Five ways to become best speaker...
Speaking at events is a great way to spread your important
messages and cement your status as an expert.
However, being a great speaker is an art, not a science. Here are five ways you can quickly become a
better speaker.
Don’t memorize your speech: You may think that the best way
to give a flawless speech is to memorize the content word-for-word. In reality,
that is a myth and is not recommended. Memorization not only lends itself to
sounding over-rehearsed (aka not natural), but also, if your mind goes blank at
any point during the presentation, you will lose your place and potentially
create an awkward silence (or worse, start to panic).
Instead, create bullet points of the content, stories, data
and key takeaways that you want to get across in each part of your
presentation. Then, speak naturally
about them. If you remember all of those
key points, great, but if you forget some, no sweat- you can move on to another
next point. Having a looser structure
also gives you the flexibility to change up stories and information in your
speech based on the audience. And, as an extra bonus, you will deliver a more
natural sounding, engaging presentation.
Talk to the audience before the presentation: Meeting with
the people you are going to be speaking with before you give your speech has
several benefits. First, it warms them
up to you. Second, it lets you gauge
their sense of humor, which is particularly critical if you are a speaker that
tends to let a curse word fly or uses off-beat stories or language. Finally, you can get feedback to incorporate
into the presentation. It’s incredibly
effective to use audience members as examples or transitions in a speech
because it creates intimacy with the audience and more engagement. If you are talking to small business owners
about marketing and Mary told you a great story about how she used an unusual
marketing tactic, incorporate Mary and her story into your presentation. “Speaking of clever marketing, earlier I was
talking to Mary, who is sitting in the third row, and she told me how she used
a PR stunt with 400 puppies to get new clients…”.
Amp up your visuals: I think most speakers know to not read
directly from slides (and if you didn’t before, you do now). But if you do use slides during your
presentation, use them in an unexpected way. Include a short, fun video or use
some photos with humor. I saw John
Morgan present recently and when he was talking about how people want to do
business with trusted brands, he had a photo of a beat-up old van with “Want some
candy?” spray painted on its side to illustrate why you don’t do business with
strangers. Maybe consider having an
illustrator like Jocelyn Wallace do some great art for key messages or just
consider having your presentation done professionally. This can take your entire presentation up a
level.
Take the pressure off: Even the most seasoned speakers get
nervous prior to presenting. The most
effective way to take the pressure off of you is to flip your mindset and think
about your audience (rather than yourself or the speech). Remember that you are there to provide them
with valuable information and if the audience members leave with one or two new
items, reminders or a new perspective, you have made it worth their while. Focusing on being helpful or in service of
the audience will help you to relax.
Get interactive: One
of the best speakers around is Michael Port, who takes audience participation
to a whole new level. During the
presentation, he has the audience repeat back to him or make gestures back of
the key points of his speech. This keeps
the audience involved, but even more brilliantly, it gives them devices to
remember the material. I often will stop in the middle of the speech to ask
audience members to throw out examples of ideas that I present as well. As you plan your speech, think about where
you can involve the audience and what devices you can use to involve them in
the presentation so that you are talking with them, not just to them.
