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Talk In A Way That Makes People Listen

Monday, 17 July 2017 | 0 comments

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The lost art of oration is more important than ever before. That’s because the internet is a flood of words and content and ideas and facts that have almost absolutely zero credibility. Even respectable news outlets have now become untrustworthy because no one knows what is real and what is fake. That is where oration comes in.

By having something more than just words to go on, scrutinize, relate to and trust; you have a person. You have tone, expression, mannerisms, pitch, and emotion, and all of these are used to whittle out a more powerful understanding and argument. That is why your ability to speak and speak well is so important, especially in business.

But oration is an art. It is something you learn and develop and hone and, all too often, that thing you lack that is holding you back. Luckily for you, we have come up with some top tips to ensure you can leave an impression so great it is imprinted in your audience’s mind forever. And here they are:

Concepts Over Content

Remembering a speech word for word is a surefire way to be easily forgotten or, worse yet, remembered for the wrong reasons. Having an overly rehearsed and unemotional speech with long awkward silences filled with panic is not what you want to be remembered for. So instead of remembering content, try and focus on remembering concepts. Have bullet points you want to drop in, stories you want to tell, facts and data that will help your argument, and then speak about them freely. By being looser, you’ll be able to tailor your speech to the audience and walk away having engaged everyone in the room.

Keep Educating Yourself

Every artist in every discipline spends time learning about their art, and you need to do the same. You need to watch videos of famous orators and make a note of what they do to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Take courses that are designed to teach confidence, like those offered by the Effortless English Club. Listen to TED Talks about the power of spoken word, and TED Talks that have the most views. Anything you can do to better understand what makes a good public speaker and how your voice is an instrument will help you become a better artist.

Talk To Your Audience

Before you take the stage (whatever that stage may be), take the time to engage with your audience members a bit. Clients, colleagues, strangers, friends of friends, party guests; whoever. Not only will this allow your soon-to-be-audience to a warm up to you, it will also allow you a better chance to gauge their personalities and test their sense of humor, which is one of the most important weapons in any orators arsenal. The other thing it lets you do, though, is to create that little bit more intimacy. Listen to what they say and then use that in your speech. You will then become far more engaging and your words will become far more memorable. Being able to relate to and engage with your audience should never be undervalued in public speaking.

Aggie Aviso
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