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
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter
The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
New York, USA (24 March 2022) – The endangered black rhino in South Africa will receive extraordinary help from Wall Street with a new “Rhino Bond” that will only increase in value as the animal’s population increases! The pilot project has already been backed by the Washington-based lender which has issued a $150 million loan (over R2 […]
Don’t you just love when prospects ask you that question? – What Makes You Different? If you recognize the question as the true trap that it is, and you know how to deal with it, then you love it. If you don’t treat that question as the trap that it is, you’re toast. For […]
Guide to Making Decisions can be daunting (just choosing a type of peanut butter in the grocery store can be a mammoth task), yet if we are to move forward in life and business we need to make decisions, and we need to make good ones if we are to navigate this chaotic world properly. In […]
Today I tried to count how many minutes of the last two decades I spent holding my breath being Comfortably Uncomfortable. Decade one of freediving competitively where I would train several five minute breath-holds a week with a maximum of just over six minutes every other days. Hundreds of dives down to 20 then 30 […]
According to leadership guru Warren Bennis, “leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Rugby and Leadership captains have that innate ability to do just this, Rugby and leadership go hand-in-hand . Here in South Africa we have witnessed numerous leaders connected to the sport of rugby who have displayed such qualities. I have […]
Last week I got to spend five and a half hours of Beyond Strategy with one of the most influential strategic thinkers alive today, Gary Hamel. He has written five global best-selling books, published 17 papers in Harvard Business Review, and has taught at London Business School for 30 years. But most importantly, Gary has […]
Worrying is psychologically debilitating and The Opposite of Worrying Planning Recently, I helped a client eliminate the worrying component in his narrative which was causing serious procrastination. This is not unusual, and here are some thoughts for those who find themselves trapped in this wheel of hell. I understand worry intimately. I know those who […]
Whenever I speak about my entrepreneurial journey on Digital Inclusion, I often start by stating that I’m from Terry, MS. The big city of Terry with a population of a little over one thousand residents and only stop signs, no stoplights. I open with that statement because I want anyone reading or hearing about my […]
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
