How To Speak With Impact: 5 Ways to Make Your Speech Better

How many speeches, have you listened in your life, in which you have seen those speakers who come on stage and win their audience with their words? In their every word, in their talks, something happens, that makes a direct connection, while listening to them. A great reason behind this, speak with impact. This short sentence, speak with impact means to speak in such a way that your every word creates magical effect on audiences. This is not a super human power; anyone can learn it with a little practice and by using the right techniques.

Now if you are thinking, how you too can create that impacts in your speeches, then you are at the right place, this article is for you. Today we will discuss about 5 practical ways, which will help you in making your speech better. So, let’s start!

So what is the concept of speak with impact? When we talk about making an impact, it does not mean that you just have to make your words powerful. Impact means that you should present your point in such a way that your message reaches directly in heart of your audience.

You must have experienced in many speeches, where the speaker’s voice and body language are so powerful that you have to pay attention. The speaker conveys his message in such a way that the audience understands his message. This magical method is called speak with impact.

Do you remember the famous Stanford speech of Steve Jobs? In that speech, Steve shared his life experiences, and he connected his emotions to his words. And this was his method of speak with impact, in which he conveyed his experiences to the audience so easily that everyone could easily relate to it.

Now the question is how you can bring impact in your speech? For achieving this, first of all, it is important to keep your message accurate. If you, yourself are not able to understand your points, then how will you make the audience understand it? All this depends on clarity of your speech.

1. Know Your Message

You should make strong connections with your messages. Your confidence will only be visible, when you speak, after understanding your points. Ask yourself this question:

Why do I have to give this speech?

What is my message?

The moment you understand your message clearly, the audience will also understand it easily.

2. To speak with impact, use emotions

Using emotion is a powerful tool for an impactful speech. If you add emotions to your message, it becomes more powerful. Have you ever listen to a motivational speech? The excitement and energy in such speeches are due to speaker’s emotions. Therefore, you should also add some excitement, passion or seriousness in your speech.

3. Mastering body language to speak with impact

When we talk about the magic of speak with impact, you cannot ignore body language. The body gestures you use during speech reinforce and reflect your words. Your posture, your eye contact, the movement of your hands, the way you speak, all makes your speech more impactful.

4. Use pauses and speak with impact

This may seem strange to you, but pauses can also make your speech impactful. When you take a pause, your audience gets time to understand what you are saying. It also creates tension in the audience, which forces your audience to listen carefully to the next line.

All these techniques help to speak with impact.

If you want to use the magic of speak with impact in your speech, so it is important to avoid some common mistakes:

1. Speaking Too Fast

This is the biggest mistake during speech! If you speak too fast, then the audience may have problem, in understanding what you want to convey. You have to manage the speed of your speech, so that the audience can understand every word.

2. Not Engaging with the Audience

It is very important to make connection with your audience. Do not just deliver your words. You can create attention and interest by involving the audience in your speech.

Like,

Have you all ever thought this…

or

When did you faced such situations?”

These questions make your speech more engaging and interesting.

3. Overusing Filler Words

“Um”, “Like”, “You know”, all these words may reduce your confidence. Therefore, it is important to avoid such filler words. These filler words make you unsure and distract the audience.

Avoiding all such mistakes will help to speak with impact

Developing public speaking skills is not an easy task for anyone, but by following few practical steps you can greatly improve your speaking skills. If you want to learn how to speak with impact, these tips can be very helpful for you. Below are some tips that will help you for impactful speaking:

1. Record Yourself

Recording your speech is a simple and effective way to better refine your speech. When you listen to your speech, you can analyze your tone, pitch, and pace. Is your voice clear? Is your speed okay? If you are speaking too fast or too slow, the recording will help you adjust it. This method will help you make improvements in your delivery, and it will also help you understand whether your words are reaching the audience easily or not. When you listen to the recording of your speech, you can clearly observe, how you can further improve your speech.

2. Practice in Front of a Mirror

If you want to improve your body language during speech, then practicing in front of a mirror is a great way. When you see yourself in the mirror, you can observe your gestures and facial expressions. You need to pay attention to your hands, facial expressions, and posture to make your body language natural and confident. This will help you become more confident and engaging in front of your audience.

By using your body language effectively, you can make your speech more impactful and interesting, in addition to creating a stronger connection with the audience.

3. Start Small

If you are new to public speaking, start practicing in front of your friends or family first. When you comfortably share your thoughts with your close friends, you will find it a little easier to overcome your fear. As you learn to deliver your speech in a confident manner, you will gradually be ready for a larger audience. When you continue your practice regularly, you will naturally be able to use speak with impact in a good way, because such practice will increase your confidence and your speech will become more polished and refined. There is no shortcut in practice, so start polishing your skills gradually by taking small steps

Do you remember Barak Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech? The energy in it was a perfect example of speak with impact. He showed a perfect balance of emotion, body language, and pauses in his speech.

Similarly, Elon Musk’s TED talks. How he conveyed his ideas to the audience without any complex technical jargon was an example of his impactful speaking. All these real-life examples prove that speaking with impact is a very powerful skill.

Taking feedback is an important aspect. Unless you take feedback in public speaking or speech, growth in your speaking skill is bit difficult. Feedback helps you identify your defects and gives you an opportunity to improve. You can record your speech and ask a friend or mentor for feedback.

1. Constructive Criticism

To receive feedback, you must keep yourself open-minded. When someone gives you constructive criticism, don’t take it as a personal. Use it as an opportunity to improve your speaking skills.

2. Ask for Specific Feedback

Instead of asking questions like,

How did I sound?

How was my body posture?

You can ask for specific feedback from your listeners, such as

Did I engage you throughout the speech?

or

Was my message clear?

This may be a tough question for you. How will you measure the impact of your speech? This question is very important, because when you give a speech, it is important to know whether you have conveyed your message correctly. If after your speech, your audience remembers your message or takes action on it, then you have created an impact with your speech. For this, you have to include the element of speaking with impact in your speech, and then also observe, whether people react to it or not.

So, now let’s talk about how you can effectively measure the impact of your speech.

1. Audience Reaction

The first way to measure the element of speak with impact is to find out how the audience is reacting during your speech. If they are paying attention to what you are saying, and not engaged in their phones, they are listening seriously to your every word,  it is a sign that you are adding impact to your speech. This is an indicator that you have successfully used the techniques of speak with impact.

You also need to observe body language of audience, if they are attentive, interest is in their eyes, or reacting emotionally to what you say, these are all positive signs that show the impact of your speech. The moment you grab the audience’s attention, your message reaches them more easily

2. After-Speech Engagement

Secondly, engagement after the speech is also an important way to measure the impact of your speech. If your audience discusses with you, asks questions, or debates on your points after your speech, this shows that they had a strong impact of your message. This is a sign that your speech has made them think, and they are actively engaged in it. If you are using the elements of speak with impact correctly, this will naturally inspire your audience to react to what you are saying.

So friends, speak with impact, does not mean just using words, but making a deep connection with your audience with your emotions, body language and message. Everyone should learn this skill of impactful speaking, whether you are a student, an entrepreneur or a public speaker.

With a little practice, patience and feedback, you can take your speaking skills to the next level.

Now you know the secrets of speak with impact. Next time when you go to give your speech on stage, remember these tips. Reach your audience’s heart and see how your impact remains in their memory.

So all the best for using the elements of speak with impact in your next speech.