Whatever your job is, you already have natural talents for public speaking. Here's how to recognize them so you can have confidence and develop them!

Do you wish you could be an excellent public speaker? What if I told you it's just a matter of developing abilities you already have? Because that is definitely the case.

We should all be reminded of this from time to time. It should help us be more aware of our abilities, while encouraging us to develop them even more.

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5 Talents You Already Have for Speaking Effectively

1. You Care. This is an absolute prerequisite to achieving true influence with an audience: the first indispensable quality. I'm guessing you have it. Believe me, this is one of those non-public-speaking, public speaking skills (if you get my meaning) that overcomes a multitude of sins concerning performance abilities.

Who cares if you're a slick speaker who dominates the stage with your presence? No one, if you don't have an important message and care whether your listeners hear it. Never discount your honesty and credibility when it comes to being an effective communicator, because an audience's trust in you begins from that starting point. And action on their part often follows.

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2. You Can Speak. Too obvious? Not if you really understand what speech implies and its results. Yes, we are the only species who possesses this ability (as we understand spoken communication). But here's an equally intriguing part of this phenomenon: speaking changes your message. (Here are The 5 Key Tools for Improving Your Voice for Business.)

It does so because, when you get right down to it, speaking is thinking. We don't (as we usually believe) think of something, then speak it. What's really happening is that we're saying something because we're vocalizing it, rather than just thinking it. The process of speaking represents you changing what you're saying as you're saying it. This is vastly not understood, and it's a very powerful aspect of public speaking.

3. You Know How to Connect. If you're not autistic, you understand well social communication and the interaction necessary to make it succeed. You recognize the social cues, and you're adept at using them when speaking to others because you have a lifetime of doing so. You may feel you don't connect as well with large audiences as you do with individuals or small groups, but chances are you do just fine in that situation too.

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Think about that for a moment, because it has implications for your success in speaking publicly. What I mean is this: learn from that fact the right way to approach a public speaking situation. Don't make the mistake of spending ALL of your time preparing your content. At some point, stop that, and start thinking hard about who these people are that you'll be speaking to, and how you can meet their needs in this speech or presentation. The answer to that last part is probably more essential, and easier, than you've realized until now.

4. You Have a Body. Mr. Obvious strikes again? — No, because you're almost certainly not using your body as effectively as you could as a speaker. Every presentation has—or should have—a physical dimension. Your body is one of your best tools of communication. Yet do you ever think in those terms?

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I just watched an interview of Michael Richards, who played Kramer on Seinfeld, who has a new book out. If you're having trouble understanding how vital the body dimension is in speaking, think of Kramer on that show. Talk about physical expressiveness!

In the same way (well, not quite in the same way!), your speech needs physical expression too. It's an integral part of how your message comes through! Not only does using your performance space and gesturing add power to what you're saying and make it more vivid and memorable. It also strikes a chord in the minds of listeners because of something called 'mirror neurons.' This element of our brain make us identify with and almost feel the same action we're watching someone else perform. Including, of course, public speakers. Contrast that with the speaker who stands statue-like at the lectern, eliciting precious little from the audience in terms of identifying with any physical response.

5. You're Emotional. Your listeners' emotional responses are just as important. This is where your humanity gives you a talent that's so ingrained in you that you never think of it as a 'talent' at all. But your emotions and emotional intelligence are definitely part of what you bring to the speaker-audience dynamic.

How important is the emotional component? Well, every decision an audience member makes is colored by emotion originating in the limbic system of the brain. Which means, of course, that if you want listeners to take some action, you need to include an emotional component to what you're saying. Think of it this way: there's an emotional current running underneath everything you say, like a river. That phenomenon is unavoidable, because you're a human talking to other humans. Nothing equals this natural ability—this absolutely unavoidable ability—of yours. 

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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. In 2022 for the ninth consecutive year, Gary has been ranked by Global Gurus as One of the World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals. He is the author of the Amazon Best-Seller How to Give a Speech. His second book, Fearless Speaking, was named in 2019 as "One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time." His handbook for presenting in videoconferences, Speaking Virtually offers strategies and tools for developing virtual presence in online meetings. He also the author of Speak for Leadership: An Executive Speech Coach's Secrets for Developing Leadership Presence. His latest book is The Confidence Book: 75 Ways to Reduce Your Anxiety, Let Go of Your Fears, Change Your Negative Thinking, and Live Fully in the Moment. Contact Gary here. 

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