If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete ย ~ Buddha
Samantha is a good presenter, but doesnโt know it.ย Whenever she concludes a presentation, she immediately begins to focus on what she didnโt do well, or what she forgot.ย This negative focus keeps her from growing faster as a presenter.
Barry, on the other hand is a student of speaking.ย Whenever he speaks, he analyzes the best parts of his presentation, and then reviews the areas that could be improved.
As a speech coach, one of my roles is to help speakers understand and correct parts of their speeches that need improvement.ย However, a more important task is to help you understand what you already do well.ย This is a challenge because there are many more Samanthas than Barrys in the speaking world.
If you want to be a better speaker, more quickly, develop a process of analyzing your speeches:
The first step is to record your presentation.
The second step is to watch/listen to the recording.ย This seems obvious, but many people never do this.ย If your response to this step is โOh I hate the way I look and sound on video!โ, remember the words of one of my mentors, Darren LaCroix.ย โAww, you donโt like to watch yourself?ย Well, too bad!ย We had to watch you.โย Although he says this with a smile on his face, his point is taken.
The third step in this process is to first focus on what you did well in your speech.ย There are key lines, critical delivery styles, or important pauses you used that impacted the audience.ย If you donโt look for these, and make note of their impact, youโll probably stop using them.ย Why cheat future audiences out of the best parts of your speech because you didnโt realize how well they work?
Theย fourth step is to look for areas of improvement. When youโve focused on the best aspects of your speech first, the weaker areas donโt seem quite as badโฆ and usually, they arenโt. You can review these parts of the speech with a more balanced approach because you know there are aspects that already work.
Improving your speech requires a critical eye, and honest assessment.ย However, itโs important to conduct these reviews in a proper frame of mind.ย Use a process that focuses on the best parts of your speech first, and youโll give yourself a better chance to improve faster.
Michaelโs mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - itโs a learnable skill. Once he discovered this โsecretโ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the worldโs best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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