I believe the public speaking industry in the post-Soviet entrepreneurship world is still catching up, and few people seriously invest in it. Great speakers are everywhere once you know how to look — but in the entrepreneurial communities I've moved through across both Eastern Europe and the West, the pattern is the same: the organizers of TEDx events complain that there's nobody to speak — the pool of speakers is thin, and those who are there keep repeating the same circuit of events.
How to make your speech better and more phenomenal? In this article I'll share the hacks that will help you.
When I first went to public speaking courses, I kept leaving — because what they teach there won't make you a great speaker. Yes, they'll help you overcome the fear of public speaking, become more confident. Those are also important qualities for a speaker. But most standard courses teach what NOT to do — not what to DO. They focus on avoiding mistakes rather than creating magic.
All of this is the effect of the fear of public speaking. So we start occupying roles that aren't ours, pretending to be more confident than we are. The audience notices and reads this. The best speakers are very confident people in life and on stage — because they speak from experience, from reality, from who they genuinely are.
What separates a great speech from a mediocre one?
A good speech has just one idea that runs through the entire presentation like a red thread. Not crammed with different content, but one simple structure. So don't try to communicate more than one idea per touch. For example, the point of the speech might be: 'Fear is a compass, not a stop sign.' Everything else serves that one idea.
Voice management. Voice management means placing emphasis on key thoughts. A great speaker is like a movie. You can't watch a monotone film for long, even if the plot has an interesting idea. A speaker must know how to use intonation and rhythm in their speech.
Legendary speeches are backed by stories. Think of the most outstanding speeches. Steve Jobs and his life and career stories. Or remember Winston Churchill's legendary speech. Churchill was once asked what the secret of his success was. He stood up, looked at the room, said: 'Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never give up.' Then he sat down. That was his speech. No charts, no data. Just a story of resolve. That's what moves people.
If you want strong results, the person listening to your speech must not only grasp the main idea — but take an action afterward. Do you want them to start running in the mornings, or do you want them to buy an iPhone? The main idea in your story should push the person toward a specific action.
Humor. You must pepper your speech with jokes. This lets you turn even a very difficult lecture into a show. And a show is the most receptive environment for content. Even if I want to communicate the most serious and unconventional idea — humor is the Trojan horse that gets it in.
A good speech is a maximally natural speech. You'll spend a lot of time filtering out who you are not. You're already great — perhaps not perfect, but you're enough, with your current level of charisma and current self-understanding, to connect with people. Stop trying to be someone else on stage.
So do your best at any speech not to perform. But to BE. And to LIVE. And then the content coming from your mouth will be far more valuable than many books. Now go find a room, stand up, and say something real. That's how it starts.
