If you want to be a great real estate agent selling the homes of major stars and celebrities, then you are going to need to be a great public speaker. Here are seven public speaking techniques you can use to boost your skills.
1. The key is in the preparation
It is obvious that part of the confidence that an audience will have in you rests in their recognition of your competence. You must have a solid knowledge of your subject and adequately prepare your content, whether for a course or a conference. For example, if you want to give insights on property appraisals, then make sure you are prepared on the topic. Add stories and examples (it touches the kinesthetic side of the audience). Be aware, however, that jokes and entertainment never succeed in camouflaging poor content for very long. Also think about your audience.
2- Practice before speaking in public
According to KeynoteSpeakers.info, it’s important to take the time to practice out loud until you are comfortable with the process. Whenever you need to present a new topic, sit in an empty room with your Power Point presentation and act as if you are really giving your talk, out loud, as if you had an audience in front of you.
This will allow you to truly practice aloud, (it’s very different to read a text in your head and deliver it out loud), and to check the logic of your presentation, to measure if your content entered the time allotted and make the necessary changes. Then do it a second and sometimes a third time from start to finish. That way, when you present it to a real audience, it will be as if you had already delivered it.
3- Do you feel rusty?
If you have not had the opportunity to speak in public often, or if it has been a long time since you have done so and you feel rusty, it is a good idea to watch video conferences that offer sequences where you see the audience (from the speaker’s point of view). Visit TED where you will find hundreds of lectures on various topics for free.
4- Locate the venue
When your arrive at the place where you have to speak in front of an audience, for a conference, a course or a training, whenever possible, take a tour of the venue to feel it out. Go to the front, up on the stage if there is one, to have a preview of what you will have in front of you.
“This will allow you to immediately see its organization and to anticipate problems so as to resolve them with the organizers if possible before the start” suggests John Rogan of MotivationalSpeakerz.com. “Do not assume that the organizers will plan everything (unless it is a big event organized by professionals … and again). And don’t feel bad to ask for a change that would allow you to be more comfortable and not be distracted or disturbed.
5- Study other professional speakers
Attend several conferences (or watch them on your computer or e-reader) and observe what the speaker is doing. How does he introduce his subject, how does he bring his examples, how does he conclude, is he static or in motion, how is his Power Point or KeyNotes presentation constructed, etc.
And if the speaker is particularly annoying, get bored trying to figure out how he does to be so boring (or what he does not do).
6- Watch yourself
If your conference is videotaped, request a copy and watch yourself. Otherwise, make your conference in your living room and film yourself. There are so many technical means readily available today, like your cell phone.
There are very few people who like to see see themselves speak as it can be a painful experience. You will not like what you see or hear, you will find that you have speech tics, that you hesitate, that you gesticulate too much perhaps, that you hesitate, that your nose is too long etc. But as painful as it may be, it is a very valuable exercise.
And if you have a recording of an actual communication you made to an audience, even if you don’t like what you see, tell yourself that unlike the majority of people who are paralyzed with the idea of public speaking, you did it . So instead of beating yourself on the head, observe the process and first see what has worked well, what you are satisfied with, so as to create in you a good frame of mind.
Then find what worked less well and write it down.
Next, note how you can improve this next time. After each meeting, conference, course or training you give, take a few minutes to assess what had worked well. Write down one or two things that were not to your liking. This is always how we improve things, one step at a time.
7- Play your role
Step into the shoes of your character and play it as if it were a role: it is one! This is a means used by the best artists before a show, the best communicators before speaking in public, the best teachers before entering the classroom, the greatest athletes before a competition.
Before entering the scene, stand in the same way as an experienced speaker would be, totally confident in his means. “Breathe as if you were completely motivated, confident” suggests Sean Adams of MotivationPing.com. “Then play with the muscles of your face, smile and take the expression that you would have if you had an unshakable confidence in yourself.” Now, enter the room with the same approach as a speaker confident of his means, confident, perfectly motivated…
Put the spark of perfect self-confidence in your eyes. Look around your audience and make eye contact with those present, smile and they will smile back at you. Very quickly, you will find that your state of mind agrees with this physiology. (For more information, read How to enter the scene , in your book Dare to change: set course for your dreams ).
Get started!
It is by practicing that you will become better and possibly excellent. You may still be shy, it is often part of our temperament, but this shyness will no longer be a handicap. So if you really want it, you will put the energy and the time necessary to be a great speaker.