speaking is an essential part of what we call Level 5 Leadership: developing leaders who develop leaders.
Indeed, the memories created by effective SPLASH speaking endure for a lifetime.
Just think of the best speech you've ever heard. Picture the event in your mind. Did you hear it in a stadium, at church, in the car, or somewhere else?
What made it so great? Was it the ambiance? The lighting and cheering? The message? An electric energy in the room? The force of nature that seemed to emanate from the speaker? The notes you took and how they changed you later? A specific quote or phrase that seemed to switch on a light bulb in your mind? Or something else?
Whatever your answer, one thing is certain. Great speeches, SPLASH speeches, leave you different than you were before you heard them. You feel something, and the feeling has a lasting impact on you and your life. The ripples of what you felt and learned during the speech continue in your life long after the big waves have come and gone.
Beginning speakers often try to “break the ice” by using jokes, visual aids, gimmicks, or other techniques to pique the interest of the audience. Top leaders know that there is a better way, that in fact, gimmicks are really just gimmicks and that the same joke or visual aid will be mediocre when used by a struggling speaker but burn a lasting memory when employed by a great speaker.
It’s not the techniques, it’s not just the preparation, and it’s not even the message that matters most. It’s the SPLASH that causes real change, that leaves listeners different, that ignites those in the crowd and sways their future.
So what exactly is SPLASH? In addition to symbolizing how to become a speaker who touches every person in the audience and leaves a lasting memory, SPLASH is an acronym for the following guidelines of truly effective speakers:
Say something that matters.
Prepare the speaker, not just the speech.
Leave it all backstage.
Audience is everything.
Simplicity is power.
Happen!
Note that SPLASH speakers aren’t born; they’re made. It takes effort, practice, and repetition to become a great speaker. Sitting in an audience listening to a world-class speech, it is easy to get the false idea that the speaker is just plain gifted. Certainly, there are people with various gifts that help their public speaking, but nobody ever became an excellent speaker without hard work.
For example, attend a professional football game or a nationally recognized orchestra performance, and you’ll be amazed at how some of the athletes and musicians make their work seem so simple. But what they do is actually far from easy. If you knew the long years of practice, workouts, lessons, failures, struggles, sweat, and effort that brought them to this moment, you’d be amazed.
Any true success is built on a genuine foundation of intense and consistent work.
The same is true of great speakers. That said, understanding SPLASH will help you fast-forward past years, even decades, of trial and error.
Mentoring is incredibly powerful for this very reason: An experienced mentor can help you jump ahead by applying his wealth of experience and skipping many hurdles along the way.
If you begin applying the principles of SPLASH speaking right now, today, your public speaking will start improving by leaps rather than baby steps.
There is an old saying that “practice makes perfect.” This is actually only partially true. The reality is that the right kind of practice makes perfect. In other words, practicing skills incorrectly tends to lessen them and reduce your effectiveness.
Those who apply the principles of SPLASH speaking can start practicing the right way, and this will drastically accelerate their learning curve. Moreover, if you have ever stressed about public speaking or felt nervous before a speech, SPLASH speaking will help you conquer your fear and forget about yourself.
Indeed, this is a hallmark of great speakers: They tend to forget about themselves and immerse their delivery in the needs of their audience. SPLASH speaking will teach you how to do this simply, immediately, and effectively.
There is much to learn, but becoming a better public speaker will help you in countless ways. So get ready to get wet—because a SPLASH is coming!
To purchase the book SPLASH! A Leader's Guide to Effective Public Speaking, click here.
[Posted by Kristen Seidl, on behalf of Chris Brady]
