I loved this utterance by Lord Althorp, Charles Spencer, during “The Speaker”. It is a BBC’s programme on a quest to find Britain’s best young orator.

Having eloquent body language, an engaging tone and an effervescent presence is essential for any great presentation. However, I too, believe that if the content is weak then you may well leave your audience wanting. The structure; an engaging beginning and a memorable end, helps but the information that you want to deliver in the middle is so very important to the long term satisfaction of the recipient. You must consider what messages you want the audience to go away with? The whole speech needs to be composed with the audience in mind. Why are they here? What do they want? What additional information will add value?

The content you provide will need to be precise. You need to delve deep and go beyond the obvious. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher suggested that you can add an extra dimension to your subject through three appeals. These are logos (logic), where you reason with the audience, pathos, where you tap into their emotions and finally ethos, where you extol your virtues and establish your credibility.

Each of the three appeals can be demonstrated in the telling of a story. And here lies one of the secrets of the great presentation.  Another is to practice, practice and practice some more to Get it Right Next Time.

7.9

Published by thehiddenedge

I love words - they can say so much and say so little depending on how you use them. Come and explore them with me in this learning journal. View all posts by thehiddenedge