July 23, 2024
In this article, you’ll discover seven public speaking techniques to give unforgettable speeches and presentations.
You can use the first three to hook your audience right at the start of your speech and the last four to keep them engaged until the end.
You can share an unexpected statistic or surprising statement right at the start of your speech to hook your audience.
Example:
“90… The average person spends 90 days of their life on the toilet. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we’ll dive into how to optimize our bathroom habits to make the most out of that time.”
For the surprising statement to work well, make sure to really own it.
Say, “90”, then pause, and then reveal the full statistic.
Don’t just rush through it.
Once you have grabbed their attention, you may want to use the second technique to keep it.
Your audience is giving you the most precious thing in their lives:
Their time.
So let them know that this will be worth their time by sharing your big promise.
Tell them in one sentence: What’s in it for them? What will they gain from listening to you?
Example:
“By the end of this talk, you’ll know the secret to making your daily commute 40% faster and a lot more enjoyable.”
But try to frame the big promise from their perspective.
Don’t say “I,” such as, “I will show you a nice formula.”
Instead, say “You,” such as, “You’ll uncover the formula to finally stick to your habits.”
The big promise will get them excited, but if you combine that technique with the next one, your audience will be fully hooked.
Sell your speech.
Tell them right at the start how incredible the information is going to be.
Example:
“Today, you’ll pick up three core strategies.
#1 is good.
#2 is even better.
And #3, wow, is absolutely incredible. Once you learn that third strategy, my job is done. I can retire after.”
The anticipation hook is great, but watch out to not overdo it.
If you sell your speech too much and put everything as the best or most interesting, it will lose its effect.
Now that you’ve got your listeners’ full attention, let’s move into the next four techniques to keep their attention.
Invite your audience to imagine a certain situation.
This technique is often used to imagine a problem that you want to address or a solution you propose.
Example:
“Imagine yourself on a tropical beach. You feel the warm sun on your skin. You hear the sound of waves gently crashing. And you hold a cold drink in your hand. The stress melts away as you take in the paradise around you. Today, we’ll explore how to bring this level of relaxation and joy to our customer interactions.”
For the Imaginary World to work really well, I’d suggest using action verbs.
For example, you open the door, see your manager, you close the book.
This will bring your audience into the moment and help them see the scene in front of their eyes.
There will be parts or concepts in your presentation that you want your audience to really understand and remember.
To help with that, you could share an analogy.
In an analogy, you compare a new concept with something that your audience is familiar with. [Something] is like [something familiar].
Example:
“Building our brand is like planting a tree. It takes time, care, and consistent effort to see it grow strong and tall.”
Analogies are really effective in helping us grasp more complex topics.
But only if they are simple and do not add more complexity.
It can help to show a picture on the slide or use an object to make the analogies land even better.
Analogies help your audience remember your content, but there is a technique that is even more effective.
Studies have shown that learning retention is highest when people teach others.
So, as a speaker, don’t just share your content, but make your audience explain it to each other.
Ask your audience members to turn to their neighbor and explain the concept they’ve just learned.
Example:
“Now that you know what the concept is about, I want you to turn to your neighbor and explain the four core strategies. The first person can share the first two strategies, and the other person the other two strategies.”
To give your audience some extra guidance, you can tell them who should start. You can say something like, “The one with the darker hair goes first.” or “The one who is taller will start.”
Alright, onto the last technique:
The best speakers don’t take themselves too seriously.
They break the ice and build rapport by bringing in a bit of humor.
You can do this by sharing a funny contradiction in which you say something different from what you mean.
Example:
“Have a look at this breathtaking, incredibly sexy, award-winning PowerPoint slide.” (while showing a very dry slides with only numbers).
Irony usually works really well if you make fun of your own profession or personal flaws.
If you work in finance, make fun of finance.
If you’re obsessively clean, make fun of being a tiny bit too clean.
This will make your audience fall in love with you.
That’s it. These are seven really effective public speaking techniques.
But another technique we didn’t talk about in this video is storytelling.
Storytelling works really well, but can be a bit challenging when you’re just starting off.
If that’s the case, you may want to check out this next article in which you’ll learn how to create unforgettable stories.
Enjoy!
Are you ready to transform your storytelling skills?
Discover how your storytelling skills score and uncover useful insights to help you become a charismatic storyteller:
