Category: Public Speaking

5 Easy Tips to Immediately Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
Whether you’re new to public speaking or a seasoned pro, I guarantee you’ll find some ways to instantly improve your public speaking skills here – but only if you actually use these tips!
Over all the years I’ve been doing public speaking, I’ve learned a thing or two – the hard way – I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and I want to help you avoid making those mistakes.
But more importantly, I want you to succeed, and if you incorporate these tips, your public speaking skills will make a quantum leap forward.
These tips will apply to any kind of speaking – motivational speaking, keynote speeches, workshops, seminars, business presentations – you name it, and these tips apply.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about any of these.
Public Speaking Tip #1: Use the Stage Wisely
When doing public speaking, most people randomly wander around.
Usually back and forth.
That is very distracting. It even makes some people in your audience dizzy and uncomfortable.
Yes, I know it helps calm you down and you just like it, but it’s a rookie mistake that even many experienced speakers make.
What to do instead: before you even get to your speaking engagement, think about what states of mind you want your audience to be in, and in what sequence.
Then assign separate areas where you’ll stand when you present that correspond to each of those states of mind.
A good sequence for audience states of mind would be first curiosity (that’s one spot), strong interest (that’s a second spot) and intense desire (that’s the third spot) – especially if you’re trying to convince your audience to take some action, buy what you’re selling, or otherwise do what you want them to do after you’re done talking
Be sure to sort each of those places cleanly, and don’t mix them up!
Extra tip: get into the state of mind you want them to be in when you’re in each of those spots.
Extra special tip: if you’re at a podium and can’t move around, then use certain facial expressions, voice tones and hand gestures to “anchor” those special states you want your audience to be in – and be sure to be in that state of mind yourself!
Extra super special tip: build a chain of states into your presentation that makes sense, such as: intense curiosity, then strong fascination, and then burning desire.
Public Speaking Tip #2: Speak at three different speeds
Most people just get up and talk the same way they would if they were having conversation with a friend – nothing wrong with being friendly! – but I’m talking about your voice speed here.
If you like to talk fast, you’ll talk fast when on the stage.
Same thing if you usually talk slowly, or somewhere in-between.
What to do instead:
Speak at three different speed during your talk.
Why?
Because people listen and process information at 3 different speeds!
Some people are more feeling oriented and need time to process their feelings – they prefer slower talking.
Some people are more visually oriented, their minds race at a hundred miles per hour – they prefer people to talk fast to them.
Others are somewhere in-between; they usually are very talkative type of people – they prefer a more people to talk to them with a “sing song” rhythm with tones that go up and down a lot.
By speaking at three different speeds, you reach all those listening types.
If you don’t, you lose two-thirds of your audience – they “just don’t like you and just don’t know why”.
Special tip: speaking at 3 speeds is the structure of charisma.
Extra special tip: remember those audience states of mind I mentioned in tip #1? – match your voice speed to those states of mind.
Extra super special tip: When you speak fast, hold still, even your head. When you speak more singsong, move your head around a lot.
Public Speaking Tip #3: The 4-Phase Presentation System
Some people are “why” people – they need to know the reasons why before they want to hear about how or what.
Some people are “how people” – they just want to know how to do something, that’s what they care most about.
Some people are “what people” – they like statistics and facts and data.
Some people are “what if people” – they want to know what might go wrong, or what are other ways of doing things.
You’re making a mistake if you don’t arrange your presentation or speech to reach each of those four learning types!
What to do instead:
Look closely at your presentation:
- Are you covering the reasons why what you have to say is important or why anyone should listen to you in the first place?
- Are you providing statistics, data, and facts?
- Are you clearly outlining exactly how to do things or approach the topic you’re speaking about?
- Are you handling the “mis-matchers” in the room who are looking to poke holes in what you have to say and point out flaws?
Review your presentation and ensure you’re covering all four of those areas.
Special tip: The first thing you should cover is why – why is what you have to say important? Get that out of the way up front.
Extra special tip: don’t take it personally when people disagree or poke holes in what you have to say, in fact you should already be prepared for that.
Extra super special tip: if you get “heckled” use that person as your personal “fact checker” during your presentation – turn to them now and then and say “does that check out?” but put a time limit on their response so they don’t hijack your presentation.
Public Speaking Tip #4: Avoid Death by PowerPoint
You need far less slides to make your points than you think you do.
Plus, people will be busy reading your slides and not listening to you.
Sure, you think you’re clever with your Star Wars or Legos themed slides, and sure some people will love that, but many will not – don’t confuse the idea of separating out who’s on your side and who’s not with the idea of merely annoying people with your cutesy unicorn-themed presentation.
Either blank the screen after showing a slide so the focus is on you, or put way less text on your slides, or even don’t use PowerPoint at all – put the focus entirely on you, and you’ll also stand out from other speakers that way if you’re in a lineup.
Public Speaking Tip #5: Have a Clear Call to Action
Decide ahead of time what you want people to do, then tell them to do it when you’re done speaking.
It’s just that simple.
Many people don’t want to feel “salesy” – forget that.
Just tell them what you want them to do at the end of your presentation.
Period.
Here are 3 bonus tips to take your public speaking skills to the next level.
Bonus Public Speaking Tip #1:
None of your internal dialogue should be spoken out loud.
How many times have you heard people say something out loud from the stage like “oops, this remote control is hard to use” or something similar?
No. One. Cares.
Stick to your presentation, keep your internal dialogue and internal running commentary where it belongs: internal.
Just confidently deliver your presentation, without making “meta comments” about whatever.
Bonus Public Speaking Tip #2:
You have less time than you think you do when you’re preparing your presentation.
Most people over-prepare, and under-deliver.
Most people think they have too little material to fill the time.
That would be 100% wrong!
How many times have you heard a presenter say “wow, I’m running out of time, I’ll have to skip past these slides” or they go at 100 miles per hour through the rest of their presentation?
The audience feels cheated if that happens, and you look like a beginner.
Don’t frustrate your audience – or yourself! – assume you have much less time than you think you do.
Bonus Public Speaking Tip #3
Your presentation or speech or seminar or workshop or what-have-you is about your audience, not you.
Your presentation is about your audience, not you.
Your presentation is about your audience, not you.
Repeat that to yourself about 20 times, really let that sink in.
Conclusion
Use these public speaking tips and I guarantee you’ll be far more successful at your public speaking, seminars, workshops, keynote speeches, and business presentations.
And remember, knowledge is not power, action is power – so don’t just read this stuff, nod your head in agreement, then go back to doing what you did before.
Take some time to practice and then actually use these tips and you’ll get far better results!
If my article was valuable to you please click the image below to say “thanks!”
7 Secrets of Master Communicators – How to Become a Master Communicator
These are the true, inside-secrets to becoming a Master Communicator that no one else will tell you:
1. Start at the end: determine your objective
2. Identify the state of mind matching your objective
3. Map the mind-state sequence leading to your objective
4. Uncover the keywords that match your mind-state sequence
5. Identify stories that elicit each state of mind
6. Decide which voice tones match each mind-state
7. Make a physical communication map
What is a Master Communicator?
In the fourth century BC, Isocrates and Demosthenes were considered the greatest speakers in the whole country of Greece.
Isocrates had a smooth speaking style and encouraged his listeners to understand the truths he that spoke about.
Demosthenes, on the other hand, was not as smooth a speaker, but he was admired for his ability to convince others to dream great dreams and go out and act on them.
It’s said that when Isocrates spoke, people said “What a great speech” but when Demosthenes spoke, the people said, “let’s march!”
Which kind of communicator would you rather be? – Someone who gets compliments, or someone who gets results?
The choice is up to you.
Can You Become a Master Communicator?
Who are today’s Master Communicators?
Are they celebrities?
Are they talk shows hosts?
Are they politicians?
Or are they “the person next door”?
The answer is, Master Communicators are all around us, and they’re not necessarily famous or well known.
Master Communicators come from all walks of life.
Master Communicators are able to influence people with ease, they persuade people with passion and they motivate with a mission.
Master Communicators exude confidence, personal power, magnetism, natural charm and they communicate with elegance and precision.
The truth is that anyone can become a Master Communicator, and so can you.
How would you like to have more confidence and self-esteem?
Picture yourself influencing people with elegance and precision.
What would you say to having more natural charisma and charm?
How would you feel if you were able to motivate others easily and consistently?
Think of all the ways your life will improve by learning the Secrets of Master Communicators.
I invite you to become a Master Communicator.
You can improve any area of your life whether it’s your job or career, your business, your personal relationships – you can apply the Secrets of Master Communicators to any context you choose.
And answer this question for yourself: after you communicate, would you rather people say, “what nice talk” or would you rather they feel “I’m in – I want to take action right now!”
Now, let’s take a look at the 7 Secrets of Master Communicators.
Secret #1: Start at the End: Determine Your Objective
The ordinary communicator doesn’t have a clear objective or result or outcome in mind.
The ordinary communicator just flaps their lips – or while others speak just can’t wait for them to shut up so they can blab about whatever they feel like saying.
On the other hand, Master Communicators have a clear result in mind.
While the ordinary communicators just talk and talk as if they just want to hear the sound of their own voice, the Master Communicator holds a clear and definite purpose in their mind.
Master Communicators know exactly what result they want to produce.
They figure out in advance what they want to achieve with their communication, before they say a single word.
Master Communicators decide ahead of time what their objective is, what the goal of their communication will be.
They make a clear picture in their mind of exactly what they want to have happen.
Master Communicators know exactly what result they want to produce.
Ordinary communicators don’t have a clear result in mind. They don’t decide in advance precisely what their goal or outcome is for this communication.
This may sound simple but having a clear direction in mind is vitally important!
Imagine if you walked into an airport and said, “give me a plane ticket to somewhere”.
The first question they will ask you is “where do you want to go?”
If you say “anywhere”, then you may or may not be happy once you get “anywhere”.
Decide on your destination ahead of time.
Hold a clear and definite picture in your mind of where you want to go and the result you want to produce with your communication.
Master Communicators hold in their mind a clear and detailed picture of the result they want to achieve with their communication.
Secret #1 is being 100% clear about the goal or desired outcome of your communication.
Which brings us to Secret #2…
Secret #2: What State of Mind Matches Your Outcome?
Ordinary communicators never realize that to achieve their outcome, they have to know what state of mind corresponds to that outcome.
Think about it:
What if you’re making a sales presentation, then what do you think a good state of mind would be for your “audience”?
Do you think feelings of strong desire might be a good state of mind?
Or what if you’re a fundraiser, what do you think a good state of mind would be for your “audience”?
Do you think feelings of generosity might be a good state of mind?
Of what if you’re in a job interview, what do you think a good state of mind would be for your “audience”?
Do you think strong feelings of confidence in you might be a good state of mind?
Get the point?
After you determine your outcome, your goal, your objective for communicating in whatever context you’re communicating, you need to determine the ideal end-state-of-mind for your audience to be in that matches the outcome of your communication.
Secret #2 is clearly defining what state of mind matches the desired outcome of your communication.
You’re already well on the way to becoming a Master Communicator…
Let’s move on to Secret #3…
Secret #3: Map the Mind-State Sequence to Your Objective
Ordinary communicators never realize that getting to your objective takes steps, not one big leap.
Master Communicators are 100% clear about this fact.
Think about it:
If you go on a first date, do you think your date is already going to be in a state of mind where they want to marry you?
Probably not.
Sure, some people decide to get married on a first date, but that’s the exception not the rule.
The point is that to achieve the goal of your communication, you have to realize you can’t just “go for the throat” right away and expect to be successful.
Instead, think about what states of mind would logically lead to your outcome.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you’re making a sales presentation – before expecting your “audience” to feel a strong desire for your product or service, you might start with feelings of curiosity, then feelings of confidence, and then feelings of strong desire.
Make sense?
In other words, you elicit a series of states that logically lead to the desired outcome of your communication.
For whatever context in which you’re communicating, decide the logical mind-state sequence that will lead to the state of mind your “audience” should be in that leads to your outcome.
Secret #3 is clearly mapping out the mind-state sequence leading to the desired outcome of your communication.
You’re really building momentum now…
Which brings us to Secret #4…
Secret #4: Uncover the Keywords That Match Your Mind-State Sequence
Let’s do a quick review here at the halfway point:
- First you got totally clear about the outcome you want to reach as a result of your communication.
- Second, you identified which state of mind matches your objective.
- Third, you mapped out the logical mind-state sequence that naturally leads to your outcome.
The next step is to uncover the keywords (or sometimes key-phrases) that match each step in your mind-state sequence.
This doesn’t have to be complicated, in fact it can be easier than you think, because the keywords will often be exactly the same as your mind-state sequence!
In our previous sales presentation example, we used the sequence: curiosity > confidence > strong desire.
For curiosity, it could be “wonder” or “you might be wondering”, but it could just be “curious”, or “interested”, or “inquisitive”, or a key-phrase like “you’re probably curious about…”
For confidence, again the keyword could just be confidence, or “conviction”, or “assurance” or it could be a key-phrase like “rock-solid certainty”.
For strong desire – you guessed it – again, it could just be the key-phrase “strong desire”, or “craving”, or “yearning”, or the key-phrase “I realized I have to have this”.
See how easy that is?
All you have to do here is simply attach a keyword, or key-phrase if you prefer, to each mind-state in your sequence that leads to your end-state of mind which matches the outcome of your communication.
Secret #4 is assigning keywords or key-phrases that match each step of your mind-state map.
Things are really taking shape for you now – keep going, soon you’ll know all the secrets of Master Communicators.
Time for Secret #5…
Secret #5: Identify a Story to Elicit Each State of Mind
Facts tell, but stories sell.
Kids love stories, and always say “tell me a story, tell me a story!”
But adults also love stories.
In fact, we’re surrounded by stories.
- Hollywood movies are all stories.
- TV shows are all stories.
- Songs often tell a story.
You get the idea.
When we listen to or watch a story, we put ourselves into the story.
We identify with and put ourselves into the position of the main character (or some character) in the story.
People become less resistant when listening to stories.
People’s natural hesitancy and shields come down when listening to stories.
And that means people become far more open to what you’re saying.
Again: facts tell, stories sell.
Blathering on and on with facts, data, and statistics will put people to sleep.
On the other hand, stories draw people in and entrance them.
People enter a state of fascination.
This is why you want to identify a story that matches each mind-state you’ve already mapped out.
Feel free to use data or facts in your communication, but always tell a story for each step in your mind-state sequence.
The example states I’ve been using is curious > confident > desire.
All you need to do is tell a story that elicits each of those states.
But not all at once, have separate stories for each state of mind.
Then tell your story at the appropriate time in your communication.
Your story doesn’t have to be long, either – it can be a simple short metaphor or analogy.
Got the idea?
When you tell your stories, use the keywords or key-phrases you identified in the last step.
That was the whole point of doing that in the first place.
Secret # 5 is pick a story, metaphor, or analogy that elicits the state of mind corresponding to your mind-map sequence.
Let’s move on to Secret #6…
Secret #6: Decide Which Voice Tones Match Each Mind-State & Story
About now I’d expect you have this giant lightbulb going on over your head.
Now you can see how Master Communicators structure their communication to get results.
And right now I’ve got a huge, huge revelation for you.
For each mind-state of your communication sequence, get into that state of mind yourself!
Have you ever been around someone who’s just bursting with energy and enthusiasm?
It’s infectious, right?
After a minute or 2, you’re feeling energetic and enthusiastic too.
Or have you ever been around someone who just couldn’t stop laughing?
Pretty soon you’re laughing too.
It’s true for if someone is sad, depressed, or jumping for joy – when you’re around people you almost can’t help but feel the same way, their feelings “rub off on you”.
You can’t expect your audience to be curious, or confident, or feel strong desire unless you already feel that way yourself.
For each story in your mind-state sequence, put yourself strongly in that state of mind when you tell your story, and of course use the keywords or key-phrases you previously identified that correspond to each mind-state in your communication sequence.
And use your voice tone to express and convey that state of mind.
When people are excited, their voice matches their state of mind.
When people are bored, they sound bored.
When people are excited, they sound excited.
People’s voice tone matches their state of mind.
See what I mean?
Secret #6 is get into the right state of mind, and use the corresponding voice tone when you tell each story matching your mind-state sequence.
And remember to use your keywords or key-phrases too.
Now it’s time to put it all together and reveal the final Secret of Master Communicators.
Secret #7: Make a Physical Communication Map
Now it’s time to put the last piece in place to become a Master Communicator.
Make a physical communication map.
But first, let’s do a quick recap of what you learned so far:
- Step 1. Start at The End: Clarify Your Objective
- Step 2. Identify the State of Mind Matching Your Objective
- Step 3. Map the Mind-State Sequence Leading to Your Objective
- Step 4. Uncover the Keywords That Match Your Mind-State Sequence
- Step 5. Identify a Story That Elicit Each State of Mind
- Step 6. Decide Which Voice Tones Match Each Mind-State & Story
The last step is making a “physical communication map”, which you can achieve in one of two ways (or both if you want):
1. With your body locations
2. With your facial expressions & gestures
Let’s start with body locations, what do I mean by that?
Simple: each of your mind-states and stories should be delivered from a different place in the room (or on the stage).
That way you prevent mixing up the different mind-states, which will also mix up your “audience” and confuse them (hint: you won’t want them confused).
But what if you can’t move around, like if you’re stuck at a podium on the stage, or if you’re in a seat in a meeting?
Clearly you can’t sort your states separately then.
So, what do you do?
Simple: use different facial expressions and gestures for each of your mind-states and stories!
See how easy that is?
All you have to do is associate a specific facial expression and gesture that corresponds to each state (like curiosity, or confidence, or desire).
Secret #7 is use your face, gestures, and body position to reinforce the feelings that correspond to your mind-state sequence.
Conclusion & Your Next Step to Becoming a Master Communicator
I’m sure your mind is buzzing with excitement now that you’ve learned the true inside secrets of Master Communicators.
But you might also be a bit overwhelmed – and that’s okay, and perfectly natural.
Most people think becoming a Master Communicator is as simple as reading a few communication tips & techniques and boom! they’re magically a Master Communicator.
But you don’t watch one Karate class and then become a Black Belt immediately, right? – but lucky for you, becoming a Master Communicator is much, much easier than earning a Black Belt in Karate!
Just go back and review this article closely, follow each of the steps and take action, and just keep going to polish your masterful communication skills.
I wish you great success at becoming a Master Communicator!
If my article was valuable to you please click the image below to say “thanks!”