How to Perfect Your Presentation Skills
As an Intellectual, your instinct is to give your audience the facts and figures that support your well-reasoned, well-researched argument. It’s equally important, however, to appeal to their humanity, to demonstrate the impetus behind your erudition, and to ensure that your tonality and physicality don’t detract from your argument. Read on below to learn more. Click here to see more ArcheGuides.
Studies show that people remember stories longer, trust them, and repeat them more accurately. With this in mind, embed (very short) stories that support your facts within your talk to up the interest in, and retention of, your message.
Social psychologist Ellen Langer showed that giving people the “because” behind why you were asking them to do something increased cooperation from 60 percent to 95 percent. Give the reasoning behind any request you make — because while it might be perfectly obvious to you, it may not be to your audience.
Albert Mehrabian, a psychology professor at UCLA, did a study that showed that people only remember 7 percent of what you say: 38 percent of your impact comes from your tonality, and 55 percent from what your body is doing while you’re speaking. With this in mind, videotape your speech ahead of time. Then watch it. Does your tone match your message? Is there anything about your body language that distracts from what you’re trying to accomplish? Critique yourself with this criteria, and adjust accordingly.
