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Healthcare Training Institute - Quality Education since 1979

Section 19
Attitude is Everything!

Table of Contents | NCCAP/NCTRC CE Booklet

Part III

Instructor's Implementation Guide Advanced Speaking Skills

Introduction
The first part of this Manual walked you through the basics of:
1. How to schedule your first Volunteer Recruitment Talk
2. What to wear
3. The basics of organization of your calendar
4. Answering questions
5. How to organize volunteers once they are recruited

The remainder of this Manual will focus on what I term "Advanced Speaking Skills."  By "Advanced Speaking Skills" I am referring to skills beyond the basics just presented.  Since, clearly, I am unaware of your personal strengths and weaknesses, as well as your amount of speaking experience; skills that some may consider basic or intermediate are actually advanced for them and vise versa.  So if you are finding the first portion of this Manual kind of a stretch for you, you might consider just skimming over this last portion to avoid the possible feeling of being overwhelmed.  I feel if you try to focus on too many details and developing too many speaking skills at once, I know from my own experience that the whole process can become counterproductive.  At this point you may be saying to yourself, "Gee! What is she talking about?  I stand in front of my residents all the time conducting an activity! What’s the big deal about giving a talk in front of some church members?"  However, my experience, which granted may not be your experience, was that I was quite nervous speaking in a church member's home to eight group members.  So take the rest of this Manual with a "grain of salt."  In other words, scrutinize which "bells and whistles" you wish to try and practice in your next Volunteer Recruitment Talk; which ones you don't feel are your style at all; and which ones you might pull this Manual out for referencing after you have given a Volunteer Recruitment Talk or two.

There are three factors in every presentation.  These three factors are you, your talk, and the audience.  The first part of this Manual dealt with the development of your Volunteer Recruitment Talk … what you might say and how it might be organized.  Only when you relate your talk to a live audience or group of listeners will the speaking situation come to life.  So why state the obvious?  Your talk may be well prepared.  It concerns a topic which you are excited about; but for complete success, another factor must enter into your delivery.  You must make your listener feel that what you have to say is important to them.  You must not only be excited about your topic, i.e. explaining your Activity Program, which will lead to your request for volunteers, but you must be eager to transfer your excitement and interest to your listeners.  You might call it heart, or soul or spirit or genuine enthusiasm.  Call it what you will.  To be an effective speaker you need to earnestly want your listeners to feel what you feel, to hopefully agree with your point of view (that volunteering at your facility is important), to do what you think is right for them to do, and to enjoy and relive your experience with them.  In short, a successful Volunteer Recruitment Talk presenter is audience-centered and not self-centered.  However, you know that the success or failure of your talk is not for you to decide.  It will be decided in the mind of your listeners.  The point of your Volunteer Recruitment Talk is to motivate your listeners to come out to your facility, hopefully on a regular weekly basis, and volunteer.  Right?  So how do you create an audience-centered Volunteer Recruitment Talk? 

B. Create an Air of Anticipation

Act Confident!  When you walk before your audience to speak, do so with an air of anticipation, not like a person who is ascending the gallows.  The very subtle spring in your walk may be largely put on, but it will do wonders for you and it gives the audience the feeling that you have something you are eager to talk about.  Just before you begin, take a deep breath.  Keep your head even and your chin parallel to the ground.  You are about to tell your listeners something worthwhile, and every part of you should clearly and unmistakably inform them of that.  You are in command, even if you may not feel that way, act as if you are.  If speaking to a larger group, make an effort to send your voice to the back of the room.  The sound of your own voice will reassure you, it does me.  Act confident and you will become naturally confident.

How to Gain Attention in 5-10 Seconds

Here are specific tips for your opening if you are addressing a large group and using a lectern or podium.  However, if you are speaking to a small group, sitting in a circle in someone's living room, these will appear unnatural and overdramatic.
• Step to the front, pause, look around at your audience, and smile. A smile is universally understood.
• Then, wait a few beats, until you have the audience’s attention. There is no faster way to get an audience to turn their attention to a speaker than 5 or 10 seconds of silence. This is also a good time to take a few easy, rhythmic breaths.
• Hopefully, you have rehearsed your first words well. Use the standard “Good Morning” if neces­sary, but avoid the clichés: “I’m glad to be here” or, worse yet, “A funny thing happened to me on the way over...” 
• Another classic problem is to begin with apologetic re­marks about being “not qualified” or “not prepared.” I always cringe when I hear those phrases.  I am inclined to think, “Well, if you’re not qualified nor pre­pared, why are you wasting my time?”

What your opening should accomplish…
The opening may only take one minute, three, or even five if necessary, but it should accomplish the following:
1. Establish yourself as a relaxed, likable person who sounds knowledgeable and competent.
2. Intrigue or amuse the audience. Humor is tricky and can backfire, so if it does not come naturally, avoid it like the plague.
3. Present a summary of your message, or headline. “Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em.” Explain the purpose of your  Talk.

A sample beginning for your talk might be:
"Hi, my name is Cathy Zugel.  I am the Activity Director at XYZ Convalescent Center.   How many of you know where XYZ Convalescent Center is?  Show of hands?  Yes, it is located just east of Riverview Hospital.  It's kind of hard to see, because it is set back from the road.  I'd like to explain a little about the recreational activities we offer the residents at XYZ Convalescent Center.  We always have a need for volunteers, and as I tell you a little bit about the resident's Activity Program, you can mentally be painting yourself either in or out of that particular picture.  At the end of my talk, I will pass around a sign-up sheet for those of you that would have an interest in acquiring additional information from me after this Talk."

Here's an analysis of the above opening, so you can create your own.
1. State your first and last name, job title, and facility.  This obvious point is easily overlooked.  As mentioned earlier, I strongly suggest that you invest in a black plastic name badge with white letters stating your first and last name along with your job title.  They may not have been listening when you said your name, and most of us are too embarrassed to ask, "Now, what was your name again?"  If this person signs your clipboard, you will be calling them, and you want that individual to remember your name.  I know your facility provides you with an inexpensive name tag made with tape and an alphabet "gun" which is okay, but use your judgment if it looks too tacky and weather worn.
2. Make sure they know where your facility is located specifically.  As mentioned previously you don't want your listener thinking all along that you are from the ABC Convalescent Center that they drive past every day to work.  Just because they see that facility every day, they may very conveniently and erroneously assume that ABC is your facility, since it is uppermost in their conscious brain.  So, prepare a description, like, "the one with a big sign out front," or "grove of trees."
3. Asking for a show of hands gets the group in the mindset of being a partner in your presentation from the get-go.  This partnership will be expanded upon later, when I talk about using an audience member for a demonstration.
4. Tell them what you are going to talk about.  If you follow the formula suggested in this Manual, you will have brought a large roll-up dry-mark weekly or monthly calendar along with items illustrating programs where volunteers would fit in.
5. Give them a listening assignment.  Tell them what you want, but leave the decision up to them.  It doesn't work for me to say, "and I know by the end of this talk everyone will want to sign up to volunteer.”  Instead I stated, “We always have a need for volunteers, and as I tell you a little bit about the resident's Activity Program, you can mentally be painting yourself either in or out of that particular picture.”

Below is the preceding introduction, broken down for you into these five parts to facilitate writing your own.
1. Who you are: "Hi, my name is Cathy Zugel.  I am the Activity Director at XYZ Convalescent Center."
2. Asking for a show of hands:  "How many of you know where XYZ Convalescent Center is?  Show of hands?" 
3. Location of your facility:  "Yes, it is located just east of Riverview Hospital.  It's kind of hard to see, because it is set back from the road."
4. Tell them what you are going to talk about.  "I'd like to explain a little about the recreational activities we offer the residents at XYZ Convalescent Center.”
5. Give them a listening assignment.  “We always have a need for volunteers, and as I tell you a little bit about the resident's Activity Program, you can mentally be painting yourself either in or out of that particular picture.  At the end of my talk, I will pass around a sign-up sheet for those of you that could have an interest in acquiring additional information from me after this talk."

Write an introduction, either based on these five points, or another format with which your are more comfortable.