Did you know that great public speakers often earn 10% more in the American workforce?
Regardless of your career choice, public speaking is one of the most important workplace skills. From department meetings to important product pitches, speaking in front of others is of great importance for many job seekers.
The endeavor of public speaking may seem intimidating at first, but here are 5 tips to help you succeed!
1. First Impressions are Key.
As we have discussed before in the blog, first impressions are always so important. Within a public speaking scenario, first impressions are one of the most important things to focus on. The first 15 seconds of the whole process will set up the rest of any speaking engagement. Here is a list to help you make the best first impression when speaking.
First Impression Speaking Checklist
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Dress The Part- whether at work or on a virtual meeting, make sure to dress appropriately to give a great impression.
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Eye Contact- Eye contact will help let your audience know that you are truly interested in engaging with them.
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Prepare an Entertaining Hook- When presenting anything in public, having a designated hook to bring audiences in is extremely important. Try writing a small anecdote or presenting a surprising statistic to make sure people are listening.
When setting yourself up properly, the rest of a speech will be much easier! Just get in the flow and enjoy the moment!
2. Find Your Lighthouses.
What does a lighthouse have to do with public speaking? Well, lighthouses are a term used to note those that are very interested and engaged with a speaker. They will often nod and make eye contact with the speaker as they are captivated by the subject.
If you imagine looking out into a sea of people when presenting, look out for your lighthouses in the audience. Make eye contact with them and use them to guide your eyes as you speak.
Not only will this help you maintain eye contact, it will boost your confidence and help you get a full read on the audience!
3. Show Confidence.
The most successful public speakers are extremely confident in whatever they are presenting. In fact, research shows that great presentations rely mostly on the confidence of the presenter.
“Audience studies show that great presentations are guided by 38% your voice, 55% non-verbal communication, and only 7% your content.”
As seen by this research study done by Business Insider, communication and confidence are much more important than the content being presented! If you can learn to be a confident public speaker, you can truly present any topic!
Now, confidence may seem like a somewhat illusive term, however it is a skill that can be improved. Here are our top tips for gaining confidence while public speaking.
Confidence Tips
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Practice, Practice, Practice- Practice makes perfect. It also will give you much more confidence going into any public speaking engagement. It may not seem like it, but public speaking is a performance, and any performance must be practiced in order to be successful.
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Clear Articulation- Going along with practice, make sure to clearly speak about a topic. It is a good idea to practice with a colleague who knows about your field. They will be able to assist you in making sure that your articulation and pronunciation is correct.
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Perfect Posture- Posture denotes confidence! Practice standing or sitting up straight to make sure that you are ready for the big presentation when the day comes!
4. It’s All About Storytelling
When it comes down to the actual content of successful presentations, storytelling is the key element. Why should an audience care about what you are saying? Give them a reason to be engaged through telling a story that they can identify with.
For example, a product pitch for a new type of phone could simply start like this:
“Hi there. Today we will be talking about my new Phone design. It features a new battery and innovative design that will revolutionize the technology industry.”
Or the pitch could start like this:
“One day I was trying to make an important business call and my phone battery died. I ended up losing a very important sales account and lost my job. While I was unemployed, I created by own new phone business. It features an incredible new solar battery solution that is going to revolutionize the technology landscape.”
Which speech would you want to listen to?
I want to know more about the Solar Battery Phone! Storytelling is key to great public speaking!
5. Be More Creative than PowerPoint.
Well crafted visuals may not be as important as the confidence of the speaker themselves, but they are still crucial for any presentation.
When creating visuals, make sure to prioritize visual content over text-based content. Use slides to guide the audience through your thoughts, never use it to directly list items in a presentation.
“84% of Keynote speakers at a recent business convention used completely image based slide presentations.”
Besides just content, try to use different and unique templates if you do end up using PowerPoint. Even further, hire a graphic designer to create one of a kind slides and graphics. This will make sure that your visual content is as engaging as your verbal presentation.
Let us know what you think makes a great presentation! Comment on our Facebook Page!
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