CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – DECEMBER 22, 2020
Public Speaking Tips For Women
TIP #1: PROJECT CONFIDENCE
Have you ever heard the phrase, “It’s not about what you say, it’s how you say it”?
There’s truth in that saying.
This is important because as women we can often be seen as being too meek and modest or too strong and aggressive in our speaking. The goal should be to strike a balance and that balance comes from authentic, confident self-expression.
According to a doctoral thesis examining the subject from the University of Wolverhampton, “a highly confident speaker is viewed as being more accurate, competent, credible, intelligent, knowledgeable, likable, and believable than a less confident, uncertain speaker.”
In my opinion, confidence is the most important key when it comes to public speaking and presenting.
So how do you project confidence?
There are two schools of thought on this one: The first is an external approach with the “fake it until you make it” attitude. The second is the internal approach where you focus within, learn to silence the inner critic, and exude confidence naturally.
I believe that both approaches have value. When working with women, at Magnetic Speaking’s ‘Women in Leadership’ Bootcamp, we utilize both techniques.
TIP #2: PRACTICE AN ASSERTIVE TONE
The best and fastest way to sound more assertive is to reduce your uptalk. We all uptalk in different situations but some more than others.
There is even a study by Tom Linneman showing that women who answered correctly on Jeopardy used uptalk 48% of the time compared to men who used uptalk just 27% of the time. Again, the tendency by many women is to attempt to appear more modest and humble but when we use uptalk it communicates doubt and uncertainty.
What is uptalk?
Uptalk is when you raise your intonation at the end of a sentence. It’s when you say, “this article is great???” vs “this article is great.” The first sentence adds the question mark signal at the end of your sentence and subconsciously reduces the impact of what you are saying.
That raised intonation and its association with a question are what makes uptalkers sound less assertive.
Uptalk can be reduced with awareness and practice. Simply catching yourself when you uptalk will reduce it. Also, practicing reading and talking in a declarative tone will train your vocal muscles to do it consistently.
The important thing to remember is that being more assertive does not mean sounding angry or aggressive or arrogant. It communicates certainty.
TIP #3: ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE
Have you ever been in a presentation where you were talked “at” the whole time?
It must’ve been exhausting….and boring!
When speaking to an audience, avoid coming across as a one-way flow of information. Instead, engage your audience by pausing, asking simple, relevant questions, and referring to things someone else has said or done.
This is just a fraction of the engagement techniques you could utilize to make your presentations more engaging to the audience – we teach many more in our Delivery Bootcamp.
To be more engaging, you have to learn and practice engagement techniques so that they come out naturally. The trick is not to bombard your audience with techniques. But to be thoughtful about finding opportunities to engage with them throughout your presentation.
Make It A Champion Day!
