Image by Mirko Grisendi from Pixabay
In this Digital Age, we’re overwhelmed with the content of good and bad messages from a variety of sources. The Internet, e-mails, television, radio, billboards and the telephone — to name a handful sources of communication. And every day, we’re bombarded thousands of times.
So if your goal is to be informative, persuasive or entertaining — it’s an arduous task to communicate by cutting through the clutter of all those sources. In reality, those messages are competitors.
Therefore, to be appealing to others, public speaking is important.
If you’re not an accomplished public speaker, you might wish to consider learning how to speak effectively.
One way to start is to take courses in public speaking.
Once you learn techniques, then you become great with practice — constantly creating opportunities to speak. (More on that in the Coach’s Corner at the end of this article.)
You’ll reap rewards personally and professionally. That includes profiting from the development of critical-thinking skills, fine-tuning your nonverbal and verbal skills, and overcoming your fears of public speaking.
If you’re ambitious, you’ll become adept in influencing others as a leader and in thought leadership.
Eric Stone is a leading expert in how to improve communication with others, public speaking and performance. He’s a former New York City stage and television actor, who operates Speakers and Artists International, Inc. (www.publicspeakingconnection.com) in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“So much of our everyday interactions depend on the act of speaking,” he says. ” (He’s the source for advice in a very popular article, Public Speaking Tips – for Speeches in Accepting Awards, Honors.)
“Speaking is not just a constitutional right but the means to achieving our ends, forge our paths and discover our purpose,” he adds. “Our most accomplished achievements begin and end with speaking in action.”
You’ll reap rewards personally and professionally. That includes profiting from the development of critical-thinking skills, fine-tuning your nonverbal and verbal skills, and overcoming your fears of public speaking.
So, there are great reasons to become an effective speaker.
Mr. Stone’s top 10 reasons:
1 — Speaking is an access to power. Speaking in action is a doing and possibly the most important messenger of our wishes. Webster describes speaking as the faculty or act of expressing or describing thoughts, feelings or perceptions by the articulation of words. It also says to us that it is the language of a nation. We live and breathe by speech; it is the single most powerful engine of our human existence. We view everything through the interpretation of language in action.
2 — When we don’t speak well, we simply open the door to feeling stupid. We are too often judged and interpreted through what we say and how we say it. It can be an un-cool source of upset for all involved. We don’t look too good either.
3 — Not Speaking well undermines our basic confidence in ourselves as business professionals, entrepreneurs, citizens, members of a community, etc.
4 — When we don’t speak well we automatically lose credibility. Credibility relies on very simple math: do we believe you? Not so much do you know what you know or are you well prepared?
5 — A good speaker gets what he or she wants. There lies the power. Good speaking taps into our hearts, it emotionalizes our hopes and touches us. We love to be dominated by skillful speaking–it’s such a thrill. A good speaker is like a snake charmer. We fall under the spell. So you not only will look good but also be liked better. You will place yourself in a position of control and appeal.
6 — A good leader is a good speaker first and foremost. The higher the stakes the more our communications require strong intentions, resolve and accountability. Speaking, which is a heightened form of expression can be a life-changing experience. One-on-one, to groups or crowds.
7 — A good speaker earns more and gets promoted. I have been a front-seat witness to this phenomenon in the past decade. A surprising number of folks earn more money and get better jobs as a result of being able to use their hard-won public speaking talents.
8 — A good speaker exudes charisma and an aura of success and confidence. We feel such validation when we speak well. The articulation of ideas can actually reach very artistic dimensions.
9 — We do not know ourselves as well until we’ve spoken ourselves well. In my book, it is at the heart of the matter of what it means to experience life fully. Daring to be ourselves through language can be very rewarding; it begins with the willingness to speak and articulate who we are through words. Words paint the world we are intending to manifest! Our entire civilization is built on the naming of things.
10 — It is always a courageous act to speak! At the primitive level, to speak is to show the world we exist and to validate it for ourselves. We begin trafficking in personal power, recognition and opportunity when we have the courage and skills to speak. Underneath the act of speaking is the will to take a stand and affirm our attitudes; it acts as a framework for further assertiveness and confidence.
From the Coach’s Corner, some valuable public-speaking tips:
Communication – You Can Train Yourself to Stop Stressing — It’s OK to be nervous before giving a speech or when you’re entering an important round of negotiations. Feeling pressure is one thing but allowing it to morph into stress and tension is another. When you allow this to happen, in a sense, you’re giving away your personal power, which inhibits your performance.
How to Get More Opportunities as a Guest Speaker — If you’re successful in generating speaking opportunities, you’ll create opportunities for your career. At the least, you’ll be in a position to raise your business profile. Ideally, prospective clients or customers will be in the audience. Count on opportunities to develop centers of influence — people who can refer business to you.
9 Tips to Connect with People after You Make Your Speech — Typically, in making a speech at a public forum, businesspeople hope to get a return on their investment. After all, giving a great speech or serving on a panel before a targeted audience necessitates your valuable time and effort in preparation.
How to Obtain the Most Profit from Speaking Opportunities — It’s one thing to be invited to speak at your industry’s major event. But it’s another to create the right impression for your hosts, your audience and prospective customers or clients. There’s more to it than you might think.
“A good speech should be like a woman’s skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.”
-Winston Churchill
__________
