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Speak With Impact: 7 Tips On How To Captivate Any Audience
Many people have a fear of speaking to others. They may fear rejection, judgement, embarrassment or maybe just lack the confidence. In this article, we want to share 7 valuable speaking tips that will help you captivate any audience and overcome any fears that may be holding you back from having important conversations.
Use Pauses To Your Advantage
Adding pauses into your speech makes you appear more confident, trustworthy and intelligent. It shows that you know are fully aware of what you are saying and in control of your words. Not using pauses and speaking without any breaks blurs ideas together and anyone listening will quickly lose interest or get lost.
Think of pauses, like spices, add a little bit more to the conversation, which can make a huge difference. Use pauses after sharing important ideas and information to give the listener time to digest what you just said, but also gives you a moment to consider your next thought.
Adding a pause after saying something dramatic or emotional can add suspense, captivating listeners.
Finish One Idea At A Time
When speaking, focus on only one idea at a time. This builds clarity and conviction, getting your thoughts through clearly and effectively. Rambling on about something irrelevant will confuse people, bore them or disconnect from the conversation altogether.
It can be easy to jump to tangents and trail off topic with sentences like "oh, and that reminds me of…". To counteract this, remind yourself that if you want people to keep listening to you, stay in your conversation lane on your speech highway; get to your destination and avoid detours. Detours distract.
Avoid Using Filler Words
Using filler words like "umm", "ahh", and "err", for example, can make you sound less confident. Frequent use of filler words will make you appear unprepared, reducing the impact and credibility of what you say. This can have a big impact if you are trying to relay important information, share ideas, or build someone's trust.
If you notice you use filler words when you talk and want to stop, try taking a deep breath or a sip of water periodically while you speak or before responding to a question. Pausing, even for a few seconds gives you time to think of what you want to say next.
Speak From Your Chest, Not Your Throat
An easy way to add more conviction, power and depth to your voice is to speak from your chest (or your diaphragm), not your throat. Try reading the rest of this paragraph out loud, feel where the vibrations are coming from.
If it is from your throat, take a deep breath, sit (or stand up) straight, puff your chest out and relax. Try again and this time imagine the words coming from your chest.
You can train yourself to speak from your chest by repeating the exercise in the paragraph above and focusing on your chest while you speak. Read out loud, have a conversation with yourself, or sing a song.
After a while, it will become second nature and you will notice your voice become richer and more vibrant.
Speak Slower
Speaking slowly allows you to fully articulate your words, adding emphasis and power to your message and avoiding miscommunication. This also allows listeners time to process information and for you to remain calm and on topic.
Speaking slower gives you more control over your speech and reduces nervousness. This makes you look more confident and knowledgeable, building trust with those you are speaking to. People will be more open to hear your ideas and believe in you and what you say.
Breathe Through Your Nose
If you find yourself suffering from a dry mouth or sore throat after speaking, it is likely due to breathing through your mouth. Breathing through your mouth instead of your nose dries out your throat and adds extra strain to your vocal chords.
Keep your throat and vocal chords hydrated by breathing through your nose as much as you can. Breathing through your nose has other benefits as well including introducing more oxygen into your body and helping you relax by activating your parasympathetic nervous system.
Being able to relax while speaking will help curb nervous tendencies like rushing, stumbling over words, and using filler words. Taking a deep breath through your nose before speaking will help you relax and speak clearly.
Use More Volume When Speaking
Speaking with more volume conveys authority and confidence. This also gives you more room to vary your volume, tone, pitch and pace, adding more emotion and emphasis to your conversations.
We do not recommend shouting as people may think you are angry or upset. Take your normal talking volume and increase it by 10-20% depending on the size of the room and amount of people you are engaged with.
Use higher pitches and a slightly faster pace when you want to sound excited and happy and a lower pitch and slower pace when you want to share sad news. These vocal cues will help the audience engage and connect with you and the message you want to share.
Summary
Your voice is a very powerful tool. Once you have mastered these skills, you will notice more people will be captivated by what you have to say and hang on every word. You will be more agreeable and your ideas will have more value.
Remember that these skills take time to develop. We recommend taking a few minutes each day to practice either in front of a mirror or in your car
If you want to track your progress, record yourself either reading out loud or having a conversation (by yourself or with another person if they agree to be recorded). Play it back to yourself and note any areas in your speech you wish to improve and focus on them over the next few days. Record yourself again and note any developments.
Are you interested in learning more about personal development? Read these articles next:
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