FLASHBACK ARTICLE FROM APRIL 2010
“It’s a great day to be alive.” It sure is. Can you read that with the passion it deserves? Try it. You can emphasize any number of words, which will change the sound slightly. Read the sentence and each time you do emphasize a different word. This is a real challenge for those who never learned proper use of inflection. Are you one of those people?
Why is this important? If you lack passion in your ability to speak, you’ll sound flat. That is not a good thing if you make your living hosting events. I’d go so far as to say it will affect your sales too. How? If you’re unable to create passion in what you do, you’ll have a hard time convincing someone to do business with you. Oh, if you create too MUCH passion, the same thing happens. Weird!
So, how do we create passion? First find out which speaking style is yours:
Reserved – Quiet speakers who communicate in as few words as possible. Speakers with this style are often considered to be nervous by onlookers.
Direct – Confident speakers who drive straight to the heart of an issue with active and vivid wordplay.
Long Winded – Speakers who can fill a stadium with the sheer volume of their words. Oftentimes, their long winded nature is a turn off to listeners.
Poetic – Extremely confident speakers who deploy dramatic stories, engaging vocabulary, and vivid imagery to channel emotions and move people. Poetic speakers are received very well due to their ability to turn the mundane into the exhilarating.
Why is this important? It will help if you know which group you may fall into. You may also fall into this category:
Ringmaster – You bark instructions to the group with a loud delivery and a smile.
Which style is yours? Once you know, it may help you understand why you are either making a connection or not. Please remember that your voice, the intonation and your ability to have an impact on people who may not care to pay attention. How do you handle this? What type of speaker are you? Me, I’m a combination.
I’m a direct, poetic ringmaster. Huh? How’s that work? Well, I command the room through presentation (ringmaster), Direct because that is what I need to keep their attention once I capture it. Poetic when I engage the audience with personal stories and anecdotes. Is that clear to you? So that’s my style. Within that framework, there is a whole range of EMOTION that I use also. Happy, sad, frantic when needed and I can cry in the moment. Not that I want to cry as a prop, but because I have empathy.
Pay attention the ads you see on TV. Listen to the Voiceover artist. What do you notice about them? They will all have something memorable about them. How would you do as a Voiceover artist? Imagine what you could command if you could master any of the things I’m writing about? It would immediately impact how you do business and your performance would improve. There is NO WAY your performance can stay static! Oh wait there is, if you don’t do anything.
Remember, a hot microphone will only amplify what is going into it. Garbage in, garbage out. WYSIWYGB! (What you say is what you get back) If there is anything I can do to help, please contact me.
Reach out. Ask. Be ready to create magic.
