I'm going to share with you some of my tips for effective speaking skills. These should help you get past some of your own personal sticking points, so you can focus on the main characteristics of a good speaker. You don't always have to feel totally congruent inside with what you're doing to be a great speaker.
Don't hide behind the podium: The podium is your base camp, but you don't have to always hide behind it. It really depends on where you're presenting that determines how far you can really move around. If you're on a big stage, you can get out from behind the podium and walk around a bit. Keeps people's eyes moving to follow you. If you're in a smaller room, you can't always move that much, but you have to remember that a podium is meant for holding notes and things like that. It isn't something to protect you from the glaring eyes of the audience.
Story Telling: Story telling is one of the best communication skills you can have. It dates back to caveman days where they drew pictures on the walls of caves. Telling a story is a great way to communicate who you are, what your point is, build rapport and make it entertaining. It is a very powerful tool. Don't be rigid and think you have to do speeches like Ben Stein, you can break away from that, tell a story and build rapport with the audience.
Tell the audience what to do: The whole point of your speech is to inform the audience to do something. Don't forget to tell them what they should be doing at the end. You need to think of it from the perspective of the audience, "what am I supposed to do". Answer that question at the end of the speech.
Becoming a charismatic and moving speaker is in the grasp of all people. If you're looking to learn to transform yourself from an ordinary speaker to extraordinary speaker, check out Public Speaking Ebooks.
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