As a leader, it’s essential to master the art of communication for successful relationship-building. Motivating others and creating momentum to achieve goals are crucial aspects of leadership.
Did you know that 74% of people suffer from speech anxiety? That’s a high number, which means that we do have leaders that fear public speaking, but they take the necessary actions to overcome it.
Here are 5 speaking techniques that all leaders should know.
1. Appeal to Your Audience – A true leader always knows their audience’s needs and puts them first. Do your best to create an interesting and informative speech with an individual approach. According to most sociologists and psychologists, an individual approach, which is to use people’s names during your speech, is a wonderful way to grab and hold your audience’s attention.
2. Nonverbal Communication – Your speech can be logical, upbeat, and well-organized but it’s not enough to keep your audience focused. There are two parts to communication, verbal and nonverbal. Most of us know that words matter, but nonverbal communication is just as important.
Some of the elements of nonverbal communication are:
Appearance
Gestures
Emotions
Facial expressions
Body positions
Eye contact
So, don’t just focus on your speech; start practicing nonverbal communication.
3. Add Actionable Examples – Delivering a good speech is all about making a connection with the audience and persuading them to see things from your point of view. One effective way to achieve this is by using actionable examples that help to illustrate your message in a way that resonates with the audience.
- Personal stories are a powerful tool for delivering a good speech. When you share a personal story, you give the audience an opportunity to connect with you on a deeper level. Sharing a personal experience can make your message more relatable and engaging. It also helps to build credibility and establish trust with your audience.
- Visual aids are another effective way to deliver a good speech. Whether it’s a chart, graph, or image, visual aids help to illustrate your message and make it more memorable. Visual aids can also help to break up long speeches and keep your audience engaged.
- Best practices are tried-and-true methods that have been proven to work. Using examples of best practices helps to reinforce your message and give your audience concrete steps they can take to achieve their goals. Best practices also help to establish you as an authority on the topic you’re discussing. It’s important to choose examples that are relevant and actionable. Your examples should be specific and provide a clear call to action for your audience. By doing so, you can help your audience feel more confident in their ability to apply what they’ve learned. So, adding actionable examples like personal stories, visual aids, and best practices is a powerful way to deliver a good speech. By choosing relevant and actionable examples, you can connect with your audience and leave them feeling more confident in their ability to apply what they’ve learned.
4. Some other ways to keep your audience engaged during a speech is to emphasize key moments. Here are some tips you can do:
- Take a pause: Pause for a few seconds to help the audience understand you better.
- Call it out: Use phrases like “now, listen, or it is important” to emphasize important points.
- Change the volume: Speak louder or softer to grab the audience’s attention.
- Make eye contact: Look your audience in the eyes when speaking and it will connect you to your audience.
5. Finally if you want to make a lasting impact on your audience, it’s important to hook them in and here are some ways you can do it:
- Add a CTA (call to action): Encourage people to give feedback and react to your speech by asking questions, this will cause them to be more of a participant.
- Share interesting information about your future that may be relevant to your audience.
- Organize a closed meeting where you invite people to discuss your speech in detail.
Remember, leaders must have strong communication skills to engage and persuade their audience. Ongoing education is also crucial to improving speaking skills, but the five techniques mentioned above are a great way to start enhancing communication abilities.
