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How To Be AnEffective Speaker

To be an effective communicator, there are many things that you should do. I want to highlight a few of the things that you absolutely have to do. I call them my rules for effectively communicating.

Rule number one: You must show your audience that you care. Yes, it's that same old adage that you've heard time and time again, Don't show me how much you know, show me how much you care." To be effective, your listeners must believe that you really do care. Your effectiveness as a speaker is riding on your credibility with yourlisteners. They have to believe that you really care about them and that you really care about what you are saying. In a nut shell, you must be believable, and that needs to come from the heart. If you neglect this very important rule, you may as well skip the engagement. It's not enough just to send out your message, there has to be a receiver, and if your audience 'ain't' receiving what you're saying, then honey, you're just whistling Dixie.

Rule Number Two: Please, don't give a speech on that which you know nothing about. You might be able to fake it through the other rules I'm going to give you, but these two must be adhered to. You must know what you are talking about, or your audience will see through you as though looking through a big squeaky clean window. No one pays attention to someone who is just running their mouth and have nothing really important to say; on the other hand, they will give their undivided attention to someone who is knowledgeable about their topic and has facts to back up what he or she is saying. So rule number two, know what you're talking about darling, or stay home..... please.

Rule Number Three: I call this my less is more rule. Control those nonverbal cues. Too much gesturing and body language is distracting, not to mention unsightly, or if I may be frank, just plain ugly. I know that we don't have complete control over our nonverbal actions, but that's just the point; we do have some control. Exercise that control. Use your voice and gestures to stress key points and meanings of words, and look at your audience while speaking. That reminds me, when I was a kid (not so long ago) I remember being told

to look straight toward the back of the room, and find something on the wall to focus on. Well, If that's your solution to making it through your speech, forget it right now or....stay at home...please. That's okay to do if you are ten years old and giving a speech to an audience for the first time. After all, you didn't get paid for that speech...did you? (that twenty dollars your parents gave you doesn’t count). And please, tape yourself to see how you sound. I have heard speakers popping their lips, sucking their teeth, and uggggh...you don't want to hear the rest, so let's go on to rule number four.

Rule Number Four: Be Organized. If your listeners can't follow what you are saying, you will surely lose them. At that point, they will lose all interest in your presentation and will become irritable. It's simple and true. To be effective as a paid professional speaker, you must organize your thoughts and information.

Rule Number Five: Have a good command of language. I can listen for hours on end to a speaker who can very artfully and skillfully use language. Take special care in choosing your words and stringing them together. Old adage number two: "It's not what you say, but how you say it". Well that's not completely true. What you say is 'muy importa", very important, but how you say it can make or break you as well. If you want to be an effective communicator, you must make your language clear and interesting.

Rule Number Six: LISTEN! That's right, I said listen. Good communicators are good listeners. Listening to your audience will cue you in on what you need to do to hold or even keep their attention. An effective communicator, knows when he or she is losing their audience and uses their skill as an effective communicator to reel them back in.

I wish you good speaking. Email me and let me know if this article is helpful to you.

Sherrie Marshall is a Fort Lauderdale, Florida based, keynote speaker and speech coach.; She teaches English, speech & Debate,TV Production and Drama. She is the author of Invisible Chains and One Heartbeat Away.

Contact by email: speakingservices@bellsouth.net

http://www.sherriemarshall.com

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