5 Secrets to Mastering Successful Speech
Posted in Communication
Knowing how to speak well can benefit you more than you can imagine: speaking well during an interview gets you the job; presenting well to the board gets funding for your project; the right words to your partner or family deepens relationships. Every role in your life succeeds with effective speaking.
Here are five simple steps that will effectively improve the quality of your speaking.
- Make Eye Contact
- Look into the listener’s eyes – When you look someone in the eye, there is no way that person can avoid listening to you. If your eyes are looking into into the distance as you talk, your listener will likely drift away. If your eyes follow each person walking by your office door, you communicate a lack of interest in what you’re saying to the listener.
- Make eye contact when speaking to a group – Even with a large group, you can make eye contact with your listeners. Perhaps not everyone, but enough to hold the attention of the group.
Don’t stare at one person, but let your eyes work the room. Make eye contact for one phrase, then move on to another person. You’ll look like you’re trying to connect with the audience.
- Let your eyes speak for you – Your eye contact is the single most effective indicator that you’re involved in the conversation. You can communicate warmth or sympathy or sincerity or any emotion needed, through your eyes. Avoiding eye contact, makes you appear anxious, uninterested and bored. Your eyes speak and provide cues as to how approachable you are.
- Speak loudly
Avoid the Marlon Brando syndrome. Mumbling may have made him seem dark and complex, but it is not really an effective way of speaking. Make sure the volume of you speaking voice is loud enough for the circumstances. You won’t need a “stage” voice for a one-on-one meeting, but your “office” voice won’t carry to a room of 300 people. - Speak slowly
The more nervous you are, the quicker you speak. If you speak too quickly, people will see you as nervous and perhaps even unsure of the topic. Find a comfortable pace and practice.Ideally, you should speak at a rate of 130 – 165 words per minute. Practice by reading a written passage of 500 words. Time yourself and learn to pace your speaking.
- Enunciate
When speaking in public, you need to exaggerate the way you enunciate words. What sounds clear to your ears, is muddy 30 feet into the room.The difference in pronouncing din, tin, thin and then is tiny. Record your voice as you practice and make sure the subtle differences in words are clearly heard.
- Eliminate verbal pauses
- “Uh-h-h-h”
- “Um-m-m-m”
- “Like”
- “Y’know”
- “Basically”
Get rid of annoying space fillers. If you have nothing to say, keep quiet. If you’re presenting to a group, learn you material well enough that you don’t need to resort to verbal filler.
Some Practice Exercises:
- Speak in front of a mirror and practice making eye contact with yourself.
- Have someone videotape a presentation to a group, review it without sound and check your eye contact.
- Listen to the audio of your presentation. Check the rate at which you speak. Listen for the clarity of your enunciation.
- Go into a large room and tape your speaking at various distances from the microphone. Listen for appropriate volume.
- Ask friends and family to point out the verbal pauses in your speaking.
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And use simple language that everyone understands!
Andrew