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"Thank you so much for your assistance in helping me become a better communicator. You and your book helped me be much more focused in communicating with audiences."
- Joyce Hookings
Speak With Power: Chapter One – Step One
Download Sample Chapter: PDF Download (375k)
YOU HAVE THE VOICE.
What you need to do is "Let it out!" The eight CooperKeys will unlock your speaking power.
The next eight chapters give you the tools you need to take this first GIANT step. Here is a Road Map to help you get ready for the trip.
KEY NO. 1
DESIRE
You already have this key! You're reading this page. In this book you will learn how to capitalize on your good intentions-your dream for success.
It isn’t enough to dream. Dreams can be a preview of your future success. To make dreams a reality you need to dress them in working clothes.
KEY NO. 2
DEVELOP YOUR POW!-R BASE
You must learn to control your breath from your Pow!-R Centre. Some people call it “belly breathing.” What you need to do is fill the lower lungs with air and control the exhaling from that power centre. That is where you have flexibility. You can push your diaphragm down. You can lift your ribs. You can work with the band of diaphram muscles circling the waist.
Only then can you take control of the most important key on your Speech Key chain-your Breath. how to breathe effectively for speaking support and control.
You must learn to Breathe for Success. A Rolls Royce is not going to take you far without gas. And you won’t get a smooth ride unless the engine is tuned up.
Your voice is just like a car. This key shows you how to keep the breath "topped up." How to control the outgoing breath for positive power!
KEY NO. 3
MATCH YOUR VOICE TO YOUR MESSAGE
You must know how to make your voice amplify your personality and your message. If you have a tendency to be Monotone Mike or Janey-one-note or any of the other labels a lazy voice gives you-you need to work with this key.
You have at least a dozen pitches you can use with ease. If you are like most speakers, you are using one or two! You can learn to pattern the speaking part of your brain to automatically use all the pitches you need as you express a new idea.
KEY NO. 4
POW!-R TALKING
The second most important key. This key enables you to help listeners REALLY understand your message. I call this key the "Key to Understanding!"
Learn to apply the interpretation tools. PITCH-PACE-PAUSE-PROJECTION. These are the major movers. We speak in ideas not words. Each new idea has to be vocally separated.
In writing you can use commas, periods, sentences, paragraphs, capital letters and so on. In speech you do all this critical interpretation with your voice.
And remember...when you are speaking people are listening to you with half an ear-if that! Your vocal ability to orchestrate your message will be the difference between making or not making your point.
- The first four keys focused on you-the speaker. The next four look the other way-at your listener.
KEY NO. 5
P.R.E.P. FOR SUCCESS
You have to structure your message to make this key open yet another door to speaking success. Strong structures start with a strong foundation.
Your foundation must be "What do I want my listener to do/know when I finish talking?" Specifically! Too many people start with "What do I want to say?" Unless you say it in terms of action you’ll end up with non-committed listeners.
KEY NO. 6
DEVELOP "AA" AUDIENCE APPRECIATION
When you talk from a "What do I want to say?" position you ignore the reason you are speaking. Your listener. Your audience. You want to share ideas with someone. You must know your audience. Only then will you know how to orchestrate your message specifically for those ears. You will share with-not speak at!
KEY NO. 7
UNDERSTAND THE 'EYE' & 'I' NEEDS
You cannot communicate if you do not look at the person or people you are talking to! You cannot look at your script or notes while you are speaking. You must learn to look; lift ideas; then share them looking at those you are talking to!
Cooper Communicating Tool
This is half of this key. The other half-think in terms of the audience. The password to your speaking success is not "I" but "YOU." You will learn to orchestrate your message to do this effectively.
KEY NO. 8
APPLY "P & P"-PRACTICE AND PATIENCE
You can be as good a speaker as you want to be. It is up to you.
The steps and Keys are here...the door won't open if you don't turn the key! Practice the techniques and they become automatic-just like driving skills.
You don't learn to play a piano by leaning against it! You cannot improve your speaking skills by thinking about them!
Work carefully with each key to successfully take the first giant step to speaking with confidence. Understanding and using these keys will make all the other steps so much easier.
Trying to harness your potential speaking power without using these keys will make the other steps as difficult as walking in gumbo mud!
COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS CHECK LIST
HOW GOOD A COMMUNICATOR ARE YOU?
Look at this list. Note areas where you feel you need improvement. As you work through the KEYS check back. Revise as you acquire and learn to use the communicating tools you need.
Use the rest of this space to note other speaking problems you want to correct. If it concerns what you say or how you say it-you will find what you need as you work with the material in this book.
Just remember. You can be as good a speaker as you want to be. You will find the tools you need here. The rest is up to you. How important is it to be an effective communicator? You won’t improve by simply reading. You must work with the material here. The more you work the more quickly you will become the speaker you CAN be.
Cooper Communicating Tool
"Twenty minutes a day and you are on your way!"
The Double "D" Desire and Determination
DESIRE
The Greeks had a word for it! Or rather, one Greek, Helvetius, had several words to say about motivation.
"A person without desire has within no principle of action nor motive to act!"
