The Ultimate 4-Step INTERMEDIATE Guide to Giving Influential Speeches at Work
Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent
Once you pass the beginner stage of public speaking, you discover that enjoying this formerly dreadful leadership responsibility is possible.
Whereas the beginner stage of public speaking centers on regulating your feelings, the intermediate stage focuses on how you deliver your message.
Based on my experience coaching individuals through their public speaking journey, we need around 500 exposure moments to feel completely at ease speaking with an audience larger than five people.
Most leadership positions provide many opportunities to practice speaking in public; it is crucial to embrace these opportunities to put in the much-needed deliberate practice.
If you are not yet comfortable speaking in public, I suggest you start with part 1 of this series:
You will learn to regulate your emotions through gradual exposure, after which you can upgrade your public speaking competencies with the four steps discussed in this article.
Variety is The Name of the Game
Two weeks ago, I flew with my family to see my relatives in Finland. As usual, there was a pre-flight safety briefing.
I could not bring myself to pay any attention to their demonstration, although I should have for my and my family’s safety.
The problem is that the briefing is always the same, predictable and boring.
This phenomenon can happen to us leaders, also. No matter how important our message is, if the delivery is akin to a black hole of lifelessness, our direct reports will run away to protect themselves.
I did that on our flight to Finland, but it does not always have to be that way.
Three years ago, I flew with an airline where the crew decided to change things up, and that caught my attention!
The pre-flight safety briefing contained all the essential elements minus the predictability. The purser ditched the monotonous delivery for a performance: there were jokes, puns, and rhetorical questions.
To get an idea, watch this video. This was not the flight I was on, but it gives a good impression.
I do not suggest making every stand-up meeting a stand-up show, but I do have some suggestions on how bringing variety to your delivery will grab and hold everybody’s attention.
Step 1: Variety in pitch and volume
A great way to grab everybody’s attention is to whisper or RAISE YOUR VOICE.
The change in pitch and volume will bring your mind-wandering direct reports back to the message you are communicating.
When you whisper, they will have to pay extra attention to hear what you are saying, and it will reinforce the point you are trying to make. Raising your voice will do the same.
When to whisper?
- Pretend to share a secret:
“I spoke to Martin from Marketing last week (activate whisper voice), and he shared that his department likes our team the best!”
- Pretend you are not comfortable saying something
I will usually whisper my swear words:
“We had another one of our deliveries canceled (activate whisper voice), F*******ck.”
These are two examples; you could choose to RAISE YOUR VOICE in both instances, which will work just as well to grab everybody’s attention.
Step 2: Variety in tempo
Nothing is more hazardous to our health than a monotonous speech.
I
Want You
To Remember
This Point
Slow down your tempo when you have something significant to say.
And you can temporarily speed up your tempo when you are summing up necessary but not crucially essential things:
(activate speak at double tempo:) Today we have in attendance: person 1, person 2, person 3….
Step 3: Variety in words
Elaborate on your vocabulary.
At Toastmasters (public speaking foundation), we would have a ‘word of the day.’ This word would be introduced at the beginning of the meeting: its pronunciation, meaning, and examples of how to use it.
Everyone scheduled to deliver a speech at that meeting had the task of using the word of the day at least once in their speech. This is a great way to increase your public speaking vocabulary.
I employed a similar strategy to expand my knowledge of proverbs. For one full year, I started my morning stand-up meeting with a proverb for that day. A direct report gifted me a book filled with different sayings, and I would choose something that I thought grabbed the spirit of that day.
This did not only expand my knowledge of proverbs but also brought some variety to the daily meetings.
Step 4: Variety in movements
Before you proceed, answer this question:
Are you a Statue or Runner?
I am a Runner. I am naturally inclined to move my arms and walk around when talking. I have had to put in a lot of practice to stand still and not let my arm movements distract my audience from my message.
If you are a statue, you probably do not move when speaking in public. Your feet are nailed to the ground.
My advice for Runners:
As most people are used to your excessive movements, you can bring some variety to your speech by pretending your feet are glued to the ground. Keep them from moving throughout your whole message. Do this several times until you are comfortable standing still while delivering a message. From there, you can choose when to walk or stand still.
My advice for Statues:
Practice using your hands to illustrate the point that you are making.
Talking about someone present? point to them with a closed hand.
Using a number below 10? illustrate with your fingers.
Once you are comfortable using your hands, you can practice walking around when necessary and possible.
An excellent way to start this practice is to start your speech at position A and end your speech at position B. Decide on positions A and B beforehand, and when in your message, you will walk from one to the other.
Continuous feedback
As you continue your journey from beginner to intermediate, you must continually ask for feedback.
If you are serious about improving your skills, I suggest you videotape yourself occasionally. Analyze the video to see what works and what does not.
And make sure you ask your direct reports what you can improve to hold their attention during meetings, presentations, and (going away) speeches.
My favorite ways are asking them in a 1-on-1 or through a google form.
The collected feedback is judgmentless information that I can decide to put to good use.
Every opportunity to speak in public is a chance to improve your craft.
Have Fun!
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