Improve Your Speaking Style
Jerry Weissman
hough it may seem that President Barack Obama is a born
public speaker, his talents are rooted in a set of techniques that
anyone can learn...
Connect with individuals. President Obama looks directly at
one person in the audience while delivering each phrase. He shifts
his gaze from person to person only between sentences or ideas.
This gives the president time to form connections with audience
members. He never "sweeps the crowd" with his eyes in an attempt to
look at everyone. Facial expressions tend to appear insincere when
we are not focused on another face. Also...
He frequently uses the word "you." When a speaker says "you,"
listeners feel that the speaker is speaking directly to them.
He opens with topics that resonate with his audience. Only
when the president sees heads nodding in agreement does he move on
to more controversial matters.
He learns the names of well-known locals and sprinkles them
into his speeches. This creates the sense that the president and
audience members have common acquaintances, forming a personal
connection.
He mentions items from that day’s local news. This helps his
presentations feel current -- even if he has delivered the speech
many times.
Vocally punctuate phrases. President Obama’s words don’t drag
on in long streams. He divides his speeches into phrases, each of
which conveys a single complete idea. He drops the pitch of his
voice at the end of each of these phrases and pauses before
starting the next one.
Why speak this way? The varied tone and pace hold listeners’
attention. Lowering the pitch at the end of each phrase sounds
confident. Pauses between phrases give listeners time to absorb the
message. They also give the president time to breathe so that he
never sounds rushed or winded and rarely resorts to "ummm" or
"ahhh" fillers.
Restrain your body language. The president has excellent
posture when he speaks. His back is straight, his shoulders are
back and square. This makes him appear poised and confident. His
hands move when he speaks, but they rarely move beyond the edges of
his lectern. Speaking with no hand movement looks stiff and
unnatural, but wide gestures can make a speaker seem
overwrought.
Use narrative techniques. These include...
Antithesis. Contrasting ideas are juxtaposed using a similar
structure. Example: "There is not a liberal America and a
conservative America -- there is the United States of
America."
Alliteration. Two or more words with the same first letter are
used in rapid succession. Example: Note the recurring "p" sounds in
"Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate
in a politics of hope?"
Anaphora. A word or phrase is repeated several times. Example:
"Tonight, if you feel the same energy that I do, if you feel the
same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, if
you feel the same hopefulness that I do... then I have no doubt...
the people will rise up in November."
Anecdotes. Stories about real people are used to establish
larger points. Example: President Obama didn’t just present his
opinions about the Iraq war in his keynote speech at the 2004
Democratic National Convention -- he told the story of a Marine
named Shamus.