As a professional communicator, it is a must that you come off as knowledgeable and believable to your audience. Following these tried-and-true strategies will make it a whole lot easier for you to sell your ideas, products, or services. They will also encourage your followers to return for additional tips that may add value to their life or to their company’s success.
Stay on Topic, Use Talking Points
Research your topic thoroughly and develop an outline that includes all of the key messages you want to share with your audience. Some topics will take longer to research than others. That’s to be expected.
Just be sure not to have too many major gaps that will inspire a million questions. There’s nothing wrong with your audience questioning the presenter or the writer, but the nature of their questioning can suggest that you didn’t do all of your homework.
Lastly, try not to ramble and stay on topic.
Fact Check, Spell Check
There is nothing more embarrassing as a writer, journalist, or a communicator, than to get your facts wrong in a story. Before you publish or broadcast your piece, be sure you have all of your facts right. You will never be taken seriously if you’re constantly sharing misinformation that cannot be supported with facts. You can also cause endless confusion and/or do major damage to an individual’s or a company’s reputation if the facts are just plain wrong. If you do make an error, you must offer a correction as soon as you discover the mistake.
Lastly, be sure to use proper grammar and always spellcheck your documents before publishing. Having a document riddled with typos will come off as unprofessional to anyone reading your material.
Communicate and Write in Plain Language
You never know who your audience may be, that’s why using plain language is so important as a communicator. It could be a junior high school student, a Ph.D, an elderly person, or a mix of them all. While you, the wordsmith, may be tempted to show off your grasp of the English language, using simpler words can ensure that your audience doesn’t get lost in your message. You certainly don’t want them to need a dictionary understand what you just said. Right?
There are certainly exceptions. If you are delivering a speech to a crowd full of your chemical engineering colleagues or your medical professional buddies, using some technical language can be appropriate. Generally speaking, you can’t really go wrong using plain language.
Get Comfortable with Public Speaking
Some people are just natural communicators. They have no issues chatting with anyone about anything or getting in front of an audience of any size to deliver their message. These people are certainly the exception. Public speaking, in fact, is actually one of the biggest fears many people have outside of death.
Nerves tied to public speaking can manifest in different ways: sweating, stuttering, or completely blanking out on what you meant to say.
Here are a few public speaking tips that can help you prepare for your next appearance:
1. Practice out loud. Consider practicing your speeches in front your mirrors at home using talking points. There’s nothing wrong at all with bringing notes to the podium either. People do it all the time to make sure they have covered all of their key concepts.
2. Record yourself. Another tip that works quite well is recording yourself using a handheld recorder or a personal cell phone to see how you will sound to your audience. The playback may even give you an idea or two that can help you perfect your message.
3. Relax. Take deep breaths, or meditate if you’re into that, right before you get started. It can help relax your body and ease some of the nerves. If that’s not enough, try a cup of chamomile tea about 30 minutes before the speech. It may sound strange, but this has definitely worked for me!
Finally, speak slowly enough so that your audience is able to catch the message, enunciate, and be sure to dress professionally.
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