Speak like a leader | Simon Lancaster

6 Techniques to enable the viewer to speak like a leader

1. Three Breathless Sentences

In preparation for your speech, stop, listen, and look around. Register how you are feeling. The audience’s emotions and attention depend on the way you are speaking. When you begin, give them three breathless sentences. This will make your topic sound more compelling and convincing, and also put your audience on edge.

2. Three Repetitive Sentences

‘I love learning about HR. I love writing blogs about HR. I love talking about HR.’. Using three sentences in which the opening clause is repeated communicates emotion, and usually passion, which everyone wants to hear in a speech, as if you are not passionate about the topic, why should they be? Moreover, putting your argument in threes makes it sound more credible.

3.Three Balancing Statements

‘There’s nothing wrong with America, that can’t be cured, by what’s right with America.’. We are naturally attracted to balance and if a sentence and speech for that matter is balanced, we are more likely to believe the thinking is balanced.

4. Using Metaphors

Metaphors are used to either point people towards something or distract them away from something. They are lies that are never challenged, yet they have enormous impact on the way people respond. They are the most powerful tool used in political communication so use them!

5. Exaggeration

Exaggerating points is linked to emotions, and as long as you can control your emotions and use them productively, exaggerating a point is a great way of demonstrating an emotion for a certain topic and helps to create connection with your spectators.

6. Rhyme

Research has demonstrated that people are more likely to believe something is true if it rhymes. It makes things easier to understand and accept the message within the brain, we also use them to conceal fallacies, so approach with caution!