Connecting With your Audience Just Got Easier

The art of public speaking requires at least two variables for there to be a balanced equation and they are the audience and the speaker. The sole reason a speaker speaks in public is so that the audience will listen and possibly take a certain action or make a particular decision depending on what the objective of the presentation is anyway. This means that the reason there are speeches is that there will be audiences that will listen, this makes the issue of a speaker connecting with the audience of the greatest importance. For the most part, it is not what you say but how you say it, in other words, how you say it is just as important as what you say.

Eye Contact - One of the time-tested ways to connect with your audience is to look them in the eye and make eye contact with them. If the eyes were the window to the soul then as a professional speaker you would surely want to master how to pull your audience in using your eyes. Try as much as possible to make eye contact with as many people in your audience as you can as this helps to draw them in thus making them attracted to you and your message. Short and meaningful glances will do but remember keep them short, as you do not want them to think you are a potential stalker. The inability to make eye contact with the people you engage even in everyday conversation suggests you are hiding something from them and so are not to be trusted.

Good Posture - There is no substitute for a good posture as far as public speaking is concerned. You must always make it a habit to stand erect and tall with your shoulders straight and squarely set and your chest out. Also, remember to tuck your stomach in and hold your head up. The ideal thing is to always look smart and this is best achieved when your posture speaks well of you. Anything less than this passes you off as tired and spent which are public speaking synonyms for dull and uninspiring. You might consider practicing standing straight and asking your friends for feedback.

Deliberate Movement - As much as possible, limit your movements such that it adds value to your message and not takes away from it. When movements are purposeless and uncoordinated, they could end up distracting the audience who will be trying to follow your movements all around the stage instead of concentrating on the message. As much as possible let your movements match your message, in other words use movements to emphasise your points.

Appropriate Dressing - The rule of thumb for appropriate dressing is to answer the question of what kind of event at which you are supposed to speak. You cannot possibly wear a suit when everyone else is going to be dressed in tracksuit bottoms and body hugs. If you are going to make a business presentation at a company and they have company colours you may consider dressing in like colours, as this will help them to see you as one of them. Your best bet if you are confused would be to ask the event organisers to know the dress code and the kind of event it is.

Who says connecting with your audience must be difficult?

Towards a Great Speech: Demystifying Ethos, Pathos and Logos

Have you ever wondered what the key components of every great speech are? Perhaps you are wondering what features of speeches might exist that you do not already know about. The ancient Greeks were the first people to bring out a classification that has come to be universally accepted. According to them, there are three major elements of any speech and they are Ethos, Pathos and Logos not necessarily in any order of importance. These three are the major vehicles of persuasion, which Aristotle wrote about eons ago.

Here is a concise treatment of the three major features of every speech which some have rightly dubbed the pillars of public speaking explained in as simple terms as possible.

Ethos - This is a direct reference to the ethical content of your speech. It also has to do with the character or credibility of the speaker in other words, how well the audience is likely to believe the speaker. If the speaker has a reputation of competence built over a period of time the audience will most likely warm up to them but for someone who is not seen as competent enough you just can be sure of the level of acceptance they will have to deal with. For example, you would most likely be more willing to listen to a finance expert talk to you on personal finance that a football coach.

Pathos - Depending on the aim of your presentation there is always an emotional content involved that could be used to effect. How much passion is your speech able to stir up in the hearts and minds of your listeners? The words of Carl W. Buechner, "They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel" easily come to mind. Here is a veiled reference to the importance of emotional content in speech. The power of emotions and feelings cannot be over-emphasised in human life, as people will most likely respond positively if they feel good about your message.

Logos - This is how well your speech appeals to the logic or the intellect of your audience. It is essentially an appeal based on logic or reasoning in other words how convincing your argument is with the help of supporting evidence. Here you may need to use data, detailed analysis and rational arguments to support your presentation. In fact, the word logic is closely related to the Greek word logos. Essentially your audience will want to know if what you are saying to them makes a lot of sense or if it is just some beautifully packaged gibberish.

The perfect speech is that which contains all three types of content and even though there are different schools of thought as to which is the most important of all, it all boils down to the aim of your presentation really. The aim of your presentation will determine largely the vehicle of persuasion you give the highest priority. 

Nigeria my country: The Vampires in Us Revealed

Movies are sometimes a reflection of our reality and at other times, they are simply a representation of man's ability to think out of the box and explore his creative genius without any prescribed limits in sight. Instructional as they may be in their use, some of them are simply vehicles of sensual entertainment. Someone like me does not qualify to be called the average movie freak anyway, having just seen the nineties classic movie, Titanic some weeks ago. Anyway, we have learnt from movies that vampires are sub-human creatures that like to feed on blood and cannot stay under the direct heat of the sun's rays. How true this is is only an excursion into the minds of the perceptive and adventurous.

For the most part, some who watch movies find it very difficult to draw the line between reality and fiction. What is certainly not fiction in modern day Nigeria is that the vampires have come to stay and they are among us or how else do you explain the fact that lawmakers in Nigeria get more pay than the President of the United States of America whose democracy we claim to ape does. I really do not want to bore you with the actual figures, as they are at best sickening and unconscionable and come under various appellations. This is a country where 100 million other Nigerians live on less than one dollar a day. Only God knows when those in power will listen to the voice of reasoning that says the cost of maintaining this executive apparatus called government is on the high side to the detriment of the person on the street. These are the same legislators who surely must have what it takes to win us some much-needed gold medals in boxing at the next Olympics going by their not so honourable display in the recent past at a time they were supposed to be making laws on our behalf. This is a classic example of vampires on rampage!

For a situation in which federal ministers, whose innumerable personal assistants and special advisers have their own assistants and advisers either assisting or advising, is that not an over bloated form of government. The question that we should all be asking is what the results that the average person on the streets can point to are. The way forward is that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) should rework all salaries of government officials and public office holders with a view to probably cut them by about 70%. If we are able to pull this off, the resources there from can then be expended for the general good. Just before you cry yourselves hoarse, even the blind man can see that we are in dire need of drastic measures and critical situations require the bravest of men and women.

Bus drivers and their conductors find it convenient to hike fares even up to about 200% when the heavens release their pent up fury blaming it on traffic jams and fuel. This they do with all glee informing all those who cannot pay to take a hike and allow those who can afford it to board. The next time you are at a bus stop waiting for a bus with many other people, you just might have a taste of this unpalatable offering of theirs. That is the vampire in them coming to the fore.

The electoral reforms we earnestly desire are still a dream as stories abound of votes not being the deciding factor as to who is returned as the winner in an election. The direct beneficiaries of this unusual state are the vampires who will stop at nothing to make sure the situation remains unchanged. Positive electoral reforms are the ammunition we need to kill the electoral vampires among us and we all are the warriors that must don the garb of war and make sure our votes count come the 2011 elections.

Governors are not in any way left out, as all that the observant mind needs to do is assess overall performance in their states and see those who are not performing, as they should. They prefer to fly out of the country to spend our money on wanton pleasures under the guise of seeking foreign investors. Undoubtedly, whether or not those trips have borne fruit remains a matter requiring urgent attention. For a good number of them, success in government equates to spending two terms in office whether deserved or undeserved. Talk of vampires dressed in civilian attires!

As the independence celebrations draw near the vampires in us must spend billions of naira to celebrate when there are schoolchildren who still receive lessons under trees perhaps in a bid to be closer to nature and there are undergraduates in our tertiary institutions who still endure the worst of the pillow fights between the government and their teachers. They must celebrate when there are still millions of people with no access to adequate health care, there is the monstrous beast of erratic power supply to contend with, and there is the unmistakeable stench of corruption in every facet of the Nigerian life. Those are the vampires at work.

Unfortunately, the movies do not prescribe a lasting solution to the proliferation of vampires so we must all look in our realities and work to make sure we build the Nigeria of our dreams. One sure way to start is if we can all learn to be empathetic in all situations. If our leaders were not so far removed from the harsh realities of our everyday lives then we would probably have better governance at the federal, state and local government levels and thus rid ourselves of titular vampires. If we the people all learnt to put ourselves in the shoes of the other person whom we refer to as our neighbour, we would most likely have a better place to live in. The only option open to us is to join hands and sound the death knell to all the vampires among us.

Renewed

Walking slowly along the road of life

With my battered spirit tagging along,

All of my strength had gone like wisps of smoke

As I struggled with life’s blows and troubles

Without any doubt I had lost all hope.

Suddenly I heard a voice call to me

Let me have your broken spirit for keeps

Your battered and old self for a new one

And your wretched heart for one made brand new.

I turned to him who called and saw his face.

With the exchange complete and finalised

I stand refreshed, revamped and revitalised

With all the strength I can muster and call,

I shout at the top of my voice like mad.

I am energised and have been renewed.

Using Vocal Variety Effectively in Speech Making

Have you ever had to sit through some public presentation in which the speaker spoke in a monotone from beginning to the end? I doubt if you made it to the end of the presentation without nodding off to sleep. That is the misery you will put your listeners to when you speak in a monotone devoid of any emotion. That you are reading this tells me you surely do not want to put your audience through all of that as it might end up being their worst nightmare yet.

Apart from the content of your presentation, another major part of essential communication is the vocal component. Studies have shown that the vocal component accounts for about 38% of your speech. If this were true as is generally accepted to be; then you most likely would want to pay attention to it.

First off, the most important voice elements a public speaker must understand are voice quality and animation in addition to mastering the concept of inflection. For vocal quality, your voice must be pleasant to the ear, natural in quality, audible to the ears and just forceful enough to command attention. Inflection is simply the rising and falling of your voice at intervals during speech and is the exact opposite of speaking in a monotone. For animation, there must just be enough energy and enthusiasm.

Several characteristics are inherent in vocal variety, which essentially means how you vary your voice in public speaking.

Pace - This refers to how fast or slow your voice is. In your presentation, there are times when you may need to speak very fast or very slow in a bid to vary your voice pace. Remember it is all about not speaking in a monotone.

Pitch - This is a reference to how high or low your voice sounds. In the same way that musical notes can be high or low, the variation of your voice pitch for effect is an integral part of vocal variety.

Volume - This is an indicator of the level of sound produced with your voice i.e. how loud or quiet it is. It would be a disaster for your audience to tell you to speak up because they cannot hear you. Some people even with the aid of mikes still end up being inaudible.

Tone - This tells your listeners how flat or enthusiastic your voice sounds to them. I am sure you do not want to speak to your audience in a tone that tells them you are not convinced of what you are saying to them.

Worthy of note is the saying, "They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel" credited to Carl W. Buechner. One sure and easy way to make them feel nothing is to use a monotone to deliver your speech from beginning to the end. 

Three Techniques for making Great Speeches

Have you ever stopped to ask what the secrets of some famous and well-renowned speakers are? Just in case you have spent considerable time, wondering what they have that you do not seem to have this might be helpful. The truth of the matter is that it all boils down to the techniques that they employ in their presentations. Three very important ones are treated below and if well used might just be what you need to have everyone wowed at the end of your presentation.

Rhetorical Questions - Sometimes when you ask questions solely for effect it stimulates your audience mentally and keeps their interest level in your presentation on the high side. It is best to use this when you have made some very interesting point and it works best when the aim of your speech is to be persuasive. For example if you are interested in getting lawmakers to pass a legislation on bearing firearms, you can paint a picture showing a possible consequence and then ask a question to make the effect felt to a greater degree.

Power of 3 - Repetition is the essence of using this highly effective technique and it is meant to be a way to stress a particular point in your presentation. This is a means of either saying the same thing in three different ways or of saying three different statements that seem to have the same meaning e.g. Terrorism is immoral, Terrorism is illegal, and Terrorism is condemnable. By doing this you will have succeeded in saying the same thing three times and in three different ways. The good part is that if anyone in the audience missed the first part they would not miss the others else, they would not be in the audience anyway! On the other hand, a reinforcement of your message is what took place, as your audience will know why you had to say it three different times.

Use of Pause - There is no train in the world that runs non-stop is there. That just means it is good to pause from time to time if not to catch your breath - breath control is another subject matter entirely anyway - then to let your message sink. When you pause for effect in your presentation it drives home the point more than a thousand words can ever possibly can. Many speakers take pauses that are too long such that people in the audience begin to wonder if those speakers have run out of ideas. This is not the reference in this piece; remember it is all about pausing for effect in a bid to add value to the message and not to detract from it. Mark Twain's words are instructive, "The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause".

The more practice you get at using these techniques the better your proficiency level will be.

Reasons Vocal Crutches will ruin your speech

Have you ever been at an event and someone was invited to speak and the first thing that came out from their mouth was ‘Hmm’, ‘You know’, ‘Hah’ or something like that? Permit me to ask, what was the first thing that came to your mind when you heard those words? Did you think of that person as intelligent or confused? Was it a turn-off or an attractive quality? Did it cause you to lose interest in what they had to say or were you engrossed right from the start?

There are some things you do not want to do when giving your speech and using filler words or vocal crutches is one of them. Without mincing words, filler words certainly make you look less intelligent than you really are and I am sure you do not want people to think you are less intelligent than you really are. When you get to speak for an hour and a large chunk of your time is spent on filler words you can be sure your performance will be anything but five-star and everyone sure wants a five star performance every now and then. Everyone wants to be articulate when they speak but one sure way not to be articulate is to fill your presentation with vocal crutches.

So why do people use filler words in their speeches? Is it that they do not know what they want to say or that perhaps they know what to say but have no idea how to say it? Whatever the answer is filler words will always detract from the beauty of your speech any time so your best bet would be to avoid them as you run the risk of disconnecting from your audience depending on the kind of people they are.

The undeniable fact remains that your speech is better when you do not use vocal crutches. What can help is for you to know your material adequately and practise saying the same thing in different ways such that if you are stuck saying something you can easily switch to another form. Your audience will not begrudge you your right to make a mistake or two but if it becomes a recurring decimal then you just might be shooting yourself in the foot. To quote Cato the Elder, “Grasp the subject the words will follow”.

Another way out is to make a conscious effort not to use vocal crutches during your presentation and to mentally steer your energies in that direction. This mindset shift might just be all you need to eradicate vocal crutches from your presentation. If you can visualise your speech proceeding without vocal crutches then you are well on your way to doing without them.

Vocal crutches are one of the best ways to ruin your speech and disconnect from your audience. In the words of Dorothy Sarnoff, “Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening”.