Image Credit: Nenad Stojkovic
Let’s face it, the world in which we are living has changed. More and more often the speeches that we give are being done online. It turns out that in order to be an effective online speaker, there are several things that you need to be doing. Yes, giving an effective speech is still important. However, did you know that there are a number of other things that you have to be doing in order to make your next online speech have an impact?
What it Takes To Be An Online Leader
I think that we can all recognize a leader if we happen to meet them. One of the simplest ways is to look and see if they have any followers. Sounds pretty simple right? Leaders inspire others by standing up and taking risks despite overwhelming odds. The good news is that the principles of leadership will never change. The key features: vision, discipline, courage and commitment are as relevant today as they were back when people used swords to fight wars. Speakers need to understand that leadership is still leadership. In this modern age in which so much of what we do has now moved online, the question that we are all faced with is what are the habits to practice if we want to be an online leader?
You Need To Do Great Things
This can be one of the most difficult things for a speaker to do. We need to focus on doing great things – and we need to make sure that our audience knows that we do great things. The one thing that you don’t want to become known for is simply being the person who maintains the status quo – no changes. Instead you want your audience to understand that you use your vision and courage to do great things. In the world of sports, it takes big plays to win a football game. Likewise in the world of business it takes bold moves to advance a business in a competitive marketplace. No speaker can be known as an online leader and achieve worthwhile success by playing it safe.
Create A Reputation For Over-Delivery
Speakers need to develop followers. However, in addition the most important online currency for any leader is their reputation. If you are able to generate a reputation for over-delivery, it means your online audience will constantly feel that they’re the ones getting the better end of the deal. This means that you must be committed to producing quality content and be willing to give away more than what you get in return. Of course, as speakers we need to produce quality content. This means that we must first understand our target market and identify what it is that our audience finds valuable. In order to over-deliver value we must know what value is in the first place. Too many speakers fail to understand their audience and look to their own opinions to create “value.” We need to give people more of what they want and expect. Once we do this, we will get a much larger return on our investment since people will want to spend more time with our offerings.
Find Ways To Connect Offline
A speaker always wants to be thinking about the fact that nothing will replace the power of live interaction. Nope, not Facebook, not Twitter, not even a video chat. That’s right, the most powerful connections are made when we engage in some good old-fashioned hand-shaking, sharing coffee and meeting for lunch. Connections made in these ways produce the most opportunities for speakers. Speakers need to realize that we need to connect with as many people as possible to build a speaking career quickly. We have to be able to connect with other leaders. These connections are made not just through emails, but also through face-to-face meetings. This what you’ll have to do if you want to become an online leader.
Become A Promoter Of Others
Speakers have to understand there’s more than enough success and praise to go around. So when you see someone doing something great, make sure that you let other people know about it. Not only will your speaker words make a big impact on the person you’re praising, but such actions will also boost your own image as someone who supports the endeavors of others.
Do be careful – there’s a catch: You need to be specific and unique in your support. You don’t want to just retweet an article link or write “Check this out” on your Facebook wall when you discover something that appeals to you. Make sure that you tell your followers why they should pay attention to someone you recommend. This both shows that you are paying attention to the person you are promoting, and it demonstrates how you respect the time of your followers.
Find A Way To Share Your Vision
One of the primary responsibilities of an effective online leader is to share your vision. We all realize that there are things you’re noticing today that will affect your way of giving speeches tomorrow. These things won’t just affect you – they may affect others too. As an effective online leader it’s your job to either warn your followers of any danger that is before them or highlight the opportunities that surround them.
What All Of This Means For You
In the end, there is one more thing that you have to keep in mind. Successful online leaders surround themselves with only quality people. You need to realize that there are some principles that never change. This is most definitely one of them: Who you choose to spend your time with will have a huge effect on who you are and how effective you are as an online leader. Online leaders can’t afford to rub shoulders with people who aren’t making the effort to grow. Follow these simple practical steps, and you’ll soon be an online leader
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Public Speaking Skills™
Question For You: What is the best way to measure if you have become an effective online leader?
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Note: What we talked about are advanced speaking skills. If you are just starting out I highly recommend joining Toastmasters in order to get the benefits of public speaking. Look for a Toastmasters club to join in your home town by visiting the web site www.Toastmasters.org. Toastmasters is dedicated to helping their members to understand the importance of public speaking by developing listening skills and getting presentation tips. Toastmasters is how I got started speaking and it can help you also!
What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time
Every time that we give a speech, we’d like to be able to find a way to connect with our audience. What’s interesting about this goal is that it can be very difficult to accomplish. As speakers, we need to be able to understand our audience and what they are looking for in our speech. If we can master this knowledge, then we can find a way to connect with them. The good news is that it turns out that it can actually be easy to connect with an audience. What we need to do is to make sure that we show them some enthusiasm.