With a “wow” factor, you have something to look forward to in the speech that you know will have an impact on your audience. Something in your speech should make your audience think, “Wow!” It could be a story, a dramatic point, an unusual statistic, or an effective visual that helps the audience understand immediately. This will help you maintain good eye contact throughout your presentation as well as command immediate attention. Go to the lectern and pause, smile, look at the audience, and then speak. One way to ensure good eye contact is to look at your audience before you start to speak. If it is a large audience, look at the audience in small “clumps” and move from one clump to another. If it is a small audience, you can look at each person in a short period of time. Just start at the beginning and move chronologically through the narrative, including answers to the “W” questions: who, what, when, why and where. With about any topic you might choose, you probably have at least one war story to relate to the topic. Include a personal experience that connects to your speech content, and the audience will connect with you. Tell your own story somewhere in the presentation.Tie your points together with transitions. Visual aids are important when you want your audience to understand a process or concept. With each point, include two or three pieces of support, such as examples, definitions, testimony, or statistics. Don’t include more than two or three main points, and preview in the beginning what those points will be. Show facial expression smile when talking about something pleasant and let your face show other emotions as you discuss an event or activity. Demonstrate how something works or looks or moves as you tell about it. When you are encouraging your audience, take a step toward them. Don’t just stand behind the lectern, but move a step away to make a point. Slow down for a dramatic point and speed up to show excitement. “You might have heard about the flood that….” A question is another way to make people listen: “How many of you check your email more than three times a day?” Whatever technique you use, when you grab the attention of the audience, you’re on your way to a successful speech. Listeners pay close attention when a speaker begins with: “Last night as I was driving home from work.…” Or you could begin with a current event. This might be a startling statement, a statistic, or your own story. Here are seven steps that can make your preparation complete or finished. In the Bible, the number seven is identified with something being “finished” or “complete.” We might say the same thing about a dynamic presentation.
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