I am often asked by many aspiring motivational speakers and others just wanting to improve their public speaking skills “What do I need to do to become a motivational speaker?” or “How do I become a better keynote speaker?”. If you have ever asked one of these questions, then you’d better read on to discover my top 10 tips that will help you become a confident and engaging keynote or motivational speaker.
Don’t Read your Speech.
Have you ever sat down to listen to a speaker at any kind of event, only to fall asleep after five or ten minutes, simply because they’re reading their speech word for word? When you’re reading from a scripted page in front of others, it can be all too easy to speak in a monotone voice, making people switch off just that little bit easier, yet again. instead, try and remember key points and quotes and if you need to, have some notes or cards on hand to help jog your memory. You’ll be able to speak more confidently and clearly and become more personable if you simply speak, not read to your audience.
Slow Your Pace, Speak Clearly
Some of the best public speakers today, such as newsreaders and actors are very easy to understand due to the way they speak. You will have noticed that they have a different speaking voice than an everyday conversation with a friend. This way of speaking is going to help you as a keynote speaker to be able to deliver your message more efficiently. Use short, clear and concise sentences that your audience will be able to understand more easily.
Accept Silence
Have you ever been in a normal everyday conversation when silence started to fill the room? Did it make you feel awkward or uncomfortable and you immediately tried to fill the void with “ummm” or “yeah”? While this is totally normal for many people in a typical situation, as a keynote speaker, silence can be a very powerful tool. Don’t feel like you need to constantly be talking during your talk. The truth is, silence can help your audience to process what you have been saying and help you to get ready for the next part of your speech. Silence is not to be feared. Silence is a great tool not to be underestimated!
Step Away From The PowerPoint Presentation
PowerPoint presentations and other technologies can be a huge benefit to your keynote speech. However, completely relying on them is a big disadvantage to you and the message you’re trying to convey. You want your audience to be focused on you and what you have to say, not a PowerPoint presentation. While these technologies can be quite good for emphasising great points within your speech or to provide some visuals to go with your words, at the end of the day, no-one wants to sit and watch a presentation on a screen that you’re simply reading from.
Ensure You Are Heard
There’s nothing more confusing and distracting than not being able to hear a speaker when they’re talking. Not only does it get annoying if you cannot hear them properly, but of course, you miss out the main points of their speech. As a keynote speaker, you need to ensure that every person in your audience can hear you. When they can’t hear you correctly, you’re left with an audience who have lost focus and don’t really understand what it is you’re trying to convey to them. Whether you’re turning your head to the left or right of the audience, ensuring all equipment is working and everyone can hear you is vital.
Speak With Enthusiasm
You don’t have to sound like everything is happy and amazing, but you should certainly avoid talking in a monotone voice. By not changing up the tone and volume of your voice will lead your audience on the way to sleep! If you talk to your audience with interest, you’ll keep your audience engaged and interested. Because your voice is the ultimate tool to your trade as a public speaker, the way you use your voice is one of the top ways to keep your audience interested. If you’re talking about something serious or personal, this is when your voice may be used in a slower, more quiet manner. When your story becomes more humorous or upbeat, that’s when you will bring your voice up and sound your voice in a more light-hearted manner.
Share Your Experiences
When you make your stories and your speech more personal, that’s when people will sit up and take more notice. People are more likely to be more receptive to what you say if you can share a little bit more about yourself, who you are and what you have gone through in the past. being able to be a master story-teller will make you the kind of public/keynote speaker that will make people want to hear you speak, time and time again. It isn’t all about telling great stories; it’s about telling personal stories that then reminds people about key messages that you wish to convey out of your story.
Make Your Audience Feel
Whether you’re making your audience smile, laugh, cry or simply think about their actions, being able to make your audience feel something is a huge part of becoming a successful keynote speaker. You can’t just tell people to feel a certain way. telling a story isn’t going to do it. The way to get your audience to feel something on another level for what you have to say is achieved by the emotional experience you can share with them. Challenging people’s thinking, perception and perspective, as well as empowering your listeners with confidence, optimism, self-belief and the right information is all part and parcel of delivering a great keynote speech.
Have a Great Start and a Great Finish
If you’re going to be a great keynote speaker, you need to ensure that you capture your audience right from the get-go, then finish on an almighty high. Whether you start off strong with an amazing story, an inspiring quote, a question, a joke or even in the case of motivational speaker Lorin Nicholson, some fantastic guitar playing, starting off strong helps you to be put in place as someone your audience will want to listen throughout the whole talk. It’s also important not to build up your presentation too early. In doing this, you may find people start to lose focus near the end of your presentation. Instead, try and aim to end your presentation with a final statement, your last message before leaving everyone inspired and wanting to know more.
Connect With Your Audience
You may have a speech for 10 minutes, or you may have space for an hour or two. In the end, it doesn’t matter how much time you have and how many words you say, the point is that you need to be able to connect with your audience. Ask yourself what it is that your audience is looking for and try and connect with them on a deeper level. No matter what your audience age is, culture, the industry they work in or their executive status, you’ll be able to connect with your audience and provide them with an address they can relate to.
Understand Why You Are There
If you have something that you want to give to your audience, whether it be a life lesson, more confidence or to help them become more motivated in everyday life, you need to know why you’re there and give your audience a reason to listen to what you want to tell them. By using something that matter deeply to you, you’ll be able to use that to rebuild it into the minds of others. You could be the smoothest talker or funniest person on stage, but what truly matters is having something worth saying.
If you’d like to become a confident keynote speaker, Lorin Nicholson is the man who can help you to become a professional speaker. With years of experience and having delivered over 4,000 keynote addresses in his time, Lorin has the expertise to help you grow in your career. Call now to book your own session with Lorin Nicholson by calling0423 779 400 or visit https://lorin.com.au/
