My Town Tutors is a great resource for parents & teachers. Find qualified tutors in your area today!
- Summer Guest Blogs
- Education Guest Blogs
- Parent Guest Blogs
- Guest Blogs
- Travel Guest Blogs
- Tutoring Blogs
June Jokes / June Hashtag of the Day / Top June Pages / June Guest Blogs
Speaking in public can be intimidating, but if you want to progress in your career, you must try to get your voice out. Through public speaking, you can share your opinions with a massive audience and stand out among others to increase your visibility. If you are an influence speaker, you should have the ability to connect with your audience. This is acquired through a few skills you must develop and hone to influence others.
Five Key Skills Of An Influential Speaker
- Confidence
Anxiety and nervousness are common feelings when speaking for the first time on a stage, but if it is repetitive, it is not a quality that makes an excellent public speaker. A highly confident speaker looks more accurate, credible, competent, and intelligent than a nervous or unconfident speaker.
- Passion
Excitement comes from passion. Being passionate about your subject will allow you to be more excited rather than nervous. Your anxiety will convert into enthusiasm that will help you present your views more confidently.
- Authenticity
You might be an honest person, but there’s a different kind of authenticity you need to present before your audience. You should be like an open book in front of them so that they know if you are honest or not. If you don’t have enough confidence, you use a shield to prevent your true self from coming out. While you may think it would make you vulnerable, remember that it would look authentic to the audience. They will get inspired by you as people prefer authenticity and honesty over lies.
- Connect with your audience
Thinking of speech like a conversation is an excellent quality of an influential speaker. It allows you to communicate and connect with your audience, thus passing your message to them. There is no difference if your audience consists of one individual or thousands; connecting with them will help in engaging them. If you are giving a plain speech, your voice won’t cut through the chaos, and none of your talks would be valuable.
If people find your speech boring, they will get busy on their phones and tablets; however, you must engage them throughout your speech, aka conversation. The best ways to connect with your audience are by telling stories, recognizing your target audience, being a little humorous, etc.
- Keep it short
It is unnecessary to prepare a whole 30 minutes speech even if you have enough time. Saying only the critical points are enough, and you can use the remaining time to engage with the audience. For example, you can host a Q and A session.
The purpose of giving a speech is to share your ideas and opinions. Your presentation should be easily digestible for your listeners. A 15 to 20 minutes presentation is enough if you have a slot for an hour. You can utilize the remaining time for communicating with your audience.
Conclusion
These five essential skills are fundamental in a speaker. You might have attended a public speech as well, and if you find that the speaker is not confident enough, you won’t trust them. Therefore, confidence is the first skill that you should acquire. Practice your speaking skills before a mirror or your friends or take help from a life coach.