Audience Engagement
The key to good public speaking is engaging the audience. There is nothing worse in terms of a performance than a speaker who does not interact with their audience. This does not mean one has to pick on members to partake in some activity like a Vegas magician show. It could be simple engagement, such as looking the audience in the eyes, taking a little break so the audience may react to what is being said, or just understanding who you’re talking to so you may tailor your speech for the message to be clearly understood.
Confidence and Body Language
Confidence is critical, and body language is paramount in creating a sense of confidence. Stand straight, walk around if necessary, and use your arms to convey emotion. Whatever makes you feel the most comfortable and at ease when presenting on a public platform. A confident speaker is a speaker that audiences want to listen to.
Storytelling
Humans love nothing more than a good story. Use personal anecdotes, exciting narratives and humour to capture your audience. If there is one thing we can all agree on collectively as a species, it is that entertainment triumphs over boredom. Use this to your advantage and create a memorable piece to generate a long-lasting impression on your audience.
Reciprocity Principle
Or simply giving to receive. Give stats and figures, and you will encourage your audience to interact with your cause or engage with your content. Give the audience something to do with all the information. Otherwise, you are not giving a public speech but instead just preaching.
Social Proof
Cite your sources, give the facts and quote professional stats. The proof is in the pudding. Pudding is your speech, and the evidence is what forms it. It is the ingredients that separate the good from the great. Use public knowledge, do your research and bring something new and unexpected to your audience.
Emotional Connection
Emotion drives attention. Use the audience’s emotion to garner their attention, whether with humour or pulling on their heartstrings. Without the audience’s emotion entirely in your hand, you cannot have their attention fully on you. Emotion must be the driving force behind your speech.
Simplicity and Clarity
The best way to achieve this is by simply pretending you are giving a speech to an audience who knows nothing about the subject you speak of. Regardless, pretend you are talking to an eighty-year-old granny or a seven-year-old child. Of profession. Speak clearly and pronounce your words for all vital information to be conveyed and understood.
Rule of Three
Audiences can easily remember information in groups of three. Once is interesting, twice gets the information across, but three times makes it memorable. Use this knowledge to get your speech’s core information and message across. This must be completed in a subtle but noticeable way to be fully effective.
Call to Action
Use the conclusion of your speech to call your audience to action. Audiences are more afraid of a loss of something than a gain; use this psychological information to implore the audience to partake in your call to action for them to avoid a loss.
Consistency
You can engage this principle in your speech by getting the audience to agree on a small point early. This can be through a rhetorical question or a relatable statement that prompts nodding or verbal agreement. Once the audience has shown agreement, they are more likely to agree with your subsequent points, as people strive for consistency in their beliefs and actions.
