POWER Speaking
This week at my Rail Talkers Toastmasters club I will present a speech called "POWER Speaking." The speech covers a collection of tips for giving powerful presentations with the tip categories forming the acronym "POWER":
P - Pick a topic
O - Organize your speech
W - Word choice
E - Emotion
R - Rehearsal and review
What makes me especially excited about this speech is its versatility. The speech consists of the tips, then a demo presentation, then discussion with the audience. Within this format, I can adjust the speech for the given audience by giving different examples or a completely different "demo" presentation.
For example, a fellow Toastmaster and I first gave this presentation at a conference for the National Association of Railroad Business Women. When it came to "Pick a topic," I talked about being asked to speak at the conference and how that led to the topic of "POWER Speaking." When I give the speech at my Rail Talkers club meeting this week, I plan to incorporate some mention of workplace presentations into the tips I give. I've also committed to giving this presentation the following week with a friend of mine delivering the "demo presentation" part. We are speaking to a group of tech/IT professionals taking an "emerging leaders" course, so my friend's demo presentation will be "Tales from the Cubicle" in an effort to appeal to that audience. I like that each time I'm involved in this presentation, I can use a different "demo presentation" (either giving it myself or having someone else give it) and share how the tips might apply to the specific audience hearing the message.
As an additional preview of POWER speaking, a key to picking your topic is to chose a topic for which you have passion and find a way to use that topic to convey a purpose to the audience. Doing this requires knowing your audience and adjusting to their needs while still being true to yourself. Communication is all about connection, and being aware of the person or group you are communicating with is key to that communication being a success.
If you want to discuss "POWER speaking" more, come visit a Rail Talkers club meeting (https://3420.toastmastersclubs.org/) or talk to me!
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