6 Smart Tips for Effective Public Speaking

We marketers are expected to do it all these days–come up with creative ideas, put them into prose or better yet poetry, be social media gurus, and be effective public speakers. We may or may not be comfortable addressing groups of strangers yet, but there will probably come a time–at either at trade show, or a sales presentation, or a conference–when we’ll be called upon to inform, inspire, and entertain.

BrandMe - Public SpeakingHere are some tips to smooth the way:

  1. Size up the room. Have you ever been to a meeting where the room holds 100, but only 20 showed up? And they’re hanging on the back rows to beat a speedy retreat if the speaker is boring? The speaker has to tell the assembled to move down into a few rows in front. So, if you know you’re speaking to a dozen or so, arrange the chairs in a friendly semi-circle so it looks more like a discussion than a lecture. Treat it more like a conversation and get to questions as quickly as possible to make the meeting more interactive.
  2. Of course, you may be addressing a full auditorium and be behind a podium. In that case, make an effort to make eye contact with members of the audience. It’s not necessary to stare, which might make someone uncomfortable, but making eye contact with audience members is better than looking down at notes or off into space. Modulate your voice to the size of the crowd. Don’t raise your voice to a small group of people but don’t mumble either. Don’t be a “low talker.” If it’s a large hall, try to reach a person in the last row, so they don’t feel left out.
  3. Can the PowerPoint? I’ve sat through them, you’ve sat through them, but it’s still up for grabs whether the world of communications is better off with PowerPoint. One problem is the presentation may distract from, rather than enhance, what you are saying. If your speech is full of figures and facts that need to be illustrated by graphics, fine, but if the graphics are just “there” for their own sake, then it’s better if the audience is focused on you. Because you are an interesting speaker.
  4. Brevity is the soul of wit. Shakespeare said that, and it only took him six words to do so. In case you hadn’t noticed, people have short attention spans these days. The average sitcom has but 18 minutes of show. But that’s to a speaker’s benefit, because it forces us to beam in on what’s important. The Gettysburg Address had 464 words, about a page and a half of writing.
  5. Every speech should have a three part plan of action: tell them what you’re going to say, say it and tell them what you said. That allows the speaker to repeat the message in various ways three times, which is important because you need to fill the time and…
  6. Speaking eats copy. A “fast talker” can go through a page of copy in less than a minute. Learn to slow down and enunciate so you don’t sound hurried or tense.

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