New
Friday
Notes: notes for next week
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
N.Y. Times reporter Judith Miller released from jail.
Fresh Press is the new, FREE, weekday newsletter listing the books and authors
actually mentioned or shown on over 60 nationally broadcast television
and radio programs - including but not limited to: Oprah, NPR Morning
Edition, All Things Considered, Daily Show with Jon Stewart,
Marketplace, Today, Good Morning America, The View, Diane
Rehm, O'Reilly, and Imus. Gathered by MOTOR-online, Fresh Press is
emailed each week day morning to interested subscribers. (Previous
version was to paid subscribers only.)
ABOUT THE
LSA:
e-rate:
1. If you are NOT a part of the e-rate Consortia and wish to join NOW
is the time to contact us for the needed details. Ken & Susan @
NEILSA
2. If you apply on your own PLEASE let NEILSA know so you can be included in the list we have for funders to check. NOTE:
I have had cities, granting agencies and others call to see if the
library is taking advantage of all the funding available to them before
the funders considered the library budget request, grant et. al.
THE TRIPOLI PUBLIC LIBRARY is accepting applications
for a Library Director to work 15 – 20 hours per week Individual must have
strong management, supervisory, computer, Internet usage and excellent oral and
written communication skills; 4 year degree in business or MLS required. 5
years library work experience.
Applications may be picked up at the City Clerks office at the Tripoli
Town Hall. Deadline for accepting
applications is October 5, 2005.
EOE
FROM: The Ad-Paper Sept. 29,
2005 V 12 No 48 Vanguard Publications Sumner IA
STAFF CHANGES: If
you have staff changes PLEASE let the LSA know, this is especially
important in the case of the library director/administrator, several
libraries have lost funding because the new person did not understand
the importance of certain paper work - you KNOW how it is when you
first take over.
Amy Parker has announced she is leaving Tripoli to devote her time to Westgate PL.
Congratulations to Kimberly Van Deest
for her appointment as Waterloo PL new Network Analyst we
look forward to working with her as part of the Waterloo team.
Good bye to Amy Wang we are so going to miss her skills and presence.
New
‘One-stop Web Shop’ for disability services,
Iowans with disabilities and their families will find it
easier to access state services via the Internet.
The state’s Web site http://www.iowa.gov/state/main/index.html now has a new link, Iowa’s “Disability
Agencies,” http://www.iowa.gov/state/main/disabilities.html designed to provide a comprehensive list of services and the agencies
that provide those services.
Topics range from accessible parking, education, employment,
library materials, telecommunications, housing and independent living centers to
state departments and divisions, such as mental retardation and developmental
disabilities, vocation rehabilitation, deaf services, and veteran’s
affairs. FROM: Under
the Dome a regular message from State Senator Jeff Danielson.
This fall, Iowa travel
enthusiasts can receive updated Iowa fall foliage reports via the Internet and
telephone.
Each Monday, the Iowa DNR will update its fall foliage
hotline at 515-233-4110, and the Iowa Tourism Office’s Web site -- www.traveliowa.com --
will provide instant access to the same information.
FROM: Under
the Dome a regular message from State Senator Jeff Danielson.
CE:
The “Free” Public Library:
Gift?
Service? Essential Service?
On
Saturday, October 8th,
from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm,
Southeastern Library Services, along with East
Central Library Services, will host a workshop for Library
Trustees. This
workshop will be held in the community room at the Coral Ridge Mall in
Coralville. The fee for this workshop is $10, which includes
lunch and
refreshments. Roy Kenagy, Administrator for the Central Iowa Library
Service
Area, will be our speaker.
Register
online, and
receive more information on our website:
http://www.sls.lib.ia.us/ceoctober.htm
This
is kind of long but many of the points are useful if you are ever
called upon to say "a few words" to a group. You should have a couple
of "canned", and practiced, speeches but just in case....
***************************************************
Riffing Through Your Speech
***************************************************
Media Training A-Z, by TJ Walker, the current best selling media training book
on Amazon.
Just as a great Jazz artist who performs nightly can go into a riff for
extended sets, so too can great speakers “riff” for lengthy periods of
time.
Warning! This is not for the faint-hearted.
In general, I advocate that all speakers have a well-thought out beginning,
middle, and end, complete with a handful of major points and well-developed
stories to go with each point. But there are times when you can go
without.
Note: this is not the same as “winging it.”
I always speak from notes (albeit in a way that no one sees my notes) and I
have a set structure for my presentations or training sessions. But one day I
was hosting an event for the National Speakers Association New York Chapter and
I was asked to be the substitute speaker WITH ONLY FIVE MINUTES ADVANCE
NOTICE.
Normally, that would be no problem. I could simply go into my hour
presentation on how to communicate with the media. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t
work, because I had just given that presentation to the group only a couple of
months earlier. But I also have an hour-long presentation I do on how to give an
effective presentation. But this was inappropriate because my audience was made
up of professional speakers.
So what did I talk about? I spent the next hour talking about business tips
and strategies I had learned over the last few years from fellow members of the
speaker association. I literally didn’t have time to write an outline or
structure a plan. I simply got up and talked.
The results? Feedback was as positive as any I have received for any
presentation in my career.
Is this because I am a natural born, silver-tongued speaker? Not at all.
Thought I never stuttered, I was an extremely shy child of few words.
My speech went well because I give speeches at least three times a week and
I now have good speaking habits that have been acquired through constant
repetition. Here are the things that I did during my riff that will also work
for you if you ever have to speak with absolutely no time to prepare.
1. I was comfortable and confident. Why did I start the
speech in this condition? Because I speak so often in that state, I wasn’t able
to get into any other physical or emotional state.
2. I used a speech grammar. Even though I was thinking
of new material that I was going to say as I said it, I still used my “old”
manner of speaking. That is, I would make one point, give an example and then
tell a story about it using conversations with real people to make the point
more memorable.
3. I interacted with my audience constantly. If I
forgot what to say next, or I just wanted to see if I was making sense, I would
ask questions of specific audience members. I encourage all of my trainees to
plan to do this anytime they are speaking in front of relatively small
audiences. But the truth is it doesn’t require a lot of planning, as long as you
do it.
4. I moved in a normal manner. I constantly walked
around the room, stopped, started, got closer to some audience members, and then
the others. This created great variety for the audience and created the aura of
great confidence.
5. I didn’t think on my feet. That’s right, I didn’t
think of entirely new ideas to share with my audience. In stead, I simply
recalled what I considered to be interesting conversations I had already had in
the past with various members of this association and then I recounted the ones
that I thought would be useful, interesting and relevant to the whole group.
(Remember—thinking creatively in the spotlight is hard, remembering interesting
conversations from the past is easy)
6. I actively encouraged questions throughout the
presentation. Granted, you can’t do this if you are speaking to more than 500
people, but in a small group this is an excellent way to keep people engaged and
involved. Plus, the questions helped me pad out my material to an hour (since I
had no planned material at the start).
7. I was fearless during question time. Is this because
I am omnipotent? Hardly. It’s just that I subscribe to the theory that all
questions are easy: either I know the answer in which case I give it, or I don’t
know they answer and I tell my audience “I don’t know” and then give my best
guess on where they can find the answer. Novice speakers and even very good ones
become noticeably nervous and embarrassed when asked questions they don’t know
the answer to. You can’t control what you don’t know, but you can control how
you feel about what you don’t know.
8. I acted like I was having a good time and I never
apologized. In truth, I could have done a better job if I had had a day or two
to prepare my speech, but I didn’t waste my audience’s time by reminding them of
that fact. I did not articulate in any manner that I was annoyed or felt put
upon by not having received advance notice. (in truth, I was happy because I am
always looking for opportunities to speak and hone my craft) I tried to follow a
rule that I give all of my clients which is: never talk about your speech, never
apologize, never call attention to any inadequacy—simply give great interesting
content.
9. I beat the audience’s expectations. The president of
the organization mentioned before and after my speech that I was doing this with
literally no notice, so the audience had low expectations. But note, I relied on
someone else to set the low expectations; I didn’t try to do it
myself.
10. I spoke with passion. I purposely haven’t bored you
with any of the details of my speech because unless you are a professional
speaker, they wouldn’t interest you. But I specifically only made points and
told stories that I really cared about deeply and that I thought were critically
important to my audience. Of course I made some mistakes in this speech tat I
wouldn’t ordinarily make (I didn’t have a strong finish—and I added more stuff
after I had already sat down—both medium-sized blunders). However, my passion
for my subject helped overwhelm the mistakes I made. Passion for you subject
will always make you more interesting and likeable to your audience because most
speakers seem bored and are consequently boring to their audiences.
So there you have the secrets on how to give a great spontaneous speech.
Please note that I am not advocating that you go out of your way to fail to
prepare for speeches. But if you are called upon with literally no notice, there
isn’t any reason why you can’t do a great job. Every one of the skills I used
above are just that, skills. They aren’t rare genetic talents; they are simply
habits that can be acquired by anyone who chooses to do so.
Due Date:
NEILSA
closed dates: 11/11 &
24&25, 12/23 & 26, 1/2/6
October 4 - 7:00 Greene - Butler County Meeting - ER
October
4, 2005, Howard County at Lime Springs at 7 pm - KD
October 15 - Annual Survey Due
October 17, at Aurora 7:00 Buchanan
County
Meeting - KD
October 18 - Farmersburg 7:00 Clayton
County Meeting - KD
October 18 - Janesville
7:30 Bremer County Meeting - ER
October 19-21 ILA Annual, Dubuque - ER, KD, SM
October 24 9:00 Wellsburg Grundy County Meeting - ER
November 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ossian Public
Library - Winneshiek
County Meeting - KD
December 23 & 26 -
Christmas
Links:
Learning Activity Written Summery: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/online-learningactivitywrittensummary.htm
LSA web site: http://www.ilsa.lib.ia.us/siteindex.htm
NEILSA continuing
education http://www.neilsa.org/classes/current.html
NEILSA e-rate Consortia Blog
http://www.neilsa.org/cblog/index.cfm
NEILSA monthly calendar -
http://www.neilsa.org/ncalendar/ncalendarmonth.cfm
NEILSA web site: http://neilsa.org
NEILSA yearly calendar -
http://www.neilsa.org/ncalendar/ncalendar_results.cfm
NEILSA Friday Notes
archives at: http://www.neilsa.org/fridays/friday.html
NWILSA Blog: http://nwilsblog.blogspot.com
State Calendar - http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/news/calendars/2005calendar.pdf
State Library CE web site at: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/index.html
USAC (e-rate): http://www.sl.universalservice.org/
The fine print stuff
blog - Friday Notes 2 AT
- http://radio.weblogs.com/0108327/
EDITORS NOTES:
"x" & "xx" are catalogers shorthand for: x = See &
xx = See also
Edited by:
Ken Davenport - NEILSA Consultant
davenport@neilsa.org
COPYLEFT NOTICE 2002:
THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS FREE.
It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set
down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at
http://dsl.org/copyleft/dsl.txt
COPYRIGHT
Please note: material found on the web should be assumed to be under
copyright and is presented here for purposes of education and research
only.
NOTE: If credited [via ???] or [from so & so] it is their material
and not covered by my "Copyleft" notice. Ken
|
