What Kind of Speaker are You?

Several years ago, I was telling my husband a story. As a high school speech and English teacher, I came home with funny student quotes and exciting interactions to share. 

 

At one point, I jump topics.

 

My patient husband looked at me, and said, “Tina, I love your passion and enthusiasm for what you do. I need more clarity to follow your message. Would you consider using more transitions?”

 

My compassionate husband reminded the importance of letting the audience know what’s next.

 

I also realized we have very different styles of communicating.

 

I’m random.

 

He’s sequential.

 

I let my passion lead what I say and how I say it.

 

He follows more facts and logic.

 

Both are important and have their place.

 

When presenting, it’s crucial to have clarity, and with clarity, speakers need distinct patterns when communicating.

 

Like a recipe, specific ingredients are mixed at a certain time to create a certain outcome.

 

What’s important is being aware of your style, what’s natural to you, then aligning your speaker style and content to present an organized talk.

 

While speaking and completing tasks randomly comes more naturally to me, I value sequence and verbal cues.

 

That means working harder to accommodate my listeners, so they can follow my line of thinking.

 

Clear Content and Order = Increased Understanding and Impact

 

Keep your audience in the know.

 

Go with your speaking flow and know where your flow goes.

 

Still embrace the speaker that you are.

 

Want your audience to retain your information?

 

Logically construct your main points, transition from one point to the other, and your ideas will resonate.

 

Then, you’ll have the influence you desire.