Our world has seen some of the greatest orators from various streams, across borders like Martin Luther King Jr., Jawaharlal Nehru, Maya Angelou, Dr. C.N.Annadurai, Winston Churchill and so on. They have been and continue to be influential in revolutionizing the world and making us think beyond what was or what is.
But what was it with them that they commanded the attention of the masses without even flinching?!
Is it the confidence or the tone of the voice or the body language?
Well, they all do contribute to a significant level and you can read all about it in our other blogs but it is certainly not just that.
When closely observed we can learn that each of the above mentioned orators adopt a few different techniques while addressing the public.
First one being their ability to hit the nail on the head and not digress
All of them have openly addressed pressing issues that are quite unique to their society. They refused to shy away from talking about awkward truths. Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' is one of the greatest examples of this, where he speaks about racism (one of the most controversial topics at that time) and his hopes for the country to see beyond. With lines like "we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition", we can see that the speaker unapologetically reveals the main purpose of the speech by effectively using straightforward language to speak about the injustice that the African Americans had to go through without digressing or playing the blame game.
Takeaway: Make sure your content is as direct as possible for it to be impactful. Beating around the bush and slowly sliding into it dilutes the value of your actual content. (This is especially true for motivational and revolution speeches where you want real-time changes to take place).
Side note: Use light-hearted jokes to lighten the mood if the context allows it.
Be relevant
I mean think about it, would you (say a 20 or 30 something) be willing to sit and listen to a speech about "rebellious life in the 1960's"?
You might, for a while, purely out of curiosity but you will find yourself so out of place in no-time, since it hardly resonates and inturn will be considered to be unimportant in "your" life.
Also, the reason that some of the speeches of these great orators are so memorable is because they all followed this numero uno rule of public speech - "Relevance". Being relevant to the audience gives that wiggle room to connect. Churchill's many speeches including "We shall fight on the beaches" spoke specifically to the British soldiers and civilians who were fighting the war. It was not meant for 'all' the people of the world. Here, he stressed upon the struggles of the British as a country and appealed to their emotions by stating how resilient they have been in the past. This resilience and struggle that he addressed is something that is unique to the British of that time.
Takeaway: Know your audience! If possible, to the tea - their age, profession and sometimes even their gender. Use these information to customize your speech because of which you'll be able to grasp their attention and connect on a rather basic level thereby increasing the relevance of the content for your audience.
Don't just give a speech; Speak to the emotions and hopes of the audience
The most important quality of a good orator and certainly the most powerful one is their ability to form a connection with the audience - either an emotional or an intellectual one. While the latter is achieved during an informative or scientific presentation, the former is usually the goal while delivering a motivational speech like that of CN Annadurai's convocation address to the students on November 18, 1967. It can be observed that his speech was structured around the ambitions of the students - where he discussed their potential failures and successes after graduation. By doing this, he inspired them to be responsible towards their dreams and their government.
Takeaway: Speak about things that would stimulate the minds of your audience or evoke a certain emotion within them.
Be Inclusive
This could easily be one of those small yet important details that is over- looked by many newbies while addressing a crowd. Most people get carried away when giving a speech and use a lot of 'you' & 'I' statements. By doing this, the speaker risks turning the speech into more of an advice and alienate themselves from the audience thereby breaking the connection between them. Sometimes, it even makes people become sour because let's be honest, nobody is willing to listen to unsolicited advice unless and until we've got a life-size achievement showcasing credibility. That is exactly why we get inspired by the commencement speech by Maya Angelou when she says "Of all your attributes—your youth, your beauty, your wit, your kindnesses, your money—courage is indeed your greatest achievement".
On the other hand, consciously using words like 'us' and 'we' could potentially make the speech more inclusive. It turns even the most sensitive of topics digestible as the subject matter deals with 'our' combined concerns (audience and the speaker) which is what we see in Churchill's "We shall fight on the beach"
Takeaway: Draw a common thread between you and the audience and consciously deliver your speech in an inclusive manner.
Mental preparation
Although the above mentioned points are significant in shaping the quality of the content, it is important to note that many researches conducted under the topic of public speaking have pointed out an equally important practise to be carried out before the big speech or presentation for it to be successful - it is the mental preparation!
This involves a) understanding the emotional and intellectual depth of the speech in all its glory (in other words its sensitivity) and b) setting a distinct goal for oneself based on it. These goals are quite unique to each as we all have a different one in mind for the speech such as motivating, entertaining, politicising, satirizing and so on.
Thank you for reading!
Akshara D
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