Public Speaking/Presentation Course
5 Strategies for Becoming a Dynamic Public Speaker or Presenter
To turn you into a better public speaker, I'm not going to tell you to stand up straight, speak clearly, stay still, smile a lot, or abstain from reading from your slides. That was probably on your group-presentation rubric back in your old school days! Instead, I am going to discuss five strategies that make you stand out from the crowd!
1. Be Authentic. Audiences can tell if you are trying to be the best version of someone else. Be the best version of yourself and make it work for you!
2. Know Your Audience. I don't mean personally.............know their needs, have a good idea of their interests, know what their challenges are, and incorporate all of this into your speech/presentation.
3. Use Personal Anecdotes and in Part, be a Story-Teller. I don't mean tell every story you can think of.....I am saying sprinkle in parts of who you are and what you have lived so your audience can feel like they know you and relate to you. And please don't be only technical in your presentation. No matter the content, use layperson terms and be relatable and interesting!
4. Keep Your Message Relevant and Timely. There is nothing worse (or almost nothing worse) then someone who comes in to speak and is citing research from 20 years ago or is reflecting on events or world issues that happened in 2004! No matter what, tailor your speech or presentation to what is relevant to your audience and is timely in its delivery of new information, knowledge or skills-building!
5. Work on the Writing of Your Speech or Presentation and Edit/Revise, Edit/Revise, Edit/Revise. Poor speech or presentation delivery comes from shoddy writing, poor scripting, writing one draft and saying "looks good" and not enough attention to the details. No matter how good you are in front of an audience, it cannot and will not make up for terrible and lazy writing!
So along with the above strategies, here is where I come in. Are you someone who wants to learn how to become a dynamic public speaker and presenter? If you are required to do speeches and/or presentations as part of your job or classes at school/university and the thought of getting up in front of others to do a speech terrifies you, I can help! As an accomplished public speaker myself, where I have done hundreds of speeches and presentations in my career, I am offering my services to up to 20 people through my Haven for Hope Counselling practice. Starting Thursday, September 22nd from 7-8, and continuing every Thursday evening for 7 weeks, I will be offering a training course in effective public speaking and how to give outstanding work/school presentations. The above five strategies and more will be my focus. To sign up, message me here on Facebook or call me at 471-0252. Sessions will be held at Haven for Hope Counselling Services at 347 Main Street in Fredericton, New Brunswick.