5 ways to be a persuasive voice in the Singapore boardroom

Build a commanding stage presence that draws in the crowds and talk them into action!

Getting your point across to present information, sell a product, educate an audience, etc. is vital to everyday business. Your ultimate goal is to move people to action, and being able to influence how others think and react is a powerful tool to have. Choosing the right words to say, how you present yourself and how you use your voice is an important part of influential speaking. Here are 5 ways to increase your influence when speaking.

1. Impression and Intention

Asserting the right impression on your audience is critical. Whilst people may already have pre-conceived notions about you based on what they’ve heard or read about you, a lot can be done to either cement that or change that impression. Work on your credibility and deepen your knowledge in your area of expertise. State your intentions of your presentations clearly and concisely.

Always remember that it’s a privilege to be given someone’s time, and you should honour that by giving the best of yourself. Just remember that reputation takes years to build and seconds to destroy. Anything you can do to build on that good reputation is the key to maintaining a consistent brand for yourself.

2. Stage Presence

I’m sure you’ve met people who take to the stage like a fish to water. Their ability to waltz on stage, grab your attention, immerse you in their world and leave you in a vulnerable state is what we call stage presence. Whilst it may seem so unattainable right now, you might be comforted to know that it wasn’t always that easy for them too. Being able to a ‘Steve Jobs’ takes years of practice and there are many ways you can start practicing your ‘strokes’.

Always work on centering yourself, focusing your mind, body and energy into the room where your presentation will take place. Take a 10 minute ‘quiet-time’ if necessary to meditate, practice breathing exercises, go through your speech and completely focus your being on connecting with the audience. Once you are completely focused yet relaxed, nerves don’t stand a chance and you will have the audience eating out of your hands.

3. Vocal Variation

Your voice is possible one of the most under-utilised organs in your body. I always tell my clients to imagine that they’ve got a 2 million dollar Stradivarius violin inside them waiting to be discovered and they haven’t quite learnt how to play it. Knowing how to vary your tone, pitch, volume, rhythm and rate of speech is just the first step to mastering your instrument.

Adding the appropriate emotions, inflection, pauses, and emphasis will give your story and presentation the true influence it deserves. Working with a voice coach or a friend is the easiest and quickest way to practice these and getting into the habit of reading out loud at every opportunity you get is also a wonderful way of exercising those muscles.

4. The Art of Body Language and Connection

Now that you’ve spent all that time working on your presentation, don’t let yourself and others down by not communicating with your whole being. Many people don’t realize that using your body and facial expressions forms a huge part of any kind of communication. To project a sense of authority, always keep your posture upright, stand tall and square your shoulders.

Never fold your arms during a speech or twirl your hair unless you want to completely lose credibility with your audience. Keep your gestures natural and your facial expressions should mirror what you are saying. It helps to videotape yourself making a speech so that you can see for yourself the kinds of gestures and facial expression that you might have.

Always maintain eye contact with your audience and remember to address the whole room and keep their interest by incorporating stories and language that might be relevant to your audience. You can do that with anecdotes, shared experiences and have a laugh! 

5. Structure to Influence

To help you get to the crux of your message, always ask yourself an important question. Put yourself in your audiences’ shoes and ask ‘What’s in it for me?’ (WII FM – it even sounds like a radio station!). Consider their background and jobs and why they’ve spent good money to come attend your presentation. Tailoring your message to speak to their sensibilities will not only make your message more palatable, it will stick.

Secondly, structuring your presentation in a logically sound manner will assist in getting your audience to follow your argument and keep their interest. Use examples to illustrate your point and use lots of metaphors, analogies and visual aids to help get your point across. Reiterate your main message throughout your presentation so that it is anchored in their brain and at the very least, that’s the message that they take home.