From the Bookshelf Speak up by Rachel Sproston Three-step "magic formula" creates the perfect speech It is only recently that soft skills training has become a focal point for improvement courses in the business community. However, upon examination of the quote in Dale Carnegie's book: "Talk...can act as the very lifeblood of an industrial communication system," it makes sense to consider the impact discourse has on other people. In Carnegie's insightful text The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking, he underlines the mechanisms employed by effective speakers to woo audiences the world over. In his eyes, we contact the world around us in four simple ways: what we do, how we look, what we say and how we say it. The book concentrates on the latter two ways to connect, and explains that an effective talk must humanise, personalise, specify, dramatise and visualise. Carnegie advises speakers to live with the theme before speaking on it and earn the right to talk about it. In essence, only speak about what you know a lot about. Thought process In planning the talk, Carnegie's advice is to assemble 100 thoughts and discard 90 to ensure the content covered is clear, cohesive and to the point. Choose a subject which interests people. Carnegie emphasises the fact that people are primarily interested in themselves so ensure the audience is drawn into the speech in a natural way. This can be achieved by mentioning individual names or referring to a topical local issue. The key is to make the audience feel involved. In Carnegie's words: "Dazzle with inclusive sympathy". Concerning the rubric for an effective talk, Carnegie details the "magic formula of speech construction". Firstly, an example should be put forward and elaborated. Following this, the speaker's main point should feature. Thirdly, a clear reason should be offered to substantiate the preceding point. In Carnegie's view, a poor speaker follows how Jean Jacques Rousseau said a love letter should be written: "He began without knowing what he was going to say, and finished without knowing what he had said." Success formula When presenting a speech, the speaker should aim to regard members of the audience as if he or she owes them money. This will help the speaker exude an air of confidence and minimise the obvious jitters which accompany public speaking. To vivify the language, he also suggests incorporating virile and fresh phraseology into the talk, alongside visual terminology and picture-building phrases. Linguistically, Carnegie advises speakers to follow Aristotle's example and "think as wise men do, but speak as the common people do", as audiences quickly tire of technical or complicated vocabulary, even if the speaker is comfortable and familiar with the terms. The formula for success he notes is to tell an audience what you intend to say during the introduction, say it, and then conclude by reminding the audience what you just said. This is not because people have difficulty understanding, it is because the speaker has been chewing the facts for a reasonable period and already has clear conclusions. Audiences need time to cognate and repetition facilitates this cognition. Overall the book is tremendously easy to read and opens the reader's eyes to certain simple techniques which can be utilised today to improve discourse on virtually any level. Readers are encouraged to seize every opportunity to maximise their interactional ability with other people by following a few simple rules. One of Carnegie's major tenets in the book is that those who are determined to succeed at public speaking will do so because autosuggestion is one of the most powerful motivational tools around. People matters Interpersonal skills remain key in any business context. Paul Chan, principal consultant, Dale Carnegie Training Hong Kong, joins hands with celebrity and seminar favourite Lawrence Cheng ( 鄭 丹 瑞 ) and offers insights at Career Times' "A Marvellous Way to Sell Yourself" seminar on 20 May 2008. For details, log on to www.careertimes.com.hk. Content highlights: Effective talk must humanise, personalise, specify, dramatise and visualise Consolidate thoughts to ensure contents of the speech are clear, cohesive and to the point Incorporate virile and fresh phraseology into the talk About the authors Dale Carnegie was born in 1888 in Missouri, USA to poor parents In 1912, the first Dale Carnegie course began and in 1936 his famous book How to Win Friends and Influence People was published His focus was on sales techniques, effective speaking courses and bettering human relations In 1955, Dale Carnegie passed away but his legacy of core principles remains to this day Now with more than seven million graduates, Dale Carnegie Training continues to cater to the needs of the business community worldwide More than 2,700 professional instructors currently offer Dale Carnegie Training in about 75 countries in 25 languages Taken from Career Times 11 April 2008 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]