“People think I can teach them style. What stuff it all is! Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style.”
— Matthew Arnold
Tag Archive for: public speaking
Natural gestures are basically the aim for any public speaker.
We watch an excellent speaker, and maybe we notice their gestures.
I said "maybe" because if he or she is an excellent speaker, we should not be noticing their gestures. We should be taking in the whole package as a message,
without noticing how it is done.
A major measure of excellence in any sort of craft, of course, is not noticing how it was done, unless we deliberately look or search..
If you suspect that are not a natural gesturer, ask yourself
"Is this a cause for concern?"
What does it mean to be "not a natural gesturer"?
Probably this is a person who is self-contained and does not need to gesture to keep their brain functioning or the speech flowing.
Not a person of flamboyance.
Why does it matter?
Get a second opinion, and a third and a fourth if necessary.
It may be that you are communicating successfully without many gestures.
If the feedback says that you need to improve -
and the reason given is that your presentation feels wrong, or rigid or unnatural
(NOT for the reason that it doesn't fit a set of rules that someone feels should be followed for no other reason than that they are rules),
then you can work on them.
The first step to take is to learn to stand with your arms wide open.
Get comfortable doing that.
Feel grounded doing that.
Feel yourself expand out to the audience doing that, while remaining grounded and in your own space.
Once you have established that feeling, it may be a simple progression to loosen up and become expansive with gestures,
flowing along with the emotion and flow of your speech.
If not, then you can learn to gesture - there are any number of general styles and specific movements that I have shared with clients over the years, but those who needed them were quite few.
Find the gesture,
then practise it, and practise it, and practise it until it becomes natural and flows with the language it supports. If it is not natural or flowing, keep practising until it is does, because otherwise it will look incongruous and you may as well have not gestured at all.
I remember my days of representing my high school in competition speaking and being coached to put my finger on my nose when talking about people putting on sunscreen.
For days it felt weird, contrived, uncomfortable.
Eventually, though, with days and days of practice and a supportive teacher-coach, it became natural and I could produce it naturally.
It felt good.
It felt right.
It felt appropriate.
And furthermore, having relaxed through that performance, gradually, I learned to relax into natural gestures.
That was a child, nervous, aware of a very critical judgement as she spoke, and aware, too, of the people who had put in so much effort so she could win for them and the school.
With adult clients, I find those who need some guidance to "loosen up", generally do so quite naturally as they learn to believe in themselves and their message, along with the practice of standing with open body language and relaxing.
If you speak with passion - for your subject and for your audience's outcomes - your body will support your message.
Even if you make no gestures, your stance, your facial expressions and your eye contact, will work powerfully to support that passion and your message.
What is it that will make you go viral - become admired and rehired as a speaker?
What is it that will have audiences flocking to your presentations where they will engage with you, and change or act or think differently as a result of their experience?
Afterwards, their conversations will be about your presentation; stimulated by the experience, providing positive feedback to you … and to event coordinators!
And if there’s one thing event coordinators love, it’s speakers who come recommended, and with their own fan base.
What makes people tweet your sound bytes? What makes them recommend your presentation and share it? What makes them give that positive feedback?
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” ~ Maya Angelou
The answer lies in the viral elements you embed in your presentations. These are the elements that create an experience for your audience, make them feel something, involve them. They catch and keep attention. They heighten the impact. They are then held in the memory, and shared later. They are the elements that make internet content go viral and that you can use to build your own reputation.
Here are 8 specific elements that provide those experiences on the internet - making people want to share, and making others want to click and experience for themselves – that you can use in your speaking to make you and your message “go viral”.
1. Tell a story
People are used to watching stories on screens – in the theatre, on television and computer. A piece of content that tells a story, on the internet, then, automatically captures attention and draws an audience in immediately. They follow along with the story, waiting for the entertainment or the learning that they expect from a story. Your audiences, too, have been hardwired by a long history of storytelling to automatically tune in to a story, giving you instant engagement - in the same way. You then have the opportunity to draw them in with you, into the story, its emotional arc and its “moral”. Make it vivid enough, make it work to communicate a point, and you have created that element, that experience, that feeling; a memory to be valued and shared.
2. Appeal to an emotion
May Angelou’s quote says it all. Emotion on its own is a means for content to go viral, and for you to create an element that people will remember from your presentation. It can by funny (think videos of babies laughing) or sad (family loss or cancer’s ravages), moving or stupid, cute (all those Facebook videos of cute animals) strange or gross. Create an emotion to associate with your message and attract “hits” - attention, and “shares” – recommendations.
3. Add a roller-coaster to the emotion …
and you multiply the effect. You may have seen the Dove “sketches” video. It utilises this effect well, as the women, originally challenged and then gradually coming to realise that they are seen as more beautiful than they see themselves. The emotion swells. This is storytelling at its best.
4. Be Positive/Uplifting
While it may seem that we are addicted to negative news and all that is awful, there are many pieces of viral internet content that are successful because they inspire us and show us that, as humans, we can be good, kind, tolerant. The video “Validation” is just one. Inspire your audience and you create an experience that they value, remember and share.
5. Use the unexpected
People love surprise. They love the unexpected. The “Gangnam style” video had an element of the unexpected (along with “humour” and a human element that people could relate to!) And the Pepsi ad “Test Drive” was based around the unexpected. If you can create this element in your presentation you engage your audiences, you add it to your speaker brand and you can make it a powerful viral element.
6. Use a compelling opening
Open with a bang, something that captures attention right from the start, and you have your audience focused on you and your content. You can use something we have already listed – a story, something unexpected, something emotionally evocative. Or use something guaranteed to get attention that the audience shares, such as geographical humour, reference to a local or international celebrity or an event you all shared. But open with a bang and follow up with content that is equally engaging and you have the elements of an experience, a viral speech.
7. Inform your audience. Open their minds
The classic internet example, of course, is the TED talks which show new ways of thinking about their topics. If you can present a unique viewpoint on a subject, a point that creates “lightbulb” experiences, then you can establish yourself as a thought-leader in your niche. People will be drawn to your presentations for the insight you can provide; just as the appellation of ”TED talk” draws internet users time and again to those speakers.
8. No ads
There are so many advertising videos produced now that are produced simply to go viral, and there is very little mention of the product. Evian’s “Baby and me” is a great example, and so is the Dove ad we mentioned before, and the numbers are climbing rapidly. These companies are very aware of the role of the story, the unexpected, and the way it can create such an experience that viewers remember that and then make the connection to the product. We as speakers can relax in this knowledge, especially since no audience wants a “salesy” presentation. Make your “sale” whatever it is, secondary to your great content and you still can be successful.
In the end, what you are providing is a memorable experience for your audience and that experience is heightened by the viral elements you use. Begin with your compelling opening, and then provide an experience that moves people and gives them new ways of thinking about things and you will
• have them engaged and focused on you and your message
• have them remembering, repeating, acting on and sharing you and your message.
• impress event coordinators who see that you come with recommendations, that their delegates are engaged and responding, are being moved to change and are talking about the speaker they chose.
Want success as a speaker? Go viral!
Author: Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, a writer, and an award-winning speaker and mentor. She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk , a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. Boost your confident, effective speaking success, click here for Bronwyn's FREE 30 speaking tips. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com or visit her website Pivotal Public Speaking
And that is what it feels like to own the stage, to really connect, to be in flow as a speaker.
“The first sign of greatness is when a man does not attempt to look and act great. Before you can call yourself a man at all, Kipling assures us, you must "not look too good nor talk too wise.”
― Dale Carnegie,
The Art of Public Speaking
This is a guest post from Kwesi Millington.
Kwesi is a public speaking, storytelling & confidence coach, teaching you to speak, share, serve and live with greater confidence. Check out his website at www.CommunicateToCreate.com and do watch his periscopes. He shares some very practical tips on speaking and story.
KISS it!
Try to learn one new word per week. Grow your vocabulary. Explore the richness of the English language...
Just leave the complex words out of your speeches.
Author John Maxwell says it this way...
“As leaders and communicators, our job is to bring clarity to a subject, not complexity. The measure of a great teacher isn't what he or she knows, it's what the students know.”
Speaking is not about YOU. That is the most important piece of information you can ever learn about this art.
It is about your listener. Think about their comprehension level. Many speakers try to impress the audience with what they know.
It's NOT what you know, it is what you DID NOT know and have learned that will impress them. It is in your vulnerability that you will find your victory.
In writing, blogger James Altucher talks about the Flesch-Kincaid score (He wrote about it for Quora). This respected scoring system is applied to writing to determine what grade level you are writing for. For example, a Flesch-Kincaid (FK) score of 10 means that you are writing at a Grade 10 level.
Altucher provided studies of some recent top ranked articles, then he went back and got scores for the classic Hemingway book “The Old Man and the Sea” as well as “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, and “Crime and Punishment” by Dostoevsky.
The F-K scores for ALL of these were between 4 and 8. Yes, that means that all of the above, including a Nobel Prize winning author's work, were written at a Grade 4th to 8th level!!
When you speak, SPEAK the same way.
KISS it my friends (Keep It Simple when Speaking).
Martin Luther King said “I have a Dream”.
JFK said “It's not what your country can do for you, it's what you can do for your country.”
Grade schoolers can understand those quotes, and Adults have been moved by them.
Remember this...
Big words touch the Brain, Small words touch the Heart.
