SPEAK PASSIONATELY!!!! SPEAK TO BE HEARD!!!!

Wisdom is all around us and life always presents us with an opportunity to learn and grow. We find it everywhere, in ourselves, our friends and family. As it is often sagaciously said, we are all both teachers and student to each-other “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.”

-Winston Churchill

How to be confident in talking?

Try these tips to get over your nervousness and to develop confidence while speaking.

1. Expect to be nervous. Even experienced speakers get nervous. ...
2. Prepare. Know what you are going to say – and why you want to say it.
3. Practice. ...
4. Breathe. ...
5. Rehearse. ...
6. Focus on your audience. ...
7. Simplify. ...
8. Visualize success.
9. connect with your audience..
10. Act Confident...

How to Develop Confidence Speaking

Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

Most people report that giving a speech is their greatest fear. And yet the ability to give a speech is one of the most valued business skills today.

Try these 10 tips to get over your nervousness and to develop confidence while speaking.

1. Expect to be nervous.

Even experienced speakers get nervous. Don’t try to eliminate your jitters. Turn them into energy you can use to boost your delivery.

2. Prepare.

Know what you are going to say – and why you want to say it.

3. Practice.

Speak to supportive audiences in small forums where less is at stake – at a staff meeting or a PTA meeting. Join Toastmasters or take a Dale Carnegie course. Work with a coach.

4. Breathe.

In the thirty seconds before you begin speaking, take three slow, deep breaths through your nose, filling your belly. As you breathe out, say silently to yourself, “Relax.”

5. Rehearse.

Stand up and walk around as you practice out loud. Don’t memorize your speech or practice it word for word. Talk it through, point by point. Imagine you’re explaining your main ideas to a friend.

6. Focus on your audience.

Stage fright is rooted in self-preoccupation. (“How am I doing?” “Am I making any sense?”) Stop focusing on yourself. Focus, instead, on your audience. (“How are you?” “Are you getting this?” “Can you hear me?”)

7. Simplify.

Most speakers try to do too much in a speech. Then they worry about leaving something out or losing their train of thought. Aim, instead, to communicate one basic idea. Keep it short and simple.

8. Visualize success.

Practice relaxation techniques in the days before your presentation. Lie down or sit comfortably in a quiet place. Breathe slowly. Close your eyes. Imagine your upcoming speaking engagement. Picture yourself speaking with confidence.

9. Connect with your audience.

Make the audience your allies. Talk to individuals before your presentation to get to know them. Look them in the eye as you speak to them, one person at a time. When your audience sides with you, your job as a speaker becomes easier.

10. Act confident.

People won’t see how nervous you are. (They can’t tell if your palms are sweating or your knees are knocking or your heart is pounding.) So don’t tell them. Smile. Stick your chest out. Look confident, even if you don’t feel it.

How can I be more confident in my looks?

Steps

1. Look at yourself in the mirror. Every day, say one positive thing about yourself. ...
2. Go for a new look. ...
3. Smile at others more often. ...
4. Award yourself with chocolate now and then.
5. Focus on the good things about yourself. ...
6. Accept yourself. ...
7. Be Happy! ...
8. Go to a trip to the mall, and relax.

• Look at yourself in the mirror. Every day, say one positive thing about yourself. When you start to grow more confident, start to more positive things about yourself every day. For example: in a week start saying 5 things about yourself, you adore. Make faces at yourself in the mirror while you're at it. Find out the funniest face you can make. Even try out different smiles. For example: grin showing your teeth, smile without showing your teeth...etc. Choose which smile, best fits on you.
• Go for a new look. Try out some new hairstyles, put your make-up on differently if you wear make-up, and so on. Make sure whatever you wear it brings out your true beauty. Be yourself, when trying new looks. Don't try to follow the crowd, try to be your own kind of beautiful.
• Smile at others more often. People will suddenly be attracted to your smile. Not only you will be confident about yourself, but others will be too. Don't be offended if they don't smile back. They may be surprised you are smiling at them, in a good way.
• Award yourself with chocolate now and then.
• Focus on the good things about yourself. Never name things that you think make you ugly. If doing so, you will lose your confidence.
• Accept yourself. Even if you are fat, skinny, tall, short. You are YOU. And THAT makes you special. There is NO one in the world that looks exactly like you. You are unique. No one could ever replace you.
• Be Happy! Even someone very gorgeous looking, when sad is not attractive. Happy makes everything look better.
• Go to a trip to the mall, and relax. Buy some new clothes, that are you. Get a manicure or a pedicure. If you are a tomboy, do your thing! Play your favorite sport, and cheer yourself, and others (if playing with others) on!

How To Speak With Confidence & Authority

The way you speak matters.

If you don't sound like you expect respect, you might not get it.

Fortunately, you don't need to be a natural leader to speak with authority, or the king of self-esteem to speak with confidence. With a little practice, anyone can begin to speak with authority and confidence.

Don't believe me? Just keep reading

Authority and Confidence

Authority and confidence are the two tones that inspire respect. Although some people use them interchangeably, they are different.

Authority refers to the tone you use when you actually have authority over someone and you want to inspire obedience. Picture a general giving a command

Confidence refers to the tone you use when you don't have authority over someone, but you still want to inspire respect. Picture someone explaining an idea they strongly believe in.

We're going to start by learning how to speak with authority, because speaking with confidence is basically just speaking with authority but 50% less intense.

Got it? Awesome -- let's keep going.

The Power Of The Pause

To begin speaking with authority, add deliberate pauses to your sentences.

For short sentences, add one pause at the halfway point. For longer sentences, add two pauses at the 1/3 and 2/3 mark.

If you're going to tell someone "Back off", add a pause. Say "Back, off" (notice the comma).

If you're going to say "Sit down right now", say "Sit down, right now."

If you're going to say "You need to behave and apologize to your sister" you would say "You need to behave, and apologize, to your sister.

Here's an example of what the pauses sound like. I'm not adding anything else yet, just pauses. So it won't sound authoritative yet -- but we're getting there.

Try it now. Say those sentences out loud, with pauses and without. Get a feel for when the pauses should naturally appear.

Emphasis Bliss

We're not done yet. Next, we need to add emphasis.

When you are speaking with authority, all of your words should be a little more emphasized. However (and this is key) the last word before a pause should be doubly emphasized. So instead of saying "You need, to sit down" you should say "You need, to sit down."

Don't confuse emphasis with anger. Stay calm, and don't raise your voice. You want to add force to your words, not volume. If you don't sound in control of yourself, people will not respect you.

Need an example? Here's a recording of me speaking first without authority, then with authority (proper emphasis and pauses.) Notice how I don't sound angry or loud -- just firm. Also notice how the last word before each pause gets extra emphasis.

Make sure that you are also going down in pitch on this final word, rather than up in pitch. If you go up in pitch, it will sound like a question, and you don't want that.

Here's another example, first of me moving my pitch up at the end of the sentence, and a second with the pitch moved down. Notice how when the pitch moves up, it makes me sound more whiny and questioning.

Speaking With Confidence

Of course, you only want to speak with authority when you actually have authority. If you start ordering your friends around, you will soon find yourself without friends. (However, note that if anyone -- even a friend -- is not respecting your boundaries, you should use a tone of authority to tell them to back off.)

Fortunately, it's easy to use this tone to signal confidence instead of authority. Just reduce the intensity about 50%. In other words, keep the pauses, but make your emphasis about 50% lighter.

You'll want to practice this a little until it sounds natural. I recommend recording your voice and listening to yourself to see how you sound. With a bit of practice, you'll find it easy to switch between a tone of authority and a tone of confidence.

Here's an example of me speaking without confidence, and then with friendly confidence (but not authority). You should be able to hear slight emphasis, but not as much as when I was speaking with authority.

Confidence And Authority In Everyday Life

There you have it!

You now know how to speak with authority, and with confidence.

Practice makes perfect, of course, so spend some time in front of a recorder until you feel sure that you are able to create the correct pauses and emphasis. If you have a friend or family member that you trust, you might even want to practice with them.

But however you practice, over time you'll become more and more able to speak with authority and confidence. Your tone will tell others that you expect respect -- and you'll receive more respect as a result.

Why public speaking is VITAL to leadership

T he word "leadership" brings to mind many things.

A political leader, who wants to convince you to support their cause.

An explorer, cutting a swath for you to follow her through the jungle.

An executive, developing his strategy to help you and your colleagues beat the competition.

Being a leader means helping others, and themselves, do the right things. A leader sets the direction for their team, drives innovation, and builds a vision for the future. Being a leader is about lighting the way to mutual goals, and it's dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.

According to a fantastic article by Sunnie Giles from the Harvard Business Review, these are the most important leadership competencies from around the world.

If you read this the way we did, then communication is clearly one of the most vital components of leadership. If you want to become a leader, you MUST become a good communicator... and that's where honing your public speaking skills comes in. Every aspect of leadership encompasses public speaking. 

It all boils down the three C's: Leaders challenge, they change, and they connect. 

Challenge

A person that is willing to step forward and speak will have a more recognized voice. When people see you standing up in front of 20, 40, or 400 people to give a speech, they will turn to you as the leader and spokesperson

The more people that see your face standing in front of the crowd will provide more opportunities for your career. People will remember you and begin to see you with authority, putting you center stage with the new pitch or new client. You begin to appear as the spokesperson in your community of business professionals, being looked to as a leader.

Your name comes up more and more when members of your organization are looking for new team members or to spearhead new opportunities. Inspiring public speaking allows to you to be more visible, thereby making you the “go-to” guy or gal.

If you manage to represent your organization as powerful in your public speaking you will be seen as more trustworthy, that you won’t drop the ball when the pressure is on. More opportunities will come to you as a result.

Change

In standing up and speaking in a way that is powerful, you’re speaking in a way that will change peoples minds about something. If you’re able to master that skill, changing hearts and minds and learning how to persuade, you will be already honing one of the major aspects of leadership.

If you’re able to do it in public to a group of people, chances are you’ll be able to do it in a more individualized setting. Leaders require the capacity to drive change, public speaking skills are vital in learning that ability.

Who do we listen to more; the convincing voice spoken to our faces, or the convincing email sent straight to our inbox?

The person speaking is always going to be more convincing than a note sent across the inter webs. You could spend your time going from person to person, if that is your comfort zone. But think about how many more people you could reach if you stood up on stage and had them all gathered together in an audience!

If you’re speaking to an audience of 500 versus one-on-one, then you’re driving serious change. The more people you’re able to speak to, the more change you can implement.

Connect

People “buy” people. As an inspiring speaker you will learn how to be passionate in the right moments and vulnerable in the right moments. People will be able to relate to you more as a human being. Public speaking can definitely serve you in your career by promoting more alliances, liking and trusting you more as they see you being empathetic.

If you speak in a way that is honest, public speaking can make you the ‘people’s champion’ in your organization. Connect with your personal stories, share who you are and you’ll be amazed at how your audience will connect with you.

Five reasons that good public speaking skills make you a better leader

November 11, 2016Do your public speaking skills enable you to inspire, motivate and influence others?

Many leaders in the corporate world are nervous of public speaking. Some even outright avoid it. According to Forbes magazine, 20 per cent of business leaders say they would do anything to avoid giving a presentation. Despite this, 70 per cent agree that presentation skills are critical for career success.

History is full of examples of how delivering outstanding public presentations has elevated individuals to success or power, uniting people in times of change or struggle.

When American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech on August 28, 1963, he famously called for an end to racism. Delivered to an audience of over 250,000, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Following his speech King was named Man of the Year by TIME Magazine for 1963. In 1964, he became the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Like King, leaders in business have the opportunity to grow their influence, authority and career prospects by understanding the mechanics of public speaking.

Here are five reasons why learning, practising and continually developing your public speaking skills is essential to be an effective business leader:

 

1 Be a leader that people follow

Are you confident that people within your organisation recognise you, and see you with authority?

Writing in The Telegraph in 2010, Duncan Bannatyne passionately argued the importance of a company having a recognisable leader. He said, “In my view, it is vital for the top man or woman to be visible internally and externally. It is much more rewarding for staff to work for someone they know personally, rather than for a faceless organisation.”

As people become familiar with seeing you standing in front of them, your visibility and authority steadily increase. A person that is willing to put themselves forward to speak in front of 10, 50 or 500 people will quickly begin to appear as the spokesperson or leader within that community. And because of your increased visibility, your name will come up frequently when others are looking for people to take forward new opportunities and projects.

If you represent your organisation well when speaking publicly, you will also be seen as trustworthy and able to perform well under pressure. New, perhaps lucrative, opportunities will come your way as a result. Positioning yourself at the forefront of your organisation, in combination with powerful public speaking skills, will make you a leader that people want to follow.

 

2. Create connections with people

What are the most desired qualities for leaders in business? Do your skills match what your workforce expects of you?

A 2016 survey of professionals in Scotland by Regus found that communication skills are seen as the most important for leaders. Commitment, honesty, confidence and the ability to motivate people all scored more highly than other traditional leadership qualities such as technical knowledge, innovative thinking and financial competence. Ruthlessness was seen as the least attractive.

People respond best to leaders they can connect with on a human level; people ‘get’ other people.

Learning how to be passionate and vulnerable at the right moments also enables others to relate to you more as a human being.

Among the most quoted lines of King’s defining speech is: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” King knew that sharing his own personal stories would result in him gaining empathy, resulting in warmth and trust.

Sharing a little bit about who you are can go a long way towards connecting you with your audience and encouraging others to follow your ideas.

 

3. Unite people behind a clear message

Inspiring speakers, like Steve Jobs, know exactly what message they want to achieve through their communications.

He said, ”That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Laying a firm foundation for your presentation will help you achieve a clear message, like Jobs. And learning how to filter a topic for your audience will enable you to deliver a narrative that focuses your communication.

The power of King’s message came from his ‘dream’ narrative. He referenced the power of dreams during his speech while also invoking important documents in American history, including the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution. This message proved so powerful that it is still widely empathised with, and talked about, around the world some 50 years later.

 

4. Drive positive changes to culture and efficiency

What would you like to change about the culture of your organisation? Do you want to improve productivity?

A 2015 survey of 1,400 North American CEOs found that 90% agreed culture was important at their firms. 92% said they believed improving their firm’s corporate culture would improve the value of the company. Yet only 15% said their firm’s corporate culture was where it needed to be.

The more people you can connect with, the more change you can implement. In the words of Margaret Thatcher, “Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.”

People are more likely to be influenced by a person speaking in front of them than by an email.

So imagine the change you can drive with powerful public speaking skills when all those people gather together in a single audience.

 

5. Win hearts and minds

Lastly, the public nature of presenting means that all eyes are on you, the speaker, in a way that doesn’t happen often.

Every product launch, internal restructure or political election starts with a public speech from a leader.

Bill Gates once said, “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”

Public speaking is your opportunity to win hearts and minds.

A good public speech can successfully launch a revolutionary scientific breakthrough. It can inspire people to break down the barriers of what was previously thought possible. It can help find new ways to save money and make processes more efficient.

A good public speech is also great way to throw down the gauntlet to the assembled people to find new solutions to difficult problems.

Every business leader has the power to influence their colleagues, industry or sector – and further enhance their own career prospects – through having the public speaking skills to deliver powerful presentations.

Seth Godin, bestselling author, entrepreneur, marketer and public speaker says, “The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow.”

Make people follow you. Bring them closer to your objectives. Become a more effective communicator. Do that, or risk being left behind.

 Start your journey to world-class public speaking skills now

You’ll learn our 5-step process for transforming dull, forgettable and un-engaging presentations into your most Powerful Presentations yet: inspirational, memorable and persuasive.

It’s full of practical tips and insightful quotes that will help you make immediate improvements to your leadership talks and presentations, including:

• Increased confidence when you talk and present.
• Improved ability to persuade your audience.
• Greater engagement with your audience.
• Practical ways to plan and structure your talks.
• The inspiration and motivation to change.

Speak for Success!

Voice of a Leader: 3 Key Public Speaking Skills for Leadership

Seems, the truth is that few communication tools equal your voice in terms of both subtlety and impact. Capable of fine gradations as well as the sound of command, your voice can persuade, cajole, enthrall, intoxicate, and accomplish a host of other effects. Using it without understanding its true worth is like hammering a nail in a wall with a diamond: the job will get done, but the beauty and brilliance of the tool will be lost.

To use this component of leadership appropriately, familarize yourself with the following three vocal attributes. Every speaker should employ these elements, but they are crucial to communicating for leadership.

1. Balance. Among the voice knowledge actors learn but business professionals are rarely exposed to is the concept of balance. When the human voice is produced it resonates, i.e., it is amplified in the body, the way a musical note echoes behind the sound hole of a guitar. While there are a number of resonating chambers in the body, the most important are the oral cavity and the chest cavity.

A well-placed voice achieves a balance between those two chambers. A voice that becomes trapped in the head only is called a "head voice"; and one that sinks into the chest is known as a "chest voice." Too much of one without the other creates an imbalance in which certain characteristics are overly dominant. A head voice may sound bright and intelligent, for instance, but young and inexperienced; while a voice sunk in the chest can come across as mature and wise, though stuffy and unspontaneous. Listen to yourself until you achieve a head-chest balance.

2. Strength. More than simple carrying power resides in your voice. It embodies the totality of who you are and what you represent when you speak. In today's business and professional worlds, too many speakers "shrink" themselves along with their influence because their voice lacks strength.

Note that the sentence above wasn't written "the voice is too weak." The critical component here isn't volume but character. Partly to blame is the talking-head syndrome. In centuries past, we had to speak to others across a field or a yard, or in an open-air marketplace. In the age of the microphone and smart phone, what we say is often too small. Practice bringing your whole body into play when you produce sound. Pitch the volume correctly, but allow your voice to possess strength.

3. Control. Leaders speak with complete control, and the let the rest of the world serve lesser masters. Many presenters, for instance, follow their information— they believe that delivering information equals effectiveness. Others fight for control but never fully achieve it (people with speaking anxiety are in this category). And still others aim to survive a speaking situation, and so never understand the value of exerting control.

Instead, your audience needs to see and hear you as a leader. So your pacing, silences, emphases, pitch inflection, changes of vocal quality, passion, excitement, emotions, and other vocal attributes need to come through. A speech is as much a performance as any on a Broadway stage or screen at the multiplex. Work on whatever allows you to speak at this comfort level. That's when you'll be speaking with the true voice of leadership.

Most Feared of all Leadership Skills: Public Speaking

It’s why far too many brilliant and valuable leaders shy away from the title – despite adding tremendous value to the teams of which they are a part, and in every interaction in which they engage, they simply don’t excel at public speaking or presentations.

Life Threatening Leadership Skills

Public speaking is in fact one of the great fears in our society.

And you know what? That makes total sense! The fact is that we are all here because our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents (and so on back into time) were smart enough to stay out of dangerous situations, and passed those genes on down to us. It’s why most of us are afraid of heights, and sharks, and high-speeds—they’re dangerous! The fact is most of us are the offspring of people who had a genetic aversion to things that could kill them, it is how they hung around long enough to have us!

What’s so life-threatening about public speaking? Well, not much in its current form, but our social world has changed much faster than our brain’s physiology has, so try to imagine what our lizard brain sees when we step in front of an audience to present: us, standing alone, with a lot of pairs of eyes on us. While that’s not all that physically dangerous in the 21st century, throughout most of human evolution, that usually meant we were soon to be lunch.

So if you’re uncomfortable with public speaking or presenting, don’t beat yourself up about it. The fact is it’s not a character flaw, but rather the result of thousands of years of evolutionary wariness on the part of your brain. That being said, improving your presentation and public speaking skills will go a long way in helping you make a positive impression and help make your leadership goals come true. As such, here are a few tips I’ve picked up through doing over 500 presentations over the past decade.

Public Speaking and Presentation Tips

1. Create a Practice Presentation on Something You Care About

When was the last time you chose to speak in front of a group?

The fact is most of the presentations in our lives are assigned to us, and we only practice presenting as we draw nearer to one of those assigned presentations. I believe one of the things that keeps people from becoming better public speakers is that they rarely take the opportunity to practice. The primary reason being is that for most people the opportunity to present comes along rather rarely. Unfortunately, those rare opportunities are also relatively prescriptive on what you will be presenting about. So not only are you only presenting, say, once a month or once a quarter, you don’t get to choose the topic about which you will be speaking.

This situation isn’t conducive to significant improvement. Not long ago I decided that I wanted to learn how to drive a standard transmission car, so two or three times a month I’d visit a friend and we’d go out and practice. I’d improve a little over each session, but when I’d return a couple of weeks later, I had generally regressed most of the way back to novice. It wasn’t until my friend suggested we swap cars for two weeks, and I had no choice but to practice each day (much to the chagrin of everyone waiting to turn left behind me at traffic lights) that I truly managed to become proficient.

In addition, it’s never fun to do things we don’t find interesting or enjoyable. So the challenge becomes making presenting into something that you can practice consistently, and that you will find interesting and even enjoyable.

So whether you’re a novice speaker or a seasoned pro, I offer this suggestion: create your own presentation, about something that you truly care about or find interesting. Then schedule a dinner-party or backyard BBQ where you will have to present it. There are two different ways I suggest approaching this:

• Create your own 18-minute “TED Talk”. TED.com has become wildly popular, and is often seen as the “holy grail” of speaking engagements. Imagine that the TED conference called you tomorrow and told you that you had a spot at the next conference. You could speak about whatever you were most passionate about. Create that presentation and work on refining it each day.
• Here’s an example:
• Create an 18-minute presentation on your “Edge of the Bed Advice”. The full story behind the Edge of the Bed Advice concept in a nutshell it is this: imagine that your son or daughter was leaving home tomorrow, and you went and sat down on the edge of their bed the night before, only to have them ask, “what is the best life advice you can give me? What are the key things you’ve discovered that lead to happiness?” What would you answer? Create a presentation about the things you have discovered that make you wise. For some people, imagining a presentation they’d give to their 18-year-old selves is an approach that works as well.

In both of these scenarios, the presentation is about what you think, what you care about, and what you think is important to share with the world – not about a strategic plan you might not necessarily buy into, or the dry boring data of the last quarter, or some other topic you’ve been “assigned” to speak about.

It’s crucial that you set up a time to present your practice presentation. Make it 6-8 weeks in the future if you’d like, but make sure you schedule a time and place where you know you’re going to have to actually deliver it. It’s the only way you know you’ll stick to it.

Once you’re done, start work on another presentation, and setup another dinner or BBQ. In this way, you’re constantly creating presentations you care about, practicing them, and then presenting them in a safe space. In fact, you may find that colleagues welcome the opportunity to present as well. The patio at my apartment is host to a monthly get-together where people share the presentations they’ve been using to practice for the last couple of months. It’s a chance for people to get together, hone their presentation skills in a safe environment, and of course, have some good food and wine with friends!

2. Ask Yourself, “What Is The Audience Afraid Of?”

What do you talk about more in any given day? The things that make you happy or the things that frustrate you?

I’ve found that there are two things to which people will always pay attention: things that annoy them, and things that frighten them. Of the two, I’ve found that it’s easier to capture an audience’s attention by focusing on what they fear.

Let me be clear, this doesn’t mean you should scare the audience! Rather, it means you should craft your presentations in such a way that the audience sees them as being helpful in addressing their fear.

For instance, my first TEDx talk was supposed to be about leadership. I asked myself, “when it comes to leadership, what is the audience going to be afraid of?” I determined that many people were afraid of calling themselves leaders because they thought it would make them look cocky or arrogant, or that they wouldn’t be able to live up to the expectations claiming that title brings with it. I chose to craft my presentation in a way that tried to demonstrate that fear was unfounded.

When crafting a talk on mental illness, I realized that not everyone in the audience would be able to relate directly to having a mental illness, so I asked, “what universal fear could I address through my personal story of mental illness?” I decided to focus on the fears of looking weak, being an embarrassment to those that care about you, and coming off as unemployable. Those fears are universal, not just present in those with mental illness, and I aimed to create a presentation that talked about how to effectively address those fears, regardless of whether or not you had a mental illness. However, I demonstrated those approaches through a personal story of dealing with mental illness. By creating a presentation that focused on more universal fears, I aimed get people to connect with the less-universal experience of mental illness.

The key is to ask yourself, “what universal fears are related to the subject matter that I want to present?”

3. Make it a Story

If I asked you right now to simply “tell me your story”, what would you say? 

When I ran the Leadership Development Program at the University of Toronto, we brought in an amazing man named James Maskalyk, who worked with Doctors Without Borders, to talk about his blog and book, Six Months in Sudan. I asked him why, after days in 50 degree Celsius heat, watching children die from things we can cure with a simple pill here in Canada, he would sit down and relive his experiences through writing his blog.

“Drew,” he said, “the story is the basic unit of human understanding. If you want people to understand and care about something, you have to make sure you tell it as a story.”

The story is the basic unit of human understanding. I believe that all effective presentations build off of that fundamental truth. So take a look at whatever it is that you want people to know as a result of your presentation, and ask yourself, “how can I make this into a story?”

It doesn’t have to be the story of something that has actually happened to you. It could be the story of what could happen; the story of what has to happen; the story of what will happen if certain things don’t change, but it has to be a story.

4. “Wake Up Broca”

Do you remember a feature on cell phones called T9? 

Back when cell phones first started texting, before the advent of “smart phones” with full keyboards, T9 was a feature where you’d type words using your phone keypad, and it would recognize patterns in your typing and guess what word you were likely typing next.

The brain works the same way. An amazing presenter once told me about “Broca’s Region”, a region of the brain primarily responsible for language recognition. However, he said that it’s also part of the brain responsible for recognizing patterns. Like the “T9” function on phones, Broca’s Region played a role in processing what words had been spoken, and guessing which was going to come next. This essentially allows the brain to be a little lazy – it doesn’t have to pay total attention to what is being said to understand it.

However, as a speaker, you WANT people to be paying complete attention to what you’re saying. When they can put their brains on autopilot, you’re far more likely to lose their interest, and they’re far more likely to miss important parts of your presentation.

As a result, my friend pointed out, you have about 45 seconds at the beginning of your presentation to “wake up Broca”, and make the brain think, “hey, this is different, I better pay attention here.”

As such, plan on how you’re going to “wake up Broca” at the opening of your presentation. I use three main approaches:

• Pose a question the audience should know but probably doesn’t, e.g., “What are three key values you try to embody every day of your life, and how do you define them?”
• Pose a question that causes the audience to be self-reflective, e.g., “How many of you in this room are completely comfortable with calling yourself a leader?”
• Provide an interesting piece of trivia that has something to do with your presentation or with the room you’re speaking in. For example, I often speak in a large hall in an old building at the University of Toronto. In the corner is a stone turret like you’d find in a castle, with a spiral staircase. I often open presentations in that room by asking if people knew that all spiral staircases ascend the same way (clockwise), because most people are right-handed, and it allowed right-handed swordsmen to freely swing their swords downward at attackers.

Whatever you do, avoid the standard, “Hello, my name is X, and today I’d like to speak with you about…” Feel free to introduce yourself and your credentials early in the presentation, but do not lead with it. It makes the brain say, “oh, I’ve heard this before, and they’re not going to say anything for a couple of minutes.” The problem is, once they tune out, they rarely tune back in. Too many great presentations lose the audience because they aren’t great fast enough.

Communication Secrets Of Great Leaders

It is simply impossible to become a great leader without being a great communicator. I hope you noticed the previous sentence didn't refer to being a great talker - big difference. The key to becoming a skillful communicator is rarely found in what has been taught in the world of academia. From our earliest days in the classroom we are trained to focus on enunciation, vocabulary, presence, delivery, grammar, syntax and the like. In other words, we are taught to focus on ourselves. While I don't mean to belittle these things as they're important to learn, it's the more subtle elements of communication rarely taught in the classroom (the elements that focus on others), which leaders desperately need to learn. In today's column I'll share a few of the communication traits, which if used consistently, will help you achieve better communication results.

It is the ability to develop a keen external awareness that separates the truly great communicators from those who muddle through their interactions with others. Examine the world's greatest leaders and you'll find them all to be exceptional communicators. They might talk about their ideas, but they do so in a way which also speaks to your emotions and your aspirations. They realize if their message doesn't take deep root with the audience then it likely won't be understood, much less championed.

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I don't believe it comes as any great surprise that most leaders spend the overwhelming majority of their time each day in some type of an interpersonal situation. I also don't believe it comes as a great shock that a large number of organizational problems occur as a result of poor communications. It is precisely this paradox that underscores the need for leaders to focus on becoming great communicators. Effective communication is an essential component of professional success whether it is at the interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group, organizational, or external level. While developing an understanding of great communication skills is easier than one might think, being able to appropriately draw upon said skills when the chips are down is not always as easy as one might hope for.

Skills acquired and/or knowledge gained are only valuable to the extent they can be practically applied when called for. The number one thing great communicators have in common is they possess a heightened sense of situational and contextual awareness. The best communicators are great listeners and astute in their observations. Great communicators are skilled at reading a person/group by sensing the moods, dynamics, attitudes, values and concerns of those being communicated with. Not only do they read their environment well, but they possess the uncanny ability to adapt their messaging to said environment without missing a beat. The message is not about the messenger; it has nothing to do with messenger; it is however 100% about meeting the needs and the expectations of those you're communicating with.

So, how do you know when your skills have matured to the point that you've become an excellent communicator? The answer is you'll have reached the point where your interactions with others consistently use the following ten principles:

1. Speak not with a forked tongue: In most cases, people just won't open up to those they don't trust. When people have a sense a leader is worthy of their trust they will invest time and take risks in ways they never would if their leader had a reputation built upon poor character or lack of integrity. While you can attempt to demand trust, it rarely works. Trust is best created by earning it with right acting, thinking, and decisioning. Keep in mind people will forgive many things where trust exists, but will rarely forgive anything where trust is absent.

2. Get personal: Stop issuing corporate communications and begin having organizational conversations - think dialog not monologue. Here's the thing - the more personal and engaging the conversation is the more effective it will be. There is great truth in the following axiom: "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Classic business theory tells leaders to stay at arms length. I say stay at arms length if you want to remain in the dark receiving only highly sanitized versions of the truth. If you don't develop meaningful relationships with people you'll never know what's really on their mind until it's too late to do anything about it.

3. Get specific: Specificity is better than Ambiguity 11 times out of 10: Learn to communicate with clarity. Simple and concise is always better than complicated and confusing. Time has never been a more precious commodity than it is today. It is critical leaders learn how to cut to the chase and hit the high points - it's also important to expect the same from others. Without understanding the value of brevity and clarity it is unlikely you'll ever be afforded the opportunity to get to the granular level as people will tune you out long before you ever get there. Your goal is to weed out the superfluous and to make your words count.

4. Focus on the leave-behinds not the take-aways: The best communicators are not only skilled at learning and gathering information while communicating, they are also adept at transferring ideas, aligning expectations, inspiring action, and spreading their vision. The key is to approach each interaction with a servant's heart. When you truly focus on contributing more than receiving you will have accomplished the goal. Even though this may seem counter-intuitive, by intensely focusing on the other party's wants, needs & desires, you'll learn far more than you ever would by focusing on your agenda.

5. Have an open mind: I've often said that the rigidity of a closed mind is the single greatest limiting factor of new opportunities. A leader takes their game to a whole new level the minute they willingly seek out those who hold dissenting opinions and opposing positions with the goal not of convincing them to change their minds, but with the goal of understanding what's on their mind. I'm always amazed at how many people are truly fearful of opposing views, when what they should be is genuinely curious and interested. Open dialogs with those who confront you, challenge you, stretch you, and develop you. Remember that it's not the opinion that matters, but rather the willingness to discuss it with an open mind and learn.

6. Shut-up and listen: Great leaders know when to dial it up, dial it down, and dial it off (mostly down and off). Simply broadcasting your message ad nauseum will not have the same result as engaging in meaningful conversation, but this assumes that you understand that the greatest form of discourse takes place within a conversation, and not a lecture or a monologue. When you reach that point in your life where the light bulb goes off, and you begin to understand that knowledge is not gained by flapping your lips, but by removing your ear wax, you have taken the first step to becoming a skilled communicator.

7. Replace ego with empathy: I have long advised leaders not to let their ego write checks that their talent can't cash. When candor is communicated with empathy & caring and not the prideful arrogance of an over inflated ego good things begin to happen. Empathetic communicators display a level of authenticity and transparency that is not present with those who choose to communicate behind the carefully crafted facade propped-up by a very fragile ego. Understanding the this communication principle is what helps turn anger into respect and doubt into trust.

8. Read between the lines: Take a moment and reflect back on any great leader that comes to mind... you'll find they are very adept at reading between the lines. They have the uncanny ability to understand what is not said, witnessed, or heard. Being a leader should not be viewed as a license to increase the volume of rhetoric. Rather astute leaders know that there is far more to be gained by surrendering the floor than by filibustering. In this age of instant communication, everyone seems to be in such a rush to communicate what's on their mind that they fail to realize everything to be gained from the minds of others. Keep your eyes & ears open and your mouth shut and you'll be amazed at how your level or organizational awareness is raised.

Want to be a good leader? You need to master the art of public speaking

Communication is of utmost importance in organizations. Without communication, it would be difficult to influence decisions, form connections, and motivate change. Public speaking is an important part of communication. However, several people across the globe suffer from speech anxiety, also known as glossophobia.

Leaders especially need to hone their public speaking skills from time to time. They are the ones who set the direction for their team, build a vision for the future, and drive innovation. Therefore, it goes without saying that if you want to be a good leader, you must be an excellent communicator.

Here are five reasons why it is important for a leader to also be a public speaker:

Unite people for a single goal

Inspiring speakers know the motive of their speech even before they start speaking. Their voice, tonality, and body language are all directed towards uniting the crowd and making them believe in a single goal. If you don't exude confidence while talking, you won't be able to convince your crowd to believe in your message. All your leadership skills will be of no use if you can't unite your team to work together.

Drive positive changes

Do you want to bring about a major change in your team? If yes, you need to gather your team at one place and deliver a convincing speech about the changes you want to initiate. Your team members are more likely to be influenced by you when you speak in front of them as compared to when you send them an email that contains the changes you have in mind.

Connect with your people

A leader who is committed to the success of his team members is more likely to win them over than someone who only wants to see himself succeed. An easy way to show your people you care is by being honest with them and taking them into confidence. However, if you're unsure of how to communicate with your team members in team meetings, you'll never be able to establish a connection with them.

Make people follow you

A leader without followers is similar to a guitar without its strings – useless. A leader needs to be confident that his people recognize him and his authority. As your team members become familiar with you standing in front of them and delivering a speech, your visibility and authority steadily increases.

Win people's hearts

When you're presenting in front of a whole lot of people, all eyes are trained on you. As a leader, public speaking gives you the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of your people. A good public speech is a great way to break down the barriers of what was previously considered impossible.

Public speaking improves your leadership skills and makes you a more worthy candidate to succeed in your chosen field. As Bill Gates once said, "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others."