Wouldn't it be nice to be more charismatic when you speak? Think of the influence you could have! Here are six easy ways to be a speaker with charisma. 

Interested in engaging, motivating, and inspiring audiences? Want to be thought of highly in your industry and be recognized as a memorable speaker? If so, you need to go far beyond informing or even persuading audiences.

You need to speak with charisma. 

There's nothing mysterious about speaking with charisma. But you do need the skills! Get 101 easy-to-learn tips in my book, How to Give a Speech. Here it is on Amazon.

It's easier than you think to connect with audiences and be a memorable speaker. An important way to begin is by removing yourself from the equation. In other words, start making listeners the center of your universe instead of "how you're doing."

You'll be amazed at how much that frame of mind will help you meet your audience's needs while engaging their full attention. From there, you can use the six approaches listed below to make your presentations more enjoyable for audiences.

Getting through to people requires focus and control. Discover how it's done! Download my essential cheat sheet, 10 Ways to Stay Fully Focused when Speaking.

These techniques work for all forms of public speaking. Equally important, they'll help you shine in your audience's eyes, so you'll get to that place of audience approbation you were hoping for!

1. Make eye contact to gain trust with listeners. 

Simply put, no behavior is as fundamental to persuasion as looking at the person you're talking to. When was the last time you trusted somebody who wouldn't look you in the eye?

So, actively look at and relate to your audience when you speak. When I say actively, I mean let your gaze linger for a half-a-second to a second on each individual or section of a larger audience. Don’t “flick” your eyes at your listeners. That isn't real eye contact. When you look at listeners while sharing your beliefs, they'll trust in your honesty. And be more willing to be influenced by you.

But avoid their gaze just because you’re nervous—or weakest of excuses, because you’re busy reading your manuscript out loud—and you’ll have virtually no chance of changing their thinking or behavior for the better. After all, eye contact is called that because it involves actually connecting with others when you speak. Here's a technique you can use to learn how to dramatically improve your eye contact.

2. Smile to increase everyone's enjoyment.

As public speakers we don’t smile enough, period. Smiling is another prerequisite to establishing trust with audiences (though it’s not as critical as eye contact). At the very least, it’s visual evidence of your enjoyment in speaking.

In situations where you feel a smile is inappropriate, take one of two alternate paths: (a) “open” your countenance by assuming a pleasant expression; and/or (b) raise your cheekbones. Do this by visualizing your cheek areas "rising" slightly. While that may not actually happen physically, your intention will result in a positive change in your facial countenance.

To explain what I mean by that last point, look at Grant Wood's famous painting American Gothic. That’s the one of the grim-faced farmer and his wife, complete with pitchfork. Now compare it to the Mona Lisa. There’s a lady with some raised cheekbones . . . and look how successful she’s been!

3. Tell personal stories that listeners can relate to.

Let's face it: important information and data have a tendency to sound formal, not personal. So, they can actually hinder our ability to speak in terms that emphasize human concerns and solutions. Storytelling is . . . well, another story. The reason we relate to stories immediately is because we see ourselves and our own needs in them without any effort on our part.

Something else happens when you add another ingredient to the mix: telling a story about yourself. People sometimes avoid doing that because they think it's egotistical. But, unless you sound like a blowhard, that isn't true. Instead, it shows listeners that you have skin in the game. They can see that this isn't just some content you're supposed to be talk about, but instead is a topic that is truly part of your own life experience.

4.  Talk to one person, then to that one person . . . 

Who isn't anxious about speaking to a large audience? (Well, actors, who will be disappointed when you tell them you can't fit more people in the auditorium.) Most of us are comfortable in conversations. But when 50 or 500 people are looking at us, waiting for us to speak? Yikes!

Is that the case with you? If it is, here's my Free cheat sheet on "How To Calm Your Nerves Before Speaking." Become calmer and more focused, even if you have 5 minutes to spare!

The solution to this dilemma is to go back to being conversational by speaking to one person at a time. I mean this both literally and figuratively. Actually look at one person in that large audience and speak to him or her for the duration of a phrase or idea. Then shift to another single person (preferably not the one sitting right next to the first person). Everything feels different, for speaker and listener alike, when your P-U-B-L-I-C  S-P-E-E-C-H becomes retail. 

5. Energize your voice so you reach every listener.

Have you ever had to strain to hear what a speaker is saying? Soft-talkers and under-energized presenters make us work too hard just to hear them. Worse, these speakers seem distant, as though we've been left out of the communication loop.

Instead, be sure to generate enough vocal power and energy to reach every listener in the room. That includes not only people in the back, but those who are hard of hearing (always assume there is someone in this category in your audience). Remember also that your vocal energy must change in different spaces: the larger the speaking venue, the more you must project your voice. In auditoriums and lecture halls that echo, you’ll also have to speak slowly enough for the echo to reach your listeners before you go on.

When you project sufficient energy in a presentation, you make everything easier for listeners. Now they feel they can relax, instead of working overtime to do part of your job for you. The other benefit is that a strong vocal performance is an influencer in its own right. Here are 5 ways to dramatically improve your vocal power. 

6. Enjoy yourself!

Enjoying yourself while speaking in public: now there’s a novel concept! Our culture has somehow invested public speaking with an aura of inconvenience, horror, and even torture—as if the entire experience belongs in an Edgar Allan Poe story.

But think about your own experiences as an audience member. Are you comfortable listening to a speaker who is hesitant, self-conscious, or fearful? Someone who presents with verve instead broadcasts a completely different message. Audiences instinctively feel that this is a person who has something valuable to say.

It must be good stuff, they think—look at how much he or she is enjoying talking about it! Pretty soon, they'll be enjoying themselves as well. And that's a guarantee that they'll remember the experience with positive emotions.

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