We all place a high value on public speaking. Don’t we?
If a CEO gives an electrifying product launch speech, their stock price jumps up. If a politician gives a boring speech, we may not vote for them. If a colleague communicates well, their influence in your company grows.
Part of building influential relationships as a leader is knowing how to speak well. I’ve discovered a set of tactics which will make you more powerful during meetings, keynote speeches, and media interviews.
If you are a leader who wants to make an impact, please consider using these 10 smart tactics for public speaking you’ve never tried.
Where did we get these tactics?
Some came from trial and error. I’ve always been an active public speaker—debate team in high school, public speaking tournaments in college. And as a business leader and author I have had the privilege of giving hundreds of talks to small and large audiences all over the world for 20 years.
Also, my colleagues and I have worked with two amazing public speaking coaches. Steve Crews trained Fortune 500 CEOs, and was full of tough love. He once told me I should buy dark glasses. Why? Because my pale complexion and blonde hair gave me a “featureless moon face” which was not exciting to look at. (Hence the dark glasses I wear for most speeches today).
Steve’s most valuable public speaking advice was to urge leaders to think about “What do I want the audience to do, after my talk?” Steve thought that every form of communication should be a persuasive speech. You are there to persuade somebody to do something, not just to inform.
Our other public speaking coach, Lynda Spillane, teaches her clients who are world leaders like former Prime Minister of the UK Margaret Thatcher, Hollywood A-listers like Kate Blanchett, and a hundred CEOs to count. She taught us the power of “five second pauses.” If you really want to emphasize a point, put a five second pause before and after that sentence.
What about the other 8 tactics?
This blog would get a bit long if I talked about each of the tactics, so I created a downloadable tool instead. It’s a quick guide of the 10 smart tactics for public speaking that you’ve never tried, and it’s free. Click to download the Public Speaking Tool.
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