As a public speaker there is nothing more important than your ability to speak passionately, or at least with enthusiasm.
While listening to a speech an audience is distracted.
They may be admiring the way you look, sound, are dressed; feel bothered by the room being overly air-conditioned or too warm; and your speech will evoke associations and memories.
Audience members, therefore, usually remember only one or two of your statements.
What has impressed them more is something they have experienced viscerally.
A study done at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) shows that 93% of a speech's effectiveness lies not in what you say but the way you say it.
A memorial was held for an outstanding woman attended by hundreds of people.
Some spoke brilliantly, others amusingly about her spirit and achievements.
But the person everyone still remembers was the urbane man who stepped to the mike, said, "I knew (and he mentioned her name) ", then stopped talking.
He was not crying but we could tell that he was too moved to continue although he refused to show emotion.
Instead, after some silent seconds he waved his hand in the air as if to say, " I can't do this.
" and walked off the stage.
No one will ever forget it, and what we remember is certainly not what he said.
To analyze this.
1) He felt deeply, he was passionate, which is the element audiences respond most strongly to.
Now you might say, "I make speeches about plumbing fixtures and it is hard to be passionate about that.
" I would reply, "Then you'd better find something about plumbing fixtures that you do feel passionate or at least enthusiastic about, even if you have to rack your brain.
" The more pedestrian the topic the more exciting you should think it, in order to convey this to your listeners.
Perhaps the fixtures once saved lives when there was a water-main break! Here is an example of an exercise acting students do: Two of them are told to have a debate on a controversial subject, like abortion.
One is asked to be for it, the other against it, and they go at it heatedly.
But first, each must find a way to believe in their point of view in order to speak passionately about it.
They are then told to debate the topic again but this time to switch views.
They find ways to believe in the new and opposite point of view and again speak passionately.
This proves you can always find something to inspire you, which, as a public speaker you must do.
Back to the speaker who left the stage, not only was he passionate -- 2) He put across the message that he had loved his friend, more potently than did any of his articulate colleagues and -- 3) He was succinct.
We can all learn from his example.
So speak passionately and be memorable too.