Ink And Reason

Hi there, welcome to my blog! Today I want to share with you how I learned to speak like a pro, and how you can do it too. It all started when I was in high school and I participated in a debate club. I was always fascinated by the art of persuasion and argumentation, and I wanted to improve my skills and confidence. I participated in many public speaking events and learned a lot from my mentors and peers. I also discovered that speaking is not only about logic and facts but also about emotions and storytelling.

After high school, I decided to pursue my passion for history and became a teacher. I taught history for three years in middle school and high school, and I loved it. I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm with my students, and I learned how to adapt my style and content to different audiences and contexts. I also realized that speaking is not only about delivering information but also about engaging and inspiring your listeners.

Later, after many professional experiences, I became a trainer in a corporate and entrepreneurial setting. I started to design and deliver workshops and seminars on various topics, such as communication, leadership, HR, lie detection, negotiation, sales, etc. I worked with different clients and industries, and I faced new challenges and opportunities. I learned how to speak with authority and credibility, and how to tailor my message to the needs and expectations of my clients. I also learned that speaking is not only about achieving your goals but also about creating value and impact for your audience.

So, how did I manage to learn how to speak in all these different situations? Well, there is no magic formula or secret recipe, but there are some techniques that can help you improve your speaking skills. Here are some of them:

– Practice, practice, practice. The more you speak, the more comfortable and confident you will become. Seek feedback from others and learn from your mistakes. Record yourself and watch your performance. Try different formats and topics, and challenge yourself to speak in front of different audiences.

– Prepare well. Know your purpose, your audience, your content, and your context. Research your topic and gather relevant information and evidence. Organize your ideas into a clear structure with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Use transitions and signposts to guide your listeners through your speech. And always start with the conclusion in mind while constructing the rest of the speech.

– Be yourself. Don’t try to imitate someone else or copy their style. Find your voice and personality, and express them in your speech. Use your own words and examples, and avoid jargon and clichés. Be authentic and sincere, and show your passion and enthusiasm for your topic.

– Tell stories. Stories are powerful tools to capture attention, create interest, evoke emotions, illustrate points, persuade opinions, inspire actions, etc. Use stories from your own experience or from other sources to make your speech more memorable and relatable. Use vivid language and imagery to make your stories come alive. That also helps people remember your speech and, of course, about you. People remember how you made them feel, not exactly what you said.

– Connect with your audience. Don’t just talk at them, talk with them. Establish rapport and trust with your listeners by using eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, vocal variety, etc. Ask questions and invite feedback. Adapt your speech to their reactions and feedback. Show respect and appreciation for their time and attention.

And another thing: anxiety. If you don’t feel anxiety and you’re not nervous before opening your mouth in front of an audience, then you must be either a robot or you have some serious psychological problems. That nervousness should recede after the first moments, as you start to feel the audience’s mood, you see their first reactions and you start playing your role. Choose a few people to anchor your attention to, and get visual feedback from them. Also, if the audience appears to be very serious and that puts more pressure on me, I use a trick I learned in high school. I start to imagine some of them in the most trivial circumstances, like eating, sitting on a toilet, sun-basking almost naked. That puts me in a funny disposition and I realize that no matter what, they can’t know more than me about the subject I am talking about, and also, they are also human beings, not some gods evaluating my behavior. You know how I discovered this trick? I was intimidated by a teacher that was very strict and imperative. One day, I met her while she was just exiting the teacher’s toilet. While she walk past me with a martial posture, I saw a band of toilet paper stuck on her nice shoes. From that moment on, every time I was feeling intimidated in classes, I remembered that scene and smiled. We are all people and we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously.

These are some of the techniques that helped me learn how to speak effectively in different situations. Of course, there are many more tips and tricks that you can find online or in books or courses on public speaking. But the most important thing is to have fun with it! Speaking is an enjoyable and rewarding activity that can enrich your personal and professional life.

I hope you found this blog post useful and interesting. If you did, please share it with your friends or leave a comment below. And if you want to learn more about speaking or other topics related to personal development, please subscribe to my blog or follow me on social media.

Thank you for reading!