When it comes to promoting your business, landing a job, inspiring followers, or gaining visibility for yourself or your organization, the one attribute you need is good communication skills. Frequently, this means proficiency in public speaking.
The good news is that you don't need to suddenly become an "excellent" speaker. Your task is to deliver a message to people who will benefit from hearing it, and to enjoy yourself while doing it. It really is simpler than you might imagine.
1.Pretend you're talking to just one person.
You're not really standing in front of an audience and talking to everyone (even though you are.) Pretend that you are talking to one person, each in turn as you speak to that individual, then another. The art of conversationality is what you're looking for. Talking to one person makes it all more personal for your listeners.
2.Make a powerful entrance.
Actors excite their audiences by the energy and powerful focus they bring on stage with them. Why shouldn't you? Your speech begins when you enter the room, not when you open your mouth. Have fun with your entrance! Become familar with the body language messages you may be broadcasting. And learn the 5 body language errors that will sink your presentation. There are many creative ways to make an effective entrance. Without overdoing it, and considering the audience and the situation, come up with a few that you can have fun with.
3.Talk about something you are passionate about.
You don't have to be the world's foremost expert on your topic (though you should know enough about it for the purposes of your speech). But what you should have an abundance of is passion for your topic. Have you noticed how hard it is not to listen to someone who's speaking passionately about something? Your audiences will respond exactly the same way.
4.Save time for Q & A.
In Dr. Genard's book How to Give a Speech, he calls Q & A "The Forgotten Avenue to Audience Persuasion." That's because anybody can deliver a presentation if it's prepared beforehand and they've practiced it enough. But the speaker who can handle himself with poise, expertise, and conciseness in a Q & A session is the one who will not only persuade an audience, but look good doing it. To turn that idea around, become familiar with the 7 danger zones of Q & A so you know how to handle yourself effectively.
5.Work with a speech coach.
A speech coach can help you with a myriad of factors in dynamic public speaking. These include organization, presence, tone, body language, engaging with audiences and keeping listeners interested, using PowerPoint, responding to challenges, vocal expressiveness, and other important delivery skills. It's impossible for you to experience from inside yourself how you look and sound. Actors don’t work without a director, and golf pros always use a coach. You as a speaker need a gifted "third eye" to see how you come across.
6.Be vulnerable.
Share something about yourself that the audience will be interested in. It can be a personal anecdote, or a connection to your subject matter. Speakers sometimes think it's not appropriate to bring themselves into a discussion, but that couldn't be further from the truth. To wear an invisible suit of armor to protect yourself in the "scary" environment of a public speech will just make you look impregnable. Audiences don't find it easy to relate to such speakers. Let them see the real you, because the chances are good that they'll like what they experience.
7.Less is more.
You've heard this phrase applied to many areas of human activity, and on-stage performance is one where it applies most clearly. Many speakers meander through their topic, or give their audiences far too much information. As the French philosopher Voltaire said, "The easiest way to bore someone is to tell them all you know." We would say more on this subject but, well, less is more.
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