Here are two ways to improve the quality of your speeches –
- Get feedback from people in your audience that you know and trust – and act on it.
- Record your speeches and review them later.
The first method is easy to implement (provided you can find people in your audience who you can trust to be straightforward and honest). If you rely on people coming up to you after the event and saying “great speech”, then you’ll never get better. You need to work a bit harder than that. Anyway, I’m sure you can figure out what you have to do. The second method – recording your speeches – is s bit more tricky. If you speak at an event where recordings are made, there’s no problem, though it’s worth checking in advance that you can get a copy of your speech. If you need to record it yourself, you need a good-quality recorder and lapel mike (or lavalier as it is known in the trade). I use a Roland R-09 digital recorder and an AudioTechnica ATR35s lavalier, which I find brilliant, but whatever you choose, make sure you test it thoroughly first. Incidentally, if you want advice on sound equipment, have a word with my good friend Fergus McClelland. He’s a sound and voice expert, and a great speaker too. When you have your recording, sit down somewhere quiet and listen to it a few times, stopping the recording to make notes. Try to find at least two things to improve from every speech. If you stick to this discipline, you’ll keep getting better – and your reputation will grow. DON‘T BE SHY If you want to appear on radio or TV (or appear more often, if you already do), then you need to be proactive. You may be the acknowledged expert in your field, but if reporters have never heard of you, they will never call. Some people employ publicists to help them raise their profile in the media. This can work well, but there is a lot you can do yourself. If you see or hear news about something that you are an expert in, contact the TV or radio station immediately, explaining why they should interview you. Quote books, articles, websites, speeches or whatever evidence you can provide that singles you out as the person to speak to. The important thing is to move quickly. In the immediate aftermath of a news event, reporters are desperate to file a story, and will talk to whoever they can find who is either a “witness” (even if they live a mile away from the event, and only heard a noise), or an expert. There will almost always be other experts who know more than you, but that doesn’t matter – you need to be first. So don’t be shy. When the time comes, make that call. By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk
