Good leaders must know how to communicate effectively so that they can inspire their teams and rally people around their ideas. If you struggle with communicating, it will be difficult for you to connect with your team and invest in them so that they can reach their fullest potential. Your ability to speak in front of groups of people is one of the most important skills you can develop.
“There are only two types of speakers in the world: the nervous and the liars!” - Mark Twain
In this week’s episode, Jeff will explain several key benefits of learning how to be a confident, effective public speaker. Then, he will explain a proven, 4-step process to writing a strong speech. When you apply these principles, you will be able to use public speaking to inspire people to action and unite your team.
Four reasons public speaking will benefit your life
1. It will allow you to make a difference in your life, business, community, career
2. Public speaking differentiates you in the workforce
3. Public Speaking Increases knowledge.
4. Develops and shows confidence.
Q: If you were offered the opportunity to make a speech next week for your company or an organization you love, how would you feel? Would anything hold you back from accepting the opportunity? What has held you back in the past? How has seeing someone give a speech impacted your opinion of them? How have speaking opportunities opened doors for you in your career?
Pete Vargas - 4 step process to becoming a better speaker
Step 1 - Heart
You can only win someone’s mind if you win their heart.
Make sure you make the human connection right away and grab the attention of the audience.
Be both ordinary and extraordinary:
Ordinary - people relate to you
Extraordinary - you have already been somewhere they want to go
Step 2 - Head
Educate the crowd on your topic or solution.
Don’t overload your audience. Stick to 3-5 points.
Use stories to help deliver the information and connect with the audience.
Stories prevent you from talking “at” people instead of “to” them.
Don’t just tell a story because you personally like it. Always ask yourself, “What is it that I want my audience to get out of this story?”
Step 3 - Hands
Consider what you want people to do after they listen to your speech.
This is the step also called the “call to action.”
Step 4 - Heart (again)
End with a story or summary that is heartfelt.
Use the story to connect with your audience again and show them the consequences of acting or not acting.
Q: What types of stories pull on your heartstrings? What do you think the difference would be between telling a personal story and someone else’s story? Is there ever a reason why one might be better than the other?
Q: When was the last time you responded to a call to action? Think about invitations to “like” a page on social media, join an email list, or buy a product. What influenced your desire to respond to that call to action? What emotions were involved? How can you engage those emotions in your call to action?
Application Activities:
People learn in a variety of ways including verbal, visual, physical, and logical. Consider a topic that you either currently speak on or could speak on if you were asked. How could you communicate a point using one or more of these learning styles with your audience?
Come up with a list of 3-5 defining moments in your life. Write down the emotions you were feeling during these moments and some of the themes. For example, if you were going to tell a story about your first job, you might say that you felt nervous, excited, anxious, fearful, prepared, unprepared, or fulfilled, and some themes that might describe that experience are hard work, overcoming obstacles, courage, honesty, and/or purpose. File these experiences in a document so that you can pull them out when you need examples for a speech.
The next time you see a presentation, compare the speaker’s delivery to the four-step framework above. What did they do similarly? What did they do differently? What emotions did they engage? What stories did they tell? What body language stood out to you? Take notes and incorporate the techniques you liked into your next speech!
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