[The following is an excerpt from Joe Yazbeck’s best selling book “No Fear Speaking”.]
THROUGHOUT ALL THE YEARS I’ve spent coaching professionals and leaders in the artful science of public speaking, I’ve come to see that the most essential ingredient to creating a dynamic and impactful speech or presentation is the most powerfully simple and the most rewarding to achieve: an authentic, true self. A natural, expressive, extroverted, and interested personality— regardless of the subject matter or the size of the group—is the surest way to positively attract an audience and hit the mark with a presentation.
I have never seen a false or contrived personality (what I call a “synthetic” personality) make a successful speech or presentation, because audiences are not easily fooled.With this in mind, I take all of my clients down the path of subtractive improvement (SM)—gains achieved through the loss of negative additives that have reduced their effectiveness as speakers.This does not mean that I am out to change you; rather, my purpose is to remove or dissolve whatever is inhibiting you or impeding your genuine personality from emerging when you make a presentation. Once you strip away these undesirables, you can achieve a comfort and effortlessness that will make you easy and fun to listen to for any audience.
Yes, there are mechanics and steps involved in preparing and organizing the outline or framework of your presentation—but to be successful throughout your career, the most essential thing is to always be yourself: unique, one of a kind, original.
As long as you are authentic, as long as you are real, as long as you are fully present, you have it in you as a speaker to be compelling and impactful.
Being knowledgeable about the fundamentals speech design and structure is a necessity if you wish to become a No Fear Speaker; however, it is not, obviously, the entirety of the art. Speakers must use themselves as the conduit by which a message is conveyed to an audience. In this section, I will reveal how you can take control of your audience and establish yourself as a masterful, expressive, and incandescent speaker.
CREATING A COMMANDING PRESENCE: THE 5 C’S
In order to command an audience, there are five qualities you must possess—what I call the 5 C’s. These five qualities distill the essence of what a commanding speaker should be in order to perform at their maximum potential; they’re the qualities that make speakers real leaders. To be a true master of public speaking, you have to be:
1.COMFORTABLE. Being comfortable means being at ease not only in any environment in which you’re giving a presentation, but also with who you are. If you have a problem with you, then guess what? So will your audience.
2.CARING. Great speakers care about the welfare of the people they’re talking to and talking about, and that registers with their audiences. If you felt that the person speaking to you didn’t really care about you or your concerns, why would you bother to listen to them?
3.CONFIDENT. Think of John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. All of these people exuded a sense of absolute confidence and assurance in themselves, in their leadership missions and the messages they conveyed to others.
4.CREDIBLE. As we discussed in part 1, without credibility, how can you assert yourself as a trusted figure? No one wants to waste their time listening to someone whom they find difficult to believe or devoid of honesty.
5.CHARISMATIC. Charisma is the ability to influence others through one’s own personal dynamism and flair. We’ll go into further detail about this enviable trait later in the book, but the thing to remember about charisma is: it can be taught.
ACHIEVING MAGNETISM
Magnetism, as defined at the beginning of this chapter, is the ability to attract, charm, and influence the people around you. Those who have this ability are sometimes referred to as having an “attractive personality,” as being “inspirational” or “influential,” or as giving off a kind of “brightness”—but whatever descriptors are used, magnetism is an unmistakable magic that some individuals not only possess but positively radiate.
Charismatic people are like diamonds: they sparkle and shine, and they always stand out, even in a crowd.
They seem to possess a certain special something that immediately enhances their surroundings when they enter a room. This may appear to be an innate quality, but it’s not—there is a recipe to becoming like this, and you can learn it. Once you do, you, too will have the power to give a natural, expressive, effortless, moving, and even electrifying presentation.
Speakers who exhibit the five traits listed above—who are comfortable, caring, confident, credible, and charismatic— are expressive and fully interested in the world around them. They are genuine when they unleash their ideals and principles before an audience. They are always looking ahead and outward; they’re never reflective or withdrawn when around others. They take control, use supportive materials for credibility, and give their audience instructions or ask them questions.When it is appropriate, they may even relinquish control to their audiences for a time, but they are capable of taking that control back when they want to.
Commanding speakers find something to admire in those they speak to and close the distance between them and their audience by utilizing these laws of attraction. Such speakers will make an audience feel at home and create a sense of magnetic pull, through their relaxed, comfortable, and confident demeanor. They are also prepared to resolve difficulties when they arise, often without the audience’s even feeling the interruption.
A MASTER AT WORK
FDR’s famous radio “fireside chats” in the 1940s are an example of a truly commanding speaker at his best. President Roosevelt’s broadcasts brought Americans closer together when the world was in crisis, and his listeners welcomed him “into their living rooms” because his delivery made them feel as if he knew and understood them. When a speaker’s delivery is executed well, members of the audience should feel as though they are being personally addressed, even if they’re in a room full of people.
LEARNING TO LOOK OUTWARD
If you have a tendency to turn inward or become withdrawn in social situations, you need to train yourself to look outward and focus on those around you.
Here’s a drill that can help:
- Find a crowded room or large space where many people typically gather—a mall, downtown at lunchtime, a theater full of moviegoers awaiting the start of a film
- Position yourself where you can see everyone (without being a distraction) and look at them—first at each individual person, one by-one, and then as a collective group—until you can look without thinking or introverting Just continue watching until you’ve moved past your reactions or thoughts and can just be where you are, without feeling any of the discomfort you started with
- Repeat as necessary—it should get easier every time!
EXERCISE: MASTER THE 5 C’S
Record (on audio or video) a two- to three-minute speech, then play it back to yourself, paying close attention to your delivery. How many of the 5 C’s come across? Keep practicing!
THE BOTTOM LINE
Magnetism can raise a person’s level of communication to dynamic, memorable, and even historic proportions. The 5 C’s are the qualities that great leaders employ to inspire others to take action and effect positive change—and, most important, they are qualities that can be learned, developed, and mastered.
Joe Yazbeck, Internationally Published Best-selling Author, Master Speaker and Coach
