How to train your speaking skills

First of all, let’s be clear: the basic starting point of a speech is the audience’s “listening logic.” What you have to do is not to "put ideas into other people's heads", but to let the audience take their own ideas.

Human thinking is linear, and the speech should be developed according to people's thinking clues, rather than being logically nested layer by layer. Think of yourself as a tour guide, laying out steps along the way so that tourists can follow you from point A to point B involuntarily, instead of standing at point C talking to themselves.

The speech materials prepared must be twice as long as the speech time. This is the same principle as "current funds are twice as much as current liabilities". The materials that require the most time to prepare are cases and stories. They are essential steps in tandem speech. Make sure every case and every number is accurate, and there is a strict cause-and-effect relationship between the case and the conclusion. Only by conquering the audience with irrefutable logic will they be convinced to follow your ideas.

Before going on stage, practice the first three sentences you want to say over and over again. This can help you get rid of the tension of going blank and forgetting your words on stage.

Deliberately polishing the opening is a shortcut to improving your speaking skills. You can try these three opening methods: 1. Use questions to create suspense; 2. Start with the audience and find a connection point between the audience and the topic of the speech; 3. Open with a prepared humorous joke. Don't say "Thank you to the organizing committee for the invitation and everyone's support. I'm very honored..." and let your breath go as soon as you open your mouth.

The success or failure of a speech depends on the details. 7% of the information that listeners get from a speech comes from language, 38% from intonation and voice, and the remaining 55% comes from body movements, that is, the images they see. Find ways to enhance the visual aspect of the language and allow the audience to "listen" to the speech with their eyes. At the same time, get rid of all the little involuntary actions.