For public speaking and presentations timing is important.
This topic covers a variety of possibilities. I’d like to focus on two for this post. First is your rate of speech. It is important that you are aware of your natural speaking speed. If you have a tendency to talk slow you run the risk of boring your audience. Speeding up your rate of speech will help make your presentation more vibrant. If you have a tendency to speak too fast then you run the risk of your audience not understanding what you are saying. You also run the risk of tripping up on your words. I am guilty of speaking too fast. I use to have to make a conscious effort to slow down when I spoke to a group of people. Now it just comes automatically.
The second point I’d like to make is to encourage you to consider using pauses. They are almost critical if you are sharing a story or telling a joke. Well placed pauses put emphasis on key aspects of your story. They allow your audience the opportunity to process what you are saying and they allow you the opportunity to assess your audience by ‘listening with your eyes’.
Bring your next presentation to life by adjusting your rate of speech to suit your message and your audience and leveraging the pause where appropriate.
Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!
Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.
Speak Your Mind