The ability to deliver stunning speeches and presentations will impact positively on your success as great speakers are generally perceived to become great leaders.
Have you ever sat to listen to a speech or presentation by a well-known motivational speaker, pastor, entrepreneur or sales man and just felt like rising out of your seat there and then to take an immediate call to action towards achieving a goal or chasing a dream?
If yes, you are not alone.
The ability to elicit responses and effortlessly lead listeners on an action journey with words, presentation and gesticulations is what makes a speaker successful. The power of a delivered speech is determined by the communication style the speaker or presenter chooses to use. What is seen and perceived to be a seamless speech and awesome presentation actually comes from a well-practiced, dedicated, intelligent, and sophisticated writing. Although several entrepreneurs are no strangers to public speeches and presentation, not every business owner or employee is quite as persuasive as they’d like to be.
Below are some tips on how to make memorable speeches & winning presentations.
Voice Clarity- As a speaker or presenter, what will endear your speakers to you starts from your voice as a clear voice projects confidence and sincerity. Having a clear voice tells your audience you know what you are saying and aren't scared or too embarrassed to share what you know. Speaking clearly also projects your intelligence, honesty and presents an image of a good leader to your audience. So, few days before that presentation at the workplace or that speech at the public stadium, ease off on the cold water and ensure you are drinking enough water to stay hydrated as this affects your voice. It takes conscious and persistent effort to pronounce and enunciate clearly, even if you otherwise have good speech habits so try and practice in front of a mirror and sincerely ask yourself whether your voice sounds convincing even to you. Watch out for your voice evenness and listen to your voice as the trick is to be clear and use a version of your accent that you would use for your colleagues, classmates, teachers and your boss.
Own that Speech: It is generally assumed that talking fast suggests one is lying or that one has got something to hide. As a speaker, you need to slow down and assume your audience has attention & hearing defects, especially when you are about to pass an extremely important point or information. Place pronunciation emphasis on key words and phrases that you want to use to pass a very essential information. To be understood from the podium or during a presentation at the office, you must speak more slowly than you do in everyday conversation. This slowdown is needed to compensate for the time it takes for auditory information, especially technical jargons to be digested and processed by your listener. Speak in a conversational style, but more slowly and deliberately, always pausing between phrases, to facilitate the listener's cerebral processing of your message. And it helps when you make eye contact very often as people are compelled to stay listening to you when you focus your gaze at them for some seconds. You can repeat important information and look into one or two faces of your listeners while pausing to stare at some directly. This shows you want that information that you just passed to really sink in.Don't be also afraid to use natural hand and body gestures to help express yourself, but don't overdo it as this could leave your listeners in a daze when your hands and body move very often, leaving them slightly disoriented.
Use Powerful Visuals- No matter the age of a listener, the presence of visual images will elicit more responses than pure texts. Make sure your visual material is well designed for presentation. Your first presentation slide should be powerful enough to grab your audience as statistics have shown that speakers have the first 20 seconds to grab the attention of their listeners. The first few seconds determine whether your listeners will listen with rapt attention or bring out their phones and start gossiping. Projected graphs and interactive photographs can significantly add to the impact of your talk and help your audience absorb its content. But your material, whether slides or PowerPoint needs to be properly constructed such that each slide leaves your listener waiting on the edge of their seats eagerly for the next slide.
Keep It Very Very Short – Whether you are giving a motivational speech or presenting a business idea to your bosses, it is important to know that the average listener has a very short attention span. Hence, make your most important points in the first few minutes ensuring your listeners have an idea of the information you are trying to pass across within the first 5 minutes. During work presentations, your presentation audience will determine the length of your speech as it is generally believed that top management leaders require just 60 seconds to make a decision whether to go with your idea or move on mentally to start thinking about that meeting they are scheduled to attend the coming week in Brussels. You can then spend the remaining minutes expanding your points and having enough time for the questions and answers. Statistics have also shown that the shorter the speech/presentation, the more positive impact it will have on the listeners. Once a speech or presentation exceeds a certain amount of minutes, the listeners tend to wander off mentally as the long epistle merely distracts the audience from the point of the talk. This also applies to office presentation as most leaders have low attention span for long details.
More Visuals, Less Texts: Too much written information on a slide is not only hard to see, it beckons the audience to read it while the speaker is talking. This definitely distracts from the reason they are gathered in the first place as they could have simply picked up a good book to read. Simultaneous reading and listening is almost impossible so when a speaker attempts to make the audience read lots of texts on a presentation slide, it will generate audience distraction. Also avoid using full sentences on a slide as it encourages the speaker to read from it, which should never be done as your audience will have to read along internally. Your slide might serve as a prompt, but never as a script for reading. Remember, less is more.
Dress the Part- The most successful speakers are those who understand the influence of powerful dressing during any presentation. Your audience would come from different backgrounds and may judge you, however dressing responsibly and powerfully will project a confident and assured presence which would captivate not only their visual interest but also their mental attention. You can also consider adorning colorful clothing especially in dark rooms and if the background is also white. This would ensure you are very visible to everyone in the room.
The steps to being a successful speaker and communicator start with consistent practice and personal development which should be never ending. To make impact with your speeches and presentation, simply keep learning about your intended audience and listeners.
In my next post, I’d be sharing tips on how NOT to release remuneration details about your recent job when scouting for a newer job.
Highly insightful,thanks for sharing.
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