Develop your distinctive public speaking style

Once you have conquered your fears and taken command of your subject matter, you must work on your delivery. In the same way that you develop a distinctive writing style, you also must develop a distinctive style in your public speaking. Diction matters Legend holds that an Oxford "advanced poetics" seminar once devoted an entire five-hour session to the nuances, suggestions, allusions, and overtones in "earth" versus "dirt" or "mud" or "muck." Their discussions allegedly clarified not only the words' most subtle and elusive meanings but also what the choices tell listeners about a speaker's social class, sensitivity, religious and political affiliation, and education. rnCommunications experts have determined that a speaker's capacity to match his or her message to the audience depends not on his or her appeal to the audience's comprehension but his or her skill in meeting the people's expectations. Moreover, researchers have found the match depends primarily on the speaker's word choices. If the program declares you are "a leading expert in the field," your audience expects you will use jargon and occasionally will mystify them; if they understand every word and description in your presentation, the audience will feel cheated of your special expertise. At the other end of the continuum, if the program lists you as "the down-to-earth champion of common sense," then the audience naturally expects you will speak simply, directly in a somewhat folksy idiom. If you work-in bon mots, the audience will walk away grumbling, " Turned-out to be an elitist snob after all." Tone matters. You came from the factory equipped with a unique voice, and as you gained command of the language, you developed signature expressions that set you apart from all other speakers. These special qualities contribute to your distinctive style, and you further may enhance your speaking style by taking full advantage of your vocal range. You may consider emphasizing the vocal qualities that come naturally to your gender, and you may consider borrowing a few tone tactics from the opposite gender. Women typically end their sentences on up notes, giving their speech a pleasant lilting quality, far more musical and appealing than men's typically gruff, argumentative tones. rnWhen women want to stress naturally important assertions, therefore, they should drop their voices as they end their sentences, and they should "punch" the least few words of their important statements-that is, slow down the pace, drop the music half-an octave, and say each word just a little bit louder than the one before it. And when men want to draw on their natural magnetism and charisma, they should enhance the feminine qualities in their articulation, speaking more from the backs of their throats than from deep in their diaphragms. rnEye contact matters most of all "Look me right in the eye and tell me...," we say when we demand the truth from one another. When you voluntarily level your gaze in the eyes of people in your audience, you assure them you mean what you say. The more important your point, the more you must make meaningful eye contact as you assert it.rnAs you become more proficient at public speaking, you will depend less on your notes, giving yourself opportunities for finding the friendly faces in the audience. You will see people smiling and nodding at your best material, and they will become the objects of your most frequent and most meaningful eye contacts, because they already have established themselves as your most ardent fans.