The Art of Public Speaking- Speak with Power and Authority

I have seen many people over time speak from the stage and yet lack the essence and stage presence in order to make a powerful speech that will impact people. As a trainer and speaker who has spoken to thousands of individuals, allow me to share certain concepts that will make you a very Desirable and Effective Speaker. Whether you are doing a small presentation or a huge one, the principles are the same.

1. Know the WIIFM

Do you know what is the greatest FM station in the entire world? Its WII FM station. It basically stands for “What’s In It For Me”. Most presenters start by sharing a joke or telling a story, while this is good, it does not usually get the buy-in from the audience right from the beginning. Speakers should try immediately start by addressing why the audience should listen to them (WIIFM). It can come in the form of presenting a problem and making it clear that it is a BIG problem. Once the audience agrees with you and find that they need the solution, they will know that they have to listen to you.

2. Create Empathy by Sight

Most speakers do not maintain enough eye contact with their audience. They speak to audiences, but do not take time to scan the audience when they are talking. Scanning is very important as it helps the audience know that you acknowledge their presence. A simple technique that I teach my participants is to pick three persons in the audience; one on the extreme left of the audience, centre and the extreme right. When you talk, slowly move your head from left to right, pausing for three seconds before you move to the next target person. Look out for the eyes of each person. When a person knows you are looking at him/her, they get attentive and listen closely to what you have to say.

3. Involve Participants In Actions

The more kinestatic you make your audience, they more they will enjoy it! Being kinestatic means that they are able to move their hands or legs, echo back what you have said, sharing what they have learnt with each other or patting each other on the back! These actions are important in creating energy in the room and you should us them throughout your entire program. They keep the energy level high and want to learn more.

4. Be Clear

One of the fastest way to lose an audience is to speak softly. It is important to know that audiences do want you to succeed. So, it is important to loose the inhabitations and articulate every word clearly. Test out how loud your speech is by asking the last person behind if they can hear you and give them permission to signal you if your volume of your voice were to dip.

Follow these principles on the stage or presentations and people will follow you. Start by making a Deep Impact today!

PS: I could be holding a seminar on “Training People to Speak from the Stage and earn Tons of Money Sharing Your knowledge”. Would that interest you? Email me at coach(a)deepimpactonline(dot)com if you are keen.

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Written by Kenneth Kwan
Principal Trainer

Website: www.deepimpactonline.com

Are You Going From Good to Great?

Most people are good in what they do, but few seldom achieve greatness. Most are content with just being good, however, they feel that greatness is something that is achieved with a lot more hard work, time and energy. However, let me share with you something that might just shock you!

1. Greatness requires just a little more from you

In the Olympics, any 100 meter race is over by just a couple of seconds. The difference between the first and the second place is just a matter of split seconds! However, the prize money between the first and second (or even third) usually differs by a few times! Just a little bit more in the final push towards the end line, and the person is the first place. Since we are already putting in so much effort to be good, why not take a little more to make it great? It is no harder to build a good company than to be build something great and lasting.

An interesting note: No one remembers 2nd place in a race, but everyone remembers only the first!

2. Greatness sometimes requires less suffering and work

In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins comments that some of the great companies face less suffering and perhaps less work. This is because Great companies are able to realise that much of what they are doing is a waste of energy and have the ability to focus on objectives that will only drive the company towards a singular goal. Most other companies tend to focus on a lot of areas and diversifying their time and efforts, thus resulting in a lot of extra work with not much result.

Collins adds, “I am not saying that going from good to great is easy… but I am asserting that those who strive to turn good into great find the process no more painful or exhausting than those who settle for just letting things wallow along in mind-numbing mediocrity. Yes, turning good into great requires energy, but building the momentum adds more energy back in to the pool than it takes out.”

3. Greatness is about asking the right question

If we ever ask questions like “Why should I need to be great? Isn’t success enough?” My question to you would be whether you are in the right kind of work. If you are engaged in something that you really love and are passionate about, that question becomes irrelevant. This is because when we are in the flow of doing what we really enjoy and like, we will want to make it greater and better. We will be asking better questions like, “How can I add more value to my clients/organisation in what I am doing?”

Conclusion

Make a conscious decision to be Great in what we do. Since we are already striving to be good, let’s strive to be Great!

If you like this article, please subscribe to our blog by getting the Free Report on “7 Transformational Secrets to creating a Dynamic and Cohesive Team”.

Written by Kenneth Kwan
Principal Trainer

Website: www.deepimpactonline.com