You probably know who Simon Sinek is, but you probably do not know that he is very shy and is afraid of crowds. He prefers to hide during parties, or better even better- not showing up. However, he has 22 million views on YouTube and is the third most-watched TED CURATOR of all time. I know it is ironic, but his success as an inspirational speaker and a best-selling author is not just about luck, knowing the right people, or being at the right place at the right time. It has more to do with facing fears and a lot of practice on and off stage.
Simon Sinek recently exposed his top tactics that help him to deliver speeches that motivate, engage, and entertain, and some of them are here down below.
• Sinek advices people to not start talking as soon as they step on the stage, because that shows that you are insecure and afraid. Instead, he suggests you to quietly walk on to the stage, find you place, take a few deep breaths and then begin. That shows the audience that you are not nervous and that you have complete control of the situation.
• It is not uncommon to see people giving presentations in order to sell their products, make people buy their books, or to annoy people until they click the follow button on social media. The audience can apparently completely see through this act, which leads them to disengage. Sinek believes that people are more likely to trust speakers who inspire, or teach something new; speakers who give and not take.
• Simon says (pun unintended but oh well) that you should directly look at some of the audience members through out your speech. If it is possible, finish a sentence while looking at one person very intently, and then move on to another and do the same, and so on until you are done with your speech. This way it is more like you are having a conversation than speaking at the audience. This method allows you to create deeper connections with specific audience members which diffuse out so that the entire crowd can feel it too.
• If you are nervous, your speaking speed increases along with your heartbeat. With all that experience under his hat, Simon knows that audiences are generally very forgiving and will not mind if you speak unusually slow to calm your nerves.
• Do not pay too much attention to those people who are clearly not on the same page with you. Focus more on people who are engaged and nodding “yes” to everything you say, because that will give you more confidence than trying to convince the people who disagree will.
• If you are nervous then keep telling yourself that you are excited, because that gives you more control of the situation.
• A cheering audience and loud applause, or even a clap here and there- they are all gifts. So do not forget to return the favor with a nice “Thank You” in the end of your speech!