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Tips for Better Speech Delivery
There's no doubt that all good speeches are underpinned by really good speech content. Information that is both relevant and interesting to your audience.
However, good content is nowhere near the end of the matter. I'm sure you can understand that even with great speech content, it also requires a great delivery to make a speech truly memorable and inspiring.
So you can see that a really great speech occurs only when there is a happy combination of both great content and great delivery. The following public speaking tips are designed to help you on the road to giving that great delivery!
1. Use your eyes
Keeping your audience alert and interested is a key factor in your delivery. Ideally you want to make each member of the audience feel as though you're talking specifically to them. They all want to feel connected. If you achieve this then you will have an audience whom you can then inspire with your words.
Imagine how you would conduct a normal conversation with someone who you wished to convey an important message. If you look directly at them while you're speaking then they are more likely to receive your message clearly and they are more likely to trust you. If you look away from them as you speak it reduces the integrity of your message.
The same holds for public speaking. Keep your eyes up and focussed on your audience, and try to share out your attention equally over each section of the room you're speaking in. Obviously this is easier to achieve with 10 people and much harder with 10,000!
This is one of the reasons why I personally try to use notes as little as possible. Reading them means that you have to look down, away from your audience, and in doing that you create a momentary disconnection. If you use notes excessively then you're making it harder for yourself to create that all important personal connection.
2. Use your voice
This second section of my public speaking tips deals with how you might use your voice to improve your overall speech delivery. I'm quite sure that you understand the need to sound interesting, but what do I mean by that exactly?
It's well known that a continuous montonous voice tone will gently lull you to sleep. Hypnotherapists use a technique just like that to help their patients into trance. It's quite the opposite of what you want to achieve with your audience of course!
You can use the volume of your voice to emphasise important points, and to make statements more dramatic. For instance a phrase such as "Opening a door with a BANG" would benefit from increased volume on the word BANG!
You can use the pitch and tone of your voice to help emphasise descriptive sections of your speech, helping you create pictures in the minds of your audience. For instance a phrase such as "the wind rushing through the trees" would benefit immensely if you emphasis the word 'rushing' and imitate that rushing sound in your voice.
3. Use your body
Effective use of body language during your speech is certainly about finding a balance between two extremes AND matching the level of energy you employ to the situation in which you are speaking.
One extreme would be the wooden, robotic appearance that leaves the audience wondering if you're still alive... The other approach is the ultra-high energy performance that makes the audience think they've mistakenly wandered into a Robbie Williams concert...
Finding a balance between the two is important, you need to find a level that you are comfortable with and that is acceptable to your audience.
Awareness of your body language is especially important when you're nervous, it's all too easy to give the audience big signals that you are uncomfortable. Obvious signs of this are wringing your hands and constantly touching your face. Playing with pens or spectacles is another favourite way to give away your nerves too.
If you can't work out what to do with your hands then I suggest that you simply try to keep them by your sides, this allows you to look reasonably relaxed and doesn't distract your audience.
Using your hands and arms to emphasise important points is a good tactic that can be very effective if done well and not overused. Using both hands symetrically works well and introduces a level of dynamism into your speech, but more powerful still is the singular hand gesture, it's a great way to strongly emphasise an important point. You can see a great example of this if you watch Dr Martin Luther King Jr. perform his "I have a dream" speech.
Step up to better delivery
These are just three public speaking tips which may help you improve the delivery of your speeches. Tied in with good speech content you can be sure that improving your delivery will result in a rapturous round of applause as you leave the podium!!
Good luck, be all that you can be!
Christopher Barnett
March 2008
http://www.christopherbarnett.co.uk
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