I believe public speaking is an art. To master this art, one must put in regular and timely efforts. However, despite the efforts, I have personally seen many people fail in this art once or often. To give a personal example, I used to love cricket and like every other child in India had a dream to once represent the Indian team in its colors, to BLEED BLUE. Despite the efforts, I never made any significant progress. Well, I scored good marks consistently during my school days and therefore, everyone knew me for my aptitude but never for sports. To be honest, I didn’t know the basics as I never coached in a cricket academy. So, with few years of practice, I was able to identify the key to public speaking with extensive support from my mentors and colleagues who I am thankful to. And hopefully everyone will agree on the point that ‘don’ts’ are more important than ‘do’s’ when it comes to acing a public speech (justlike a test match in the game of cricket!!!)
So, I will disclose here the secrets to not fail when delivering a public speech. What I would say is, the 7 golden guidelines, which if followed, can make you an ace when it comes to delivering public speeches.
So, the first mistake is not knowing the audience and not knowing what the audience doesn’t know. This includes not only the age and geography, but also details like educational background, hobbies, sports, etc. liked by the audience. Often, I have seen great orators failing due to this mistake. A personal anecdote was the special case of my professor. He would often bring up beautiful but archaic examples to explain difficult concepts in marketing. And as you might have guessed, it was the word archaic. Among the youthful crowd, there was hardly anyone who could relate to his examples and thus he failed. To be honest, names like Dhyan Chand or Dhanraj Pillai no longer resonate to youthful folk to us. But, if you fail to recognize Roger Federer or Michael Schumacher, seriously, eyebrows shall be raised. So, do you think Donald Trump failed with his speech when he visited early this year? Maybe? Maybe not. No denying to the fact that the audience was not kept in mind. From Suchin to Swami Vivekamunund, he had ticked the right boxes in Ahmabad. Unlike Obama, who was a genius in his field enticing his audience by connecting all dots and bringing out the best to the fore.
Second, talking like an automaton. I distinctly remember Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie The Terminator. Imagine him giving a speech to a wide audience. Gah!! Fortunately, he had John Connor, who taught him emotions. Yes, people love emotions and expressions. It makes us human. And for a speech it works wonders. Don’t be bogged down by the settings. Try to be your younger self, unfazed, unapologetic & brave. You will get the same attention, no doubt. Prepare your speech. Identify how you can bring out the emotions of surprise, joy, inspiration, etc. And always maintain body contact. Your confidence shall reflect in your body language. How did you find the below video? Was it inspiring? Do you feel a sense of joy? Everyone in the audience could feel his presence. So, be brave to bring out our energy to the fray.
Third, ignoring the cultural differences. I hope everyone remembers the incident of Richard Gere kissing Shilpa Shetty. Honestly, people in India could not digest it. And I was young at that time. So, the point I want to drive here is respecting the cultural differences. And many of those, who might not have heard of Hofstede, he has condensed the entire idea into a framework
If you are in Rome, be a Roman
Luckily travelling across countries, I have come to experience it firsthand. When in France, I would never skip Bonjour. Raising your voice is considered inappropriate in Japan. So, research your audience and the cross-cultural differences. As an Indian, I personally feel it’s always been for the better.
Fourth, saying something not PC (politically correct) or bringing up a sensitive topic. As a Bengali, I am very much a foodie. And like many other non-resident Bengalis, I have shared the experiences of living on vegetarian food for days in certain parts of the country. And honestly, we never cease to rant about food or our IPL rivalries if given an opportunity. We have an inherent likeliness to sarcasm or to offending others. But if you’re delivering a speech, kindly avoid that. Try your best not to be like the person in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYwvzA2RlNc
Fifth, failing to acknowledge the VIP or offending the VIP. It becomes very important to do a thorough background check on the list of important people in the audience. Luckily, in today’s world of information explosion, it’s a matter of few clicks. So, browse through their LinkedIn or other social media accounts, identify their likes and dislikes, and create something that appeases the core audience. I remember watching this video and it’s still etched in my memories. The intention is clear and correct, though it went spiraling into the abyss due to a clever mischief.
I have delved here into the don’ts, but no doubt the do’s are equally important. A few things like talking about important milestones achieved, inspirations from within the audience, building up a story and matching the expectations is equally important. So if your audience feels the topic is rocket science, don’t be proud and same goes with being too rudimentary. Speak in their tongue. If you’re in a python conference, speak parser-tongue 😉
I hope this was helpful. So my final suggestion which you should never forget for success would be to get out of your comfort zone and practice on a daily basis!
#publicspeaking #personaldevelopment #careers #jobs #passion #leadership
