I think that I’m on safe ground if I say that we’d all like to find a way to become a better public speaker. Every time that we take the stage there is that moment just before we start our speech where a thought runs through our head. It says, “it’s too late now, but we probably should have gotten more practice before we agreed to give this speech”. It turns out that right now is the time that you should be realizing the importance of public speaking and looking for ways to grow your speaking abilities. It turns out that by giving different types of speeches, you can become a better speaker.
Storytelling
As we look for ways to grow our ability to give speeches, one of them most important types of speeches that we don’t want to overlook has to do with storytelling. Our opportunities to tell stories comes in a wide variety of settings. Of course there is always the chance to share a story with one or more children – they are always open to hearing a good story told well. Additionally, we can tell stories to our peers and sometimes even to a group of people who have gotten together for some reason.
If you choose to work a story into your next speech in order to grow your speaking ability, you can do it by turning the whole speech into a single story or working multiple shorter stories into the speech. Remember that each story has a set of distinct parts that include building and releasing dramatic tension, working in surprise elements, and working to engage the listener’s imagination. Keep in mind that telling stories is one of our oldest forms of communication. We’ve been doing this since before there were even written languages.
Business Presentations
As public speakers we often think of giving a speech as standing in front of a group of people and delivering a speech. What we need to realize is that not all speeches are given this way. Instead, a great number of them are delivered as a part of a business presentation. One of the important ways that a business presentation differs from a normal speech is that when you give a business presentation you are more often than not trying to influence one person in the room – the decision maker.
Since what you want to do is to convince the decision maker about something, a key part of your preparation for delivering this type of speech has to be to figure out who the decision maker is before you start. In a business presentation, everyone’s time is valuable. This means that you need to get to your main point as quickly as you possibly can. Once you are done talking, you are not through. Every business presentation is followed by a period where your audience can ask you questions. and you’ll have to defend your arguments against their challenges.
Participating In Panel Discussions
Although I must confess that I enjoy having the spotlight only on me, there is another type of speech that is important: the panel session. When you are invited to participate in one of these events, you need to realize that you are going to have to be aware that other people will be speaking – it’s not all about you. One of the most important skills that you have to develop for this type of speaking is getting good at both taking and giving up the microphone.
Panel speaking is somewhat different from speaking by yourself on stage. You need to do a good job of reacting to what other panelist may say. Another key skill is getting good at answering questions that may be asked of you by your audience. This is another area where you’ll have to be careful to give complete answers, but do it in a timely fashion.
What All Of This Means For You
As speakers, we always need to looking for ways that we can maximize the benefits of public speaking and become better. Sure, being asked to give another speech is a great way to accomplish this; however, it turns out that there are three other ways that we can go about accomplishing this.
One of the most powerful tools that we have to use as speakers is stories. This means that we need to use each opportunity that we have to tell stories in order to work on developing this set of skills. Business presentations are different from standing in front of an audience and giving a speech. You need to take the time to determine who the decision maker in the room is and then you need to quickly get to the point. A panel discussion is a unique speaking opportunity where you share the stage with one or more other people. In order to do a good job when you are part of a panel, you need to work at both taking and releasing the microphone.
In order to become better speakers, we need to spend our time speaking. We need to realize that not every speaking opportunity looks like when we on a stage in front of an audience. Instead, we need to find opportunities to tell stories, make business presentations, and be on panels. Each time that we do this, we will become just a little bit better at the art of giving a speech.
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Public Speaking Skills™
Question For You: Do you think that it is possible to practice your storytelling skills when giving a business presentation?
Click here to get automatic updates when The Accidental Communicator Blog is updated.
P.S.: Free subscriptions to The Accidental Communicator Newsletter are now available. Subscribe now: Click Here!
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
When we are asked to give a speech, we understand the importance of public speaking and so we generally plan on talking for somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes depending on the venue. However, that is not always the case. In fact, there is one type of speech that we may be called on to give that is much, much shorter than what we are used to. What type of speech is this you ask? It’s when we are asked to introduce another speaker.