Do You Need a Speech Topic?

Wouldn’t it be great if your audience would listen engaged to every word you had to say? It’s possible.

Practicing Vulnerability When I want to be relatable, I don’t speak about something because I read about it or because someone told me about it. I speak from my personal experience. Silly as this may sound, I generally have the expectation of speakers that they are going to speak to me about their experiences or their escapades. I have the expectation that we are about to “get personal.” Practice vulnerability. Opening up and sharing a bit of our personal story does mean we make ourselves vulnerable. Vulnerability is precisely what makes our connection with audiences. There’s not a single person listening to us as speakers that can’t relate to our vulnerabilities. That means the converse is also true. People don’t readily connect in the absence of this common denominator. It’s just not relatable. I want to believe speakers, but as their audience, if I don’t feel as though I am looking at a reflection of myself or my potential, then without that feeling and connection their message is lost on me. I am an advocate of Authenticity: Authentic from the standpoint of speaking about my experiences. There’s no way to be authentic without making yourself vulnerable. We are always passionate about stuff we have experienced to be true. Great speeches are our true stories, not testimonials. Practicing Humility I lead an exciting life which means I have plenty of material for speeches! But… who says it’s what you want to hear? I am not the be-all, end-all of the universe! I’ve had a few uncomfortable moments with audiences and after more than one moment of introversion, my takeaway was and remains that the purpose of speaking is not to hear myself talk. The purpose of speaking is to give my audience something they want to hear!

Know B4 U Speak. Know what your audience wants!

CHOOSING MY TOPIC Once I know what my audience wants, I DELIVER! I share my message via my experiences.