CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – DECEMBER 25, 2021-2
Public Speaking: 12 (free) tips for Christmas!
Pauses: Include regular pauses for breath while you are writing. It’s a brilliant discipline to ensure that you give your colleagues a chance to listen.
Emphasis: Read your script out loud at the end of the sentence. ‘hearing’ it will help you improve it. It’ll also suggest words that will require particular emphasis. They are usually adverbs and adjectives.
Length: Again, put yourself in their shoes. Forget what you want to say and have a think about what they’ll want to hear. Less is more. A decent pace for a speech is 120 words per minute. Once you’ve finished your first draft you may find that you have quite a bit of editing on your hands!
Delivery
Pace: One of the worst offenders when it comes to public speaking. Too fast and no one will absorb a word you say. Too slow and you’ll sound inebriated. Get it right (that 120 words per minute
Eye Contact: If you look at your audience and smile occasionally, your impact is instantly magnified.
Body Language: An audience can’t help absorbing what you look like and what you are doing before they click into listening mode. They’ll pick up on your embarrassment, your hesitancy and, hopefully, your confidence. You can’t work on this stuff ‘live’ on the night. It’s all about rehearsing to look like you at the very top of your game.
Using your script: So many potentially great speeches have been ruined by speakers who forget their content, or who are clearly more worried about remembering what to say next than actually delivering it with impact. There’s nothing wrong with holding some notes, as long as you interact with them in the right way. Glancing at them during your pauses, and holding them well away from your eye-line maximises your chances of getting it right, without acting as a barrier between you and your audience.
In Short
There really isn’t a huge difference between an office party speech and a speech at any dinner or social occasion. Although the stakes tend to be a little higher – as you have to go and work with your audience the next day. The key is to be relevant – to THEM. Your audience. Your colleagues on the night. Think about them from the very start, write for them and speak directly to them, and you’ll be on the right track.
And remember, this may be an office party post, but these public speaking tips aren’t just for Christmas. They’re for life. Now imagine saying that at the office party. Squeamish looks all round. And you’d delete it instantly. See, it works!
