Steven D. Cohen - Public Speaking: The Path to Success

Public Speaking

The Path to Success

Steven D. Cohen

Copyright 2013 Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc.

First published in the United States of America in 2011 by Cognella, Inc.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Author photo: Jeffry Pike copyright President and Fellows of Harvard College

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-62131-403-5

Dedication

To my mother

for giving me the strength

to stand on the podium in the first place

Acknowledgments

I want to acknowledge my student assistants, Daniel DeFraia and Christopher Drury, for making helpful suggestions throughout the writing process. I also want to thank my friend, Thomas Wei, for partnering with me to explore the relationship between music and speech. Finally, I want to express gratitude to my talented students for inspiring me to write this book.

Preface

P ublic speaking is not really about speaking in public. Although public speaking involves sharing ideas with a group of people, it is mainly a mechanism for exercising leadership.

Public Speaking: The Path to Success introduces a unique set of powerful public speaking techniques that you can use to champion a cause that matters to you. It is organized as an action-oriented guide that you can begin using right away to become a more effective public speaker. While this book wont make you a professional public speaker overnight, it will give you the toolsand hopefully the confidenceto stand up in front of a crowd and speak powerfully.

In the pages that follow, you will learn how to:

Lead from the Podium

Your primary goal as a speaker is to lead your audience members toward a particular objective. But before you can lead, you must think like a leader, and above all, know where you want to go. The first part of this book will help you develop a leadership mindset, examine your default public speaking settings, champion your cause, and embrace the art of practice. After understanding these concepts, you will be able to exercise leadership in new and exciting ways.

Connect with Your Audience

The key to connecting with your audience members is to imagine that you are going on a first date with them. If you want them to listen to what you are saying, you must first show them that you are worth listening to. The second part of this book will help you conduct an audience analysis, manage first impressions, create a strong bond, and own the room. If you employ these ideas effectively, you will be able to impress your audience members and easily land a second date.

Use Your Voice

Like a guitar or trumpet, your voice is an instrument. You can use the musical properties of your voice to coat your words with emotion and take your audience members on a musical journey. The third part of this book will help you tune your voice, layer the five key musical elements, and elicit specific emotional responses from your audience. Once you master these concepts, you will be able to use your voice to produce a powerful symphony of words.

Construct Memorable Messages

If you want to construct memorable messages, you cant just write down a bunch of words and read them to your audience. You must think about where you want to take your audience members, and use words that will help you take them there. The fourth part of this book will help you use powerful language, tell moving anecdotes, and leverage repetition. After digesting these ideas, you will be able to construct messages that leave a lasting impact on your audience members.

Deliver Specialized Speeches

You can stand out from the crowd by delivering powerful impromptu speeches, persuasive speeches, and inspirational speeches. Although these types of speeches may appear challenging, you can impress your audience members by structuring your ideas in specific ways. The fifth part of this book will introduce specific techniques to help you deliver dynamic speeches. By using these techniques, you will be able to motivate your audience members to trust you, follow you, and believe in you.

These five parts are full of practical techniques that you can use to design and deliver powerful speeches. Even if you apply just a few of these techniques to your next speech, you will dramatically improve your ability to speak powerfully from the podium and captivate your audience members.

I hope that you will use the techniques in this book to pursue your passion and support a cause that really matters. Now is the time to use your voice to change minds and change hearts. Now is the time to lead .

P ART

LEADING FROM
THE PODIUM

The Leadership Mindset

E very time you deliver a speech, you are, in fact, leading. Whether you are a student, an executive, a politician, or a professor, you must lead your audience toward a particular objective. Your job isnt simply to communicate ideas to your audience members. Your job is to show them that you are a leader .

Your audience members wont remember everything that you say, but they will remember what they thought of you. This is why it is important that you develop the mindset of a leader. With the proper mindset, you will be able to convince your audience members that you care about them and that you want to help them achieve their goals.

To get your audience members on your side, it is essential that they trust youtrust that you believe in your message and trust that you will do what you say you will do. You cant expect your audience members to give you the benefit of the doubt. You must earn their trust by conveying the appropriate character or ethos .

In The Essential Guide to Rhetoric , William Keith and Christian Lundberg emphasize the importance of establishing credibility:

Ethos is not automatic. Think about cases where you werent persuaded by a speaker; if you felt the speaker wasnt honest or didnt have your best interests in mind, you might have decided not to listen to all the (potentially good) arguments presented to you.

According to Keith and Lundberg, speakers can create a positive ethos by highlighting the history of their actions, as politicians often do when invoking their voting records, referring to deeds that exemplify their character [such as] a war record or participation in a social movement, and citing their education or the research they have done with experts. Ultimately, they must provide compelling reasons that their audience should believe what they are saying and consider their point of view.

Your audience members wont trust you just because you rattle off a list of impressive facts or accomplishments. They will only trust you if you think and act like a leader. By developing a leadership mindset, you will be able to create a powerful ethos that makes your audience members want to listen to you. Once you have their attention, you will be able to take them on an experiential journeya journey that excites their minds and teaches them something about the world or about themselves.

Notes