Posts Tagged ‘communication’

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take your communication to the next level

Mar 25, 2011

For the last seven years or so, I have been honored to be one of the coaches for the Dynamic Communicator’s Workshop . The year before I joined Ken Davis’s staff of coaches , I was a student at the workshop. It was truly the most practical workshop I have ever attended.

The format was pretty simple. Big group from breakfast through lunch. This is where all the “teaching” occurred. Prep time from lunch through dinner. And you need that prep time, because after dinner everyone is broken into groups of eight students with one coach and each person gives a 5-minute speech. That speech is recorded, watched, and critiqued on the spot.

The improvement that occurs in four days is truly unbelievable. Every year I go. And every year I am amazed as frightened, unprepared participants morph into people who are genuinely excited to speak publicly by the last night!

Below is the promo video from the DCW website. And Michael Hyatt (CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing and a fantastic blogger ) just posted today that he and his wife will be attending this May. Read his post here.)

You can find out more here or register here.

If you have ever thought about improving your communication – both speaking and writing – you have got to get to the Dynamic Communicator’s Workshop. It will be four days you will never forget – and you will be changed.

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Categories: Communication, Speaking

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the intro: vital…yet forgotten

Nov 5, 2010

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This guy had a fantastic story to tell. He had a strong – and much-needed – message to deliver. He had a room full of people who wanted to hear what he had to say. In fact, they’d taken times away from their jobs and families to gather together – hundreds of them!

And he blew it. Why? Because he put no thought into his intro. At least it didn’t feel like he did. He was looking down and shuffling through his papers as he made the customary comments. Thanks for inviting me. It’s an honor to be here. I want to talk about. Blah. Blah. Blah.

I was asleep before he got to any of his content. And as I said in the first paragraph: He has a great story. He has a message. I wanted to hear what he had to say. And he lost me.

I could go on for pages about intros (and maybe I will in a later post) but for today, let me give you three quick rules when creating your intro:

  1. Get on with it. Start with something that grabs people. Don’t meander through your first five or six sentences. It can be a quote, a story, a video clip, or even a simple photo – but jump right in.
  2. Make it about your audience. Your intro isn’t about you. Your intro is when your audience decides whether they want to sit through the rest of what you have to say. You don’t need to say the words “here is what’s in it for you” but you better answer that question – because they’re asking it!
  3. Memorize it. Don’t look at your notes for the first three minutes of your speech/meeting/presentation. Engage with your audience. Look at people. Know what your going to say and then say it. Memorizing your intro will build confidence in your audience that you actually know what you’re talking about.

What are some of the best – and worst – intros you’ve seen?

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Categories: Communication

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water balloons + camera = creativity

Aug 23, 2010

I love it when people put their creative juices to work. I witnessed this in full bloom last month. My family was with me when I spoke for a week at Summit View Community Church just across the Columbia River from Portland, OR. One afternoon we all headed into Portland and found a fountain for the kids (and yes, their parents) to play in.

waterballoon1Pretty soon, I saw three guys (Ryan, Danny, and Brian) walk up with a camera and a cooler filled with water balloons. As a former youth pastor, I can sense the presence of water balloons. Combine water balloons with a camera and I’m all in.

These guys were trying to capture the moment of water explosion – most of the times as it was hitting one of them in the face! Again…I’m all in. So much so that before long I couldn’t help but join in the fun. They asked me to try my hand at throwing the water balloon directly into Ryan’s face. Seriously?!? Without having him punch me or throw one back? I jumped at the chance. In fact, in the picture below you can see my hands.

waterballoon2I asked his permission to share these pictures and he (Ryan) kindly agreed. They went on to take a ton of pictures of not only water balloons, but also themselves – jumping in the air, kicking, or just being silly. These guys were having a blast.

I walked away with a couple thoughts:

Thought 1: Most of us could use a lot more silliness. I think this world would be a lot better off if we saw silliness, fun, and laughter as necessities, instead of kids’ stuff.

Thought 2: Creativity is a beautiful thing. Several times since that day, I have thought back to how much fun these guys were having. Then it hit me…of course they were having fun! They were exploring the creative ability that was woven into them by the truly Creative One.

A friend of mine named C. McNair Wilson spent 10 years as a Disney Imagineer and teaches creativity workshops to corporations worldwide. He put it this way:

“To say you are ‘not creative’ is a lie. Everyone is creative. It just depends on whether – at any given moment – you are actively creative or inactively creative.”

Ryan, Danny, and Brian – Kudos for reminding me of the beauty of active creativity. And thanks for sharing your pics! (see more here)

How have you seen creativity bloom – in you and others?

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Categories: Art, Beauty, Communication, Creativity, Uncategorized

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more on communication

Jul 16, 2010

As I mentioned a week ago, KeithFerrin.com is focused on Ministry, Marketing, Communication, and “Kingdom stuff.” Here’s a bit more on the third area:

Almost everything I do with That You May Know Ministries is communication in some form. Speaking, storytelling, writing, teaching, etc. Almost everything I do with True Success Coaching is helping others grow in their own communication.

I love communication. I’m always reading how others do it. I love watching effective communicators. And I really love seeing people improve. In fact, one of the Microsoft guys I have been coaching for about a year sent me a piece of communication to review this week. After offering minimal feedback he replied, “Did you even read it or am I just getting better? Smile And honestly…he had just gotten better!

I talk about communication in three buckets: Bull's Eye

Bucket #1: Clarity – Most people know what they want to talk about but they haven’t come to crystal clarity on what they want to accomplish. One is talking. The other is communication.

Bucket #2: Confidence – People always ask me how I don’t get nervous. Most of that get’s dealt with it as I get more and more clarity (ahem…see Bucket #1). There are some other things you can do as well. We’ll look at some of those.

Bucket #3: Creativity – Once you’ve got clarity and confidence, it’s time to let loose and be as creative as possible. Audio, video, PowerPoint, interviews, stories, graphics, you name it. If it helps achieve what you want to accomplish – throw it in there.

Who are the communicators you like to listen to?

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Categories: Communication