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BY TJ Walker

What is the single biggest difference between great speakers and average/mediocre speakers?

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.

What is the single biggest difference between great speakers and average/mediocre speakers?

BAD ADVICE:

Your Speech Coach: “Practice, practice, practice!”

Your Marketing Director: “It is belief in his or her product or service that count s for the most.”

You: “Innate charisma, luck, the topic, I don’t know! Help!”

***

GOOD ADVICE:

Your Audience: “A speaker can have perfect diction, perfect eye contact, perfect clothes, perfect hair, and perfect pauses and still be an awful presenter. Why? Because the presenter gave a data dump without stories or examples. The speaker was too abstract and to dispassionate. On the other hand, a speaker can have a button missing, messy hair, say “uh” and “um,” but if the speaker passionately conveys just a handful of messages using compelling stories and examples for each one, then that speaker will be considered a great presenter—every time.”

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Publisher: TJ Walker
Managing Editor: Jess Todtfeld
Creative Director : Kris Gentile

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