ADO: A Shining Arrow in your Quiver: Speaking Skills for Fundraisers

A Shining Arrow in your Quiver: Speaking Skills for Fundraisers

Whether it is an elevator speech, a pitch at a cozy dinner meeting, or an ASK before a big alumni audience, successful philanthropic communications demand eloquence, confidence and power. This workshop will address some of the essential skills in face-to-face persuasive speech. Understanding your audience and their needs; suiting the language, including vocabulary and allusion, to their point of view and age; rendering the mission irresistible as one that solves a problem-- are some of the topics related to the composition of effective speech. The second half of the session will focus on delivery of the speech.

Short lectures will be punctuated with discussions about actual successful and unsuccessful communiques. The workshop will emphasize interactive commentary and demonstrable presentation from the attendees. The signal, culminating exercise will be short speeches in which attendees ask for a donation; sympathetic critiques from the group will follow. Good will and laughter will be encouraged.

Participants can expect to learn:

• The elements of a short persuasive speech; composing the elevator speech
• What are the current trends in effective PowerPoint presentations
• Some audience analysis, including millennial, generation X, and baby boomers
• Getting rid of “podium paralysis.”

SPEAKER: Dr. Carole Weaver, National Medical Fellowships