Public Speaking - 7 Surefure Secrets to Master Public SpeakingSecret #1 – Make Direct Eye Contact While Speaking A steady, direct look makes speech doubly effective, for it invariably carries the impression of confidence and of power. It is pleasing to a person who speaks to you, because it shows him that you are attentive. The fact that you fix your eyes upon his shows him that you are interested in him and in his subject. Your direct look compliments him, and will make him remember you. If you speak in public, whether to a large or to a small audience, look your audience in the face. If you allow your attention to fix itself upon notes or manuscript, or if you look at some vague point before you, you lose touch with your listeners. Look into the eyes of all-not simply of those in the center, but into the eyes of all-at the right, at the left, on the platform with you, and you will establish a magnetic bond that will not easily be broken. “Whether with one person or with a thousand, look into the eyes of your listeners. Let your personality meet theirs. Let there be a meeting of souls.” Speak eye to eye, and heart to heart, not occasionally, but always; not alone with your intimate friends, but with all with whom you speak. It will help in making you a master of speech and a leader of men. Such looks are contagious, and they aid in carrying your thought to your listeners. They draw attention and thus awaken interest. An old man stands every day on one of the crowded streets of New York and sells a cheap mechanical device. As he demonstrates, he talks. His face is a study. As he explains the little contrivance, his countenance lights up, grows serious, changes-he looks at you kindly, and you feel that he is explaining one of the marvels of the age. Consciously or unconsciously, he is using his expression as part of his demonstration. The man with the speaking countenance will succeed in life far more easily than will one who hides his personality under a real, or an assumed, mask of stolidity. I know a business man who masters any conversation in which he takes part-but he never appears to be doing so. He speaks directly to the point, with clear common sense. He tells a story that illustrates a point in question. He takes up a remark, and amplifies and illustrates it. He gives a new turn of thought to the conversation. You feel that there is a world of personal power backing him. As a result, he is head of a great business enterprise. A talkative person is not usually a leader. Leadership lies with the one who gives his judgment opportunity to act before he speaks. People are quick to discover sound points of view. It is well not to be too ready to enter into talk. Listen, gather evidence, reflect upon it, and speak with weight rather than with glibness. Take the lead in introducing topics of discussion. If you know with whom you are likely to talk, and under what circumstances, prepare yourself by thinking, ahead of time, of topics that are likely to prove of interest. Read newspapers, periodicals, and books of the day, so that you will be able to speak from a full mind. One who has a fund of information at command will be able to make any discussion interesting. Take a commanding position in any talk by proposing new lines of thought, or new subdivisions of old lines. Avoid letting those with whom you speak give most of the suggestions. Do not allow a conversation to close until you have determined that you wish it to close. When you have presented all the lines of thought that you think advisable, bring the talk to a close yourself, with "the last word." If you can do all this without bumptiousness or conceit, and with proper regard for the opinions of others, you will soon find yourself talking easily, and masterfully, with those of whom you may once have stood in awe. It was such a person whom Shakespeare ridiculed when, in "The Merchant of Venice," he said "Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice." No one admires such a person. Such a person is amusing but not substantial. On the other hand, you see a few of your associates who are "men of silence." Like Colonel House, they say little but they think much. Their opinions are worth knowing. When they do speak they are likely to speak wisely. Their power over men comes largely from concentration.
Secret #5 – The Power of Questions The fantastic story teaches a good lesson. Few people like to assume the burden of statement. It is unwise to contradict what another has said. It is easy to ask questions. The hero of the story did not notice contradiction, nor did he answer questions. He put the full burden upon the ones with whom he talked. His constant questions were : "Do you think so?" "What do you think?" "Is that your opinion?" Few people can resist it. It has the advantage of being entirely non-committal as far as you are concerned and it draws the full thought of the one with whom you speak. One of my friends, consciously or unconsciously, employs this method. Again and again I have heard his direct questions: "Do you?", "Do you think so?", and they always search out logical weaknesses, and call for thought.
(a) To gain a temporary advantage.
He would know the situation fully and would therefore be prepared to meet it. No one can ever hope to have such wisdom, but he can at least approach it. When a parent talks to a child he very largely understands what is passing in the child's mind. This gives the parent an advantage that commands the full respect of the child. In business life approach the ability that a parent has in dealing with a child. Know what is passing in the minds of those with whom you talk. Gain that knowledge by putting yourself in the position of those with whom you talk. All people, under exactly similar conditions, act somewhat alike. You may easily assume a situation and the attitude toward the situation. Do not assume that you are in the other person's place. Assume that you actually are the other person. It is said that George M. Cohan writes his plays for an imaginary newsboy named "Bill," who sits in the "top gallery." As he writes, he puts himself in "Bill's" place, and looks at the play. If the imaginary "Bill" doesn't like the scene, Mr. Cohan rewrites it. "I wonder if Bill will like that," he says, and by thus putting himself in the audience, makes his plays successes. We are all of us so naturally gifted with understanding of human nature that we can easily, in mind, act the part of another. You have something to sell. Your prospective customer is a man very different from yourself in mind and in circumstances. Put yourself in his place. Imagine that you are he, with all his likes and dislikes. Think what kind of speech would best induce you to purchase. Then make that kind of speech. On the contrary, think what kind of speech would be least successful with you. Avoid that kind of speech. Forget yourself, and try to understand the influences that affect the person to whom you talk--the difficulties, the anxieties. You will find such understanding will guide your speech to success. Get more great secrets with my course "The Secrets to Mastering Speaking" at |