Presentations are most of the time successful because of the Presenters Body Language.
Yes, you read it correctly:
It can be in Barcelona, Belgrad or Brazil:
Presentations usually get applause and recognition, when the NONVERBAL ASPECTS of the Presentation are ideally used.
In other words, we could say that the content of a presentation matters less then how this particular presentation is given.
Appear credible and clever while forgetting your text on stage
After over 1o years of public speaking, I`ve also had some days, where I wasn’t in my best shape. So there were times, when I actually totally forgot my points that I wanted to bring across to the audience. After these speeches, the feedbacks usually still where very good: The audience still praised my interesting presentation style, the versatile covered topics and the motivating presentation in general. Also they agreed, that my knowledge of the topics was very high. I NEVER had anyone telling me, that he didnt get the point or that he thought that I got lost at times (event though I did… )
So how come that my audience did`t notice my weak moments in my given presentations?
The answer is simple: Credible Behavior.
Since Body Language convinces more then the actual content of a speech, my audience usually perceives me as credible and self-confident presenter because I use credible and self confident body language.
Developing credible and clever body language
This strong body language has not always been a part of me.
When I was 23 years old, my nonverbal behaviour communicated to everyone that I am not sure about what i say and that I lack self confidence.
This all changed, when I learned about effective Body Language and when I grew my communication skills.
Between my 25. and 30. Birthday I got more and more surprised on how people started to notice me in a different way. They started to actually listen to me more closely and I felt that they valued my opinion more then before.
Today, when I look back, I can say that the major reason for this change was, that I changed my way of communicating nonverbally to the people surrounding me.
Learn from an entertaining TEDx-Talk
But how different did I start to communicate? What did I change in my body language?
In order to answer you parts of these questions, I like you to watch the following TEDx-Talk of Will Stephen.
In this Video there are no direct answers for the questions above. But there are dozens of entertaining examples on how to have a credible and convincing body language.
When you watch it, just pay close attention to
- Pauses in speaking (and its effect on you)
- Change in volume (and its effect on you)
- Speed of talking (and its effect on you)
- Pitch of talking (and its effect on you)
In the Video, there are more techniques that the speaker is using in order to appear clever.
But mostly, he is perceived clever and credible by the way he uses his body language and paraverbals.
Have fun watching!
About the author of this article:
Etienne Dubach stays a lot in Barcelona but works internationally.
He is a versatile and passionate coach, personality developer and author.
With over 1000 training days and 12 years of communication studies, he brings a wealth of experience and broad repertoire into all of his seminars.
Find out more about Etienne HERE.