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7 Easy Ways to Instantly Improve Your
Public Speaking
By
Dr. Sander Marcus I'm a professional psychologist, a member of
Rotary, a book author (on achievement motivation), a résumé writer
and career coach, and someone who has heard an endless number of
professional and non-professional speakers for over 30 years. I've
seen how it's the little things that make a big difference. Here are
seven "little things" you can do that will instantly improve your
public speaking dramatically.
1.
TALK TWICE AS SLOW. Most
speakers (even professional ones) talk too fast. Have you ever
listened carefully to professional speakers on TV? They talk slower
than in normal conversational speech. Slow down. Take your time.
Don't rush through individual words. Linger on them. It may feel
unnatural, but just listen to a tape recording of yourself. It will
undoubtedly sound a lot better.
2.
TALK TWICE AS LOUD. Most
speakers talk too softly. Speak up. It may seem to you that you are
screaming, but (again) a tape recording will prove that it sounds
fine.
3.
ENUNCIATE THE CONSONANT SOUNDS CLEARLY. When we listen, we hear
clearly because of the consonant sounds (the "hard" sounds - sss, t,
d, p, m, and so forth), not the vowels (a, e, i, o, and u). Pay
attention to those hard sounds. Make sure they are clear and
distinct. Exaggerate them.
4.
USE SHORT SENTENCES. You may like speaking in long, long
sentences, but your audience doesn't. Break up your ideas into short
sentences. "One idea per sentence" is as good a rule for speaking as
it is for writing.
5.
PAUSE OFTEN. Forget the
ummmms and the aaahhhhs. Dead silence for a few seconds may seem
like an eternity to you, but an audience doesn't mind it at all.
Take your time. Pausing creates interest and anticipation.
6.
ORGANIZE YOUR TALK AROUND 3
TO 5 BULLET POINTS. No matter what you may think of off-the-cuff
speeches and how entertaining they may be, nobody appreciates a
speaker who rambles on and on. Whatever you have to say, put it in
the form of 3 to 5 bullet points. You'll make listeners out of your
audience.
7.
SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST. What is the most important, the most
dramatic, the most impactful thing you have to say in your talk?
Figure out what it is, and PUT IT LAST. That's the most effective
way to end a talk. Sander Marcus, Ph.D., CPRW, a Licensed
Clinical Psychologist and Certified Professional Résumé Writer, is a
Practice Leader with the Center for Research & Service, a division
of the College of Psychology at IIT (Illinois Institute of
Technology) in Chicago. He has 4 decades of experience in providing
psychological services (as well as career counseling, aptitude
testing, job search coaching, and résumé writing) to thousands of
individuals. He is the co-author of 2 books on academic
underachievement, various tests, and numerous articles. --
marcus@iit.edu,
312-567-3358.
www.center.iit.edu --
IIT Center for Research & Service,
3101 S. State St., Suite 226, Chicago, IL 60616 © 2007 by Sander I.
Marcus.
Revised 2011.
All rights reserved |
