4 Reasons to Leave Public Speaking to the Professionals
Debates, seminars and lectures can play a vital role in the business world. They allow employees to step back from the day-to-day grind of running a business and take a look at the bigger picture. These social and interactive gatherings encourage creative thinking, more effective communication and innovation. Don’t make the mistake of trying to save a few bucks by cobbling together a presentation of your own. Hire professional keynote speakers, and the lecture will have a lasting impact.
1. The Audience Will Pay Attention
A public speaking engagement is only as successful as the attention it garners from the audience. If you speak without effectively capturing the audience’s attention, you may as well be speaking to a wall. People are more likely to pay attention to a public speaker because speakers trained as professionals have the skills necessary to keep the audience engaged. Professional speakers are specialists at capturing the audience’s attention by doing the following:
- Enunciating clearly so people can hear them
- Speaking loud enough to be heard
- Smiling and appearing personable
- Interacting with media to make the speech more of an engaging experience than a passive experience
- Pausing at the right moments and emphasizing the right points effectively
Getting an audience to not only pay attention but to remember what they’ve heard is a subtle skill. It’s not a matter of saying, “This is important! Remember it.” Professional speakers know it’s a matter of getting the audience interested and making the event memorable.
2. The Speaker Can Personalize the Lecture
A professional speaker knows how to adjust any given lecture to suit the company and the questions the audience asks. As the University of Pittsburg explains, effective speaking involves tailoring the speech to the audience. For example, you may feel confident telling a story to a friend or family member, but how you would tell the story to your co-worker or client would be completely different. One tone is more casual, while the other is much more professional.
More importantly, you would have to consider how much the people to whom you’re speaking know about the topic, how interested they are in learning more and the point you want them to take home with them. Professional speakers do this every time they speak: set the tone, set the level of interest and drive home the most important points for a specific audience.
3. The Message Will Have Better Impact
Public speaking is stressful for many people, even those comfortable speaking in more casual settings. Nervousness makes people confused and affects their speaking voice. Disorganized lectures and shaky, quiet voices do nothing to keep the audience engaged. Professional speakers are confident in the public arena, and know how to appear approachable but professional and organized but not rigid. With a professional speaker’s confidence, the message will have a better impact on the audience.
4. The Equipment Will All Be There
If you’ve never given a formal speech before, you may have no idea how much is involved in pulling off the production. Whether you’re speaking to a small group of half a dozen people or an auditorium filled with hundreds, you’ll need different equipment, but you will need some sort of equipment, such as:
- A microphone
- Speakers
- Display screens
- Computers
- Sound mixers
- A podium
A professional speaker knows what equipment is necessary for the lecture. He’ll tell you up front whether he has his own equipment and tech crew, or if you’ll need to hire an additional crew and rent the equipment. He can also help you find a suitable venue to match the scope of your event.
Whenever there’s an issue you want to address, a debate you want to have or an occasion you want to celebrate, a lecture can play a vital role in your business event. Rely on the expertise of someone who speaks professionally for a living, and you can focus on what matters: the day-to-day operations and goals of your business. Whether you want a dozen people to attend an event or a thousand, book your speaker today.
About the Author: Isaura Laughlin is a small-business owner who operates several franchises in New England. She has had several successful business events thanks to professional speakers.
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