An audience is there to hear you: your thoughts, your observations, your insights and your recommendations. They do not want to listen to someone who is devoid of all personality and emotion. Yes, we would all love to have the eloquence of Clinton or Obama, and that will come with years of practice, but get the basics right first and you will have a strong foundation from which to build a natural and persuasive style of speaking.

So, talk to us, using language and delivery that enhances the very best of you. Avoid formality and long words. (Did you know that the Lord’s prayer only has two 3 syllable words, some are 2 syllables and most are 1 syllable? Now you know why it is so easy to remember!) Keeping it simple is vital not only because it makes public speaking easier, but most importantly it’s easier for an audience to grasp what you are saying. “People are not persuaded by what you say, but rather by what they understand”.

I have seen too many experts talk at us about their expertise as if the audience has the same level of knowledge. People do not want to live in real time the 15 years that got you to where you are now, they want the learning and the advice, so that they can benefit from your experience and save time, energy and money! It’s not what you know, it’s how well you can make the complex and the challenging easier to understand.

Always ask yourself what does my audience need? (Not what you want them to know!) How can I help them to move forward in a way that benefits them? One of the late and very great Zig Ziglar’s most potent philosophies was “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want”.

When you can talk to others in a way that makes people feel that your focus is on them and their needs, you not only will be asked to speak and advise again, but you will be never be forgotten.

Three words: Talk To Us. Talk To Us. Talk To Us.

Remember to rotate the emphasis on these three words and you have a formula for speaking success.

© Poll Moussoulides

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