Mastering the ART of Speaking

Speaking is one thing. Doing it for a living is something else. In order to speak and get paid for it, you have to be a master of the craft. There is an ART to speaking. And yes, it can be learned. Geoffrey Colvin wrote a book titled “Talent is Overrated”. In the book he explains how In order to get to be WORLD CLASS at anything you do, it requires 10,000 hours of practice. Practice done correctly.

Many times after I speak I’ll have people come up to me and give me some very nice, very sincere compliments. A few of them will inevitably tell me that they would like to do what I do. You will experience the same thing in due course. From the outside, speaking, like any other skill or sport seems elusive to those who don’t or can’t do it.

In reality, if you put in your 10,000 hours of practice speaking, with a good coach, YOU can become world class. The problem is that you may not be able to get speaking gigs and you still need to put in your 10,000 hours. In addition to speaking anywhere, anytime for free if you have to, you also have to do other things including:

Reading Aloud: If you can’t get paid OR unpaid speaking gigs, you can get to 10,000 hours by speaking aloud. That’s right, just pull a book off the shelf and start reading. Read aloud. Start by doing 10 or 15 minutes, then bump it up. In order to get to 10,000 hours you have to speak EVERY day for day for 8 hours for over 3 years. To get there, you will have to figure out a schedule to get you to that magic number.

Taking Improv Classes: All great speakers have the ability to appear NATURAL. You can appear more natural by learning the techniques of improv comedy. For you to be the absolute best speaker you need to take these classes. It will help you to be more relaxed no matter what happens in front of your groups. Go to http://www.TheSpeakingSchool.com to learn more.

Simplify Your Speech: Many speakers try and make their speeches complicated. DON’T. The majority of great speakers not only make their speeches easy to understand, but they don’t try and cram 4 hours of speech material into a 1 hour speech. If you are trying to cover more than 3 major points in a one hour speech, you’re doing MUCH too much. Cut it down. Make it simple. People will like it more.

Keeping It Logical. In addition to keeping your speech simple, you’ll also need to make it logical. Even if you have only 3 points that you cover in an hour of speaking, that won’t matter if those points don’t FIT together logically. The logic of your speech can be tested by finding an eighth grader of average intelligence. Have them sit in as you practice your speech. When it’s done, ask them to tell you what they heard. IF they can, you have logic on your side.

Less is More. Speakers are almost always given a set amount of time to deliver their material. Sometimes an hour, sometimes more, sometimes less. For some reason, speakers feel the need to fill up all of that time. Not a good idea. Think of comedians who perform. If they are given 15 minutes and at the 13 minute point they get a HUGE round of applause for a joke, they will cut their routines short and say: “Ladies and gentlemen, GOODNIGHT!” Why do this? Because you want to end on a high note. Be willing to do less time and end on a high note.

Back it Up with Data. When you spout statistics from the stage, make sure that you give a source for the data you give out. Many people will put out information when they are speaking without backing it up and giving the source of that data. People will have a big question mark in their minds when you speak and don’t do this. Unless you can find and site the source of any data or statistics, don’t use them.

Learn How to Tell Stories. There seems to be a huge number of people teaching storytelling to speakers. Most of these classes aren’t particularly good. The reason why there are so many of them is because of how crucial the story is to a speaker’s success. My suggestion is to listen to great speakers who are good storytellers. Get a transcript of their speeches and break down how they delivered a particular story. Cut it apart. Do that with a bunch of speakers, you’ll see patterns. Follow those patterns to create your own stories. This is the best way to do it. Dissect them!

Do all of the above and you’ll become a MASTER speaker. But remember, you can’t RUSH 10,000 hours. You have to put in the time. If speaking is what you really want to do, then GET STARTED!