7 self-presentation tips from the king of rhetoric

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Consider the wise words of Australian writer Allan Pease: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." To find out how to present ourselves in the best possible way, we turn to the opinion of a prominent expert - the world champion in public speaking Mohammed Qahtani (Mohammed Qahtani).

Sheer self-confidence may not be enough to impress. You need knowledge of certain techniques and skills of conducting a dialogue with the audience, exactly the same as in a personal conversation with a single person.

“But that's not enough,” said Mohammed Kahtani, 2015 Public Speaking World Champion by the Toastmasters Club. - Trust should appear between you. Your friendly message makes your opponent feel satisfied. Do you understand what I mean?"

Kakhtani lives in Saudi Arabia and works as a security engineer, and got into the aforementioned public speaking club thanks to the recommendation of a friend.

The club itself is a place with fairly simple rules: everyone who wants to work on improving their communication skills and developing leadership qualities comes to it. According to the organizers' idea, the knowledge gained will help bring the life of each of the club members to a qualitatively new level.

This was all Mohammed needed - he plunged headlong into classes at meetings of club members in order to become the most skillful speaker possible, showing the best result.

They say that if you have a clearly defined goal, you will definitely achieve success. And so it happened: having withstood the tense struggle with dignity in as many as seven stages of the international competition, which lasted for six months, Kakhtani became the absolute champion, leaving behind … Are you ready to believe it? The rest 33 thousand contestants. Uh, wow.

Mohammed and the other nine finalists spoke at the club's annual meeting last month in Las Vegas, USA. And on August 15, Kakhtani's speech "The Power of Words" was awarded the highest award.

This is what, as a winner, Mohammed advises those who understand how important it is to be able to choose the right words that will find their way to the hearts of listeners.

1. Say to yourself: "I am better than those in front of whom I speak."

The triumph was given to Kakhtani at the cost of considerable effort: the guy was born with a speech disorder - a stutter. He did not manage to completely get rid of the symptoms, however, Mohammed is convinced that the need to go on stage and keep his word in front of a large audience gives him strength and helps to overcome barriers in communication.

Gradually, I became more confident as I began to listen to the advice of my mentor from the club. One of them was to say to myself: "I am better than the people in front of whom I will now speak."

Mohammed Kakhtani

Many, most likely, now thought that Mohammed joined the club of notorious selfish people who else to look for. “Don't jump to conclusions,” laughs Kakhtani, “I didn't mean anything like that at all! Mentally pronouncing this phrase, I kind of give myself an installation and an additional incentive to take decisive action: everything will work out, I have enough courage to go on stage and speak in front of everyone else, those who did not dare to do the same. It is like a shift in consciousness that at one point removes the fear of being humiliated. So why be afraid if the audience frankly admires you?"

2. Determine the main point that you will adhere to throughout the presentation

When writing the text of a speech, make sure that the main point of the speech is clearly traced in it - as succinct as possible.

The message of Kakhtani's own speech is simple and as easy to understand as possible: we must be aware that the words we utter are endowed with tremendous power. But the responsibility for how we use it, for good or for harm, is entirely on our shoulders.

3. Your style of communicating with the audience should inspire confidence in them

One of Kakhtani's friends once told him: “When you go on stage, the only thing that remains really important for you is the audience in front of which you perform. The rest is absolutely irrelevant. Don't think about how you look, where you stand on the stage during the performance, what tone you pronounce the words in - remember only about the audience."

In theory, every time you should hone your speech so that it sounds sophisticated enough, as they say, without a hitch. Nevertheless, during the performance, you should not worry about anything, except for the people sitting in the hall.

“Let the words sound sincere and come straight from the heart,” shares the secret of Kakhtani’s personal charm, “your speech must motivate a person to action.”

4. Use your strengths

Remember the kind and instructive cartoon "Kung Fu Panda"? Each of the characters in him was endowed with one or another quality that helped him become a strong and fearless warrior. The same principle is taught at the Toastmaters club:

Nature has endowed some with the gift of eloquence, others with a pleasant-sounding voice, and still others with charisma. Make your best qualities work for you.

Kakhtani distinguished himself with his excellent sense of humor. He was lucky: in his student years, which took place at the University of Arizona, Mohammed tried his hand at the stand-up genre, thanks to which he was used to treating many life situations with humor.

What am I leading to? If the then student from Saudi Arabia had not seemed funny to anyone, he would not have joked during his public appearances today.

5. Learn to control emotions

Kakhtani usually begins his performances with jokes so that the audience laughs and relaxes a little. Believe me, he would have continued in the same spirit, turning his appearance on the stage into a stand-up number, if not for one thing: you cannot talk about serious things through humor alone.

The same will happen if the speaker's speech is too serious and therefore too difficult to understand. The audience will leave the hall with mixed feelings rather than happy.

“One way or another, whatever style you choose for your public speech, it is important that it inspires hope in the hearts of people,” advises Kakhtani. "After all, it was for this feeling that they came to you."

6. An honest audience is your head coach

What is the use of participating in clubs like Toastmasters? The fact is that it is not only a membership card and regular meetings with like-minded people, but first of all an opportunity to get an honest review of the work demonstrated to the public. Of course, if you are not a member of the public speaker club, you should not give up - practice speaking in front of one or more people who can evaluate you objectively, without flattering words or deliberately prejudiced attitude towards you.

In the draft versions of Kakhtani's Power of Words, there were many elements that seemed to him extremely important and necessary for the ultimate success of the performance.

The speaker willingly shares his experience:

The experience of working with a live audience is truly invaluable, I advise you to take into account all the opinions voiced about your test speech without exception, because in the end you are writing specifically for your listener.

Mohammed Kakhtani

7. Use visual imagery

Kakhtani is convinced that the quality of public speech will suffer greatly if you memorize it word for word. Instead, he proposes to visualize some of its parts using visual images while performing on stage. This helps to get used to the subject of discussion so that it will be possible to talk about it in a relaxed manner.

Let's summarize. Is the topic you are going to talk about with the audience important? Undoubtedly. Do the words that you are going to use matter? Undoubtedly. However, one of the most important elements of successful public speaking is the speaker's confidence that people believe and, most importantly, trust his opinion. Only in this case will they leave the auditorium hoping for the best, and this is the most important thing.