SPEECH WOW FACTORS

Some of the more powerful tools are being congruent, having rhythm, a balance between detail and emotion, and being authentic. Other common sense tips will cover things like dress, acting, confidence and speaking clubs. Once you become a bit more proficient at speaking, you can start to develop some of these skills.

Dress

Always dress well on these occasions. One pearl of wisdom told to me was, always dress as well as the people we trust, and those people are likely to be lawyers, accountants etc. Another tip is to always dress better then the best dressed person in the room. For kids, I believe they should be well dressed to gain credibility as quickly as possible.

Acting

I have always found, almost without exception, that if a speaker acts like a confident and professional speaker, the audience will perceive them to be and treat them as such. It may be hard at first to do this as a few nerves are normal, but acting confident is a quick way to make you feel confident (it works) and set the audience at ease. Try it!

Mark Twain said "There are two kinds of speakers, those that are nervous and those that are liars", so I would cut the kids some slack if they are having trouble with mastering the nerves, it will ease over time.

Confidence

Confidence or a lack of nerves, are a result of practice, research and time spent in front of an audience. Nerves are almost impossible to get rid of. You only ever get to accept them and learn to go on with them. Practice is the key to nerves. If you know your speech and your topic, you can be confident that the speech will go well. It's as simple as that! Apologies if you're looking for a more in depth assessment of nerves, but in my experience, making the 'butterflies fly in formation' is the result of the time you are putting in.

Speaking Clubs

Speaking Clubs are an excellent method of gaining the real skills of public speaking permanently. There is no place better to learn to speak in front of an audience, than in front of an actual audience. Examples of these Clubs are Young Speakers Clubs (www.youngspeakers.org) or finding a Gavel Club (www.toastmasters.org) near you. If there are no clubs, then perhaps you might like to start one!

Being Congruent

Being Congruent is a term I have used over many years to explain the balance of the spoken word and the matching body language. Many times we have seen a person delivering a speech as if they were transfixed to the spot and their arms stuck by their sides. Some speech contests I have judged at, have this as a rule. To me this appears un-natural and out of balance. I have also seen other speakers who have a stream of gestures that flail and wave around, threatening people's eyesight, but again unrelated to the speech they are delivering. Congruency between the word and the gesture is important, so when you talk about how big a fish is, you show that with your hands, or how high you climbed, you show that with your hands. Congruency is a powerful tool and allows you access to 100 honest, genuine, real, and speaking from the heart.