Case History: Andrea, The Speaker With 35 Years Of Terror Induced Laryngitus, Part 3

Session 3: How We Turned Andrea’s Speaking Around With Strategic Objectives

When Andrea returned for session number three she seemed visibly more relaxed. I asked her how her week had went and she started laughing. “Those fears of mine were pretty lively in my head all week. They kept on sending me more and different images of disaster. But I was on to them after we talked last week! I just tried to listen to them and comfort them like you suggested. It was really interesting.

The moment I reminded my childlike sounding fears inside that I was getting support and help from you as my coach and I let them know that I, the adult me, was now in charge and was going to do this speech and needed their help, they totally calmed down!”

I was pleased to hear this great jump of progress. “Well I’m so proud of you! Great job Andrea! That is so important what you did in letting the fear parts of yourself know that you were in charge now. And I love it that you felt that they calmed down significantly! I think we are now ready to start the writing process!”

Starting Your Writing Process

“Uh oh.” Andrea said. “I’m pretty scared about this part.

I asked why there was this sudden surge of fear and resistance and Andrea said, “Well when I signed up for this job to be Alumni President of my former very elite high school, no one told me that part of the job was a speech at graduation in front of 1500 of Seattle’s most rich and famous! I’m scared. That’s a lot of people!”

I added, “And 1500 of Seattle’s most judgmental?”

“Yup. Exactly.” She smiled

Here it was again, Andrea’s worst fear: a highly judgmental audience who would be critical of her like way back in her teens!

I tried to be reassuring.” Yes that may be a fact. They are a most likely a sophisticated and possibly highly critical audience. But what’s different now for you than it was back in your teens when you did get really embarrassed?”

Andrea thought for a moment, “Well, one thing I can think of is that I didn’t have you to help me when I was 14. Is that what you mean?”

Getting Help and Support

“That’s it exactly.” I confirmed. “I’m here to help you and collaborate on all aspects of your speech and I will even be there on the day that you give it for total support. Does that help at all?”

Andrea smiled a beaming smile. “Yeah. Whew! Yeah it really helps not to be alone in all this. Thanks for the reminder!”

The Important Questions To Ask Yourself Before A Speech

Next, as I always do with all my clients I began to ask Andrea some important questions. These questions are designed to drive the writing process. These ten questions also allow the written part of any speaking project to aim most directly and strategically at each client’s unique and specific target.

Q1: What’s your speech supposed to be about?

When I asked Andrea what the speech was supposed to be about and she told me that “it was all a bit complicated.” Andrea thought for another moment. Then she said “The speech itself is supposed to be about welcoming the graduating class to the world of being an alumni of her alma mater.”

I said, “OK great.  Now we are going to take another look and your speech and discover both what else is driving it and get at what are your most three key strategic objectives for you in this speech.

Q2: What are your most important strategic objectives for this speech?

This is an important question to consider as there are always other more strategic objectives on board for each speech which answer the deeper question of what do you want or need to get out of your speech.

For Andrea, her speech was much more than a mere “hostess welcome to the graduates.” You might think that her fear of judgment  was pressure enough, but there was another, more strategic issue that was clearly a part of her objective for giving this speech: One of Andrea’s key reasons for accepting the position as Alumni President was to give her son a much better chance to get her son accepted into the school, her alma mater.

She admitted to being a bit of a “party girl” back in her days at the school and that there were still people teaching and in the administration at the school who remembered her “good ol days!” She was afraid this aspect of people having very long memories would have a negative impact on her chances of getting her son into the school. So she wanted to “make good” for her past by doing a great job as Alumni President.

There’s Always More To Your Speech Than You Think

So now we knew there were a couple of more things going on in her head that could potentially impact her ability to give the speech well. When I asked Andrea to list her most important strategic objectives, she said:

1.    Do the welcome speech well, which means I generate interest in the Alumni Association within the graduating students
2.    Get my son into the school
3.    Get over my fear of speaking.
4.    Gain my audience’s respect
5.    Gain my families respect.

As you can see in Andrea’s list above, there was a lot more at stake for Andrea than just giving a welcome!

To be continued…

Tomorrow Part 4: Writing For Your Unique Audience