How can you effectively use emotion in your Thought Leadership speeches and presentations?

Everything starts with clarity of purpose. Similarly your journey should start with the big WHY . Once you define your purpose the knowledge will flow unhindered. Always have checks to see if you are deviating from your main theme while speaking or writing. Course correct as often as possible so that the direction is clear and people start believing in you and trusting you before they become your followers

In my experience incorporating emotion into Thought Leadership speeches and presentations enhances engagement and fosters connection with the audience. Begin by sharing personal anecdotes or relatable stories that evoke connection. Use expressive language and varied tones to convey passion and authenticity, allowing the audience to connect emotionally. Incorporate visual elements like compelling images or impactful slides to reinforce emotional resonance. Additionally, tailor your message to address the audience's concerns, aspirations, or challenges, demonstrating empathy and understanding. Striking a balance between logic and emotion ensures a memorable and persuasive presentation, leaving a lasting impression on your audience.

Nothing motivates me more for preparing and delivering my presentations than the potential of mutual emotions created in the room. And nothing motivates the listeners to understand, learn and change more than feeling the purpose. Not my own, as a speaker, but the purpose of the content I am delivering. This may seem difficult to do in corporate compliance and ethics, but is really not. Think beyond the direct purpose of any topic and dig deeper. Why do companies and societies have rules, processes and ethical values? How did this became? How would the world look like without any regulation and integrity? Showcase examples, tell impactful stories and let the audience feel the purpose of the content in their own way.

It helps to meditate on these topics to make sure that what you're presenting is true to you and your values. Visualise the way your audience responds, this gives you clarity on what you want to achieve with emotional appeal

Compassion is empathy turned outward. Doing the work to understand your audience, then demonstrating it with compassion for them with not only what you share but how you share it, is key to unlocking engagement and compelling action. Put more simply, it's not about you.

Speak to Their World: Connect your ideas to real-life experiences, personal stories, or relevant data that resonates with your audience. Make them feel something, whether it's frustration at an injustice, excitement about a possibility, or hope for a better future.

The emotional appeals that resonate most powerfully stem from understanding your audience. Consider demographics, values, and context to determine what will connect. Thoughtful analysis of these factors allows you to craft messaging that provides your listeners with insightful perspective.

Knowing your audience is your guide for effective communication. Before diving into writing or speaking, it's crucial to know their interests that will define your content. Do you aim to inspire, motivate, challenge, or inform? Understanding the response you want to evoke—whether curiosity, excitement, education, inspiration—is key. Connect with your audience by addressing their pain points, aspirations, trends that will impact them and what options they have to respond to change. This clarity ensures your message and engagement resonates, avoiding confusion or lack of interest. Purpose-driven communication creates a meaningful connection that gets your audience engaged and motivated to connect with you.

The Heroes Journey gives us many clues as to how to engage and know the audience. It suggests that we should: be the guide not the hero, not only understand their physical problem but the emotional dilemma which it creates and the philosophical question which it calls on them to answer. Then provide a simple plan to deliver success and avoid the failure they fear in terms that they can relate to.

Understanding your audience is key to tailoring emotional content effectively. Conduct thorough research on demographics, preferences, expectations, and challenges. Consider the context—whether it's formal or informal, live or recorded, and the size of the audience. This knowledge informs how you craft your emotional message, ensuring it resonates with the specific needs and interests of your audience in any given setting.

People may forget the details, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. Stories and examples are your secret weapons to make that emotional connection. Why? Because they transform abstract concepts into something tangible, something your audience can relate to and feel a part of. Think about it. When you share a personal story or a real-life example, you're not just throwing facts and figures at your audience. You're taking them on a journey. You're showing them the struggle, the triumph, and the human experience behind your message. That's where the magic happens. People connect with people, not just ideas. When you evoke emotions, you're not just speaking to the minds of your audience; you're speaking to their hearts.

A little care and thought invested in the stories we share can multiply the impact. Particularly if they leverage archetypes such as the hero / sidekick / victim / sage / joker / everyman / shape shifter / innocent / explorer / rebel etc. These characters can engage us at the unconscious level, generating an emotional engagement whilst bypassing our rational brains - so need to be handled with a little care. They help to explain the extraordinary power of Star Wars; Game of Thrones; Lion King; Harry Potter etc. Whilst you may not have this production budget they can multiple the impact of your examples and illustrations none the less.

The best way to present with emotion is to share authentic personal stories relevant to the audience. It graduates a story into a personal experience. The emotion will genuinely come through and the depth of perspective will inevitably be delivered

Show, Don't Tell: Paint vivid pictures with evocative language, compelling visuals, and powerful storytelling. Don't just tell them about climate change, show them photos of melting glaciers. Don't just talk about diversity and inclusion, share relatable personal anecdotes.

Absolutely- Story-telling is such a powerful way to take what might be abstract issues and to 'bring them to life' through real-world narratives. The use of the 'hero's journey' as I often share in my client work, is so impactful, emotive and resonating. As studies have demonstrated, the start and the end are what audiences tend to remember the most, so leaving them with a 'personal' note in the narrative arch of a story is such a powerful way to make engaging and most importantly, memorable points and insights on topics. And the use of slides, with as little copy as possible but just the use of images, to help guide the audience through the journey is also so powerful.

Your body language and non verbal communication is part of the package of communicating effectively. Voice play a crucial role. For people to sit up and listen to you you have to throw your voice - not being loud . Variations in tone and inflection convey emotion . Pace is also important while creating a powerful story presentation. Gestures play a large role in communication. Several studies show most famous speakers use their hands a lot by gesturing, They also show their palms a lot which builds trust. Pauses are also a great tool to use strategically .and finally the command on language -which ever language you are presenting the story in.

It's remarkable how often I see people presenting, saying something like, "This is really exciting" in a flat monotone. This creates a sense of cognitive dissonance for the audience. I tell my MBA students, "if you SAY you're excited, SHOW US that you're excited." Otherwise don't say it! How to show it depends on the person and their style, but typically, it involves: 1) emphasizing the word, 2) increasing your speaking volume, 3) using your face, hands and body to create a sense of excitement, and 4) leaving a pause afterwards to let your audience absorb your point.

Genuine passion resonates, and it's evident when you truly believe in something. The best brands strike a balance between their value proposition and infusion of passion. Insurance companies were once the most stoic, forgettable commercials; today they are some of the most memorable entertaining ads. Beyond the entertainment angle, they passionately share their key value points. Consistency is key, that same passion and messaging needs to be consistently across channels and touch points. Strong brand companies understand the importance of a go to market strategy with a consistent tone, visual elements, a strong connection between their product or service with value delivered to customers.

Para-verbal communication, which refers to the pitch, tone, volume etc. of your speech is crucial to consider. Depending on it's definition, para-verbal communication is estimated to contribute between 38-55% of your message, meaning it's a big chunk to neglect! Consider the same message delivered by two speakers. One reserved, quiet, and monotone, whilst the other varies their pitch, volume and delivers in an energetic style. Which do you think would attract and hold an audience? Look at some of the more powerful orators from history and see how they uses these aspects to delivery their message.

Besides the usual gestures, tonality, pace, good command on language etc. One should maintain eye contact when addressing their audience. It exudes confidence and reassures the audience that the speaker knows what they're talking about. Looking everywhere but at the audience might be considered a sign of nervousness and speaker might come across as a little lost

Our bodies are the most powerful tool for communication and they keep talking whether we know or not. An effective communicator aligns the body talk with the message content using gestures, tones and expressions which is able to make a deep and lasting impact on the audience.

Incorporate body language strategically in your thought leadership speech or presentation. Maintain confident posture, make purposeful gestures, and use facial expressions to convey enthusiasm or seriousness. Non-verbal cues can reinforce your message, engage your audience, and add an extra layer of authenticity to your thought leadership presentation.

To keep your audience engaged, speak clearly, use strategic pauses, and highlight key points. A successful impact is achieved when the audience understands, asks questions and stays engaged.

The most impactful speeches balance emotion and logic. Start by sharing a relatable story that evokes emotion and draws your audience in. Then use facts and data to logically build your case. Anecdotes allow you to connect with your audience on a human level before appealing to their rational side with evidence-based arguments. When emotion and logic work together, you can deliver a memorable speech that inspires action.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos are essential components of any effective communication. Just one can never suffice. So Pathos or emotions has to be combined with Logos or logic ie theories, data, statistics etc to be able to influence the audience.

Acknowledging feelings while making rational decisions is very important. Foster open communication, empathize with team members, but base decisions on data and reasoning. It is equally important to strive for a harmonious blend to create a supportive and effective leadership style.

One thing that I have found to be highly successful in achieving an effective balance between emotion and logic in Thought Leadership speeches involves intertwining compelling narratives with data-driven insights. Start with a relatable anecdote or emotionally charged story to captivate your audience, establishing a human connection. Subsequently, seamlessly integrate logical arguments, statistics, and evidence to support your key points, ensuring credibility and persuasiveness. Employ visuals strategically to complement your narrative and reinforce logical concepts. This engages your audience emotionally and fortifies your message with a rational foundation, creating a holistic and impactful Thought Leadership presentation.

In my client work, I have a 'pre-work' sheet where my host fills out about twelve questions, so I get to know the attendee 'avatar' to be certain that my keynotes and workshops are calibrated to the needs and challenges of the organization, event, and attendees. I want to make certain that I 'speak' the language of the client. For example, if they call their third parties "advisors" that's what I want to call them- as to make it relatable and also to provide attendees with a sense that I have taken the time to know their organization and have not shown up with a "canned" presentation.

Remember that plans inform, but stories inspire. Great leaders are great storytellers because they understand that most transformations don't fail because of technology. They fail because of sociology. Try this to be a more inclusive and future-fit leader: 1. Honor the past in your presentations 2. Define the present challenges 3. Shape the future must-win priorities

Tell a story. But not just any story. Choose a story that connects to your topic. The story should also expose something about you. Speakers need to open themselves up to be truly emotionally engaging.

The best way to “use” emotion is to genuinely emote. Tell stories and anecdotes that bring your emotions to the fore. If you focus too much on how to elicit emotions from your audience you run the risk of alienating them and appearing inauthentic. Tell stories that move you and others will be moved as well.

I would very much suggest reading Wanting by Luke Burges and implementing the theories of Rene Girard. The techniques outlined above in this article make so much more sense, and become much for effective, when you understand mimetic desire and act accordingly.