Public speaking pet peeve

Take that friggin' phone off your hip and that Bluetooth out of your ear during a speech!!!  Are you waiting for a call from your agent???

Just had to get that out.

And you're telling us this . . . why?

As I sat at a workshop, the presenter decided to passionately tell the story of a child who almost died in an auto accident.  He told the story almost perfectly, at a great pace, with awesome vocal inflections and intense body language.  I loved his delivery, liked the story, but hated the moment.  As show-stopping as his moment was, his story didn't have that much to do with our workshop.  To be fair, his point was that the impossible is possible in life, but we were in a workshop that had nothing to do with parenting, odd auto accidents or Divine Intervention.  It was a stretch.

It's important to tell relevant stories when speaking.  A great story serves the purpose of wrapping your logic or philosophy in a neat package.  This may be a "duh" point to some, but too often, I have heard speakers tell a story because of its dynamics or because they are simply outstanding storytellers.

Dynamics and delivery, as important as they are in public speaking, can be nothing more than temporary highs.  What lasts is the point of the story.  Even if the story is told poorly, the audience gets more out of the point.  Even those who prefer dynamics over content later admit that the content means more than the bells and whistles.

So, how do you tell an effective story?

1. Tell one that relates directly to your topic.  'Nuff said.
2. Make sure it has a beginning, middle and end.
3. Use your eyes, hands and voice when delivering it.  I never said dynamics don't matter.
4. Be concise.  It's easy to get lost in sidebars and meaningless details.  It only makes the story unnecessarily longer.
5. The more dynamic or moving the story, the closer it should go toward the end of your speech.
6. Try to avoid the lead-in "That reminds me of another story."  Torture!