In Conversation with Eric Feng, TheFAQBook on Public Speaking + Special for SGE readers
Our local young champion of public speaking, Eric Feng has won many speech competitions and manages his own public speaking consultancy. He usually shares his tips on his blog, but now, for the first time, he has gone the way of publishing a book! Here, we speak to him at length and hear his enthusiastic thoughts about The FAQ Book on Public Speaking. Plus, read on for Eric’s special gift for SGE readers - qualification: only the first few who read this announcement will be able to “redeem” this opportunity.
Gwen: Hi Eric, perhaps you can first give us a brief history of yourself.
Eric: Gosh, how do you compress 25 years of history into one brief paragraph?!
Ok let’s see.
Hi, I was born talkative. Even though I was warned countless of times by my teachers to talk less and listen more, I ended up making a living out of talking. On top of representing Singapore in various national-level speech competitions, I get paid to help my clients become confident speakers that leave a lasting positive impression in their listeners. I also write regularly at The Public Speaking Blog.
Gwen: Tell us about your latest project.
Eric: I am writing a book! My first official hard copy book titled “The FAQ Book on Public Speakingâ€.
Gwen: How did it start?
Eric: It all started with an email sent by my current partner Andrew when he chanced upon an article about me on Straits Time. (Recall Straits Time Top 25 Alternate Achievers under 25 in Oct 2006) He wrote me a 53 page proposal on how we can leverage on my speaking skills to impact more people. Part of the plan was to write a book and viola, The FAQ Book on Public Speaking was birthed!
What triggered the creation of the FAQ book was the stunningly lack of quality books on public speaking. We have friends who read truckloads of public speaking books but they never attain the success they wanted!
And it boils down to one simple reason - these books were simply useless! They give you advices that are absolutely lame. For example in one of the “public speaking†books, we found this advice on overcoming stage fright – be yourself! And I was like “Huh? How exactly do you be yourself? Do you even know who you are in the first place??!!â€
Some books even make you browse through 137 pages of crap before finding a paragraph that vaguely answers to your question…
Public speaking is already hard enough and we don’t have to make it any harder.
So we set off to find an answer to this pressing problem. And it started with first asking one question:
“If you get to spend one hour with a world class speaker, for a one-on-one consultation on public speaking, what would you ask?â€
Within a month, we had people from all around the world – as far as Ukraine – sending us their burning questions. To date, we have about 267 questions and still counting. We even had to hire a temp staff to help us compile these questions.
Once the questions were compiled, the rest became easy.
The overwhelming response also proves one thing – there is an untapped market of concerned speakers who are looking for answers to help them overcome their fear of speaking and make them stars for their next presentation.
Gwen: Hearing your professional perspective is useful, but how about others? Anyone else we know who will be appearing in your book?
Eric: Since this is officially my first hard copy book, I have invited two of my mentors to write with me. One is Irene Ang, popularly known as Rosie Phua in Phua Chu Kang. The other is Kelvin Lim, my personal coach and also one of the highest paying coaches in Asia. Personal reasons aside, they are also phenomenal speakers in their own rights. And if you want to become a great speaker, you got to learn from the best!
What impresses me the most is Irene’s knack for making people laugh at will, and Kelvin’s incisive “pep talks†that never fails to move listeners to tears. Though their styles of speaking are worlds’ apart, their speeches always carries with them life lessons that inspires the soul and uplift the spirit.
I also had the honor of inviting five other A-list speakers from around the world to contribute bonuses that will be packaged together with my book. Till this point of time, the bonuses are worth a whooping USD 500!
We have Patricia Fripp, an award-winning speaker in States, Scott Friedman, past President of the National Speakers Association and Darren Fleming, the District Champion of the Evaluation Contest in Australia, as part of the all stars line up!
Gwen: A few sneak peeks of your book for our readers?
Eric: Here are some of your burning questions that will be answered in the book.
- What are the three most important attributes the audience look out for in a speaker?
- How can one find and cultivate his very own style of speaking so that no one can duplicate?
- How do I make my speech interesting, impressionable and impactful?
- Are there times when the audience does not react or respond the way you want them to? How do you salvage the situation when you fail on stage?
- Can you recommend me time-tested strategies to overcome my stage fright
- How do you influence someone to your way of thinking?
- I am often distracted by thoughts of not being good enough to be up their on stage. What can you advise me to do?
- How do you be yourself? We hear that so many times but how exactly do we do it?
- What are all the ways to draw the audience into your speech so that they can be connected with you?
- Can a person with a poor command of English be able to speak well like other people do?
- What advice can you give to a novice speaker?
- When I give a presentation, I switch to “presentation modeâ€. I become monotonous and lifeless. It is a subconscious habit now and it is hard to change. Any recommendations?
You can also sign up for a free chapter of the book at our website www.thefaqbook.com!
Gwen: Pray tell, the launch dates of your book?
Eric: We will be launching the electronic version of the book in end-September. The hard copy of the book will be released to all major bookstores during the Christmas season for obvious reasons…need I elaborate any further? (grins)
Gwen: Why different dates?
Eric: We are still in the midst of finalizing the contract with our publisher. So by the time, we are done, it could be November already. And if we were to wait till then to launch the electronic version as well, the online community will literally murder me especially when they have been waiting since late June for the book.
The early release of the electronic version will also serve to whet the appetite of those who bought. If they like what they read, there is a very high chance that they will buy a copy to keep. Since it is Christmas and it is a season of giving, they will be more than happy to buy a dozen more for their family and friends. That will make all of us very happy people!
Gwen: Future plans?
Eric: Our intention is to make the FAQ Book on Public Speaking a speaker bible, a book that you can carry everywhere with answers on the go! This means that we will continue to improve the book by adding more questions, inviting more experts to answer them and refining the structure of the book.
On top of the book, we are also exploring various mediums to effectively collect and answer burning questions that people may have on public speaking. This includes an online forum, a radio show and even possibly a talk show.
We also have interested parties approaching us to do The FAQ Book on Financial Planning and The FAQ Book on Personal Grooming. Both are interesting topics that we are looking forward to explore.
The best way to keep yourself posted on all the fun stuff that we are up to is to sign up on our exclusive mailing list at www.thefaqbook.com!
Gwen: Why should an entrepreneur obtain a personal copy of your book?
Eric: Entrepreneurs present all the time, to investors, to partners and to clients. In a competitive world where entrepreneurs fight for attention for their business to be noticed, public speaking is the one skill that is going to make all the difference. Not sure if you know this but public speaking is also recognized as one of the world’s most powerful and highly coveted skills. It is thus a no brainer to master speaking in order for you to gain an unfair advantage over your competitors and peers!
Why should anyone for that matter obtain a personal copy of your book?
Firstly, this is a book that answers directly to your most burning questions on becoming a speaker superstar. You don’t have to plough through truckloads of information only to find vague answers or useless facts. Think of The FAQ Book on Public Speaking like your speaker bible with answers on the go!
Secondly, this book is NOT about concepts. It contains time-tested tips from successful speakers, tips that are easy to apply and given in a step-by-step format so you know exactly what to do to improve your speaking skills. This book takes you by the hand and gives you what you really need, not just one-size-fits-all general advice.
Thirdly, geez.. you still need a third reason?
Eric is a great guy. Buy one to support him, will you?
–
Now you can go to TheFAQBook’s website and sign up for a free chapter to get a peek of Eric’s book.
Now, the part you’ve all been waiting for (everyone loves special one-time offers yeah?): Eric’s Special for SGE readers: For all you impatient readers out there who can’t wait for the book to be out, Eric will personally answer the first ten questions that SGE readers post here on this post! This way, you can ask specific questions pertaining to your needs. So, why wait?
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7 Comments, Comment or Ping
Hun Boon
OK let me get the ball rolling..
How should you speak differently when addressing a single person, small group, and large group?
Any practical tips?
Thanks.
Sep 6th, 2007
Eric
[reply to hun boon; thanks for your qn!]
The amount of energy you use has to increase with the size of your audience. It’s not just the loudness of your voice but also the loudness of your being. This means that your level of confidence, enthusiasm and conviction has to be raised many times in order to command the attention of your audience.
When the audience size increases, stage utilization also becomes very important. Every position you take on stage has to be intentional. Every body gesture you made has to be exaggerated and slower in order to catch the eye of your audience. Go watch a play. Observe how the actors move and speak on stage, and you will see what I mean.
Apart from these two aspects, there is really not much difference. Approach to writing your speech remains the same. Your message has to be powerful. Value must still be delivered. However most people don’t think that way. In their minds, size matters (a lot!). When the size of audience increases, the amount of threat they perceived grows exponentially. As a result, the speaker often gets paralyzed by such unnecessary fear, which in turn reduces their effectiveness on stage. Though this is normal and very real, there are ways to overcome it.
The first way is through conditioning. The reason why a speaker gets cold feet speaking in front of a huge crowd is because he has no prior experience of him successfully surviving one. What he needs is to build the necessary experience. Take weight lifting for example. It is impossible for a novice to lift 1000 pounds of heavy metal without breaking some bones. In order to do so, he needs to first lift lighter weights to condition his muscles. Likewise, in order for you to succeed in front a larger crowd, you have to first condition your speaking muscle. Start by addressing to a crowd size that you are comfortable with, and then increase the number steadily.
The second way that I want to share with you is a shortcut! One that gave me the courage to speak to thousands of people even though I had absolutely no experience of doing so. The trick is to pick pockets of people to focus on as you address the group; preferably those that you already feel comfortable with. Not only will this technique help to reduce your fear, it will actually make you more natural on stage. Since you are only speaking to a small group of people at any point of time, you will tend to be more conversational and this makes you more likeable as well.
The truth is, the audience will not know the difference anyway, especially if it is a large group! Of course, as your confidence grows, I encourage you to expand your focus. Talk to more people. This is where the fun begins!
I will like to add that the amount of effort you put into your presentation should not be any different. Regardless of the audience size, you must still do your homework. Knowing your audience is crucial in order for you to deliver a message that impacts and inspires. It includes finding out their frustrations, their needs and their wants. You must be clear on your audience’s expectations as well, so that you deliver value. As a personal touch, interview some of your audience beforehand. Get them to share relevant stories that you can use in your presentation. Have them introduce to you someone whom everybody knows and loves. Chances are, when you bring Mr Popular up on stage to work with you, your presentation becomes more memorable and fun to watch. Here’s more – Is there a buzzword that your audience uses a lot? Is there a common joke that gets passed around lately? Hunt them down and incorporate them in your presentation. Not only will that help you build rapport with your audience, they will love you for it!
Sep 7th, 2007
Doris
I have been to a few public speaking contests and I notice age seems to make a difference.
While the veterans (speakers in their 40s or have like 10 years of speaking experiences) look cool and calm on stage, the younger speakers often seem to lack this coolness or calmness that the veterans have.
And sometimes, this is the edge that result in the veterans winning over the younger speakers.
Being 25, how do you overcome all that, fight the veterans and win all the way up to district level?
Thanks!
Sep 7th, 2007
Eric
Doris, you must have very, very thick skin!
The first time I participated in the International Speech Contest, (in 2004), I did not even make it past club level (i.e. the first level of the competition) And when I gave my first humorous speech in NUS Toastmasters club, all I could squeezed out from the audience was two chuckles. One of them was from me. Yes, it was very embarrassing. But my cow skin kept me going. I wasn’t bothered about losing. Instead I was more interested in why I lost and why they win. With every stage time I get, I figured out a technique or a tip that will increase my chances of winning. Keep repeating the process and you will bound to win someday.
My obsession served me well too. At that time, I was obsessed about beating the so-called veterans. I wanted to prove to people that even a young chap like myself can win with little experience. Over the three years, I eat, sleep, think public speaking. I was even clocking stage time in my dreams! It was this fervency that helped me win the contests eventually. And here’s the best part. I still eat, sleep, think and dream public speaking. Why? Because it is my passion! And I have yet to find a reason not to indulge in it.
You will be surprised to know that our youth and inexperience do give us an unfair advantage over the veterans as well. Our ignorance drives us to take risks and speak out of the box. Our rebelliousness ensures that we never conform to the old rules of speaking. Our youth allows us to look at things from a fresh perspective. As a young speaker, we should leverage on these characteristics to stand out from the rest of the contestants. That’s how you can win in every single speech and presentation you deliver.
Sep 8th, 2007
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