Albert Schweitzer
Improve Your Speaking Style
Jerry Weissman
Though it may seem that President Barack Obama is a born public speaker, his talents are rooted in a set of techniques that anyone can learn...
Connect with individuals. President Obama looks directly at one person in the audience while delivering each phrase. He shifts his gaze from person to person only between sentences or ideas. This gives the president time to form connections with audience members. He never "sweeps the crowd" with his eyes in an attempt to look at everyone. Facial expressions tend to appear insincere when we are not focused on another face. Also...
He frequently uses the word "you." When a speaker says "you," listeners feel that the speaker is speaking directly to them.
He opens with topics that resonate with his audience. Only when the president sees heads nodding in agreement does he move on to more controversial matters.
He learns the names of well-known locals and sprinkles them into his speeches. This creates the sense that the president and audience members have common acquaintances, forming a personal connection.
He mentions items from that day’s local news. This helps his presentations feel current -- even if he has delivered the speech many times.
Vocally punctuate phrases. President Obama’s words don’t drag on in long streams. He divides his speeches into phrases, each of which conveys a single complete idea. He drops the pitch of his voice at the end of each of these phrases and pauses before starting the next one.
Why speak this way? The varied tone and pace hold listeners’ attention. Lowering the pitch at the end of each phrase sounds confident. Pauses between phrases give listeners time to absorb the message. They also give the president time to breathe so that he never sounds rushed or winded and rarely resorts to "ummm" or "ahhh" fillers.
Restrain your body language. The president has excellent posture when he speaks. His back is straight, his shoulders are back and square. This makes him appear poised and confident. His hands move when he speaks, but they rarely move beyond the edges of his lectern. Speaking with no hand movement looks stiff and unnatural, but wide gestures can make a speaker seem overwrought.
Use narrative techniques. These include...
Antithesis. Contrasting ideas are juxtaposed using a similar structure. Example: "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America."
Alliteration. Two or more words with the same first letter are used in rapid succession. Example: Note the recurring "p" sounds in "Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?"
Anaphora. A word or phrase is repeated several times. Example: "Tonight, if you feel the same energy that I do, if you feel the same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, if you feel the same hopefulness that I do... then I have no doubt... the people will rise up in November."
Anecdotes. Stories about real people are used to establish larger points. Example: President Obama didn’t just present his opinions about the Iraq war in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention -- he told the story of a Marine named Shamus.
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You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.
Harlan Ellison