“Hi, and welcome back to this next in this series of #AskMichael. Now this question, I have to read this ’cause it’s quite complex. “What one thing can anyone do to qualitatively improve their chances of a good outcome of giving a speech in public?” Golly. Is there one thing? Well if you push me for one, I’d say have a crystal clear aim, have a purpose, have a purpose for the talk. Because even preparing your talk, everything starts with the aim. Most people I think make the fundamental mistake is I know my subject I’m just going to …. dump it on you but if it hasn’t got an aim it hasn’t got an aiming mark, it can go almost everywhere and if you don’t know where you’re going any road will take you there. And so to help you come up with an aim, you just ask yourself the simple question What do I want my audience to feel or think or do differently as a result of listening to me? And then you not only say that very early on in the talk in the introduction, but you come through with it at the end so you remind them of what’s been in it for them.
So if you were going to improve as a presenter and as a public speaker I think one of the best things you could do, one of the most important things you could do is have a crystal clear aim for every talk. That’s probably the one tip I’d give you.”
