THE’public speaking skills it is useful in every area of life, but even more so if you are an entrepreneur or a professional. Communication is the basis of any human relationship and, despite this, it is an insidious variable and always very difficult to manage.
I’ll summarize the problem for you communication with a quote from the book The Art of Negotiation by Roger Fisher: “Whatever you say, expect the other party to almost always hear something different”.
This simply means that every message you want to convey does not necessarily arrive exactly as you want it to reach the listeners’ ears.
But, then, is there no possibility of being able to understand each other?
Of course there is, but it involves learning the art of effective communication, this will be yours useful in all circumstances.
For example, your audience can be composed of clients, partner, members or the people who work for you. Whenever you find yourself communicating something to someone it is essential that you know the secrets of how speaking in public ed be persuasive.
This will allow you to manage the conversation, the speech and the people who listen to you. Indeed, it will allow you to enter into a relationship with them, be more convincing and also close deals and sales.
In fact, knowing how to communicate effectively is one of the sales techniques that help you improve your performance.
All successful people were and are great communicators. So, if you want to be successful learn how to speak in public effectively.
In this article I give you my advice, the result of my studies on the subject and my experience as an entrepreneur.
Speaking in public with effective communication
Develop your public speaking skills increase your safetyhelps you overcome anxiety and, consequently, it allows you to be more persuasive.
Even if you don’t often give presentations in front of many people, I’m sure that for work you will have to expose your idea or project in front of some interlocutor.
Well, if you want to be truly convincing and get people to follow you, you have to learn to communicate.
“Public speaking” includes a broad category of occasions: it could be a conference, a meeting with one or more clients, with other entrepreneurs for a partnership or even a toast at a dinner, perhaps a corporate one.
In each of these cases, you have two options: speak as you like and hope that people listen, or communicate in a way that be sure of making an excellent impression.
Effective communication is not just giving information to those who are listening to you, but it is about understanding and exchanging emotions and intentions. The aim of communicating persuasively it is the will of convey your message so that it acquires meaning and makes the other person feel involved.
Only when this exchange occurs does communication acquire value.
Be careful, though, there are some variablesoften out of control, that you prevent to be able to assert it your communication.
Let’s see together, so that they are easier to control.
What’s stopping you from communicating effectively?
There are behaviors that you have without even realizing and that represent barriers between you and your audience.
I am of attitudes mainly due to anxietyto the fear and embarrassment of having to speak in front of other people. Or, they are simply due to lack of experience.
Speaking in front of others is not easy at all. Actors also take special courses to be able to remain calm in front of the audience. So, don’t be too hard on yourself, or yourself.
Here you are the main barriers to effective communication:
- Stress and emotions out of control: an excess of anxiety and emotionality can easily lead you to make the wrong communication method. So, first of all try to stay calm and find confidence in your preparation.
- Lack of concentration: If you are not focused enough on your performance or the topic you need to cover, you will find yourself getting a little confusing and repetitive. This will make your audience have a negative impression and the consequence is that they will stop paying attention to you.
- Inconsistent messages: Again, if you are too agitated you might say something with words but express something else with your body language. You have to be very careful about this as, often, non-verbal communication has a more decisive role than verbal language.
If when you communicate with others or in front of an audience you are too focused on yourself or let anxiety overcome you, you lose sight of the people who listen to you.
But there is a solution to this too.
How to speak in public and convince others
The art of public speaking consists in knowing how to use it a mix of communication skillsleadership and self-control. Effective communication serves to bring others towards your ideas or proposals and convince them that it is also in their interest to follow them.
Be careful, persuasion has nothing to do with manipulation. You can’t convince all people to do what you tell them, but you can convince your customers or partners to make that decision they are still in doubt about. It means reaching and engaging your audience as best as possible, obviously in your favor.
Keep in mind that everything you say and do should aim to meet the needs of your audience and be in his best interests. This, for me, is a fundamental principle.
To increase your chances of attracting and maintaining interest, you need to pay close attention to the way you express yourself and act.
Here are mine 3 tips on how to speak in public and inspire others to action.
1. Voice control
Your voice is it main tool that you use as a speaker in public and all your agitation can also be felt from it.
The words that stumble, the slightest hint of you stuttering, the vocal cords that tremble. The worst nightmare of everyone who has to speak in front of others.
An effective way to succeed check your voice is breathing. If you breathe well and deeply you will also be able to stay calm and be more confident.
With controlled breathing you will have a clearer mind and you will be able to keep your tone of voice and volume under control and will be able to pronounce all the words better. This is another key thing about when you speak in public, people have to understand what you say.
Furthermore, try not to always keep the same tone, but try to vary it so as not to lose their attention and not make them fall asleep.
Before you present yourself in front of your audience, take a few minutes to find concentration. Place a hand on your belly and breathe deeply, you should feel your abdomen inflating and deflating under your hand.
This is the diaphragmatic breathing which reduces the feeling of shortness of breath caused by anxiety.
But your words aren’t the only way you communicate.
2. Body language
Everything you don’t say in words you express with the gestures, facial expressions and movements of your body.
Body language plays a fundamental role in interpersonal relationships, both in one-to-one and one-to-many communication.
Furthermore, verbal and non-verbal communication go hand in hand, or so they should.
I mean that, if your words affirm something that is not supported by your body, the feeling of the people who listen to you will be one of confusion and even a little distrust.
This happens for a very simple reason: your words mainly reach the mind and reason, while your gestures they impact above all on emotions.
It’s the same reason why images are much more striking than a written text: they are immediate and arrive without intermediaries.
All this is to tell you to also pay close attention to the way you move. Here are some things to watch out for when speaking in public:
- Stand straightwhether you are standing or sitting;
- Show interest and strength also through posture;
- Check your expressions and modulate them according to what you are saying, for example even mention a few smiles to put others at ease;
- Don’t assume a closed attitude: like crossed arms.
Body language is a world unto itself, just as if it had a personal alphabet. I invite you to delve deeper into this topic by reading the article dedicated to non-verbal communication.
You will discover things that will be extremely useful to you both in your private and working relationships.
3. Relationship with the public
One of the key secrets to being a good speaker is be in tune with your audience.
To do this, in addition to doing everything I told you before, you must establish relationships with people who are there to listen to you.
Keep in mind that what you talk about must be aimed at them and, therefore, must take their needs into account. In short, you have to give him a good reason to listen to you otherwise you will lose their attention very quickly.
Here too some good practices:
- Be prepared about your audienceif you know him it will be much easier to find a way to involve him;
- Attract attention of each of them by maintaining good eye contact and stimulating the participation of questions or interventions;
- Add to your speech some topics familiar to them that make them feel involved in what you are saying;
- Vary your speech taking small breaks, emphasizing some words or concepts e From time to time he pulls the threads of the conversation to make sure everyone can follow you and keep track of things.
If you start paying attention to all these things and putting them into practice, you will see immediate improvements in your presentations or business meetings.
Use communication to your advantage and get great results.
Conclusion
The fear of speaking in public is very common. Face it by becoming aware of what can benefit you and also disadvantage you and gain experience to improve your performance.
Effective communication will always help you in any situation, especially because every interpersonal relationship is based on communication and understanding.
So, remember: stay calm, control your breathing, pay attention to both your words and body language and create a sympathetic relationship with your audience.
Now you know everything you need to face any audience.