Developing a signature speaking style is pivotal in establishing a unique and memorable presence, whether you’re addressing a boardroom, a classroom, or a vast audience at a conference.
This personalised style becomes your verbal fingerprint—distinct and recognisable. It enables you to connect with your audience more effectively and leave a lasting impression.
Let’s explore the journey of crafting your unique speaking style.
Self-Assessment and Awareness
Do a methodical self-review by recording your presentations or speeches and critically analysing them.
Observe your speech pace, tone, gestures, and audience engagement. Are your expressions and body language aligned with your words?
Simultaneously, cultivate a feedback culture—solicit constructive criticism from colleagues, friends, or a communications coach, focusing on both strengths and areas needing improvement.
Understanding your intrinsic speaking traits requires honesty and openness to critique. For instance, if feedback consistently highlights your enthusiasm and energy but notes a tendency to rush through important points, you’ve uncovered crucial insights for refining your style.
Conversely, if your deliberate pace is recognised as a strength but perhaps at times borders on monotonous, this, too, is invaluable feedback.
Self-awareness in public speaking extends to recognising your comfort levels with various presentation formats and settings.
Do large audiences invigorate you, or do smaller, more intimate groups allow you to connect more profoundly?
Acknowledging these preferences is pivotal in shaping a style that resonates with your audience and feels authentic and sustainable for you.
Also, consider your vocal variety. Are you leveraging the full potential of your voice’s pitch, tone, and volume? Effective speakers know how to modulate these elements to enhance their message and engage the audience.
Lastly, reflect on the content of your presentations.
Are you naturally inclined toward data-heavy, analytical talks, or do you thrive on storytelling and emotional appeal?
Aligning your content preferences with your delivery style creates a coherent and powerful speaking persona.
In practice, suppose you identify as a fast-paced, energetic speaker who excels in data-rich presentations. You might then choose to focus on enhancing clarity and engagement, perhaps by introducing strategic pauses for emphasis and incorporating more narrative elements to humanise your data.
By committing to ongoing self-assessment and embracing feedback, you discover your natural speaking style and learn how to evolve and adapt it, ensuring your communications are impactful and authentic.
Identify Your Influences
By observing and analysing the traits of speakers you admire—be it Martin Luther King Jr.’s impassioned delivery, Brene Brown’s clear and relatable communication, or Steve Jobs’ compelling storytelling—you can glean insights into what makes their presentations impactful.
P.S. Your influences don’t have to be someone famous!
It’s crucial, however, to use these observations as inspiration rather than templates for imitation. Emulate the underlying principles—passion, clarity, or narrative skill—while adapting these elements to your authentic voice and context. This approach allows you to create a speaking style that is both effective and genuinely your own, resonating with your audience while staying true to yourself.
Define Your Objectives
Defining your objectives in speaking engagements is pivotal for aligning your delivery style with the outcomes you wish to achieve.
Each objective—whether to inspire, inform, persuade, or entertain—demands nuanced adjustments in your approach.
If your goal is to inspire, your style may need to evoke emotion and resonate on a personal level, possibly through storytelling or powerful rhetoric.
For informative aims, clarity, organisation, and detail are paramount, necessitating a methodical and articulate style.
Persuasive speech requires a strategic blend of logical argumentation, credible evidence, and emotional appeal, urging the audience toward a specific viewpoint or action.
Entertaining talks, on the other hand, benefit from a lighter, more engaging approach, often incorporating humor, anecdotes, or interactive elements.
Identifying these objectives not only shapes your content but also influences your tone, pace, and body language, ensuring that every aspect of your delivery is purposefully geared toward achieving your desired impact on the audience.
Through this deliberate alignment of style and objective, you can enhance the effectiveness of your communication, driving your message home more powerfully.
Embrace Storytelling
Storytelling transforms the way your message resonates with the audience. Stories, be they personal anecdotes, historical narratives, or crafted scenarios, serve as vehicles for conveying your message in a more engaging and memorable manner.
When you share a story, you tap into the universal human penchant for narrative, creating a deeper emotional connection with your audience. This connection makes your content more relatable, simplifying complex ideas and embedding them in the listeners’ memories.
To integrate storytelling effectively, choose stories that align with your key messages and reflect your authentic self.
If you’re discussing resilience, for instance, a personal story of overcoming obstacles can illustrate your point powerfully. Historical tales can provide context and depth to your topics, while hypothetical scenarios can help audiences envision the practical application of your ideas.
Adapt your storytelling style to fit your unique personality and speaking goals. If you’re naturally humorous, infuse your stories with wit. If you’re more analytical, build your narrative with logical progression and detail. The congruence between your content, storytelling style, and personality ensures that your presentations are coherent, genuine, and impactful.
Continual Learning and Adaptation
Continual learning and adaptation are vital in refining your speaking style.
Engaging in a variety of learning activities such as attending workshops, reading the latest books on public speaking, and observing a diverse array of speakers can offer fresh perspectives and techniques to incorporate into your style.
Additionally, hiring a communications coach can provide personalised feedback and guidance, helping you to identify and build upon your strengths while addressing any weaknesses.
A coach can also introduce you to advanced strategies and help tailor your approach to different speaking scenarios, ensuring that your style remains dynamic and effective.
Keep practicing
Practicing is paramount in honing and refining your speaking skills. Regular practice helps you internalise your content, making your delivery seem more natural and confident.
It allows you to experiment with different tones, paces, and gestures to see what resonates best with your intended audience.
Through consistent practice, you not only become more adept at conveying your message but also develop the agility to adapt to unexpected situations or audience reactions, ultimately making you a more proficient and adaptable communicator.
And it’s always worth supplementing your self-help practices with the support of an experienced public speaking coach who can provide you with more tailored guidance or enrol in an online public speaking short course.
Good luck! And if you want to hear more from me, you can find me on:
- YouTube
- Behind the mic on the Art of Communication Podcast
