The Art Of Public Speaking II

The Art Of Public Speaking: 9 Different Ways
To Communicate Your Message

The Art Of Public Speaking Pt. II: 9 ways to communicate your message. If you haven’t already, have a look at the other three modules on public speaking if you want to improve your presentation skills:

Public Speaking I: Preparation And How To Structure Your Presentation
Stage Fright III: Stage Fright And How To Get Over It
Public Speaking IV: Your Communicative Ability IV

If you are just getting into the art of public speaking and are starting from scratch, they will help you tremendously.

This second page of tips on the art of public speaking for actors (and really anybody for that matter) has to do with how people like to learn and receive information as well as different ways to communicate your messages. It will help you in the preparation phase of your presentation and help you to think about the different ways you can communicate your messages.

Think about the last presentation you saw

But before we go into what they are, think about yourself and how you best like to receive information. What helps you to be able to process information easier? Think about a presentation that you listened to and that you particularly enjoyed. Think about a seminar or training session that really hit home for you. Aside from the information, that I assume was of great interest to you, what else was it about the presentation or the presenter that really caught your interest? What was it about the presenter’s style that captured your interest? Were you satisfied about the presentation you received? If so, wouldn’t you like to be equally as successful in satisfying your audience during your presentation? Sure you would! Now think about what it really means when we talk about the art of public speaking.

Keep in mind that we all have different ways to want to receive information. The presenter that you listened to probably captured one of the following ways in particular. She might even have been very skilled in making her presentation very interesting.

Different ways to communicate your messages

Words: Some people are content with the traditional way of communication. They are content just to hear someone talk. While some might welcome another form of communication as we will see below, there other others who might be bothered if you deviate from this form of delivering your message. Aside from just talking and explaining, think about telling stories or using metaphors to drive home a point. They work wonders and can help you crank up the interest level in your audience.

Music and the art of public speaking: Music is a nice touch and can work wonders in the right moment and together with the right message. The right song either in the background while you’re talking, during an exercise or a time when you want your audience to reflect on something or while entering or exiting the room, during breaks. The uses of music are multiple and can add a nice touch to your speech or seminar. Again, it might or might not be for everyone in the group. How do you then please everyone? We’ll talk about that later. Read on.

Interaction with other members of the audience:: It could be appropriate, especially if it fits in with the message you want to give, to have audience members interact with one another. If your speech is long, it could be a way to break up the routine of your speaking. It must, however, be carefully orchestrated and you will probably need some practice and/or some advice if you’ve never done something like that before.

Interaction with you, the presenter:: You don’t always have to talk at your audience. You can talk to them. You can interact with them. Asking questions for example is an excellent way to involve your audience members. You can ask rhetorical questions or questions from which you actually want a response. Once again, you will want to prepare this portion of your presentation. If you have never done that before, you will want to know the ins and outs and pros and cons of asking questions and you will want to make sure you ask the questions that will get you your most desired response.

Activities and exercises:: One way to shake things up and change the atmosphere in the group is to conduct exercises, that have been carefully planned and that will be relevant to what your objective is of your speech or seminar. Exercises don’t have to be long. They can last anywhere from a couple of minutes to a few hours to an entire day.

Numbers, statistics, graphics and charts:: These can be great to drive home a point, to make a great impact or to just go with the flow of the kind of information your audience might be interested in receiving. A group of accountants for example, might find it very appealing to receive a lot of information in this form, whereas a group of artists, while they might find a statistic or a chart here and there very interesting, might not find it very appealing to sit for an entire morning through a presentation of only numbers. You must know your audience.

Images (still or moving) and the art of public speaking: Surely you have heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Pictures, images or videos, films, scenes, etc can add tremendously to your presentation and can make all the difference in the world.

So how do you keep everyone happy?

It’s difficult to keep everyone happy. Strive to do that, but just know that everyone is 100% and that is difficult to achieve, especially the larger the group you have. There will always be someone who doesn’t like your style or your delivery. Don’t sweat it.

The best way to ensure of getting most on your side and to be interested in your message and in the way you deliver it is to mix it up. Be intelligent about using a variety of those seven ways of communicating we discussed above. That way you will be sure to touch everyone’s interest. That’s especially true for larger groups. If you don’t do that and you concentrate your presentation soley on the spoken word for example, then you risk cutting some of your audience out of the picture, boring them or just plain loosing them altogether for the entire presentation. For smaller intimate groups, it might only be necessary to use a few of those methods listed above.

I come in contact with people who have listened to me and seen me present years ago. Many of them still talk to me about certain ways that I presented different comments way back then! Not only does it feel good that people remember, it lets me know that I was effective in communicating my message. After all, that’s what we want right? We want people to remember what we communicated, otherwise it was a waste of our time and theirs too. Remember these words: The Art Of Public Speaking. It’s beautiful!

Let us know if you have any questions about the art of public speaking.

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