It should be obvious these are not the same thing. There are a great many people that engage in public speaking and ultimately, a rare precious few that actually speak well!
Most politicians are public speakers, most do not speak well. JFK is a great example of an articulatory master. He could take almost any phrase and articulate it in his Kennedy style that would make it memorable. His famous “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for you country” is the classic example. Let’s be fair but let’s be honest too, these words in of themselves are by no means profound. They were delivered in such a way that made them seem profound. JFK had a gift, a gift we can all be learn from, he was clearly a master of speaking well.
The perception one gives when he or she speaks well is one of authority. Of course the opposite happens when one does not speak well. You may know your stuff better than anyone else, but because your speaking-well skill set is under developed, the perception is that you are not an authority and thus not taken as seriously as you deserve.
Let’s be honest here, speaking well is not easily learned in a book. It’s an exercise that requires regular practice and coaching. No one is blessed at birth with a speaking well gene. It’s something that is developed over time. There is no easy quick fix here.
Most professional people understand all of this and many are in coaching programs to improve this one area. We can all dress for success in 60 minutes or less. We now have the optics in place until we have to speak that is. Those that have both working at the same time are clearly in the very top 5% of their profession.
Everyone acknowledges the advantages of speaking well. And again, it’s that top 5% that are willing to do what it takes to further their speaking well skills. This knowledge is within the grasp of anyone. Keep in mind also that speaking well is ageless and without gender. In fact I guess it needs to be said, the better you look, male or female, the higher the expectation when you speak.
I have been a professional broadcaster and public speaker for 30 years. Enunciation and articulation are my personal coaches. I certainly would not have lasted long without either. I still practice speaking out loud every day, it’s an exercise I’ve never stopped doing.
So your action item here is, do I continue on as a public speaker getting the same results? Or do I step it up a notch and learn to speak well and join that top 5% group..
Mike Perras, P.Mgr
www.extremelistening.com/speakingwell.htm
PS - I do hope you will join my newsletter and add a few comments here on this blog as well.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Speaking Well - Will Advance Your Career
FACT: "People tend to listen more closely .. to people who speak well!"
When you speak well you are perceived as experienced, professional, educated and any number of words that describes someone the listener thinks has something important to say.
The listener doesn't know you or have any idea of your history, they just know that in the moment they are listening, they are equating your credibility with your obvious ability to speak well. It's a natural instinctive reaction we all have.
Regardless of education, the "go to" people are usually those that speak well.
How many times have you heard someone make a not so important issue sound very interesting? It's always tied to their ability to speak well.
Learn to speak well first and add content later. It's a simple fact that great content is always lost on the masses when the speaker can not speak well. If you already have the content, then speaking well is imperative to your success!
You may be the sharpest tool in the shed, and the most knowledgeable member of your team, but if you can not communicate that knowledge clearly, you are not understood and sadly, not respected! Your opportunities for promotion and advancement are diminished as well.
Simply put .. Speaking Well always commands attention. Good content rarely gets noticed if presented badly. This is a universal law of perception.
People who speak well close more sales, get promoted faster, make more money, and always because of what the perception of "speaking well" tells the other person.
You can't fake speaking well .. you simply can or you can't, and it has nothing to do with having a huge vocabulary. Without articulatory muscle development, your ability to enunciate well, is under developed.
Speaking well will give you more self confidence faster than anything else can, because the results are measured instantly in the way people react to you.
Well educated or not, speaking well is the soft skill to have in the 21st century!
As a broadcaster, I have spent 30,000+ hours on radio and speaking publicly. Now just take a minute, and figure out how much practice that really is!
Ok let me do it .. 30,000 hours is like practicing for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week for 10 years straight. So yes, I've done a bit of homework on Speaking Well.
And even today, I still practice speaking out loud every chance I get. In my mentoring programs, I teach that you must treat each word like a sentence, it has a beginning and an end. No slurring or rushing, clear and concise enunciation is everything to speaking well.
They say you should always Dress For Success. Like Speaking Well, your Dress gives off a perception of Success. Now think about this, you can't Dress For Success by phone but you need the Speaking Well skill, when using the phone.
Your Speaking Well skill works for you dressed up or dressed down.
For the record, no one is born with a "Speaking Well" gene .. it is a learned skill. It is also true that no one with a high IQ or 5 university degrees is guaranteed to speak well. Your EQ or EI has more to do with your ability to Speak Well.
Your emotional intelligence craves learning, your ego becomes the disconnect. Be aware of your internal dialogue .. who's talking to you, your EI or your ego. Ego can be an edgy little monster .. be aware of it's constant appetite for control.
Just think of people you know, famous or not, and what does their "speaking well" ability say about them. Regardless of political persuasion, use Clinton versus Bush. Back to back presidents, and thus easy to compare in modern times.
Eliminate their personal issues or content for that matter, and just focus on presentation, and most will side with Clinton as the better speaker.
Bush could be the far smarter man for all we know. His ability to "speak well" tells us something else. It's that instant perception that tells all. When you speak well, the sky is the limit for your career success.
I offer personal coaching to HR groups, I also do it privately and customize it to fit you. Speaking well is ageless and without gender. It crosses every career path imaginable.
You can not properly learn this skill from a book. 35% of people learn better through the auditory process. Listening and speaking are at the heart of what I do.
If you are prepared to work hard and learn the lesson, I would be happy to coach you on the most important skill you can ever develop. The skill of speaking well.
"When you speak well .. you get noticed!"
Interestingly enough, most people that want to acquire this skill or enhance it, are already in very good careers. They simply want the necessary edge to get to the next level. Speaking well is the skill that always gets noticed.
My program has been in development for 30,000 hours, we have lots to share. There is an audio message below and at the website listed below.
Remember "when the student is ready, the teacher will show up"
Cheers,
Mike Perras, P.Mgr
www.extremelistening.com/speakingwell.htm
PS - I do hope you will join my newsletter and add a few comments here on this blog as well.
When you speak well you are perceived as experienced, professional, educated and any number of words that describes someone the listener thinks has something important to say.
The listener doesn't know you or have any idea of your history, they just know that in the moment they are listening, they are equating your credibility with your obvious ability to speak well. It's a natural instinctive reaction we all have.
Regardless of education, the "go to" people are usually those that speak well.
How many times have you heard someone make a not so important issue sound very interesting? It's always tied to their ability to speak well.
Learn to speak well first and add content later. It's a simple fact that great content is always lost on the masses when the speaker can not speak well. If you already have the content, then speaking well is imperative to your success!
You may be the sharpest tool in the shed, and the most knowledgeable member of your team, but if you can not communicate that knowledge clearly, you are not understood and sadly, not respected! Your opportunities for promotion and advancement are diminished as well.
Simply put .. Speaking Well always commands attention. Good content rarely gets noticed if presented badly. This is a universal law of perception.
People who speak well close more sales, get promoted faster, make more money, and always because of what the perception of "speaking well" tells the other person.
You can't fake speaking well .. you simply can or you can't, and it has nothing to do with having a huge vocabulary. Without articulatory muscle development, your ability to enunciate well, is under developed.
Speaking well will give you more self confidence faster than anything else can, because the results are measured instantly in the way people react to you.
Well educated or not, speaking well is the soft skill to have in the 21st century!
As a broadcaster, I have spent 30,000+ hours on radio and speaking publicly. Now just take a minute, and figure out how much practice that really is!
Ok let me do it .. 30,000 hours is like practicing for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week for 10 years straight. So yes, I've done a bit of homework on Speaking Well.
And even today, I still practice speaking out loud every chance I get. In my mentoring programs, I teach that you must treat each word like a sentence, it has a beginning and an end. No slurring or rushing, clear and concise enunciation is everything to speaking well.
They say you should always Dress For Success. Like Speaking Well, your Dress gives off a perception of Success. Now think about this, you can't Dress For Success by phone but you need the Speaking Well skill, when using the phone.
Your Speaking Well skill works for you dressed up or dressed down.
For the record, no one is born with a "Speaking Well" gene .. it is a learned skill. It is also true that no one with a high IQ or 5 university degrees is guaranteed to speak well. Your EQ or EI has more to do with your ability to Speak Well.
Your emotional intelligence craves learning, your ego becomes the disconnect. Be aware of your internal dialogue .. who's talking to you, your EI or your ego. Ego can be an edgy little monster .. be aware of it's constant appetite for control.
Just think of people you know, famous or not, and what does their "speaking well" ability say about them. Regardless of political persuasion, use Clinton versus Bush. Back to back presidents, and thus easy to compare in modern times.
Eliminate their personal issues or content for that matter, and just focus on presentation, and most will side with Clinton as the better speaker.
Bush could be the far smarter man for all we know. His ability to "speak well" tells us something else. It's that instant perception that tells all. When you speak well, the sky is the limit for your career success.
I offer personal coaching to HR groups, I also do it privately and customize it to fit you. Speaking well is ageless and without gender. It crosses every career path imaginable.
You can not properly learn this skill from a book. 35% of people learn better through the auditory process. Listening and speaking are at the heart of what I do.
If you are prepared to work hard and learn the lesson, I would be happy to coach you on the most important skill you can ever develop. The skill of speaking well.
"When you speak well .. you get noticed!"
Interestingly enough, most people that want to acquire this skill or enhance it, are already in very good careers. They simply want the necessary edge to get to the next level. Speaking well is the skill that always gets noticed.
My program has been in development for 30,000 hours, we have lots to share. There is an audio message below and at the website listed below.
Remember "when the student is ready, the teacher will show up"
Cheers,
Mike Perras, P.Mgr
PS - I do hope you will join my newsletter and add a few comments here on this blog as well.
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