Do you need charisma to be a great public speaker?
The Skills Lab - Public Speaking
Welcome to the Skills Lab! A place where the DirectHer team rounds up books, articles and podcasts all related to a skill that will help you build the confidence to land that next board position.
For January and February 2020 our skills theme is … Public Speaking. Why? Whether you’re interviewing for that dream board role or effectively participating in a board meeting, comfort with public speaking is a critical tool in ensuring your message is delivered and received. In case you missed Elsa’s post, check it out here!
Our second reflection comes from Justine McDonald, one of our workshop facilitators. When she isn’t making financial statements less scary for our workshop participants, she works as a director of transaction advisory services and business valuations.
Read on to learn about the skill that she uses to get her message across (even when the message is “dry” and technical!)
Justine chose an article by Sarah Gershman that explores the question: Do you need charisma to be a great public speaker?
In Justine’s words, “Public speaking is a common source of anxiety for a lot of people. People want to come off as these great, charismatic, effortless speakers. I know I do. It’s something I have been trying to work on. Another thing I have tried to put into practice in my daily life, is that of presence. I have made it a goal of mine to be fully present in whatever it is I may be doing, whether it be at work or with my family. I found I was missing out on so much by not being fully present in everything I’m doing. It’s a daily practice and given the world’s MANY distractions, it can definitely be a challenge. One area I didn’t even think about applying my practice of presence (although it seems obvious now!) is public speaking.”
Sarah Gershman’s article outlines the concept that “emotion is the basic currency for remembering content” and therefore, it’s not as important to be some grandiose, charismatic speaker as it is to emotionally connect with what you are saying for the audience to retain your message. The article describes present speaking as someone whose attention is outwardly focused, actively thinking about their words as they speak, and focusing on the present and the reaction of the audience.
“As a speaker, we often yearn to be charismatic. We want people to be drawn to us and like us, but here’s the catch — your job as a speaker is not to get the audience to like you, but rather to get your message across.”
Want to make sure that each person listening fully understands your message? Cultivate presence.