A recent Guy Kawasaki's article entitled "How to Get a Standing Ovation" published on the LinkedIn social network was viewed more than 13,000 times in a single day. In the article, the successful venture capitalist and author of popular motivational books summarizes practical tips for public speaking. Needless to say, he begins in a motivational way: "When I started public speaking in about 1986, I was deathly afraid of public speaking..." After some time, however, he has got comfortable at public speaking and the fear disappeared. How can you achieve the same?
The most important thing is to have an interesting message. According to Kawasaki, the message represents up to 80% of the success of a speech. If you are invited to speak at a certain event but you would have nothing to say there, reject it. Do not confuse a speech for a more or less professional audience with a product presentation. If you want to talk about your products, never disparage the competition.
Kawasaki sees the main objective of public speaking in the amusement of the audience. If your speech is entertaining, the audience would leave with the information you want to pass. It does, however, not work in the opposite way - they would not remember anything from a boring speech. Stories will help you get the audience's attention.
You should know three things about every audience you will speak to: what trends are emerging in their field, how their competition looks like and what key challenges they are currently facing. Kawasaki recommends to chat with the audience before the start of your speech. Get to know the people who will sit in the first rows. Then you can seen friendly faces just in front of you.
When it comes to clothing, always dress one level above the audience. Underdressing would only show your superiority, which is not desirable. If you can choose the time and place for your speech, always choose a smaller room and the beginning of the event.
And the final advice? You might not want to hear it, but you can't avoid it: You have to practice. You have to repeat your speech at least twenty times in advance to become a good one.
-kk-