Professional speakers require poise and energy while delivering a presentation. The poise comes from your posture, gestures, self confidence and eye contact. You must learn to use your platform like a rock star!
Where does your energy come from? It is not only the fuel of voice dynamics and body language that ignites a speech but how you move on your platform. Years ago professional speakers were glued to their podiums. Speeches were formal with only the vocal aspect and gestures enchanting audiences. They were vocal athletes taking their gifts on a roller coaster ride of fifty or more tonal varieties to their voices. Gestures became larger and enhanced. Eyes were used in a specific pattern to engage and sustain an audience’s attention. Platform mechanics became more popular using parts of a stage repeatedly for the best reaction for emotional impact and humour. Horizontal and vertical spaces traced the Theatre actors staging with downstage centre being the most deliberate and important part of a stage. Gradually more speakers have added more platform dimensions to their craft.
Why limit your stage? Move beyond the boundaries of the past. Enlarge your platform by moving out into your audience. Rock stars use this technique all the time. They open their concerts by placing a platform out into the audience where they dance down. Sometimes they jump off the stage and perform amongst the audience.
An audience wants to feel like they are part of your speech. The audience will initially feel mildly threatened by the proximity of the speaker to their safe zone but soon will feel engaged as part of the action. This is now one of the most powerful tools for a speaker to use.
Written by Bette Elly Klimitz
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