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Eric Feng has a post with 250 Things You Wish You Know That Will Guarantee Your Speaking Success. It is an interesting post, but I question why 250?
Most people are looking for a quick fix. They don't have time to read 250 things, let alone DO 250 things. Imagine you are learning to play golf. There are easily 250 things you could bear in mind to improve each shot. What is the most important thing? I am not an expert on golf, but I conjecture that keeping your head focused on the ball throughout your swing is number 1.
Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent tips in this 250. To me though, the most important thing to bear in mind with public speaking is that you want to make a connection with your audience. If you don't do this, none of the rest matters. Some of the 250 promote making a connection with your audience, but if you don't have this major goal in mind, it will be hard to achieve.
I would like to see Eric focus on 3 things with examples on on how to achieve each one. Sure, eye contact is great. Keep it on one person. But what are ways to achieve this? Practicing is great, but how to practice is key. Practice for its own sake is not going to be as successful.
I propose the following 3 things you need to do to improve your speaking success:
- Connect with your audience
- Practice at every opportunity
- Evaluate your speaking as well as others
How to achieve each of these is left to another post, although if you are not a Toastmaster and want to get better at public speaking, I recommend you join a club this week.
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