More learning occurs through emotion than through intellect C.S. Lewis Even Hillary Clinton needs presentation skills. In an article in the NY Post the headline read Rookie Orator is Learning to Talk the Talk.Hillary hs benefitted from public speaking tips from her fellow Senators. Accused of being monotone, they told her to spice up her style or risk putting her listeners to sleep. The article went on to say that she had moved from lecturing and is emulating the style of Senator Ted Kennedy who uses emotion. The result was that Hillary started using more movement, pacing the floor, using wider gestures, and making use of the dramatic pause. If a seasoned speaker like Hillary needed to fine tune her speaking skills what are you doing to get to the next level? Today, good platform skills are not enough. With so many graduates of Toastmasters, the bar has been raised. The mechanics of speaking are not enough. In the past people depended so much on the message, that they believed if they mastered the mechanics, the message would carry them. But in an age where we are bombarded by 70,000 messages a day, a compelling message is no longer enough. We must go beyond the being the messenger to being a conduit. We must move beyond the mechanics and into chemistry. When a speaker achieves chemistry with the audience only then can he or she achieve high trust connections. To achieve high trust connections, we must move from our heads to our hearts-to the emotion of the message. So stop being a talking head and connect from the heart. Only then will people trust, believe, and move to action! |
