Probably one of the most important skills of today is learning how to speak and capture the attention of people around us. But how do we do that if we don’t understand how speech and all the formalities that go with it, work? Here are some ways highlighted by Julian Treasure in one of his famous talks.
The seven things that Julian highlights consists of negative gossip, judging, negativity, complains, excuses, exaggeration and dogmatism. Now, this may sound basic to you, but many of don't realise just how easily we do it in our daily lives. In fact, many of us thrive on some of these factors, especially in a workplace when we are finding common topics in our daily activities. The truth is, if you want to be a good communicator and have your words not be taken for granted, the above factors have to cease immediately! Only by doing so, will the words that you speak be taken in attentively and seriously.
Besides the things you should avoid, the content and intentions of your words must be founded upon by good intentions. This means that they should be honest, authentic, convey love and filled with integrity. Everyone loves a genuine person and would be delighted just to see that person every day. These factors should kick in from the moment you meet the other party and you should radiate these values from the start. If you abide by the following rules, you'll soon realise that people won't hesitate to absorb the words you speak and be delighted with your very presence.
Of course, having the following alone isn't the only way that you can get people to listen to you. If you think carefully, you would have encountered certain people that have such a lovely voice, you could probably listen to it all day. Or perhaps you know someone who could tell a story so convincingly that everyone stops in silence just to listen to him speak. These are but some of the examples of people that have mastered the art of controlling their voices, intonation, pitch and even volume! Now, these factors aren't the easiest to control and can't be changed overnight so you have to put in the effort and time to practice them in front of the mirror every day.
The best advice that can be given for these factors is to really decide on one and try to focus on getting it down before moving on. If you believe that all the negativity in you is hindering you from getting your target audience to listen to you, then you could prioritise eliminating the negativity in your daily life first. Start small, celebrate small successes and you'll be motivated to continue your efforts.
The final advice, of course, is to go out there and really practise your speaking abilities so as to consolidate and learn from your mistakes. Pay attention to all the ques you receive from those people that you interact with and before long, you will find yourself being able to speak with such gusto, unique only to yourself.