Do I need to be a professional public speaker/presenter to be good in front of the camera?

A: Speaking is a skill, one that you need to a high degree if you are going to make a living actually speaking.  What I have heard a lot is:

“It’s my message that is important, right?”

“I mean, anyone can speak; right?”

“But I am only speaking to promote my business, no one expects me to be an expert speaker, as long as I cover all my points it’s fine – right? ”

Well…

Of course, the message is the most important thing, but it will be compromised if your delivery is poor. The audience may not trust your message – or you. You yourself are also your message because people are looking to buy from you. The nonverbal part of your speech is the part that conveys your credibility, your sincerity, your expertise, and inspires the audience to listen.

Ask yourself honestly, when you hear someone speak – are you only concentrating on the content? Research tells us that in the first two minutes of any speech, the part that has the most impact is the delivery. Then, there is the fact that on screen you only have 3 seconds to grab someone’s attention as they scroll through online. The brain is attracted to varied tonality in the voice, eye contact and strong definite body language. If you are not speaking with energy and interest you run the risk of boring your audience and they will scroll on by.

Most people can speak, but not everyone can naturally speak well in every situation and be heard.  When you are on screen and promoting your product or service, you want to come across as natural and engaging. But being on screen is an ‘unnatural set-up’, so you need to know what to do, to come across as both natural and engaging. It won’t be the same as when you are just having a conversation one-to-one in a room with someone. Good, inspirational speaking is a skill to be learnt and practised.

Even naturally born great orators seek training. They want to hone their skills, learn to adapt to any situation and importantly, deconstruct what they are doing that makes them so good. This is very useful if, as does happen, something goes wrong, such as a normally confident speaker being put off their stride or getting an unexpected attack of stage fright. This knowledge can ultimately help them to correct the issue, or learn how to get out of the problem if it happens again.

If you are interested in a course either as part of a group or one-to-one, where you will learn how to have control of your voice and be able to speak with confidence, clarity and inspiration in any situation, For details of Fiona’s “Speak Up, Stand Out, Be Heard” programme, contact fiona@locuscoaching.com. The next one starts on 5 September and there is a very special deal on it.

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