BE POETIC! How can you say a speech or deliver a presentation with ease?

Wednesday: Speak on the Shoulders of Giants FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Pauses are powerful, especially when speaking to an audience. They give your message a time to land… and your audience time to process information. One way to master pauses is by integrating poetry into your speech. It not only trains you to take pauses, but it also is a way to spice up your delivery! Keep reading to know how Power Poetry can help you add color to the message that you want to convey. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

BE POETIC! How can you say a speech or deliver a presentation with ease? In giving a speech, there are instances where we rely mainly on our printed copies as a guide. We get too comfortable in reading it right out of the script. As a result, we forget to read and project the necessary commas and periods in between sentences. We forget to pause or even just to breathe. Sometimes, the audience doesn’t get to absorb what you’re explaining because you’re reading your lines too quickly! How do we avoid this from happening? POWER POETRY. — This is just one of the powerful secrets featured in James C. Humes’ book, “Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln.” When we print out speeches or talking points for a presentation, we tend to compile the sentences and paragraphs we want to remember mentioning, but we might not be considering how it sounds out loud. Reading out loud and directly from your notes or script without careful practice and preparation might cause you to miss stops or pauses. There’s a high chance that you’ll go on and on, disregarding punctuation marks and missing the mark on conveying the right emotion. This is where the phrase-by-phrase technique comes in. Using this technique can help you TRANSFORM YOUR SPEECH INTO POETRY. Lay out your speech or talking points by breaking them into phrases that you can easily read per line and in the manner that you want it to be heard and understood. Doing so will help you with projecting the necessary pauses, stops, and emotions. Space out the contents of your speech in bite-sized pieces. Try breaking down sentences into phrases. Take into account what ideas or words you want to put emphasis on and MAKE IT LUMINOUS. Make your ideas and messages stand out so they are imprinted on your audience’s minds. Use phrases that have a clever play on words. Look for rhymes… we cannot dedicate we cannot consecrate Use words that begin with the same letter or sound… will little note nor long remember Or even opt for parallel prepositions. of the people by the people and for the people Do your best to sound poetic but not overly dramatic. By using these elements, you don’t risk sounding like you’re just reading from a piece of paper or monitor and neglecting your audience. Power Poetry can help you deliver your speech with the right emotion and highlight the specific ideas you want to get across. You also don’t need to worry about coming off as “unprepared.” Not only does this technique make it easy for you to read and present effectively, but it also won’t give your audience a hard time keeping up with the discussion. You’ll make a good impression that your audience will remember you for! Try incorporating Power Poetry in your next presentation. This tip might just be what you need to help you build confidence and improve your public speaking skills! Hope you’ve found this week’s public speaking tip interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for next Wednesday’s Speak on the Shoulders of Giants! Keywords can be a perfect summary of your speech. Learn about using Power Words for engaging with your audience more on next week’s Speak on the Shoulders of Giants!