I love public speaking.
Seriously....I really love public speaking. I've been in speech contests since I was in seventh grade. I've been preaching at church since I was 14. I prefer to work at places that let me be a public speaker.
I don't have many talents but public speaking is one of them.
Because public speaking comes naturally to me, it used to be difficult for me to understand why people are apprehensive about it. Of course, as I've matured, I have come to understand that a lot of people are afraid to speak in front of a group. Some people's personalities don't lend themselves to being a speaker just as my personality doesn't lend itself to me being a doctor or lawyer. There's nothing wrong with that at all.
However, regardless of how you feel about public speaking, you are likely to face instances in which you are called upon to speak as a subject matter expert. Whether in front of an audience of 1,000 or a board room of 5 people, you need to develop good public speaking habits.
There are volumes of books that you can read, classes you can take and videos you can study that will help you become a better speaker. But on my platform, I'd like to simply give you three pieces of advice that will help you become a better speaker.
1. Have confidence-No matter what the situation is, you have been asked to speak because you are the expert. Are there people in the world or in your industry that are smarter than you? Sure. Are there people that would have been a better choice to speak? Maybe. The thing to remember is that you're the one they asked for. The folks that asked you to talk are interested in your point of view. They want to hear your experience. They want your perspective. They want you.
Take some pride in that thought.
Have you ever had to sit through a speech or presentation by someone that lacked confidence? I have. You have to listen to them apologize constantly during the speech. They don't talk loud enough to be easily heard. Usually it is a pretty poor experience.
2. Know your audience-I realize that this isn't always possible but most of the time it is. I have a different presentation method depending on whether I'm talking to teenagers at a local high school, colleagues, employees, bosses, donors, etc. You can use the general outline that you've prepared but you can add things to make your speech more effective.
Example: I have a 'canned' speech that I use when I talk about my agency. However, depending on the audience, I add in different elements to the canned speech. If I'm talking to a group of high school kids, I'm going to add in stories about people that we've helped. If I'm talking to a group of donors, I'm going to emphasize how donations are used. If I'm talking to an older audience that is really conservative, I'll focus on how our work saves money for taxpayers. My main body of the speech is the same from group to group but depending on the audience, I add in elements that will be appropriate to the audience.
3. Take a FEW notes-Contrast this idea with writing your speech out word for word. The more notes you take, the more time you're typically going to spend reading from them. No one in the audience enjoys being read to. Use only a basic outline format when you're speaking. This will encourage you to speak from the heart rather than a prepared statement. (Obviously there are situations where legalities are incredibly important and using a prepared statement is a MUST but overall, this won't be necessary).
Take this blog for instance. I have written all my 'notes' out for you to read word for word. If I was using this as a speech, my notes would look like this:
Intro-Love public speaking, different personalities
I. Have confidence
A. You're the expert
II. Know your audience
A. Examples of tailoring a speech
III. Take a few notes
A. Awesome visual aid
Conclusion-Watch other speakers
That's it. That's all I would take up there. When you spend more time reading your notes word for word than making eye contact with the audience and speaking from the heart, you come off as insincere and it looks like you didn't work very hard preparing.
Finally, (as per my conclusion) one of the best things you can do is to watch other speakers that you enjoy listening to (authors, preachers, colleagues) and take notes about what you liked about their speaking and what you didn't like. Be specific with your notes. Don't just write "he was awesome." Write about what makes him so awesome. Did he use a visual aid? Was he a story teller?
Try to replicate the things you like and avoid the things you didn't like.
How about you? What are some things that you enjoy about listening to a great public speaker?
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