I love comedians. They have to speak to a different group every night, and test their skills with each new audience. It is the purest form of communication because they receive instant feedback – laughter (or lack of it).
With comedy, there is virtually no language or subject which offends me. That is the nature of the craft.
Why A Higher Standard For Speakers?
The same is not true in the world of public speaking. We have an obligation to hold ourselves to a higher standard of decorum. In the last 20 years, I’ve noticed that lines are being crossed between speaking and comedy.
I am by no means a prude – ask my friends and family. But, standards in public speaking seem to have lowered. This is especially true in humorous speaking. Subjects and language once considered taboo have worked their way into professional settings. Body functions, sexual humor and crude language have become more prevalent.
Speakers have a responsibility to respect the organizations who hire them. Their material should be thought-provoking, inspiring, and within the bounds of good taste.
I’ve heard too many speakers use questionable language. This makes them look unprofessional. It can create discomfort in some audience members. Moreover, it’s not necessary.
Why Do People “Go Blue” When They Speak?
Darren LaCroix, CSP, is a World Champion Speaker and one-tine professional comic. He points out that many new comics often lean on four-letter words. They do this to elicit easy laughs until they develop confidence in their material.
Unfortunately, this makes them sound like every other new comic. There’s nothing unique about them.
I’ve noticed that a greater number of speakers also use questionable subject material or language. Typically, this is because they, too, lack confidence.
Don’t Be Fooled By the Success of a Select Few
As with any topic, there are some exceptions to this rule. There are a few well-paid speakers who violate this principle. And their audiences love them for it.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking they’ve always been successful with that style. They deliver that way because it’s authentic to them. Over time, they learned how to research their audiences. They discovered who would allow them to be authentic, and kept speaking to those groups.
These speakers also realize that they will offend some audience members. They’re OK with that because they’ve reached a level of success that allows them that luxury.
For the majority of speakers, this isn’t a path I’d recommend – if you want to build a long-term, successful career.
Questionable humor and material isn’t necessary to stand out. You can rise above this trend. When preparing your speech, ask, “Could this be offensive to my audience?” If you have any doubt, you have your answer. Leave it out.
Rise above any temptation of blue humor or language. Leave that to the comics.
Raise the bar, and you will stand OUT from the crowd.
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Are You Raising the Bar When you Speak? ultima modifica: 2011-11-20T23:50:05-05:00 da Michael Davis
2 Comments
rick stone on February 25, 2013 at 3:43 PM
Right on! Although I don’t hear too much in Toastmasters that comes across as particularly tasteless, I agree that many speakers forget that they are not just talking in front of their friends and fail to rise above their normal sloven speech patterns. This is especially true in retail situations where someone is trying to sell me something and they will drop an F-bomb or some scatalogic reference. Shame on them. I worked at a store where one day the BOSSES were in the next aisle from me cussing like sailors while I was trying to make a sale to two older women. The clients did not appreciate the experience and before they left (without buying anything) they told me that they would never shop there again. We not only lost that sale but any potential future revenue from them or from their friends. AND I was made to put away the items that the women left behind. I learned that day, that whenever I hit the parking lot where I work to simply turn off the cussing machine and mind my manners. Hard lesson to learn. Easy lesson to keep.
Great insight, Rick. I recently heard an interview with the great musician Prince. He was asked why he doesn’t swear in his songs anymore. His response: “Everybody’s doing it! If everybody’s doing something, it doesn’t stand out”.
It’s not difficult to stand out these days simply by using good taste and clean language to make your point.
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Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."
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2018-05-10T09:44:06-04:00
Robert Gerbus, President, Trans Ash, Inc.
"Michael transformed our everyday managers into conference presenters by coaching them and by challenging the traditional methods they were using to present. The outcome was phenomenal. Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."
“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me.
Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful. I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”
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2018-05-10T09:45:38-04:00
LTC (Ret.) Scott Mann, Green Beret, Storyteller, Trainer, Coach, Author
“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me. Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful. I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”
“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for ourTED x Cincinnatievent. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers.I was impressed with howgenuine, exuberant, and in touchhe was with each speaker.
He truly has agift in connecting with the heart of each personhe works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk.All of the speakersraved about his work with them.Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”
Allison Wonders Gars Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati
Speaking CPR
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2018-03-20T17:08:04-04:00
Allison Wonders Gars Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati
“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for our TED x Cincinnati event. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers. I was impressed with how genuine, exuberant, and in touch he was with each speaker. He truly has a gift in connecting with the heart of each person he works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk. All of the speakers raved about his work with them. Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”
“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss.
Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money.
I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”
Natalie Holder Founder, QUEST Diversity
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2018-03-20T17:33:18-04:00
Natalie Holder Founder, QUEST Diversity
“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss. Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money. I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”
Right on! Although I don’t hear too much in Toastmasters that comes across as particularly tasteless, I agree that many speakers forget that they are not just talking in front of their friends and fail to rise above their normal sloven speech patterns. This is especially true in retail situations where someone is trying to sell me something and they will drop an F-bomb or some scatalogic reference. Shame on them. I worked at a store where one day the BOSSES were in the next aisle from me cussing like sailors while I was trying to make a sale to two older women. The clients did not appreciate the experience and before they left (without buying anything) they told me that they would never shop there again. We not only lost that sale but any potential future revenue from them or from their friends. AND I was made to put away the items that the women left behind. I learned that day, that whenever I hit the parking lot where I work to simply turn off the cussing machine and mind my manners. Hard lesson to learn. Easy lesson to keep.
Great insight, Rick. I recently heard an interview with the great musician Prince. He was asked why he doesn’t swear in his songs anymore. His response: “Everybody’s doing it! If everybody’s doing something, it doesn’t stand out”.
It’s not difficult to stand out these days simply by using good taste and clean language to make your point.