I sat down with professional speaker, Allen Klein at the Speakers Association of Hawaii (SAH) January meeting. He was entertaining with a humorous flair for telling stories that reveal lessons for living. His one-of-a-kind, designed-just-for-speakers presentation, scattered 10 speaking gems that brought him several awards as a professional speaker. I’m going to write about 5 of the 10 gems. You’ll have to connect with Allen Klein to find out the other 5.
ALLEN KLEIN, MA, CSP
By the time Allen took the floor, the crowd was warmed by the wine and the food at the floating Pagoda. A kind welcome greeted him as he addressed us around the horseshoe table arrangement. Splashing koi in the background lent a pointed narrative to his funny tales as he guided us all through the 10 most important things learned during 30 Years as a professional speaker.
Comedian Jerry Lewis described Allen Klein as “a noble and vital force watching over the human condition.” During the 30-minute talk, I noticed he uses humor and positive thinking to deal with life’s not-so-funny stuff.
As a naturally guided speaker myself, whose formal training by Al Gore, a dubious speaking role model, some say, my curiosity jumped up when Allen offered his first tip.
5 Tips for Public Speakers
1. “Go with what brung you,” he began. Tell the story of your development. Share with the audience your compelling signature story. In essence, he advised, tell the audience why you have a right to be standing in front of them as their speaker.
As a native human by heritage and teachings, I don’t prefer to talk about myself, or my accomplishments, though friends have encouraged me to tell those stories. I’m not interested in status, power, gossip, wealth, or even politics. I am focused on moving our communities, these islands, our government towards a positive collaborative sustainable future, together, all of us.
So Allen’s suggestion goes against my natural inclinations as a person. However, since he has been speaking about as long as I’ve been alive, I will be honoring his wisdom, searching for low key ways to share my compelling signature story. What’s your signature story?
2. His second tip follows from his first tip. “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” Allen strongly feels that everyone is unique and that’s why an organization or agent will hire you to speak to their audiences. Figure out how you are unique, tell a compelling story about your unique perspectives—preferably with a bit of humor. Make it relevant and accessible to the audience. That’s how you stand out among the crowd of speakers.
3. By doing these things, you give the audience something to remember you by. By telling your story and being unique, people will grok your essence. Your story, your words and essence will be remembered, Allen suggested.
4. His fourth tip was perhaps the most powerful of the lot. Write a book, he says. A book becomes your calling card, your platform on which you and your credibility stands, and YOU stand out as a person who has the courage to write and the commitment to follow-through. He says, “People will eventually forget a bad speech. A book is forever.”
5. Finally, he says, Have fun. If you’re not enjoying what you do, why are you doing it? This tip is the reason I started public speaking. I realized I enjoyed it. I felt good afterwards.
I was glad to have been able to attend his talk and learn some new things to inform my public speaking passion. Allen Klein is an interesting man with much wisdom and funny stories to tell.
Next time you need a speaker for your group, check him out at allenklein.com
He is a recipient of:
- a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor,
- a Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association, and
- a Toastmaster’s Communication and Leadership Award,
Klein is also a best-selling author of 26 books including The Healing Power of Humor, You Can’t Ruin My Day, and, Secrets Kids Know.
In addition, Klein is a blogger on happiness at Bottom Line Inc and a TEDx presenter
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