What are some effective ways to use public speaking to influence others?

1 Know your purpose

Before you craft your speech, you need to have a clear and specific purpose. What do you want your audience to think, feel, or do after listening to you? How will you measure your success? Having a clear purpose will help you focus your message, choose your tone, and structure your speech.

2 Know your audience

To influence others, you need to know who they are, what they care about, and what they need. Research your audience's demographics, interests, challenges, and goals. Use this information to tailor your speech to their needs, expectations, and preferences. For example, you can use relevant examples, stories, or statistics that resonate with them, or address their objections or concerns.

3 Use emotions

Emotions are essential for influencing others, as they can make your message more memorable, relatable, and persuasive. Use emotions to appeal to your audience's values, beliefs, and desires. For example, you can use humor to lighten the mood, empathy to show understanding, or passion to inspire action. You can also use emotional language, imagery, or gestures to convey your emotions.

4 Use evidence

While emotions are important, they are not enough to influence others. You also need to use evidence to support your claims, arguments, or recommendations. Evidence can be facts, data, statistics, testimonials, or examples that demonstrate your credibility, authority, and logic. Use evidence to back up your emotions, not to replace them. For example, you can use a statistic to highlight a problem, then use a story to show how you solved it.

5 Use repetition

Repetition is a powerful technique to reinforce your message, make it stick, and influence others. Repetition can be done in various ways, such as using the same words, phrases, or slogans throughout your speech, summarizing your main points at the end, or using a call to action that repeats your purpose. Repetition can help your audience remember your message, agree with it, and act on it.

6 Use feedback

Feedback is a crucial way to measure your influence, improve your public speaking skills, and build rapport with your audience. Feedback can be verbal or non-verbal, such as questions, comments, applause, nods, or smiles. Use feedback to gauge your audience's reactions, engagement, and understanding. You can also use feedback to adjust your speech, clarify your message, or address any issues. Feedback can help you create a dialogue with your audience, rather than a monologue.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?