Want to be the best you can be at public speaking? Learn these powerful performance techniques of professional athletes.

Lou Gehrig.

What does the name of this famous Yankee first baseman bring to mind? His 2,721 career hits? The .340 lifetime batting average—15th best in baseball history? Or is it his most consecutive games played mark of 2,130, a record unbroken for nearly 60 years?

Perhaps it's Gehrig's diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ever after known in the U.S. as Lou Gehrig's Disease. But it's just as likely that people remember Gehrig's famous pronouncement on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 when, despite his fatal diagnosis, the great player proclaimed himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth." 

Every professional can learn from such a demonstration of the essential speaking techniques of leaders. But what Gehrig demonstrated that summer day in New York goes far beyond communication skills, vital as those are to every professional.

Striking Gold when You Speak

There's probably no better example of the meeting of elite athlete and public speaking skills than the short speech Gehrig gave that day. Still, if you're looking to become a first-class speaker who knows how to move audiences, there are ways to strike gold with your presentation that have nothing to do with sports competitions.

It's not the speaking skills, that is, so much as it is the mindset of world-class athletes, and the approach they take that sets them apart. This article looks at three ways you can emulate "the best of the best" in your speeches, presentations, PowerPoint slide shows, sales talk, lectures, and any other type of speaking you do.

These approaches are ways you can reach for greatness in your industry, rather than remaining "merely excellent." After all, the hare was an excellent runner, but without a strategy and the commitment to carry it out on his part, it was the tortoise who won the prize!

The Value of Coaching

Every great athlete has a coach—often more than one—we all know that. So why shouldn't business leaders, humanitarians, surgeons, politicians, scholars, lawyers, and professionals of all types use executive-level coaching to succeed as well?

They should, of course. Despite the highest levels of skill, dedication and performance, no one can stand outside of himself, looking in. (To learn how to speak with maximum impact and influence in your field, download my cheat sheet, "4 Characteristics of an Influential Speaker.") Whatever your ability, a qualified coach can bring you to the next level of proficiency, and then the level after that. As in any profession, an athlete's skills are often indistinguishable from his or her competitor's. It's the quality of mind and a strategy to reach greater heights as much as anything that sets the great apart from the merely excellent.  

When I conduct group workshops in public speaking, I often include an exercise in impromptu speaking. My announcement of the exercise is always greeted with howls of dismay. (There's always at least one comment by the end of the day, however, to this effect: "You know what my favorite part of today's workshop was?  . . .  The impromptu exercise!") After everyone has performed their talk, I tell them: "Everyone complained when I announced this activity, but look at how well you all did. Each of you gave a well organized, interesting talk with no notice, and on a topic you're not an expert on. Think of how good you'll be when you know your subject and have time to prepare and practice."

That's when I reveal to them that one of the objects of the exercise was to instill confidence. And that's a principal job of your coach as well.

You're a Body, Not a Talking Head 

Have you noticed how many people seem divorced from their own body when they speak? Like most people, you're probably comfortable, and effective, when you're speaking to friends or colleagues you're familiar with. You look and sound effective because you're simply being yourself. Of course, you should be familiar with the self-image you're broadcasting through your body language, because it's an important part of getting across the message you want to come through.

Do you, however, like some people, leave behind your physical expression when you speak? Do you stiffen up, because all "speechy," and generally cease looking and sounding like yourself? Certainly, you should avoid the 5 body language errors that will sink your presentation. But beyond this, you need to find a way to marry your important message with the human being who's delivering it.

You're not a brain in a bell jar! If you need an elegant reminder of how important the body is in performance, watch an athlete. If you're saying, "Well of course an athlete's body is important to their performance! They're taking part in a sport," ask yourself this: If a speaker's body wasn't vital to their own performance, why is the presentation taking place in real time in the presence of people at all? Why not just email your text to everyone? Become aware of your body as the vital communication tool it is, and use it that way. That includes your voice. Learn the 4 vocal techniques for becoming a dynamic speaker, and practice them until you're using this physical tool effectively.

Play the Long Game

Imagine your big chance as a speaker or presenter comes only once every four years. At last you get to speak to those stakeholders; to pitch to that big client; to inspire your staff to achieve your organization's mission. Then imagine that your chance goes by in 9 or 10 seconds . . . and if you happen to have a sneezing fit, it's all over for the next quadrennial.

The comparison is to the Olympic Games, of course. Fortunately, you as a speaker aren't faced with the monumental pressure of that situation. But you and I can learn a lesson from the athletes that face such a scenario. And that's to prepare for the long game.

You as a speaker aren't faced with the merciless antagonism of the clock that an athlete deals with, which decrees that at the age of 35 or 40 you'll be finished as a professional, able only to sit on the sidelines. Your communication skills should only get better through the decades, and that includes public speaking. So take the long view. Understand that your abilities will improve the longer you own them and the more you practice them. Keep striving, as the athletes do. Find methods of staying sharp and focused when speaking.  Also like athletes, use one of the best tools ever invented for improving your public speaking: videotaping.

Most of all, realize that in the end it isn't excellence you should strive for, but the best performance you're capable of. No one could ask for anything more of herself: not the world's best athlete, and not you.

Key takeaways from this blog:

• You'll strike gold with your speeches if you emulate professional athletes.
• Elite athletes use coaches to get them to the next level. You should, too.
• Practice until you can use your body as an essential communication tool.
• Remember that there's no time limit on being a great communicator!