One Thing That You Can Do Right Now To Make Your Next Speech Extraordinary (No Practice Involved)

There’s no lack of advice on how to be a more effective speaker. You can quickly come up with hundreds of columns on the topic if you search the inc.com library for "public speaking." However, much of the advice that’s out there focuses on helping you to develop skills that simply may not feel natural or comfortable to you. The intent is to "transform" you into a speaker . Following a well-defined set of guidelines may help you to overcome a fear of public speaking, but it will do little, if anything, to help you truly feel comfortable on stage and ultimately to better connect with an audience. While I deliver 30-50 keynotes around the globe yearly in front of audiences of hundreds and sometimes thousands, my journey to achieve mastery has been a long one. I’ve been speaking in front of audience for nearly 40 years now and I can honestly say that it’s only in the last decade that I’ve truly found my own voice, a voice that I am imminently comfortable with. What I’ve discovered during my four-decade public speaking journey is that ultimately the only skin any of us are comfortable in is our own. Trying to adopt the mannerisms or intonation, much less the personality, of someone you consider to be a great speaker, is absolute folly. You also do not need to transform yourself at all. You are who you are; that’s the most effective person you can be, the one who people connect to genuinely and authentically, and the one that you’ll be most comfortable being on any stage. "It’s a ridiculously simple mannerism and one that we all use daily, yet it’s magic on stage and it will instantly connect you to an audience, while it calms your inner critic; you […]

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