Even strong, successful leaders can face challenges with communicating their ideas in a clear, powerful way.
Inc.com offers the following strategies to help leaders overcome such challenges and become better public speakers.
- Collect, prepare and rehearse. Passionate, enthusiastic leaders often can get carried away when speaking and lose focus regarding their message. Collect your thoughts in advance, write down the key points you want to communicate and practice presenting them to a trusted colleague who will provide honest feedback. Providing numerical guideposts—such as, “I have three recommendations to make”—can help you stay on track and provide clarity for your audience.
- Know your audience. Some leaders use confusing technical jargon or provide irrelevant details when they speak. It is important you understand your audience’s needs and knowledge. Pay attention to your audience’s body language to see whether they have disengaged, and be ready to clarify anything that may be confusing and reinforce your main point.
- Do not underestimate the power of stories. Although numbers and data can be relevant, sharing a simple story can provide a clear “why” for the audience. Then, you can use data to support that “why.”
