Diabetic Treatments & Advice

Observe that the title does NOT say: how to become a public speaker, but how to BE one. That doesn’t mean that everyone has to enter it as a profession. But, as with anything done effectively, it takes a certain style to be a good public speaker. Fortunately, that style can be developed through a number of methods that nearly anyone can learn.

The first step is to have something to say that is worth hearing. But what that may be depends on two factors: the material and your audience. Just about any topic is worth exploring, but not necessarily with every audience. A group of mothers may be interested in foreign currency exchange, but the odds are against you. Unless, of course, you can talk about it in a way that engages their personal interests.

That suggests the second important point. The way a topic is treated is as important as the topic itself. Many public speakers will use humor as a method of livening up a talk. That’s a great way to go about it. Everyone enjoys a good joke or an amusing story. But, for truly effective public speaking, the humor is more than just a means for getting a laugh. It’s a way of bringing out an essential aspect of the topic in an engaging way.

But what is it to be engaging?

It means to create an interest for the audience in what you have to say, and you the speaker. That doesn’t mean public speaking is a vanity parade though that may be true of many political figures. But, as with a good novel or movie, the audience members should be on the edge of their chairs waiting to find out where the scene is going. They have to want to hear what’s being said now and how the story will develop. They have to want to get to the end to find out how it all turns out.

That can be a demanding goal. But it is made easier by observing how the pros do it.

It isn’t always feasible to listen to a number of public speakers before launching your first speech (though it would help). But you can and probably have watched a number of movies and TV shows. Pay careful attention to how the actors draw you in. Note a gesture or a look that makes you want to continue to watch the show rather than get up and get a snack. Putting on a performance is an important part of public speaking.

But the actors are not doing it all on their own. They are following the director’s instructions as guided by the script. You’ll usually have to be your own director and screenwriter. But, then, that’s part of the fun of public speaking: writing the speech.

Just as with the ‘performance’, observe how the TV show’s writers draw you in and make you want to know what happens next. Incorporate drama through describing an interesting setting with characters that endure risk and conflict. Resolve the ‘story’ in unexpected but satisfying ways.

Tailor your public speaking style and content to your audiences’ interests and you’ll have them listening for as long as you want.

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One of the best ways to liven up even an already very good public speech is to add audio-visual aids. A short clip from another speech or a brief video (with or without sound) can often convey the message in essential form.

Sound and images can be used in many, many ways.

A short video can be used to introduce the topic that the speaker intends to discuss. He or she can then go on to analyze it in detail, flesh out the theme or expand on the subject of the clip. That gets your audience involved immediately. Provided, of course, that the clip itself is interesting and well done.

The video can, for example, be a short segment of a news broadcast showing how tin makes its way from the mine to a grocery store shelf. It can portray the construction of an airplane at 100 times normal speed or in a series of quick photos. It can show melting Arctic ice for a discussion of environmental issues. In short, it can cover any topic just as your speech can.

Audio and video lend an air of expertise to your talk. You acquire by association some of the prestige attached to the clip. At the very least, you show your ability to choose quality material. That sets up the expectation that your speech will be of similar tone and quality.

Of course, for that to be effective the clip has to be well done or appropriate. Even an audio or video clip containing errors can be a useful jumping off point. You can use it to demonstrate the sorts of mistakes that some people can make, then point out how to avoid being taken in. You can use it to show what the correct story is.

Static photos or images can be a powerful public speaking aid, too. They’re much more common, so the speaker has to take care not to overuse them. Some speakers will rely too much on a Powerpoint presentation to demonstrate graphs of figures. That makes the images the presenter, not you.

But used correctly, a good graph or a telling photo can be a terrific adjunct to a well-made point. Nothing persuades like an accurate set of data showing a trend. And there’s no better way to show that trend than the traditional line graph.

Take care not to attempt to mislead the audience or bamboozle them with alleged facts and figures, though. Don’t draw hasty or questionable conclusions from the slide. There will always be some expert in the audience ready to trip you up. Remember, the audience can see the image as well as you. That’s the whole point of showing it. They will often draw their own conclusion. You want that conclusion to be the one you have drawn.

The list of possible content is endless. Just be sure that any supplemental aids are just that, desserts and not the main course.

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