How to Become a Confident and Compelling Speaker
Public speaking skills are an important part of interpersonal and intrapersonal development. It surely isn’t a skill developed overnight. One must practice the art over time in order to excel.
A confident speaker automatically earns respect. It is a leadership attribute to possess and can have a major impact on people. You can make your way out of every situation as long as you are confident and compelling.
Confidence is a major element that boosts effective communication skills. Your words leave a deeper impact when they are spoken confidently, without hesitation, and in the right tone. Confidence, indeed, is a quality acquired over time. Thus, it is necessary to learn confidence as a quality and then apply the same while you communicate.
Here are a few tips and tricks to practice in order to become a compelling and confident speaker. Practice them daily and with almost everyone around you in order to excel. Be sure to go through each one of them and incorporate them into your day-to-day life.
Be yourself
It is necessary to feel comfortable in your own skin. Be yourself, do not try to imitate somebody else. While you speak to somebody, be mindful of creating a rapport of your own. Make it a point to introduce yourself before you start with your speech.
Effective communication skills require you to be authentic. Have confidence in yourself if you wish to command respect. It is also important to know your audience and communicate confidently with them to keep their attention focused on your speech.
Use hand gestures
Hand gestures can be used to emphasize the words you speak. Hand gestures will help you immensely by letting your body loose. This way, you take up more space physically and will boost your speech in a major way.
The right gestures can also help you stress the important points, which indeed is a required attribute for a leader. During monologues or speeches, hand gestures can help audiences focus and provide a change from the monotony of your speech.
Furthermore, well-practiced speeches with hand gestures will help you memorize your speech more conveniently, and the message can be conveyed more effectively. Kids’ rhymes are accompanied by actions and hand gestures for a justified reason, be sure to incorporate them in your speeches as well.
Enhance your vocabulary
Using the same boring words can make your speeches mundane altogether. Incorporate a few unique words, and for this, it is necessary to enhance your vocabulary. Use dictionaries and thesaurus for this purpose.
Make sure that the word fits into the sentence without changing its original meaning. Also, keep an eye on sentence construction, especially when it comes to grammar. Any language has its set grammatical rules. Keep the sentences short and crisp. Do not use complex words or sentences as it might confuse the audience.
A confident speaker knows what he/she speaks and adjusts his/her sentences accordingly. Vocabulary is necessary to develop effective communication skills.
Keep an eye on the pause
Pauses can make or mar speeches. A confident speaker will work on the pauses and will pay special attention to the delivery. A right pause at the right time can convey the message effectively, which is a good leadership quality. A confident speaker can distinguish all the important points from the not-so-important ones and will take pauses accordingly and will emphasize on the required points.
Pauses will also help the audiences reflect on the points. This way, the audience will be involved in the given task.
Confident Body Language
Body language is the whole and the soul of your speech. A confident speaker is more open physically and holds the capacity to cover the entire stage. There is absolutely no pressure whatsoever, and it shows.
Use your hands, feet, and neck. Emphasize the required points. Body Language is also about non-verbal communication. Effective communication skills are developed when verbal and nonverbal communication is brought together. Your eyes must speak for themselves.
Also, make sure to groom yourself. Your outfit, hair, and makeup must be on point, suiting the purpose of the event.
Use short but effective statements
Short statements can save you from creating confusion. The shorter the statements, the easier they are to memorize. Short sentences are crisp, and they convey huge messages. Audiences are able to decode them without any discomfort.
Try to include proverbs and quotes in your speech. Proverbs have the power to convey a lot with the concise use of words. A confident speaker doesn’t speak too much but speaks only what is necessary and compelling to the listeners.
Express more, speak less
Expressing is an art. A confident speaker can express themself through words and facial expressions. Your face must emote. The story you are telling or the message you are conveying must first be expressed through your face. A sense of urgency is created when your face is able to emote. This way, the listeners, too, are attracted to what you are saying, and you are viewed upon as a confident person.
Emoting is an important quality and is practiced by those who wish to embody effective communication skills. Not everyone can emote correctly. Thus you must work on your expressions and tone while practicing.
Help and seek help
A confident person is never afraid to seek help. If you are confused about literally anything, you must ask for help. Do not hesitate. Also, try helping those around you. If you are looked upon as a confident speaker, try to help those around you build the same quality and share a few tips and tricks.
Use humor everywhere necessary
Humor is looked upon as a quality of a confident speaker. Not everybody can take jokes. Be sure to use the appropriate kind of humor without making it too dark or vulgar.
Humor can entice the audience into listening. Your speech will be compelling, and you will be respected for your sense of confidence. Also, be mindful of how often you use humor and where you use it. Many people tend to use humor as a defense mechanism, and in such cases, the jokes they make are too harsh on themselves and come off quite frequently than usual.
Self-doubt is all in your mind
The last and the most important tip to remember is confidence in itself. Be confident. Self-doubt is all a mind game. No, no one is judging you for nothing. Keep all the negativity and self-doubt at home when you are to deliver speeches or interact with strangers. Confidence in your speech, dressing style, presentation, and knowledge is very important to develop effective communication skills.
Leave no space for self-doubt and get your way confidently through that public event.
The Bottom Line
While confidence is built over time, it is very important to start somewhere. Start small. It is alright to commit a few mistakes. Be confident in your own skin. You can even avail some of the courses offered by Orator Academy to work on your public speaking skills. They will transform you into a confident and compelling speaker commanding respect and authority.
