Speak with Authority and Master the Stage
For many professionals, the most difficult part of their jobs is not telephoning, writing emails or preparing social media and website content, but public speaking.
This comes in different forms: presentations to a board of directors, sales pitches, holding internal training programs, etc. Whatever the situation, one of the most reliable factors of success is the ability to display your authority, leadership and competence in your field. If your audience doesn’t accept your expertise, the chances of a successful result are slim.
In this first entry in an ongoing series about public speaking, we’re going to outline three simple rules you can follow to show competence and leadership. These three rules are Be Big, Be Loud, Be Low.
1. Be Big
Think back to those nature documentaries you saw on television as a child, specifically about animals that travel in groups like lions, wolves or apes. In many situations, the leader of the group is physically larger and more powerful than others in the population. This fact of the natural world gives us an interesting insight into authority and leadership in humans: bigger is better.
In a public speaking or presentation scenario, the first thing you can do to show your authority and competence is to take up as much space as possible.
There are two ways to accomplish this: the first is to stand up as straight and make yourself as wide as possible. Imagine a string connected to the top of your head that is being pulled directly upwards. Powerful leaders don’t slump. Feel the pull of the string toward the sky and bring your shoulders back. This new position is big, bad and ready to take on the world.
The second method is if you are on a stage or presenting while standing, use your arms when speaking and move around the space.By doing this, you show that the stage belongs to you and, additionally, it helps the audience feel as though the „storyline“ is moving and developing. Speakers who make themselves small and stay frozen in one position give the feeling of weakness, helplessness and anxiety. Make yourself big and others will begin to view you as a leader, someone to be believed and followed.
2. Be Loud
An article in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior entitled „Vocal Characteristics of Older Adults and Stereotyping“ (Hummert et al, 1999, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021483409296) outlined the findings of a study in which the volume of the speaker was used to guess their age, finding that, particularly with male speakers, louder volumes were perceived as older and connected to more positive stereotypes.
From our personal experience as adults, we also tend to put older, more experienced people in positions of power, regardless of sex or gender. Therefore, if we want to be seen as authoritative and experienced, speaking at an increased volume will naturally give your audience the sense that you have a higher degree of expertise when compared to a more softly-spoken presenter.
This doesn’t mean you should yell at your audience. Simply speaking a bit louder than you would normally will have the effect you want. Speak up!
3. Be Low
The article mentioned above has another interesting finding that we can take advantage of: the pitch („highness“ or „lowness“) of the voice has a dramatic effect on perceived authority. They discovered that decreased pitch (particularly in men) was also positively connected to the age of the speaker.
Simplified, lower voices indicate more authority than higher voices. Like in Be Loud, older age is naturally connected to leadership and authority in the human brain, so keeping your voice at a low, natural pitch will boost your perception as authoritative. Again, this doesn’t mean you should try to force your voice as low as possible (that would sound like you were purposefully lowering the pitch) but simply that you should avoid the high, squeaky, shrill sound that many speakers make when they are nervous in front of an audience. Stay calm, keep your voice low.
Bringing it together
These three rules will automatically give your audience the sense that you are a competent and experienced professional. You are a person they can buy a product from, invest in or hire to a managerial position.
To see these rules in action, watch some TedX lectures, note who you find the most authoritative and how they present themselves. The content of the presentation is secondary for now. Simply focus on the size, the movement and the voice. Remember: be big, be loud, be low.
If you want to learn more, sign up for our newsletter below to stay up-to-date with our ongoing public-speaking series, or contact us for a consultation if you’d like a more personalized training program to turn you into a public-speaking master.
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