When it’s time to increase your presence, influence and impact without compromising on authenticity or results, it’s time to speak like a leader.  If the ability to persuade, influence and communicate effectively is essential to your role, but you feel frustrated by your current capacity to do so, this article is the perfect starting point to help you flip the switch from meh to marvelous.

Here are 5 tips to help you speak like a leader and own every room you step into:

Remember: Confidence counts. This wouldn’t be a Tihanna-tips session without a confidence callout!  Your belief in your own ability to influence through any presentation allows you to speak with impact.  Look, we communicate each and every day in many different ways: ordering take-out, talking to the kids, texting, DM-ing, WhatsApp-ing, emoji-ing, emailing, calling and making appointments, jumping on Zoom for that oh-so-boring weekly staff meeting… the list goes on and on.  And while you’re not struggling with nerves or a lack of confidence while you’re chatting it up with the hostess at your favorite Italian restaurant, you’re still communicating effectively. So, why do we get so terrified stepping up to the front of the room?

According to a doctoral thesis examining the subject from the University of Wolverhampton, “a highly confident speaker is viewed as being more accurate, competent, credible, intelligent, knowledgeable, likable, and believable than a less confident, uncertain speaker.”

1. Confidence is the most important key when it comes to public speaking and presenting. So, how do you project confidence?There are two schools of thought on this one: The first is an external approach with the “fake it until you make it” attitude or as social scientist and “Power Pose” enthusiast Amy Cuddy says: “fake it until you become it.”  The second is an internal approach where you focus within, learn to silence the inner critic, and exude confidence naturally.  

   The truth is that BOTH approaches have value.  The key is to find what works best for you and then lean into that approach, embrace it and make it your own.  When I work with clients, I help them create a holistic balance between the external and internal, allowing them to BE confident and not just ACT confident. (Interested in this unique way to own the stage and tell your story?  Get in touch today!)
   

2. Know your audience. Before you give any speech, presentation, workshop or talk and start to work on the message, you need to consider who will listen to that message. While most of the research should be done on the topic you would like to present on, you also need to know about the audience. This can help you decide the level of information, the words, the stories, and how you would like to organize the information. This can do wonders when it is time to start preparing the speech. Some questions to consider: Who is my audience? What are they interested in? Why does my topic interest them?
   

3. Watch for feedback. While you are giving the speech, gauge some of the feedback that you get and see if you should make some changes. Observe how others respond to your narrative and try to stay as flexible as possible as you do the delivery. If your words are canned, too scripted or inauthentic, the audience will notice, and they will stop listening and/or possibly get confused. Having the flexibility to work with your message and make it move around in real time can help.  BUT don’t get too hung up on audience feedback.  You are not a mind reader and your interpretation of how your audience is feeling is just that – YOUR interpretation so don’t overthink it or stress too much.  Follow your intuition.
   

4.  Avoid reading the script. You should never write down every word that you want to say and then read off the document or slides. This would be a nice way to make sure that you do not forget some of the things you want to say, but it does not look all that professional and it's soooooo boring. At the most, a few notes with a few key phrases to help you remember what you want to say to the audience is more than enough. Anything more than that will not look or feel good.
   
   This is where all of the practicing needs to come into play. The more you practice, and if you practice using frameworks I teach, the less likely it is that you will forget some of the information that you want to have for the speech. You can still use a few notecards to help, but you will not need them because you have enough confidence in the speech without them.
   

5. Bring your body into it – strategically. One of the best ways to use your body is by using your hands, but you can’t use them to the point where it distracts from your message. There must be a balance. Your hands can help you communicate when used properly. When you use the right hand movements, you will be able to emphasize a point, highlight a certain topic, and help the audience remember something of importance. It is certainly possible to use your hands in the wrong way as well. When you flail your hands around and have them flying everywhere like you are about to hit someone along the way, you’re creating a drawback to your own effectiveness. Wild hand motions are too distracting for the message that you want to share – never a good thing. Learn how to get your hands under control and they can turn into an asset, rather than a distraction, during the speech.  Anchoring is a technique I teach to help you be more strategic with body movement.

Want some more simple tips for your next presentation?  Check out this blog post for more.

Want even more?  Of course you do!  Be the first to know when I release my newest resource, How to Speak Like A Leader: 22 Public Speaking Tips to Help You Own Every Room You Step Into, by simply sending me a message that says “I want more!”

Got any tips for me on how you own the room?  I want to hear them!  Let me know in the comments.