Presenting your point to the audience in a way that is heard and understood is of utmost importance yet challenging in today’s modern communication-driven world. Whether you pitch to potential investors or deliver a lecture to students in a classroom, your ability to effectively convey your ideas influences your success.
Many people often struggle with self-doubt when it comes to presenting. If you’re one of them, don’t worry! Just remember, speakers are not born; they are made.
The art of public speaking is not rocket science. Humans have the ability to learn, evolve, and train their brains to master any skill. So, anyone can become a great speaker with practice and dedication.
This article highlights the core skills and habits of best speakers and how you can use their tactics to take your presentation skills to the next level. So, read on!
Skills to Learn from Highly Successful Presenters
1. Audience-Centric
The success of any presentation is determined by how your audience responds. So, the first step to becoming a great speaker is identifying your target audience’s needs and expectations.
Stellar speakers can speak to any crowd because they know to whom they are presenting. Learning about the educational background, experience levels, and pain points of your audience and tailoring your speech according to their preferences will significantly leave a lasting impact on your presentation.
For instance, using a more technical vocab would be a good idea if presenting to a group of mechanical engineers. However, speaking technical language in front of a group of doctors leaves them confused, and all may go over their heads.
No matter how detailed or informative your presentation is, if it is delivered to the wrong audience, it will limit your chance of achieving your goals.
2. Authenticity
Being authentic onstage, speaking from the heart, and sharing your true self sets you apart. When you share your real struggles and failures, people can relate to you.
Presentations are not Oscar-winning performances. You don’t have to portray a false image or fit into someone else’s style to impress your audience. People are not sitting there to judge you. The sole intention is to communicate ideas and concepts that engage, connect, and inspire the audience.
To sum it up, authenticity is a powerful tool to add to your skillset as it creates a foundation of credibility and trust.
3. A Constant Learner
Continuous learning is an indispensable tool to experience growth in every sector. It is a critical aspect of becoming a successful speaker. Just like healthy food nourishes our bodies, continued learning nourishes our minds.
Staying updated with current events, new communication technologies, latest presentation tools, industry trends, and societal issues allows you to address diverse audience groups and interests. If you want to be an effective communicator, embracing a learning attitude helps upgrade your skills.
4. Proficient Story Teller
Stories are easier to remember. A well-constructed and relevant story can influence people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Most successful speakers enthuse their listeners with compelling stories. You can also use them in your speech to share a complex idea or state key points to add impact.
If figures, data, and stats are woven into a story, people will be more likely to remember them. Beginning a presentation with an intriguing story is a great way to grab attention. So, next time you prepare content for the presentation, take some time to recall stories from your life and tie them to the topic of your speech.
5. Confidence
Confidence is one of the most essential skills of a successful speaker. Being confident reveals that you’re prepared and know your content well. When a speaker is clear with his message, it creates a sense of trustworthiness in the people.
Maintaining eye contact, using power movements and gestures to emphasize key points, and sharing the true self reflects confidence. Only a confident speaker can engage, persuade, and inspire the audience.
6. Focused on Visualization
Captivating visuals, graphics, images, and videos can uplift your presentation within seconds. The proverb – “A picture is worth a thousand words” – is too old and has been around for more than a hundred years because it is still relevant and fits in the modern tech-savvy era.
To become a successful presenter, every speaker must excel in incorporating images to visually convey their ideas, concepts, messages, and complex data. For instance, charts, infographics, and graphs can illustrate statistics more effectively than words. Visuals simplify the information, making it easier for the audience to understand quickly.
You can also use pre-designed PowerPoint or Google Slides templates relevant to your topic to provide a consistent and professional look to your presentations.
7. Active Listeners
Great speakers are exceptional listeners.
Paying complete attention during the Q&A session is critical to effective communication. It enables a presenter to understand the audience better and provide them with thoughtful and relevant responses, resulting in a more meaningful interaction.
Listening to the audience’s concerns, pain points, and expectations and providing accurate solutions make them feel understood. They leave the session with a more satisfactory feeling, which builds your credibility as a speaker and connects you with the audience on a deeper level.
8. Adaptability
The ability to adapt to unexpected challenges, like difficult questions, technical glitches, or time constraints, with utmost grace, calm, and composure is essential to becoming a successful speaker. It is a valuable skill that can connect and influence a wide range of people in varied settings and situations.
9. Use of Good Humor
Everyone likes to laugh. It releases feel-good hormones that instantly elevate your mood and is an effective tension-buster.
A good sense of humor is a valuable skill that can be learned and developed with constant practice, just like any other skill. Many renowned speakers bring humor to their speeches to lighten a complex subject or situation. It is a great way to capture the audience’s attention, fill the room with positive vibes, and establish a strong connection with them. You don’t need to be a comedian to use humor on stage, but it requires hours of practice to make it sound natural.
Pro Tip – Don’t do it if you are uncomfortable with cracking jokes.
10. Encourage Participation
Presentations are not just one-way communication. A great speaker always encourages his audience to get involved and participate. Creating room for interaction allows people to ask questions, share opinions, and suggest feedback.
Active participation helps people resolve their queries and doubts. When people get a positive response, it makes the speaker more approachable. Getting people involved in your speech is the best strategy to maintain their interest and involvement till the last minute.
11. Less Filler Words
In a professional setting, using filler words like “um,” “uh,” “like,” “so,” “well,” “you know,” etc., affects the credibility of speakers and inhibits the ability to communicate thoughts. More of these words reflect a lack of preparation and confidence.
If you’re using filler words in your speeches, don’t worry. This habit can be changed with practice. Slow down during the presentation, embrace the power of pauses, prepare well, and record your speech while rehearsing to know the number of times you use filler words. The process takes time but will eliminate the major roadblock to becoming an eloquent speaker.
12. Power Movements
Gestures and body language communicate more than words. These are non-verbal cues deliberately used by public speakers to uplift their message. When your non-verbal cues align with your words, you build rapport with your audience and communicate your message.
Some speakers with decades of experience have a different aura. Their body language reflects so much confidence because they work more on their gestures and use power movements. One tip to improve this part of your speech is to watch your recorded session and evaluate your gestures.
13. Nail the First and Last 30 Seconds
Humans have very short attention spans, and the audience quickly decides whether they want to hear you. That’s why openings and endings play a significant role in the success of any presentation. Therefore, nailing the first and last 30 seconds differentiates the successful speeches from the flop ones.
All the great speakers pay extra heed to these two timings because strong openings set the tone for the rest of the speech, hook the audience, and pique their interest, while impressive endings make your words memorable for several days.
14. Effective Pauses
Silence is powerful and brings a dramatic effect to the presentation. Using micro-pausing creates a sense of anticipation, curiosity, and suspense in the audience.
Great speakers plan their pauses strategically to engage their listeners. It draws attention to the critical points and serves as a valuable tool for conveying complex information, indicating a shift between points, and enabling the audience to absorb, process, and understand the shared content.
So, instead of sharing chunks of data (that goes out of mind), harness the power of pauses to become an efficient communicator.
Final Thoughts
From sales pitches to product demos, public speaking skill is essential in every aspect of the corporate world. And anyone can master it because speakers are made with practice and experience.
Becoming a great speaker is a journey of consistent practice, dedication, and honing your core skills. The best speakers have a great sense of humor and varied ways of telling stories, and they can engage, inspire, and connect with different groups of people. They are adaptable, well-prepared, confident, and know their audience well.
The above article has unveiled the essential traits of successful speakers. Mastering these habits and integrating your speaking style can transform your presentation and help you become a stellar presenter.
