Many inspirational messages start with hitting rock bottom or
some type of roadblock. We want the audience to experience the
downs and ups of the message with us. Even as we relate to the audience
with a phrase such as, “We have all experienced hard times or the
heartache of…,” we need to ensure we carry the audience back out of
the valley to the uplifting high point. It may seem obvious, but sometimes
the despair is deeper than we think. We must be conscientious
about holding the hand of the audience and pulling them along with
us to the final inspirational message.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

• Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
• Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
• Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
• The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
• From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
• The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com.  Book, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only) purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

Many presentations end with question-and-answer sessions. Here
are some of the basics to remember:
• Notice I said the end; outside of direct attempts to solicit audience
responses and intentional open-ended parts of the presentation, I recommend
saving questions for the end, to avoid jeopardizing the flow
and taking away from later material.
• Save your final key take-away points and/or message for after the
Q&A so you can dictate the final messaging.
• Repeat questions back to the audience to ensure they are understood
and for people who may not have heard them (this also buys you
some time to formulate answers).
• Avoid rambling; answers should be clear and concise. Yes, this
seems obvious, but it is a critical skill to master.
• Don’t guess. Offer to get back to the overall audience or to the
person who asked the question, or even look for a subject expert
in the audience who may be better suited to answer. It is better to
have the right answer than guess incorrectly. The credibility that
you earned throughout the presentation is still at risk during Q&A
time.
• Be an attentive listener. You should make every effort to not cut off
the question because you anticipate the rest of it. Give the person asking
as much courtesy as he or she has given you.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s business books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

• Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
• Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work received Honorable Mention in the General Non-Fiction Category at the 2014 Paris Book Festival and Honorable Mention in the Business category at the 2014 New York Book Festival
• The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World received Honorable Mention in the Business Category at the 2012 New England Book Festival
• From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference, Honorable Mention at the 2013 New York Book Festival, and Honorable Mention at the 2013 Paris Book Festival.

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com.  Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

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When Your Job is to Find a Job—and Yourself

Manage Your Time–Don’t Let It Manage You

MP3 Downloads of “From Fear to Success:  A Practical Public-speaking Guide” are available at Apple iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Emusic, Nokia, Xbox Music, Spotify, Omnifone, Google Music Store, Rdio, Muve Music, Bloom.fm, Slacker Radio, MediaNet, 7digital, 24-7, Rumblefish, and Shazam “From Fear to Success” MP3 on CD Baby

When you are moving from the introduction to the main body of
the speech and then to the conclusion, make sure you use warm transitions.
You can’t jolt the audience with an eye-opening introduction
about aliens landing on earth and then go into the body of your speech
as if alien landings are completely normal by sharing examples of how
the aliens are getting along just fine on this planet. I was working on a
speech about my shy daughter’s triumphant solo chorus performance.
The message was about how her bravery of stepping out on that stage
alone led me to alter my perspective of a special needs co-worker
based on how he bravely participated in the Special Olympics. Early
versions of the speech received consistent feedback from friends and
family that the transition from my daughter to the Special Olympics
athlete was too cold. I needed more character description to paint the
picture of him as an individual first, before jumping in with both feet.

You need to add some semblance of a transition that enables the
listener to go back in time and put all the pieces of the story together.
We can effectively go from the attention-grabbing introduction into a
smooth changeover into the body of the presentation. Back to the alien
example: if you add small bites for the audience to chew on, such as,
“After an exhaustive struggle, the aliens found common ground with
the earthlings by…,” the audience can find the connection. I sometimes
hear this referenced as getting the string and pulling it all the
way through. I actually found two effective transition versions that
worked on the Special Olympics speech. First, I used a pondering
open-ended question for the audience about potential catalysts for
change in their lives. Second, I added a simple phrase that said, “A
few days after my daughter’s triumph adjusted my lens on beauty….”
Both changes received positive feedback relating to a smoother transition.
With a warmer jump between topics, stories, and key points, the
audience will be able to follow the flow more easily. Smooth transitions
allow easier understanding of the organization and content of
the speech.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

• Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
• Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
• Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
• The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
• From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
• The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com.  Book, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only) purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com