Yet when Demosthenes spoke, his audience not only marvelled at his brilliant and engaging oratory, they also said on at least one occasion “Let’s march!” So he could arguably have been the more effective of the two. And when asked for his advice on how to make a speech, his reply was short and to the point: “There are only three things you need to remember. Delivery, delivery and delivery.” The delivery is the “How.”

      This is not to imply for one moment that your content is unimportant. It is vital. What it DOES mean is that you can have the best content in the world but if you can’t deliver it in an engaging fashion then it has very little chance of being remembered or acted upon. So you need good content as well as the ability to deliver well.

      “Pockets are the most sensitive parts of a human being. So we must touch hearts and minds first.”

      — President Lula da Silva of Brazil

       When we consider what good or great speakers did or demonstrated or seemed to possess we discover that their qualities fall essentially into 2 parts - “What” they say and “How” they say it.

      Every time that I’ve asked my clients the same question, the “How” qualities outnumber the “What” by about 10:1

      The “How” really breaks down further into two - VOICE and PHYSIOLOGY. So let’s tackle the former first. It is worth sharing a small “health warning” at this stage. There is no magic pill or one way of doing this. We are each of us unique, with our own peculiar strengths, qualities and areas for improvement. So take all of what you are about to read about Voice and Physiology as guidelines, not rules.

      But first, what are the 3 ‘duties’ or obligation that a speaker has towards his audience?

      The 3 duties of a speaker

      Any speaker or presenter has three “duties” or obligations to their audience:

      1. TO BE INTERESTING

      The first duty is to be interesting. How? By using your voice and physiology to good effect and being engaging. It also helps if you are interested in your subject. But sometimes you won’t be. There are times in all of our lives when we have to deliver material that bores or fails to engage us - that’s life. In which case be brief. Your lack of interest then has less chance to “leak.”

      2. GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS

      The second duty is to get your message across. How? Certainly by being interesting and engaging, and also by structuring it well. Nearly every talk needs a “shape” or a narrative. You also need a message, something that most talks simply don’t have. Too many are just dumps of information. Structure will be covered in more detail later.

      3. BE AUTHENTIC

      The last of these three duties is to let your personality come across - to be you, to be authentic. There is something instinctively engaging about a presenter when they are being themselves. This is most easily achieved when you know your subject, have a clear message and have minimal but powerful and visual notes that support you.

      People are attracted to charismatic, and authentic speakers and messages