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.
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.
But why is concision so important when giving public speeches?
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.
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.
- 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.
- If speaking up is too much for you, start smaller, for example ask powerful questions. This will also get you noticed.
Get that job!
- 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.
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:
- 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” …
Practice makes perfect! Improve!
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.