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Writer's pictureRob Basichis

THE ART OF SPEAKING

Updated: Apr 9



When you deliver a speech, like writing a book, blog, or essay, you want to form a story with the beginning, middle, and end seamlessly blended. A well-written speech begs a question or a series of questions. Be prepared to answer them. 


Most stories and speeches are built on three parts. 

1. Address your main points and significant characters or actions quickly. 

2. Your speech should transition through conflict and obstacles. 

3. Finalize the story with a resolution. 


Almost every performance worth seeing or listening to on the radio, television, or the big screen incorporates those three components. Subplots and side characters will embellish the tale, but a well-written story tailored for the eye or told audibly should follow the three parts listed above. Once you learn the three-part structure, you can write and deliver speeches or lectures on any topic within the realm of your expertise.  


Ten tips for speaking to an audience (University of South Wales) Here is their website.

For more information on these tips, visit their website: https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/speaking-audience

  • Practice, practice, practice. 

  • Speak, wait to read. 

  • Be yourself. 

  • Aim for a positive state of mind and a confident attitude.

  • Use verbal signposting.

  • Use examples, illustrations, and humor.

  • Ask questions and invite participation. 

  • Be aware of eye contact and body language.


  •  Remember: Giving a speech requires skill sets beyond writing a blog post or composing an essay. You must learn to phrase your words sincerely and from the heart. A speech must flow smoothly without fumbling or chopping up words and sentences.  Fumble too often, and you risk distracting the listeners and losing their attention.  Getting an audience's attention back after losing it is difficult. Practice your speech several days before you give it. Practice in front of a mirror, take a video of the speech and watch for ways to improve it. Practice before your spouse, kids, uncles, aunts, and cousins until you get it down pat. (Repetition is the key to a well-given speech.)  


It would help if you made unequivocal and forceful statements that carry actual messages to listeners' ears and minds, keeping them engaged from the beginning to the end of your speech. People will quickly lose interest in a wishy-washy speaker with weak content. 

As we mentioned, most stories begin as questions that require answers, which are then fine-tuned with relevant content from within your knowledge base. 


You must develop a speaking and storytelling strategy that works for you.  

Sometimes, you can’t deliver the whole gist of your story in one engagement, or you may have to break it down into parts. 


Can you teach a group of newbie agents how to become champion real estate agents in one speech? No, but you can break it into sections like I have done in this book and speak about it one topic at a time to meet the challenge. With a PowerPoint Presentation, it would take me over an hour to explain how to write a Blog. 


Make up a series of speeches lasting forty to six minutes; holding a crowd’s attention for longer is hard. You can deliver your speeches in person, as I prefer, or use a platform like Zoom. I like to use Zoom for one-on-one instruction, but with a larger audience, I want to engage in person.


It doesn’t matter what platform you use to make a speech. Do whatever you think will be the most effective and comfortable to get your point across. The main goal is to achieve your objective: to deliver a speech that holds a group's attention and makes it memorable.  


Before giving a speech, I converse with the brokers and managers. They’ll be watching, so I want to give them a gist about the material I will cover. I gift them my book; they'll hope they’ll read through it and encourage their agents to read it. The book works well as a calling card; if a broker or instructor reads it, it will increase my value if they like what they read and recommend it to others.  


Each agent gets a handout of an outline that bullet points the main subjects. I added a couple of blank pages for them to take notes on. When the speech ended, I noticed how many outlines were taken along for future reference rather than discarded in the wastebaskets or left behind on the desks. It’s a great gauge to determine how many people were paying attention. As your delivery improves, you should see more agents walking away with your outline to use for further reference. 


If your speech is worthwhile, you’ll have a chance to make an impact. Start touting your speeches on social media to build a following. Send postcards, drip-mail, and flyers to announce your next session with a short review of the subject matter. 


Remember, the methods I am describing do not only pertain to real estate. They can be used in multiple unrelated sales industries. For instance, the methods will work with these industries and others once you get on top of your game. and begin spreading your knowledge:

Sales Engineer. ... 

Financial Services Sales Agent. ... 

Advertising Sales Executive. ... 

Insurance Sales Manufacturer's

Medical Device Sales RepreseHere'se. …


Here’s a short essay by (Mansi Rastogi) that I paraphrased.  

‘Here is a million-dollar question. The person who figures it out and takes action can make millions of dollars in less than seven years.'

If you are selling a product like everyone else, first, the only thing you can add is service. Zappos sells shoes, but they are known for their customer service more than their shoes and boot apparel. At least, this was the case before they were sold to Amazon. 

The second thing is to find a niche and a sweet spot between what you sell and the gap in the market. Fable Street entered an overcrowded fashion market, selling only to working women looking for specific types of clothes for work. They understood the need well and the problems they faced in this competitive market and won.

The third thing to do is focus solely on your customers when promoting yourself. More them, less you. Zappos built their brand around their customer stories. Everyone loves a good story.

Fourth, be laser-focused by marketing everything you do. You’ll be surprised how most companies lose sales because they don't bother investing in branding, which becomes the consumers' eyes.

Fifth is to show up to serve, not sell. Customers can smell a sleazy salesperson a mile away. Learn how to sell in a non-sleazy, genuine way.

Sixth is to position your product and service in the market correctly. Find a brand consultant/advisor/coach to help you place yourself well. It will pay off huge dividends later.’


If you follow the right approach, you can sell anything. Sales are sales from automobiles to It'silizer. It’s not the product– it's the pitch that sells. 


SPEAKING STRATEGIES

When you reach a central point anywhere during your speech, tell the crowd to listen carefully. Say whatever you need to say to get their minds focused. You will have to reiterate no matter what, but giving them a heads up that something important is coming is like putting a little yellow sticky note on the front of their brains; they'll, they’ll remember.   

Say something like, “If you miss what I am about to say, you will lose the gist of the entire presentation."   That might wake them up, but they don’t completely miss the overall point. 

Create content that flows, connecting your thoughts sequentially and building bridges to form ideas in the listener's mind.  You can quickly lose the audience if a portion of your speech goes unheard or misunderstood.  You must always maintain control of the listeners by using language that draws attention to yourself and your content. All your efforts and preparation can leave you in a futile exercise of turning oxygen into carbon dioxide if your crowd isn't getting what you are saying. 


If your material is content-heavy, change the pace. Speak slower. Put extra emphasis on essential words and phrases. Repeat what you said if some listeners didn’t understand you the first time. If someone looks confused, ask them if there is anything you can clarify. If you must repeat a point, do it tastefully. Use repetition as a catalyst to meld your subject matter together so people can tell you what you’re saying. 

Using a PowerPoint that sounds out your main points can be helpful. You can refer to it, but be mindful not to read from it directly or use it as a speech-giving tool. PowerPoint is a good reference tool for you and the audience, helping to keep you on track. 


Mix the projection and volume of your voice. 

Some rooms' acoustics allow people to hear you in a whisper. If you can get away with whispering during crucial portions of your speech, by all means, do it. When people hear a whisper, their minds start to think something secret is being said; if they don’t stop listening, they might be left out. Use it sparingly because the audience will eventually become annoyed if they can't hear what a speaker is saying. They’ll yell at you and tell you to speak up. 


Sometimes, you want to go in the opposite direction and raise your voice. Lawyers use this trick when they want to convince judge and jury. A seasoned attorney can fill a courtroom with booming voices that get all eyes pointed at them and grab everyone’s attention. Arguments to the contrary say that it isn't that it isn’t overly masculine and can win a case more effectively, but I beg to differ. If I ever needed an attorney to defend my life, I’d pick the one with the most powerful and convincing voice to drive the point home. F. Lee Bailey, we need you.  


Always make eye contact. Engaging listeners who think you are speaking to a wall is challenging. Make eye contact with them. They’re your best friend, then move on to someone else. It’s good to have short, intermittent, one-on-one conversations with people. They've how they’ve been doing in the real estate business. Have they earned a commission yet? Get personal but not intrusive. Ask about what they did before entering real estate. Do it more than once since it makes things all the more human. 

A trap you can fall into when speaking with people in the crowd is to begin talking about yourself. You want to avoid that altogether. Nobody cares about your career and past success. That is not what they came to hear. They took their valuable time to listen to you to help advance their don't, so don’t bore them and waste time with war stories. Save that for when you are with your buddies swapping stories in a bar during happy hour.   


Remember that a speech is a story with a beginning, middle, and end. You can tell side stories occasionally to keep the audience engaged, but stick to the main points overall. To become a powerful speaker falls under the rule I’ve been hocking in this book from the beginning. The more you do it, your letter you’ll become. There are all these methods of talking to yourself in the mirror, creating a mantra that helps you quell your fear when you get up on the stage, watching videos, and listening to audio tapes of yourself. Maybe all those wouldn't. I wouldn’t know. My method is to overprepare. Once before an audience, I bite down on my fear to deliver a good performance. 

 

Maintaining Presence

  • Nervousness usually comes from anticipation. If you’re neurotic like I am, all the fears you built up about addressing an audience are a fabrication of your consciousness and will fade away once you begin to deliver. 

  • Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm. It's all about finding what works for you. Drinking a cup of peppermint tea before you speak may not be a bad idea. .  Drinking water every so often as a prop may do you well. Once you find what works, stick to it.

  • Before you begin speaking, introduce yourself to the audience. Personal interactions and humor bring a human feel to the atmosphere and make you seem accessible. 

  • Try to learn as many names as possible to make the impression that you are there to lend instruction as a peer instead of coming off like some authoritarian headmaster, which triggers a fear from childhood and school days in many people. It does it to me.   

  • Find something that calms you when you're nervous about speaking, like grabbing a Koosh ball resting in your coat pocket. Smile, laugh, tap dance–do whatever it takes to calm the nerves. 


Practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more. 

Rehearse aloud and work with the props you plan to use when giving the speech. Revise as necessary. Work to limit filler words like um and ah; exercise, pause, then breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected. The more you practice, the more natural and well-spoken you will sound. As your confidence becomes more assertive, you will become more convincing and believable.  


If you're nervous or have accidentally misspoken, don't draw people's attention to it by apologizing. Just get on with what you have to say, and when your speech smooths out, the audience will soon forgive and forget your mistakes. Saying, Guys, I'm just"so nervous, or "Oops" is awkward," will only make things more awkward and uncomfortable. Everyone makes their own, and there's no need to acknowledge yours to the audience. 

 

Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus away from your anxieties and concentrate on your message and audience. The most important thing is to get your point across, not to look like Steve Jobs when you do it. Focusing less on yourself will make you feel less self-conscious and more like a messenger, taking off much of the pressure. Before you speak, remind yourself about the important message you must convey and why sharing it matters. This will make you stop worrying about talking too fast or sweating too much.


Gain experience. Your speech should mainly represent you—as an authority and a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide your expertise in a safe and friendly environment. Getting into the habit of giving speeches or speaking publicly will also help you succeed. Even if you want to talk confidently in front of friends or strangers, the more you do it, the better you'll get at it. It's like any other skill.

 

Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative, and enThey'reing. They’re rooting for you. Think positively about what you must do before you begin, and know that no one wants you to trip, stumble over your words, or forget what you will say. Everyone wants the best for you, and you should want that, too. Speaking can be a scary thing whether you're talking to a football stadium of people or just your class; everyone wants you to do your best.

Read more English books. Have as many conversations with fluent English speakers as possible. Look at those you don't know and then use them regularly so you won't forget.

 

Practice. You can start small, such as talking to yourself and then contacting your family and friends to practice. Praise yourself when you fix a mistake or do well on another problem you selected. If you need to remember, take a second, but don't show the audience you forgot. We are all human, so being nervous or failing is okay.


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