One of my mentors, Tom Mendoza, taught me that if you work on public speaking you will be better than 90% of your peers. Warren Buffet once told a class of Columbia University students that communication skills-public speaking would increase their value by 50%. Several economists have estimated that 30% of the U.S. economy is based on the business of persuasion. I recommend this video from Tom talking about the value of public speaking as well as techniques he uses when he speaks.
I am regular listener of the EntreLeadership Podcast. The host, Ken Coleman interviews many great leaders and authors. In an episode from 2016, Ken shared his ideas on how to improve how you say it. My summary of his podcast is below.
Work on enunciation
Vary your pace
Master the use the pause
Practice use of changes in intonation
Work on getting rid of fillers and crutch words
Demonstrate energy or passion
Combine two of the above such as change of pace followed by pause for even more emphasis
Early in my career I had to um, ah, practice not using filler words. I also had to get comfortable using the pause. If you did not have a chance to listen, I recommend you listen to the podcast starting at 36:39.
In his famous I Have a Dream speech, Martin Luther King created mental pictures using his words such as "all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” In addition, he used a technique called an anaphora which is repeating the same words over and over. Example phrases repeated in the speech include: "I have a dream, let freedom ring, and free at last." The use of these two techniques are just some of the reasons that M.L.K.'s speech is one of the most memorable speeches in history.
In his book Talk like Ted, Carmine Gallo provides 9 public speaking secrets. Carmine is a bestselling author and a communications coach. He has broken down the success secrets of hundreds of Ted Talks. He says that great talks should be "emotional, novel, and memorable". Carmine's three steps to creating a killer presentation are: 1. Create a twitter friendly headline. 2. Support the headline with three key messages. 3. Reinforce the three messages with stories, statistics, examples, pictures, and videos. Below are Carmine's 9 public speaking secrets.
Unleash the master within (find your passion)
Master the art of storytelling
Have a conversation (use body language, gestures, body language, to build rapport)
Teach me something new
Deliver jaw-dropping moments (brain remembers emotionally charged events)
Lighten up (the brain loves humor)
Stick to the 18-minute rule (listening for a long time takes effort)
Paint a mental picture (use multisensory experiences)
Stay in your lane (be authentic)
In 2019, I took a course by Jeff Ansel called Communicating with Confidence. He taught we two valuable techniques when it comes to enunciation. First, he suggests practicing a short speech with a pen in your teeth. I tried this and when I removed the pen, my enunciation improved tremendously. Second, Jeff recommended I practice elongating my vowels in order to slow down my speech to make sure the audience is able to follow what I am saying.
Another technique that has helped me, has been to record my presentations on my iPhone and listen to myself talk. This has help me improve significantly. I practice my presentations standing up and even in front of a mirror. What do you do to improve how you say it?