Communication expert shares his top tips for delivering powerful speeches that leave a lasting impact.
Transcript:
CONWAY GITTENS: What is a quick tip to command the room’s attention in the first couple of sections. First couple of seconds?
MATT ABRAHAMS: basically, you’re getting buy in right from the top. Absolutely and nowhere is it more important than to there to engage your audience I believe the most precious commodity in the world today is attention. Getting people’s attention is critical. And what’s even harder than getting attention is engagement. Three quick ways to engage an audience. One is physical. Get them doing something, raising their hands, watching something, turning to somebody. If you’re virtual, have them type into the chat, watch a shared video. Take a poll. There’s not only physical, there’s also mental. Tell a story. Ask a question. Use an analogy. Those are ways to get people engaged. So you could start a presentation with a story. You can use an analogy or ask a question. And then finally use language. I like to call it time traveling language. I can take you into the future by saying, what if you could picture this. Imagine when I use language like that see it in your mind’s eye and you begin to get engaged and involved. So you’re absolutely right. How you start matters hook people right away. Do it through physical, mental or linguistic engagement.
CONWAY GITTENS: So what traits differentiate an average public speaker from a great public speaker?
MATT ABRAHAMS: I think it’s really three things being clear, being concise and being compelling. That’s what makes the difference between an average speaker and a really good speaker. You have to be clear. That is clear in your intent, clear in the way you say what you say in terms of enunciation. Having a clear goal. We have to be concise. Many of us say much more than we need to. My mother has this wonderful saying, tell the time, don’t build the clock. Be concise. And then we need to be compelling. We need to be engaging for our audience, which means we need to make sure our content is relevant. So clarity being concise and being compelling are what differentiate average communicators from really, really good communicators.
CONWAY GITTENS: What are your tips for thinking quickly and effectively under pressure. Because most of us know the place where we are most under pressure is at work?
MATT ABRAHAMS: Absolutely thinking fast and talking smart is what I’m all about. I have a podcast on that topic, a new book on that topic. You have to be able to respond quickly. The thing that most of us miss is one, we don’t listen first. We think we have to respond right away. Slowing down and listening helps you respond more appropriately. How many of us feel great pressure when somebody asks a question or asks for feedback to respond right away. You can say, give me a moment to think about it. You can ask a clarifying question. You can paraphrase what said that buys you enough time to formulate your thoughts. Next, think to yourself, what’s the bottom line that I want to get across. Many of us, when we’re put on the spot, we think about so many things at once. If we land on one bottom line, we can then build our messaging from there. And when we’re done, we have to take a moment to check in with the other person. Can I tell you more. Do you have a follow up question. What more can I share. By following up, you signal that you want to really help the person and it gives you an opportunity to correct anything that might not have gone the way you wanted. So first and foremost, buy yourself some time. Focus on the bottom line. Check for understanding when you’re done.
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