Want to be someone who makes a mark, in person or in virtual meetings? Here's how to be an original speaker who motivates and inspires audiences! 

Are you interested in being a memorable speaker who makes an impression? Great! Let's start with your most potent weapon for being recognized for your valuable work: you.

To begin, clear your mind of the negative mindset that has you worrying about being good. That approach is guaranteed to keep your presentations earthbound. To reach the stratosphere (or at least the next level), accept the fact that if your message matters, your presentation has to be memorable—whether you're speaking in person or in virtual meetings.

It’s as simple and as challenging as that. But being memorable doesn't mean being "super-good," something that's impossible to achieve in practical terms. It has more to do with being true to your goal, and as focused as you can be on who you're sharing it with: your audience.

Learn The Genard Method that has helped people worldwide speak with presence and power. Discover 101 easy-to-learn skills in my book, How to Give a Speech. On Amazon.

Think Different? For Effective Speaking, Be Different!

Why do so many speeches and presentations fail to reach escape velocity?

It's because most of them are exactly like all the others in that industry. Many times, they're the same as all the previous presentations in that company or team! People feel safe that way. Unfortunately, presentations like that condemn audiences to Presentation Purgatory—where PowerPoint is the preferred instrument of torture, and time stretches on to the crack of doom. 

Wouldn't you like to give your audiences something refreshing and life-affirming instead? 

Influential speaking means connecting with and moving audiences. Learn how it's done! Get my Free resource, "Great Speaking? — It's About Performance Over Content!"

To Inspire Listeners, You Need to Take Center Stage!

If you have an important message (and if you don’t, why are you giving this presentation?), you must find a way to make your vital points stick in the minds of the audience. Another way to say this is: For your ideas to fire up listeners, you need to turn up the heat. Don’t be afraid to be different! Whether what you're practicing is advocacy, sales, or motivation, breaking away from the pack is not only fun for you and your listeners. It's also a skill that looks like leadership.

How about your speaking voice? Is it strong enough to motivate and inspire? Discover how in my Free Tips and Tricks Guide, "The Voice of Authority: How to Sound Like a Leader."

Below are 5 effective ways to be a more original speaker. I've developed these suggestions over many years as an actor and speech coach. Try any of them the next time you're slated for a speech or presentation where you want to make an impression.

You don't necessarily have to include all of them in the same presentation, but each of them is an original and intriguing approach. (And if you want to be better at engaging and moving listeners, download my Free Presenter's Guide, The 6 Rules of Effective Public Speaking.)

5 Ways To Be An Original Public Speaker

1. Consider A Different Approach. Think about how this topic has been presented in the past. Why did previous speakers handle it that way? What advantages or disadvantages did those approaches have? If a previous approach wasn't particularly successful, can you try something different instead? How can you be an original presenter who taps into the particular strengths of public speaking?

2. Try “Suspending Your Expertise.” Imagine that you’re brand new to your business or industry. Look at the situation or the problem at hand from a neophyte’s point of view. You'd be surprised at how this allows you to look at things with a new set of eyes. Issues which were too close and familiar for you to see clearly may come sharply into focus for the first time.  

3. Ask Your Audience. Come up with ways for listeners or online meeting participants to respond. It doesn't matter if it's dead air in a live presentation or the dead vacuum of cyberspace—a long one-way monologue is deadly either way. Tap into your audience's experience or point of view. If this is a revolutionary concept for you, okay . . . revolt! At this very moment, there are millions of people around the world who would like to do something different in a Zoom meeting!

4. Live In Your Audience's World. Here's an opportunity to change your entire mindset concerning how to be an effective speaker. All of us are guilty of being "speaker-centric," i.e., thinking about ourselves and our performance. But everything you say, and the way you choose to say it, should be about your listeners. What interests them and turns them on? What needs do they have that you can fulfill? How can your approach, and the language you use, be specifically designed to reach and move them?

5. Become Human. Presenters who focus only on delivering data make two mistakes. First, they allow the data to take center-stage, diminishing their own importance. And second, they forget the human-to-human connection. When you actually talk to listeners, whether it's in person or online, they hear it. If you watched J.D. Vance's speech at the Republican National Convention last week, you saw this kind of natural style in action. Now, is the idea of storytelling coming into your mind? That's no accident. Instead of turning on the fire hose of data, find ways to weave information into a story. I guarantee it: listeners will respond positively and immediately.

Like historical mysteries? — Discover my Dr. William Scarlet Mystery Series!

Max von Leiden is the world's most famous magician. But it isn’t an illusion when his tricks start turning up corpses instead of applause! The Master of Illusion. Also on Amazon.

You should follow me on Twitter here.

Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in public speaking and overcoming speaking fear. His company, The Genard Method offers live 1:1 Zoom executive coaching  and corporate group training worldwide. He was named for nine consecutive years as One of the World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals, and also named as One of America's Top 5 Speech Coaches. He is the author of the Amazon Best-Sellers How to Give a Speech and Speak for Leadership: An Executive Speech Coach's Secrets for Developing Leadership Presence. His book, Fearless Speaking, was named in 2019 as "One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time." He is also the author of the Dr. William Scarlet Mysteries. Contact Gary here. 

Main photo credit: SHVETS production on pexels.com