The 7 to 9 Rule

One of the difficulties of any public speaking appearance is keeping your audience engaged with you and your presentation.  No matter whether it’s a 10-15 minute speech at a dinner, a 30 minute keynote address or a two hour seminar, you have to keep the presentation fresh.   This is where the “seven to nine” rule comes into play.

The “seven to nine” simply states that every seven to nine minutes of your presentation you change it up a bit.  This does not involve a change in tempo, inflection or strength of your voice.  It does call for a video or audio clip, use of a prop to make your point or the telling of a story to set up the next key portion of your speech that you want to drive home.

It was at a county conservation banquet several months ago that I told the story of the salamander.  The succinct version recalls a time when this little boy growing up in western Pennsylvania went to a nearby creek to look for salamanders.  The point was the creek was clean enough support life because local residents did not pollute the land.  It helped make a connection with people who were working the land with someone who did not.  A woman came up after the remarks to say that the story reminded her of the time when she went to the creek near her house to look for frogs.  A connection was made through the story that remained through the presentation.  And the story was presented seven minutes into the speech.

People will listen to a speaker if the person is engaging, well prepared and if they are made to keep guessing a little bit about what may be coming next.  It’s the edge of the seat scenario for some because the speaker has captured their attention.   The seven to nine rule helps in that regard.  I have seen this is action several times by a couple of pastors who have to keep congregants engaged throughout sermons. Mike and Jeremy have been using the tactic for years with great success.   It’s worked time and time again for them and it’s been a part of my presentations from day one.  It should work for you too. 

All it takes is a little practice and soon people will be looking forward to your presentations and what you will be doing next.

Mentoring Young People

I started a volunteer effort a couple of months ago that I felt compelled to share and maybe encourage you to give something like this a try.

I had a friend tell me they were in need of volunteers at a program at my church that had kicked off earlier in the fall that mentored at risk teenagers.  These 13-18 year old young people had seen it all in their young lives, in fact, a lot more than I had ever experienced in my teen years or since then.  Drug use, suicidal tendencies, lack of self worth, feeling unwanted or unloved are just some of the issues that have surfaced over the first two months of my participation in "The Journey."

There are a couple of dozen young people on any given night and they all come on their own accord.  The program grows  by students telling other students of the benefits of the mentoring relationship. 

This is a rewarding experience to say the least maybe in part because I still enjoy working with young people. But investing in a young person's life goes beyond what you get in return.  This program allows adults to help young people in their journey by walking side by side with them.  If affords them a second opinion from the adult world that all is not hopeless and they don't have to turn to drugs or other dangerous behavioral  patterns to cope. Over time, we can to see minor breakthroughs or perhaps one of those cautions "ah-ha" moments when you see in their eyes or body language that a concept or idea for going forward has registered with them.

My sense is there are many more young people in the Des Moines area and in Iowa who need a positive adult mentor to help guide them through the teenage years.  A suggested resource might be http://www.iowamentoring.org..  There is also abundant research available http://bit.ly/1BuFtpx. that just might convince you to seek out a mentoring opportunity.

Your services are desperately needed.

Worry is Killing Me

Picture this for a moment.  Something happens to you that is not up there on the top ten thing you were hoping would happen.  You make a mistake, you say a hurtful statement to a friend, colleague or even a stranger.  The event begins to eat away at you to the point that you worry about it almost daily.  The process consumes you.  It becomes something that always seems to be on your mind and you can't get rid of it.

I used to be like that.  The incident caused restless nights, an inability to concentrate on what the day has put on my plate, and would make my mind race with possible outcomes that turned out to be far fetched and not even close to the resolution.  I was becoming a nervous wreck.

It was a hard lesson to learn but it finally clicked.  I could, and you can, do nothing about the past.  What happened...happened.  We cannot go back.  It seems so simple yet it is a lesson often unlearned until someone else says just that, "we cannot go back."  We can try to make amends for what happened if it hurt another person.    There is also a five step process that could help get over the issue of worrying.  

But what I found best and it has worked for others too is a simple statement found in the "Optimist Creed." The tenants of the creed are normally said at meetings of Optimist Clubs all over the globe and this tenant's  succinct nature really helped me.  Maybe it will help you.

"Promise yourself.......To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future."  We cannot do anything about what happened yesterday but we can influence what is happening now and to a certain degree what will happen tomorrow.  

Here's to your greater achievements going forward!