Public speaking is one of the best tools to succeed in professional or business life. For the vast majority of people this is one of their biggest fears. Performing well in front of an audience, presenting a topic that interests them in an organized and clear way, convincing them that they have mastery of that topic and motivating them to take action will take you to great heights.
Few people manage to argue orderly and logically, when they are in front of an audience, because thinking while speaking in front of an audience, many times is one of the biggest barriers that must be crossed by those who want to perform efficiently as a conference, speaker, preacher or speaker..
The challenge is then to organize what is being spoken in an organized and orderly way, stage by stage, with convincing and logical argumentation, to correctly and effectively expose the content of the message.
There is a secret to start: when you are preparing the presentation, you should always keep in mind that what you write and then speak it, the message, must meet the needs, problems and expectations of the listeners; The main theme must be developed in a logical, clear and harmoniously interwoven way.
The 5 Steps to Improve Your Speaker Skills
- Step 1 Select a topic you are passionate about and master Step 2 Determine the goals you want to achieve with the presentation Step 3 Know what you want and motivate the people who will receive your message Step 4 Follow a serious process of research and preparation of the talk Step 5 Practice, practice, practice your presentation
Here is a brief summary of what to do at each step:
Step 1 Select a topic that you are passionate about and master.
You will be called to speak in public or you must speak in public due to your profession or economic activity, perhaps due to some of your hobbies. In any case, the topic will sometimes be suggested and other times you will be free to choose it.
The simplest thing will be to talk about a subject that you are passionate about and that you master. It will be best if you talk about what you have been preparing for years based on your studies, research or daily experience.
You can talk about a current topic, applied to your area of knowledge. You can talk about a topic you've earned proven authority over. Or you can simply talk about a topic you like, for example a hobby. You can also bring old themes that have interested people and present it with new nuances. You can touch a topic that has to do with the circumstances of the place or occasion. You can also talk about a topic for which you have taken enough time to research it, because perhaps it was not entirely in your domain. Or you can talk about a topic known to the public; but that you have a completely different perspective.
Step 2 Determine the goals you want to achieve with the presentation.
Like everything in life, you must know where you are going if you want to get to that place. You cannot choose the course, if you have not chosen your destination before.
After you have chosen the topic, you must choose what your objectives are when making the presentation, what are the real causes that motivate you to make this presentation.
You will present a topic to a group of people. What do you hope to achieve when you are with them, when they go home?
The objectives can be of various types. The first, perhaps, is simply to inform, transmit new or renewed information on the subject. Another goal could be to persuade, motivate and stimulate your listeners to take action of some kind. A third reason could be simply entertaining your listeners, having a good time with them. A fourth objective would be to stimulate reflection on a topic of common interest or a cause. Finally, a fifth objective could be to promote yourself as an expert professional before the public.
The talk could be dedicated exclusively to only one of these objectives; but perhaps you could also search for several of them.
Step 3 Know what you want and motivate the people who will receive your message.
Both the theme and the presentation must be consistent with the audience you are addressing. Each aspect of the talk must take into account who are the people who are listening and what are the objectives that are intended to be achieved; but also of the circumstances that influence the event.
Those other aspects are: the type of vocabulary, the length, the meaning of the gestures, the volume and intensity of the voice, and the amount of information that will be transmitted according to the objective of the talk, but also according to expectations and needs. of the auditorium to be presented.
It may happen that the same conference, talk or presentation that was successful in one group or event is not successful in another group or at another time, because some or several of the circumstances changed from one case to the other.
To achieve a successful presentation, then you must take into account the following basic aspects: to begin with, you must consider the importance of knowing how to listen. Then keep in mind that people expect you to perform well as an exhibitor. You must ask yourself several questions that make you better know the target audience. Finally, you must identify the characteristics of the audience so that you adapt the theme, the content and the way of presenting it.
Second, remember that people expect you to do well as a speaker. There will be people in the audience who have experience speaking in front of other people and many - perhaps most - who have never tried and will never try.
Think about what motivated them to attend the conference or presentation. Find out what they know about the topic you are going to present to them. Try to find out how much they want to learn and what they hope to meet new in your talk. You must know what moves listeners in their personal lives, what is their scale of values, their dreams, plans, desires and most immediate needs.
It also tries to determine the spirit of participation of the listeners. If they are motivated and receptive. If they are friendly or rather hostile. If they are apathetic and indifferent. If they are easily distracted.
It also takes into account very important aspects such as age, sex, socio-cultural level and racial diversity. All of this should also be considered in preparation and presentation.
Step 4 Follow a serious process of researching and preparing for the talk.
Once you have well defined the three previous steps:
- You have chosen a topic for the presentation. You are clear about the objectives and scope of your talk. You have meditated on the people who will attend.
If you really have this ready and you agree with the definitions in each point, you should start the process of research, development and preparation of your conference, talk or presentation.
To start, you should focus your research efforts by focusing on what is related to your central topic, avoiding falling into distractions.
Avoid censoring information, because you consider that you are not going to use it.
Start by collecting and writing based on your own knowledge and experience. Put it all together in one or more documents. You talk with specialists or people who are related to the topic, even with people who can testify about it. Consult and gather information that you obtain on the internet, libraries, books, bookstores and newspaper archives, interviews that others have made, etc. Also watch movies that allude to the subject.
Visit the places that are related to your chosen topic.
Form a well-identified file with all the material you collect. Always stay focused on the central theme of your conference.
Organize the information, consolidate and relate the collected information.
When you have all this ready, write the content of the conference. Do it in the usual logical order:
- Introduction. This is the part of the speech in which you dedicate yourself to conquer the public, you greet them and you must capture all their attention. You can allude to the occasion, try to win over the indifferent public and tone down the hostile public. This is the time when you inform listeners about what the topic will be and where you intend to go. You present the division of the themes and how you will present them. Central Theme. This is where you develop the main theme and offer the full conference information. You can present it ordered according to a time scale, space, or organized according to cause and effect. Use transition elements to facilitate understanding of the message. Finishing this part, we add rebuttal arguments that are solid. Conclusion. In this part you close the topic.You proceed with the recap that summarizes the information presented in one or two sentences. You add an epilogue that addresses feelings and closes with a powerful phrase that calls for reflection, action, or that reinforces your position based on the objective that you had set for yourself.
Step 5 Practice, practice and practice your presentation.
Practice is the fifth step. This is the fundamental. You should take every opportunity to practice, not only the conference as a whole, but also part of the presentation. The introduction and the preparation, they must practice alone, many times. Also the conclusion, over and over again. They are a fundamental part of the conference.
The content and presentation can be exceptional, they can be presented brightly and with ease, but the parts that people remember the most as accumulated experience and as added value are reaffirmed in the introduction, in the preparation and in the conclusion. It is what most people will remember.
Private practice the entire conference. Measure the times. Analyze changes in the presentation that require refinement.
Try to present the talk to a small group, if possible. They may be friends, colleagues, or a model reference group on a smaller scale.
When the opportunity to give the conference arises, you will be much more prepared if you have practiced before.
During the conference, do your best to record it on audio and video. Or have a trustworthy person who gives their opinions later.
After the conference, spend two or four hours analyzing your performance. To modify the points that you had to delete or improve already being in the conference. See what points to strengthen. Write down the accumulated experience, the teachings, review the entire process. Record the learning.
Try to re-deliver the same talk, over and over again. You will do better every time.
Before finishing, summarize what I wanted to convey to you during this article.
Public speaking is a great opportunity to position yourself as an expert and to strengthen your knowledge, to make yourself known and to expand your field of influence.
There are 5 steps you must follow to perform as a good speaker or speaker. These steps will also help you to have more effective public or private conversations: start by selecting a topic that you are passionate about and master, Determine the goals you want to achieve with the presentation, know well what you want and motivate the people who will receive your message, Follow a serious process of research and preparation for the talk and: practice, practice, practice your presentation.
Now… remember that your comments are important. Write your experiences and expectations as a speaker right now in the comments area.
Then a talk given by the expert Lucía Miralles in which the foundations for successful public speaking are exposed, will be useful for you.
