Your Message not Your Words

Whether you are involved in public speaking , sales, presentations, training, or any other profession requiring you to convey a concept to another person, the goal should be to emotionally charge the room with the energy of your topic. The words you use are not as relevant as the feelings you are creating. There have been many studies performed demonstrating similar thoughts:

"…words account for only 7 percent of the speaker's effect on an audience. A massive 55 percent of the speaker's impact comes from the visual, i.e., how he looks, facial expressions, gestures, body language and posture, etc., while 38 percent of this impact comes from voice: does he sound trustworthy, is his voice varied and interesting to listen to?" (Stuart, 1998, p. 4).

It is definitely important to competently deliver a message based on solid facts and figures, however, once that piece of the puzzle is in place you have to work on effectively delivering the emotion you intend to create in the room. Do you want your prospect to buy? Then give them the feeling of urgency. Do you want to further a cause? Then fill the room with a feeling of need. The words you say are the ingredients you throw in to the pot to stir up the participants. Without a strong emotion, no one will act any differently afterwards.

Most speakers and presenters spend too much time on details that won’t have much of an impact. Sure, these speakers get pats on the back and hearty congratulations on a job well done, but as soon as the participants leave the room, the message that was just presented is already long forgotten and replaced by the new topic of ‘what’s for lunch’.

So, how do you maneuver energy like that? How is it possible to get the audience to emotionally connect to the point you are driving? There are three basic steps.

1. You have to be 100% emotionally committed to your message.It is impossible to get someone absolutely fascinated and fired up about a topic that you have no interest in yourself. Your soul needs to be moved in regards to the topic at hand first if you want power in your message. If you are given a topic that you are initially not excited about, do yourself and the audience a favor by researching the topic until you find something that moves you. Then, focus on that part of the message.

2. You set the tone by the gestures you use and the fluctuations in the volume of your voice.You may have a serious and quiet personality, but if your outward appearance isn’t demonstrating enthusiasm about your topic your audience won’t either. A simple shift in your projection can powerfully move you into another level as a speaker. Practice in front of a mirror, tape record yourself, and then if you are not almost giggling to yourself because of how enthusiastic you sound, you’ve probably not changed much. Get stirred up, flare your hands once or twice, speak loudly and remember to fluctuate your tone during your message.

If you are not an excitable person, the point is not to be fake and act in a way that really does not demonstrate your true personality, but it is imperative to take it up two or three notches. Hiding behind the ‘this just isn’t me’ excuse will not cut it. If you want action from your audience, then give them a reason to follow you, because if they do not see that you yourself are enthused by your product or service, they will not be either.

3. Ask thought provoking questions and then shut up!

Most speakers will throw in great questions during their presentation which could give the audience an opportunity to let the point seep in, but then they immediately answer their own question and continue speaking. The power of a pause right after a great question can completely shift the emotion in an entire room. Throw in several great questions that you are sure the audience would know the answer to. Questions that would cause someone to step out of their la-la land and actually want to pay attention to the rest of your speech. Then pause. The rest of your speech will be more powerful because of this technique.

As you develop your speaking skills and realize that your speech is mostly about the emotion you are driving rather than the statistics you have researched you will begin to see shifts in the audience and action taken afterward. When you are given the opportunity to present, speak, or train, you have a hefty and honorable responsibility to convey a message that could change someone’s life. The best way to know you have succeeded is not by how many people come up to you and say, “Good job”, but by how many people take action after you are long gone.