The ABCs of Speaking
Read or listen then scroll down to the end for questions to help you apply this to your everyday life!
Whether you’re giving a keynote speech, teaching in the classroom, leading a meeting, or parenting your children, here are a few simple ABCs of speaking that may help you be more effective in your delivery.
Accuracy. This may sound like common sense to some, but it’s worth saying… When you speak, make sure you know what you’re talking about. Come on; admit it. How many of you have ever sat through a presentation and you knew the speaker had no clue what they were talking about? Well, if you know what that feels like, please don’t ever put your audience through that. None of us know everything about anything. So, this is in no way suggesting you have to be a content expert before you ever open your mouth at all. But what you do say should be based on what you do know. And if someone asks you a question you don’t know the answer to, it’s okay to admit you don’t know. It’s better to admit ignorance than to multiply it.
Brevity. One thing that’s probably worse than sitting through a presentation where the person doesn’t know what they’re talking about is sitting through one where the presenter keeps going on, and on, and on. Talking a lot doesn’t make you look smarter, it doesn’t help your audience grow any greater, and it doesn’t help you to accomplish your goals any more efficiently. It actually has the very opposite effect. I really like the way The Living Bible puts it in Proverbs 10:19, “Don’t talk so much. You keep putting your foot in your mouth. Be sensible and turn off the flow!”
Clarity. So, not only should you know what you’re talking about and be brief about saying it, you also need to make sure you’re communicating it as clearly as possible. Don’t use big words unnecessarily. Avoid using acronyms that people in the audience may not understand. When possible, make sure your first point is understood before moving on to the next one – especially when one builds off the other. Enunciate your words. Use a microphone if you’re speaking to a larger group or in a larger room. You’ve worked this hard to put together a great presentation; it would be a shame if half your audience didn’t get to hear it.
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