Have you ever found yourself listening to a great speaker and the next thing you know your mind begins to daydream? 

Or perhaps your mind drifts to your "to do list", then you snap out of it because everyone else is laughing, but you missed that funny moment and now it's gone? 

How can we as speakers make sure this does not happen to us?  How can we make sure that the audience gets every juicy morsel of our meaningful message?  How can we make sure that they feel connected to us and our message?  How can we make a first impression that positions us as an expert before we even say the first word?

Bo Eason, one of the worlds greatest speaking coaches and former professional football player for the Houston Oilers once said, "There are no bad audiences.  There are no bad listeners.  There are only performers or speakers who have failed to connect."

We must connect and engage with our audience if we are going hold their attention and make an impact....

What are the key elements of a memorable and engaging talk?

Perhaps you have heard common things like:

• giving high-value content
• well-organized material
• storytelling
• engaging body language
• vocal variety

But what about emotional variety? 

Does your talk have a balance of engaging emotional variety? Your talk is like a work of art.  Are you painting with a pallet of many colors, or just black and white?

According to Kendal Haven and his team of researchers, who were commissioned by the Department of Defense to study the science of storytelling on the brain, there is a part of the brain that lights up when we hear stories.  They called it the "Neural Story Net".  Haven and his team found that the best speakers tell stories that light up this part of the brain.  And that their stories have 4 special components:

1. Engagement- the audience easily dedicated mental focus because the story had an emotional component that held their attention.

2. ...

"To be INTERESTING and MEMORABLE, be interested in others."  -Holley Mignosi 

Have you ever been at a networking meeting or social occasion and got stuck in a conversation what was painfully boring? 

Or worse.

The conversation fell into an awkward silence leaving both of you struggling to find something to say?

Me too! 

That's why I went on the hunt to find an easy conversation formula that would put the spark into any business or social chit-chat.  And yay! I found it! 

Thanks to world-renowned Hypnotist and NLP Master Trainer David Snyder.  He recommends asking questions related to Location, Occasion, and Passion.  To make it easier for myself to remember I call it ...

Unique Conversation Starters - The 3 Ps 

The topics are simply PEOPLE, PLACE and PASSION

Here is how it works. 

Let’s say you are at a networking meeting or social occasion.  Instead of asking, “So what do you do?”...