Throughout the years I've been able to speak publically in many occassions. Couple that along with a college degree in communications and I tend to find myself evaluating other public speakers. Many are way better than I will ever be in my lifetime. Others, along with myself, have room for improvement.
While I was recently evaluating a public speaker, I was disappointed. I like the individual. He held a position of local promenience. I was cheering for him.
But it wasn't happening. The speech was bland. I was dosing off. And I think most of the audience was happy when it was all over.
Still, here's my question. Why? Why was it disappointing? If I could change something in the talk, what would it have been?
I decided to start somewhere and focus on three items I would change rather than make everthing 10 star. Here are the three items I came up with:
-entertaining. The speech has to be entertaining. That's unfair but it's true. I could go on and one about what makes it entertaining but usually it's storytelling. I'm a bad story teller. Hmmm...
-connect with audience. The speaker has to connect with the audience. There are way to do this but it's outside the scope of this article.
-life changing. The speech has to be life changing. If it isn't chaning my life, then what's the purpose of listening to begin with. I could stare at a picture of the ocean.
So those three items are in broad terms where to begin. If you are public speaking in the near future, ask yourself these questions.
Is it entertianing? If not, add some stories or illustrations.
Does it connect? If not, try re-orgaining the content in a manner that adds impact at the beginning and at the end.
Is it life-changing? Don't just try to educate. That's boring. Try to change lives. After all, that's why we are here.