Archive for September, 2005

Public speakers are looked upon as leaders. The men who run a country are men who speak well and fluently. More people have talked themselves into prominence than have gained world renown through all other fields of endeavor combined. Remember how the speaking talents of a youthful Senator recently raised him to the most powerful position in the world?

Some people play down the influence of persuasive talkers, yet they cannot escape the fact that a good speaker frequently takes over the reins and rides in the driver’s seat. An intelligent business man accepts the inevitable; instead of resisting public speakers, he becomes one of them. The ability to speak well can carry an individual far in the capacity of an interesting conversationalist. Take any group of people; the persons they prefer to hear are those who have something to say and know how to say it.

The same instincts that make men turn and listen to the articulate individual in private conversation, make them turn and listen to public speakers. The ability to say something articulately is likewise the ability to give lucid directions on a job, commands to subordinates, and entreaties in the home.

How to tell or sell an interesting topic is the elusive goal of many and the coveted secret of few-yet it’s an ability within the reach of all. For the shy or dry, a little preparation can add wit and sparkle to speech.

Very few comedians are naturally, spontaneously, funny. They need snappy lines to put them over. With few exceptions, radio and television entertainers follow their scripts so closely they don’t ad lib so much as a sneeze-yet many of them rack up reputations as clever personalities when in reality they’re cashing in on the creativity of their writers.

Public speaking cannot be classified as a fine art. Its purpose is not exhibitionism; it is the transmission of ideas. If your mind wanders from the idea you hope to convey and you wonder whether the audience is impressed by your platform appearance, studied gestures or polished delivery, you will lose their attention.

They are not interested in your showmanship-only in the idea you came to convey. If that idea offers a fresh approach or a well considered opinion, you’ve hit pay dirt and got a gusher; but if you give out only harangue and hurrah, you’ll rate as only another gasser.

The Way to Convey Ideas

When a speaker has faith in his message and is eager to have his hearers share it, what he says rings with sincerity. The sincere man needs neither rhetoric nor sugar-coated expressions. He conveys his message merely by expressing his thoughts in a clear, orderly and articulate manner. When it’s his turn to talk, he’ll rise and shine. He leaves the bombastic approach to the professional politician; the glossy polish to the platform lecturer; and leaves to the lawyer, the preacher, and the professor, each his own peculiar style. The person who engages in public speaking only as a part-time and outside activity usually has a worthwhile thought to share. Earnestly concerned with a cause, this occasional speaker rather than the professional spellbinder, gains the greatest return.

Bargains In Public Speaking

As long as people remain gregarious and hold group meetings, they will exchange ideas. As long as people need a medium for exchanging ideas, public speaking will be popular. Another reason for its popularity is because it’s such an unbeatable bargain. If you have a dollar and I have a dollar and we exchange dollars, we will each still have one dollar; but if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange ideas, we will each have two ideas.

The value of experience in public speaking cannot be estimated in dollars and cents for it accumulates intangible assets. It develops business and advances the professions. It’s a public relations format that brings big returns. Communities look to people who talk well and convincingly for leadership. The person who can express an idea clearly is likely to become a V.I.P. His presence and his opinions are sought at public functions. A speaker may acquire more prestige in five minutes of successful public speaking than in five years of grinding work. Have you ever noticed how the man who receives the most favorable attention and who commands the greatest respect is the one who delivers a few well-chosen words on some subject under discussion? He is remembered long after the regular attender is forgotten.

A Panorama

Today’s concept of speaking up to the boss or talking for public consumption varies widely from the conceptions that existed in the immediate past. Education has advanced to a point where the majority of today’s salespeople transmit their ideas as clearly as did most Senators at the turn of the century. The successful person today must have a good command of the English language. He must express himself clearly and fluently in commonplace business conversation, across the conference table, or from a speaker’s platform.

Bread and Butter Oratory

To succeed today, a man must be able to speak effectively. The identical rules that a public speaker observes apply to the fellow who wants to reach executive rank. The rules that a modern Demosthenes heeds are identical with the rules that the fellow must follow to lift his “management” level.

The old Bryan style of crowd oratory is as dated today as buggy riding. The modern approach is by way of factual, intimate speeches with the other fellow’s viewpoint (no matter how inconsequential) getting more consideration. When you let the fellow on the other side of the fence know that you can look through his glasses and see the same thing he sees, he is more willing to see your side too.

After all, isn’t the most successful trial lawyer the one who can set out the opponent’s case more clearly than the opponent’s attorney? These forensic influences have turned effective speaking from a public harangue into a calm, informal, fact-facing consideration of a subject, and the type of public speaker now adopts an almost conversational attitude in intimate pep talks, business sessions, director’s sessions and stockholders’ meetings. Speaking publicly has become private conversation raised to a larger audience level.

Since effective public speaking has changed from “show” to “know,” the same tested techniques that apply to successful speaking apply to private get-togethers. Under today’s conditions, speaking helps men in “management” and can lift the level of the junior executive. Since modern public speaking is but conversation with more people present, a modern speaker’s skill must be seasoned with the same condiments whether he is a politician addressing a convention, or a junior “exec” promoting an idea to a luncheon group or to the executive board.