I haven’t thought of this before. But much like remembering names, where the biggest mistake is focusing more on saying our own name than listening to the person introducing themselves, we shouldn’t focus on ourselves while speaking publically or preaching. I was just reading through a book called Captivate: Public Speaking Secrets. One of the principles for effective public speaking is to have an external focus. You have to make this conscious shift to an external focus each time you stand before people to present or speak.
An internal focus causes you to think about what you look like, how your hands are moving, how you are coming across. An internal focus causes you to stiffen, seem robotic, and create low emotional connection. But an external focus allows you to focus on the audience. It allows your true emotion on the subject to shine through. It frees you up to share the message naturally without focusing on your own body language or how you are being received.
True communication only happens when the listeners “gets” what the speaker is saying. An external focus increases the chances of this happening more often.
How can you see this affecting your speaking?
OTHER POSTS…