Author: Kenyon Salo
The Mindset That Makes Me a Successful Speaker and communicating well have been integral parts of my identity for as long as I can remember. Whether it was a classroom full of my peers back in school or an auditorium full of strangers at a big event, there has always been something immensely fulfilling about […]
The Mindset That Makes Me a Successful Speaker and communicating well have been integral parts of my identity for as long as I can remember.
Whether it was a classroom full of my peers back in school or an auditorium full of strangers at a big event, there has always been something immensely fulfilling about being able to capture and hold people’s attention.
I’ve learned a lot over the years about how audiences react to body language, projection, energy, etc to become a Successful Speaker. And those things are certainly important for anybody who wants to teach, motivate, or entertain others through their speech.
Ultimately, however, even the most charismatic motivational Successful Speaker will lose an audience’s attention quickly if they don’t know this one fundamental principle of speaking:
It’s not about you, it’s about the audience.
You probably don’t get to be a motivational speaker without first achieving some personal success in your life. After all, not many people would want to learn how to live a better life from somebody who doesn’t actually have some firsthand experience at it. But I can tell you right now, if you want to be a speaker so that you can be the center of attention, it’s not going to work. The audience didn’t come to listen to you talk about yourself the whole time, they are there to learn how they can improve themselves.
It’s more important to be interested than interesting. There is no “I” when you’re up on a stage, there is only “we” — the community of people in that room who share the common goal of self-improvement. Cliché or not, you need to understand those things to be the Successful Speaker that you are capable of being.
When you make it about the audience, they’ll give you their attention all the way through.
So what knowledge, wisdom, enthusiasm, and passion can you impart onto that audience? How can you share your story and message in a way that others can relate to and that helps them aspire to reach for their own personal goals?
Speak as a means of helping and giving back to others. You have an opportunity to positively impact each and every person that came to listen to you. Take that opportunity seriously and the career success will follow.
Article originally published on Medium by Kenyon Salo
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