|
Let’s first get a definition of what being conversational actually is: “the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words.” The reason why learning to become conversational is so effective when speaking to others is primarily because it very quickly breaks down any barriers between you and your audience. Unlike Public Speaking, a conversation is a natural thing to occur between people, it’s comfortable and puts people at ease. When your audience is at ease, they will be more receptive towards what you are saying and more likely to act on any action that you ask of them. You speak to them as a friend so they behave like a friend would. So, even though it’s not what you naturally feel, how do you train yourself to become more conversational when communicating with others? Here are a few useful techniques you can start using today: 1) Use the same words and style you would usually use when speaking to your friends and colleagues – Most people resort to a very formal style of speaking in public, don’t do this! Choosing big words and extravagant sentences will not impress your audience but more likely alienate them. Speaking to them with expression and smiles and mistakes and all the normal things, will help them to feel your sincerity. 2) Don’t read your notes as they are written – The words you write in are not the words you would speak in, so as soon as you start reading your notes, you will lose any conversational style. Recognise that your notes are to help you remember ideas, not words. If you recall the ideas and then choose the words as you think of them, you will build your ability to speak like a conversation, it will be fresh and interesting to listen to! 3) Improve your ability to hold conversations everywhere – Don’t wait until you are speaking publically to practice your conversational skills, start to use them everywhere. If practice really does make perfect, then start to speak to people you usually wouldn’t and get familiar with the feeling of being uncomfortable and still being conversational. Conversational speaking ability will be very influential for you if you are in sales, leadership or management roles as it helps those you speak to become at ease around you and speak feely back to you. If your team or department is communicating freely with you, then collective ideas will flow and goals and outcomes will be achieved. Written by Brad Mueller, international speaker, coach and founder of www.attentionpresenting.com. Brad has cultivated a career around speaking and training others after years of experience in the field. His online course teaches how to be an effective public speaker in a series of 10 videos, downloads and worksheets. For more about his course, additional helpful articles or for a training session, visit http://www.attentionpresenting.com
Related Articles -
public speaking, public speaking tips, conversational speaking,
| 
