Let’s face it. Not many people are blessed with the gift of gab. Some even abhor the thought of having to face an audience to relate anything verbally. However, surely there are a lot of people who would like to master this skill.
Public speaking is not an easy task. But the good news is that it is not impossible to learn how to be good at it. How about learning the qualities of a good public speaker before going deeper into acquiring this precious skill. Here are the traits that a person should learn or adopt if he or she is planning to become an effective public speaker:
- Resourceful.
A public speaker can’t merely rely on his or her stock knowledge. Knowing where to acquire new information and how to get it so that he or she can relay them to his or her audience easily is one valuable quality of an excellent public speaker. The preparation a good speaker makes does not end in his speech. Knowing an audience’s interests and level of knowledge is also a part of his resourcefulness.
Using props is something common with a speaker who is resourceful enough to know how some simple visual aids or items can evoke more interest from his or her audience.
- Always updating his or her knowledge.
A very good public speaker is always thirsty for new information. He or she polishes her wisdom by reading, attending seminars, or doing any other kind of activities that would enrich his or her knowledge.
- Humorous.
Oftentimes, it’s the sense of humor of the speaker that makes his or her speech a lot more easy to comprehend and remember. Incorporating a few jokes that would touch the interests of the listeners can very well assist a speaker in conveying the message of his or her talk. No one loves a boring speaker.
- Confident.
Who would enjoy listening to a stutterer just because he or she is not comfortable speaking in front of an audience? When confidence exudes from a public speaker, the more enthusiastic the listeners become to understand what that person can help them learn.
- Has a way with words.
A public speaker can’t be effective if he or she has a limited vocabulary stock. However, it’s not the wide array of high-falluting terms that can make a speech fruitful. One should know how to use “moving” words. Such are the words that touch a certain genre of people, e.g., hippies and hippie terms for those who have lived in the era, “jerks” as something negative for the teenagers, etc.