Speaking with Confidence: Finding Your Voice and Sharing Your Convictions

Speaking with Confidence:Finding Your Voice and

Sharing Your Convictions

The great trouble with many of us is that we do not believe enough in ourselves. We do not realize our

power.—Orison Swett Marden

Confront your fears Experience your voice Involve your audience Structure your thoughts Learn to persuade Speak from the heart

Speaking with power and confidenceSix key steps:

Confront Your FearsFear is the sand in the gears of life.—Elmon E. Yoder

Sources of fear:• high stakes on the job• obsession with perfection• negative self-talk• avoidance• past trauma

Experience Your VoiceYour voice is your fingerprint.—Lilyan Wilder

Your SOUND says as much as your WORDS.Find and develop an inner voice that is - relaxed - easy to listen to - lively - convincing Your goal: “Enlarged conversation”

Involve Your AudienceTell me, and I might remember. Show me, and I might learn. Involve me, and it’s mine.--Proverb

Get an IMMEDIATE RESPONSE- ask a direct question- describe a shared experience- share a personal experience- ask the audience to do something- demonstrate something- appeal to the senses

Establish a Dialogue(Speak with rather than at your audience)

- Ask rhetorical questions- Tell stories- Distribute something- Give orders (gently)- Get physical- Use the power of the pause- Monitor audience response

Learn to PersuadeBy persuading others, we convince ourselves.--Junius

- Think of your audience as “they” rather than “it”- Ask yourself several key questions:

- Who am I talking to?- What do I want to say to them?- Why do I think they need to hear this from me now?- What do I want them to do?

- Take a certain action?- Change an attitude?- Reflect on a problem in a certain way?

Provide Convincing EvidenceYour case is only as strong as the evidence you present.

Supporting evidence comes from four primary sources:

- Your own experience- The experiences others share with you- The results of your own research- The logic of your own reasoning

Structure Your ThoughtsIf you don’t know where you’re going, how can you expect to get there?—J.M. Braude

O.K. So you’ve - got their attention- invited and received a response- made a connection - established rapport- developed a persuasive purpose

Now what?

Follow a simple, 3-step plan to deliver your message:1.BEGINNING (Tell them what you’re going to say) - Catch their attention / get a response - Preview what’s to come

2. MIDDLE (Say it.) - Present your 3-5 major points (not too many!) - Support and/or illustrate each one - Include ethos (credibility), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion)

3. END (Tell them what you said) - Summarize/cement your main points - Close with a memorable thought

Most of all…

Speak From the Heart

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared towhat lies within us.—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your turn!The 30-Second Elevator Speech

Imagine this:

You are in Juneau to promote your local harbor.You’re staying at the Baranof Hotel. From the lobby you step into the elevator.The only other person in it is a key legislator from your district

who has the power to help you…or not.

While you have his/her undivided attention, seize the opportunity!Think of two important reasons why your harbor is valuable

to your community, and the state of Alaska.

Share your reasons. Be persuasive. Speak from the heart.