Spiders? No problem. Heights? No issues.
But Communication and public speaking?
Just thinking about these things instils one of the most common fears known to mankind: sweaty palms and a shaky voice. Everyone has been through it, even these world-class speakers, but do you ever wonder what these guys do to overcome this and stay at the top?
Here are the Top 5 techniques that World-Class speakers use to communicate effectively:
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Revise and Repair
Various Studies show that practice and revision can eliminate 50-70% of the stress and anxiety that is commonly faced. Why are these speakers so confident? They constantly practice to avoid mistakes. They visualise, revise, and repair.
Take your time, know what you are speaking, and visualise various scenarios, cheering and appreciating the crowd. This will boost your confidence and increase clarity, leading to more effective and engaging interactions. Practice, Practice and Practice. The more you practice, the more confident you will become, and it will also eliminate the chance of errors.
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Know Your Audience
Before you craft the content to deliver, it is very important to know with whom you will communicate so that you can craft it according to their needs. The best speakers research their audience and frame their delivery accordingly for a more significant impact.
This is a very important step that will help you determine your tone, choice of words, and the level of information you need to keep in mind for your audience. They know their audience, but do you?
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Listen and Adapt
Merely uttering your prepared speech is not enough; this will only guarantee that you lose the attention of even the most dedicated listeners. Carefully listen to your audience, absorb their feedback and adapt accordingly.
Observe their reactions and actions, and adjust your content for them. REMEMBER to keep the focus on the audience.
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Use humour and stories
Absolutely no one has the attention span to listen to your speech completely, well, there are exceptions, but hear me out. Injecting a funny incident or a story will certainly grab their attention and resume their focus on YOU. Everyone likes a personal touch, and these relatable stories and wit are the perfect solution.
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Strong Conclusion, strong impact
Just as many experts encourage us to grab the audience’s attention within the first 30 seconds with a strong introduction and a hook, it is equally important to have a firm conclusion and leave a lasting impact. World-class speakers ensure you remember them; they craft such a closing that it captivates the audience.
What can you do? Have a great call to action; share a memorable quote representing your speech or presentation, a story explaining why this is important, or a summary of the most important key takeaways.
To communicate effectively, remember these techniques: Practice consistently to eliminate errors and boost your confidence, customize your content according to your audience, observe your audience carefully and adjust accordingly, keep your audience interested in your stories and wit, and leave them with a powerful ending or takeaway.
No one is perfect, not me, not you, not them. Good communication can never be perfect. However, put in the time and the effort, and you will definitely get better. These techniques may not shake the fear completely, but I can guarantee you will improve.
