Thursday, July 05, 2012

Common Sense Public Speaking!



Steve Jobs was a passionate, confident speaker!
Public Speaking is  like everything else - you've got to use plain common sense.  If you speak too fast people can't understand you - and can't process what's being said fast enough to 'get' your message.  If you speak too slowly, you give the brain too much time for distraction - you lose them.  Filler words are a distraction.  Constant movement is a distraction.  A speaker needs to minimize distractions so that the audience is locked on to the message, not the quirks of the messenger!

If you're totally connected with the real message you're presenting, and are passionate about it, your energy will reflect that.  If you're speaking too slowly or too fast, that tells me, as a listener, that you're not totally 'feeling' what you're talking about, or that you're not  reading your audience to determine whether they are tuned in to you or not.  During a presentation I believe that a speaker has to know their topic so well that they can be flexible to change up pace, audience interaction, and just overall, be able to take command of the energy in the room!




4 comments:

Glenda Pitts said...

Great tips - thank you for the wonderful post that we can use as a reminder when it is our time to get up there and speak in front of people!

Lisa Marie said...

Oh, you're speaking my language. I love public speaking and hope to expand my work in this area. It's so funny 'cause yesterday, just got my first microphones, one for singing and speaking and one for podcasting. I'll admit, I'm one of those who like to ham it up, but it's so important to connect with your audience. My one teacher says to touch first and then, teach :) I think your blog is stellar and I'm gonna be checking out in future too :)

Unknown said...

Thanks Lisa Marie! I always tell my students that it's about the emotion, not perfect execution. Cheers, Beth Lawrence, Vivalavoice.com

Unknown said...

Thanks Glenda! Speaking isn't as scary when you remember that we all share so much commonality! Cheers, Beth Lawrence, http://ivivalavoice.com