Using Transcripts to Speak with Concision

Speak concisely, prepare with transcripts

There are some exceptional people who like to stand in the spotlight, people who aren’t afraid to speak in front of a room full of strangers. And then, there is the vast majority of us, simple mortals, who are terrified of giving a speech in public. The fear of public speaking, also known as speech anxiety or glossophobia, ranks very high on the list of most common phobias – it is believed that it affects around 75% of the population.

Most good speakers weren’t born to be on stage, but they became good by doing it a lot. Oprah Winfrey spoke in front of many people since she was a little girl – she used to recite Bible verses in churches. Later, as you know, she grew up to be the most successful female talk show host on the planet.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to give lots of speeches by now, don’t worry. You can always improve. Here are some advices we can give you to help you on your way to become a better, more confident public speaker.

  

Mastering public speaking isn’t easy. Au contraire, if you want to excel in giving speeches, you will need to work harder than you might think. Preparation is key when it comes to conquering the fear of public speaking. You need to work on your speech and performance a lot in order for you and your story to be enjoyable to listen to. We all know the feeling when we are listening to someone who is giving a speech, but we can easily spot the nervousness in their body language, the stutter in their voice, the sentences which don’t come out smoothly and sometimes even lack logic. A disorganized speaker who is very afraid and nervous might need over 200 words to express something that a self-confident, focused speaker can say in 50.

Don’t let this happen to you. One good way to determine the quality of your public speaking skills is to record yourself and transcribe the recorded speech. This way you will have every word you said on paper. If you read a speech of yours from the transcript which hasn’t been edited, you will immediately see what are the most common problems in your verbal expressions: Do you use many filler words? Is your speech logical? Do you speak concisely and comprehensive? When you see what your pitfalls are, you can edit your speech.

One important thing you need to be aware of when it comes to public speaking is the importance of concision in your speech. Think hard about what you are trying to say and try to find the exact words you need to express that. 

But why is concision so important when giving public speeches?

When you are speaking professionally, it is wise to think about the audience. They are giving you their valuable time and you need to give then something valuable in return. Also, most audience members today tend to have a limited attention span. That is one more reason why it is important to speak efficiently. So, the message you are trying to convey needs to be easy to understand and to the point. If you are repeating things or using slang, you will seem unprepared and unprofessional. Then you risk that your audience loses interest.

On top of that, when you are giving a speech at an event, you almost always have only limited time to do so. If you tend to have a lot of filler words in your speech you will most likely use some valuable minutes which in the end could be crucial for you to make a point. On top of that, by using filler words you will look less confident, so just avoid it as much as you can.

Meetings

In the business world, knowing how to communicate correctly is of uttermost importance. You need to know how to communicate with your boss, the members of your team and most importantly, your clients. Often, you will need to have a little exposé in a business meeting and that is exactly your moment to shine. Or maybe you got a great idea which you could present the team unannounced. Ditch the habit of staying silent! Being more visible at work is indispensable if you want your career to evolve. We will give you some great advice which will help you to speak up.

• If you intend to speak at a meeting, you will probably feel stressed out before it happens. Try to reframe the stress so that is a sign that you are ready for action. 
• Arrive some time before the start of the meeting and try to do small talk with your colleagues in order for you to feel more relaxed.
• Don’t wait too long! Try to speak up in the first 15 minutes of the meeting, or else you probably risk of not finding the courage to speak at all.
• Practice what you are going to say before the meeting. The important thing is to know which words to use to convey a clear and well-organized message.
• If speaking up is too much for you, start smaller, for example ask powerful questions. This will also get you noticed.
• Show initiative by taking on a task (maybe agree to research a specific topic?) for the next meeting.

Get that job!

If you are preparing for a job interview, you need to keep in mind that HR managers care about the way you behave (nonverbal communication), but also, they keep an eye on the way you speak (verbal communication). Don’t forget, companies are dying to find competent candidates with great public speaking skills who can present them on different events. Also, communication is important because most likely you will be working in a team. If you want to nail a job interview you need to look professional and confident, but that is also the moment to show what you got in terms of communication. Here are some advice for your next job interview:

• It is better to talk slowly than to speak fast and give poor answers. Think before you speak.
• A healthy dose of assertiveness is always welcome since it implies that you are confident that you have all it takes to do the job.
• Never stop working on your word usage and vocabulary in order to express yourself more easily.
• Prepare questions in advance. This will help you to find out if you want to work at the company in the first place.
• Try to give precise and concise answers to prove your point.
• Also, show that you know how to listen. Don’t interrupt the interviewer.

What are the most common problems people encounter when communicating and giving public speeches?

If you want to speak fluently and confidently you should definitely do your best to avoid the following:

1. Filler words – Those are words that don’t really have much value or meaning for the message you are trying to convey. You usually use them to gain time so you have a second to think of what you were about to say next. Good examples for those are words and expressions like: actually, personally, basically, you know, I mean…
2. Filler pauses have the similar purpose as the words above, only they are worse since they aren’t even real words. Here we are talking about sounds like “uh”, “um”, “er” …
3. False starts happen when you get into a sentence the wrong way and then don’t try to finish the sentence, but you decide to start from the beginning. This mistake is annoying for the audience, but also for the speaker, since the speaker loses the flow of the speech which is never good.

So, to avoid those problems, our advice again would be to be more concise and to prepare as much as possible before speaking.

Practice makes perfect! Improve!

As already mentioned, a great method to help you become a better speaker is to record yourself giving a speech and then do a verbatim transcription of the recording.

Gglot is a transcription service provider who offers verbatim transcriptions. This way you will be able to read everything that comes out of your mouth while you are giving a speech, including false starts, filler words and even filler sounds. After some time, you will become aware of your speaking patterns and you can try to work on them, which will make your speeches more fluent and concise.

Give speeches, record them, transcribe the recordings and edit the transcription, practice the edited speech and then repeat the whole process as often as needed. At some point, you will find yourself to be a fluent speaker with concise sentences.

Gglot gives you an effective way to improve your speaking skills, which in today’s estranged world is becoming increasingly rare and therefore a valuable asset. Become a more concise speaker and try Gglot’s affordable transcription service. All your audience will have to do is to sit back, enjoy your performance and listen to you speak.