‘I could listen to you all day.’ When someone tells me that I feel special pride. I
And I regularly speak for an hour.
It comes naturally. Why?
As an hashtag ADHD sufferer I learned my trade while fidgeting in classrooms.
I promised to do the opposite of what my teachers did – if I got the chance.
I did.
Here’s my 8 tips.
It’s learnable. Honestly.
1. Imagine you are in the audience and ask yourself ‘what would I really want…?”
2. Be enthusiastic, passionate and energetic – move about and keep your focus on the audience all the time.
3. Don’t use hashtag PowerPoint, unless you have big bold images and very few words – most are frankly boring.
4. Tell riveting hashtag#stories, vary them and introduce the occasional unrelated tale (you know the ‘By the way….’
5. Vary your pace, use silences and imagine your voice as a musical instrument.
6. Tell funnies about yourself or anonymised people you have met.
7. Ask unexpected questions – that really keeps people engaged and noticed.
8. Introduce surprises: Get you audience to do something. Speak to someone close to where they are with a purpose you introduce – see the energy shift in the room.
Happy speaking in 2024.
Want to keep your audience awake and craving more?