by Geoffrey James – @Sales_Source

Tip Number 1: Use self-deprecating humor to lower barriers.

By puncturing your own balloon, he makes everyone feel more comfortable and more sympathetic to what he has to say.

Tip Number 2: Tie your experience to the shared experience.

Relate your personal experience at the conference to that of the attendees. It helps humanize you and bring you into the community of the audience.

Tip Number 3: Get the audience to take an immediate action.

The point of all public speaking is to convince the audience to make a decision, which means convincing them to move (conceptually) from wherever they are to where you want them to be. Getting the audience to do something physical gives you that momentum.

Tip Number 4: Create a sense of suspense.

If you give the audience something to look forward to in your speech, they will be more likely to pay attention lest they miss the promised nugget of wisdom.

Tip Number 5: Express passion for your subject matter.

The passion you feel for your material will shine through in your demeanor. Be energetic and focused, and that energy will give a boost to the audience.

Tip Number 6: Set appropriate expectations.

Deconstruct the preconceptions of the audience while simultaneously focusing their attention on what they can potentially learn from him.

Tip Number 7: Begin with a relevant anecdote.

Stories have power because human beings are genetically programmed to arrange thoughts into narratives. Choose an anecdote that is relevant to both yourself and your message.

Tip Number 8: Use body language to signal a segue.

Change your expression and stance to communicate to the audience that the topics are changing tone. These visual cues help the audience make sense of the material, much like punctuation in a sentence.

Tip Number 9: Start with a startling fact or statistic.

Startling facts grab the attention of both sides of the brain. The neurons in your left brain signal “Yay, here’s a fact to remember!” while the neurons in your right brain signal “wow, that’s really weird!”

Tip Number 10: Use visually arresting graphics.

Choose graphics that successfully convey information and also emotionally stimulate and you can completely capture the imagination and interest of the audience.

Tip Number 11: Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Harder said than done, but simplify without being simplistic. Work on reducing complex ideas into easily understood chunks of content.