5 Actionable Tips to be an Unforgettable Speaker
Five actions are necessary if you want to give your audiences a different experience that will be unforgettable for all the right reasons. This goes for novice presenters, struggling presenters, and seasoned presenters alike. Here's exactly how to make your public and private presentations memorable, engaging, and blazing hot.
Tell them your HOW and your WHY, not your WHAT. Audience members want to know how you can help them be more powerful, more productive, better professionals, incredibly outstanding in all facets of their lives. They want to know why they should listen to you. It matters not to the audience what YOU know or what you do until you show them how you can help them with what THEY do! Blow off their socks by telling them how you bring about transformations and why the work you do is the best work in the world. You almost want to think about your elevator pitch here and selling yourself to the audience. Once you make it clear you are there to make a difference, then you have them in the palm of your hand. The only thing left to do is to bring the content. Bring the heat!
Make it a conversation. It is assumed you are an expert because you have the microphone. Assume you also have experts in front of you, and let them show off! Turn your presentation into a conversation where you speak for only so long - bring the heat - then bring in other voices so you engage the audience and demonstrate your point of view isn’t the only one in the room.
Steer away from sharing too many of your accomplishments. It can appear braggadocios, and it can alienate the audience, resulting in everyone having the impression you believe you are better than everyone assembled. When you shine the light on everyone else in the room, YOU shine! When you brag about a great question someone asked or praise someone for making an interesting contribution, when make the other person feel like the most important person in the room, then YOU become the most important person in the room.
Consistently, look and sound unstoppable. Look and sound like the role you want to portray; establish your credibility; and capitalize on using the three pillars of persuasive speech, ethos, logos, and pathos. Shoulders back, head up, eyes laser-focused; adopt these practices with your body language every single time you speak. Every single time no matter where you are and no matter to whom you speak. Eliminate the “uh’s” and “um’s” otherwise known as filler words. Make statements that sound certain, not flimsy. For instance, say, “I know,” not “I think.” (Get additional guidance on power words at this link.) Eliminate high-rising terminals or uptalk so every statement you make does not sound like a question. You must give the impression you are the most confident and powerful speaker there is, and when you do that, you will be unforgettable.
Give a call to action. After you present, move the audience to extend its thinking and its engagement so they remember you and your message well after you have finished speaking. Take your audience members from listening to acting, and when you do that, you inspire your listeners to do more, be more, and realize how incredibly dynamic they are. You … YOU did that!
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Did you enjoy this post? Get more communication strategies in the award-winning REAL TALK: What Other Experts Won't Tell You About How to Make Presentations That Sizzle.
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Image credit: Gloria Williams