~by Donya Zimmerman~
As a Public Speaker, you must understand that the speech is not about you, it’s about the audience. Professional speakers understand the need to focus on a problem and give solutions to it. As a public speaker, you should create a connection with the audience. The best speeches are remembered because the orator kept their audience in mind when writing the speech.
1 Cor. 10:24, “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being”.
Calvin Miller clearly states the importance of focusing on the audience as a public speaker in his book, The Empowered Communicator.
“Dear speaker, your ego has become a wall between yourself and me. You’re not really concerned about me, are you? You’re mostly concerned about whether or not this speech is really working…about whether or not you’re doing a good job. You’re really afraid that I will not applaud, aren’t you? You’re afraid that I won’t laugh at your jokes or cry over your emotional anecdotes. You’re so caught up in the issue or how I’m going to receive your speech, you haven’t thought much about me at all. I might have loved you, but you’re so caught up in self-love that mine is really unnecessary. If I don’t give you my attention it’s because I feel so unnecessary here. When I see you at the microphone, I see Narcissus at his mirror… Is your tie straight? Is your hair straight? Is your deportment impeccable? Is your phraseology perfect? You seem in control of everything but your audience. You see everything so well, but us. But this blindness to us, I’m afraid, has made us deaf to you. We must go now. Sorry. Call us sometime later. We’ll come back to you when you’re real enough to see us… after your dreams have been shattered… after your heart has been broken… after your arrogance has been reckoned with despair. Then there will be room for all of us in your world. Then you won’t care if we applaud your brilliance. You’ll be one of us”.
The 3 main secrets of outstanding Public Speakers:
• They know they are not the main subject
• They know their audience’s wants, needs, and desires
• They write their speech to meet those needs, wants, and desires
Professional speakers understand that the center of attention should be the audience, not themselves.
Meet the Author: Donya Zimmerman
Donya Zimmerman is a business consultant, mediator, and legal professional with over ten years of experience. Donya is also a public speaker and aspiring author.
She is owner of Family & Community Mediation and Business Consulting (FACMBC) and Powerful Biz Woman (subsidiary of FACMBC), both of which are based in Baltimore, MD.
Services provided by FACMBC: Mediation and Conflict Resolution Services; Business Registration Assistance; Business Plan Drafting Assistance; Business Certification Assistance; and Business Organization Assistance.
If you are thinking about starting your own small business or non-profit organization, do not hesitate to contact me because I can show you how to do so.
For more information about Donya:
- Email: dzimmerman36@gmail.com
- Website: www.dzimmerman36.wordpress.com
- Facebook: @PowerfulBizWoman
- LinkedIn: Donya Zimmerman, JD
- Twitter: @FACMBC
