What's Your Speaking Style? And Why should you know?
One big mistake that many good, but not great, speakers make is to confuse technique with style. They try to mimic the way other speakers talk, move, gesture, and even their sense of humor, thinking that their efforts will improve their public speaking. But in reality, they often come across as inauthentic or awkward, because what they are incongruent with their unique speaking style.
Think of the qualities that make you unique and authentic as belonging to your STYLE.
Think of your technical skills and range - the rhetorical tactics, devices, and strategies you use - as belonging to your TECHNIQUE.
We can compare a speaker using a refined technique to a musician playing a song with technical skill. When played on a well-tuned instrument, the melody flows beautifully. However, technical expertise can't save a melody played on an out-of-tune instrument. In the same way, an advanced speaking technique cannot save a talk delivered by an inauthentic speaker. If you try to emulate someone else's style or fail to step into your optimal state for influence, you’ll become like an out-of-tune instrument and your talk like a melody that falls flat.
To be a great speaker, you must first embrace your authentic style and its unique qualities, then continually refine your technique to become ever more effective.
This conversation between Ryan Foley and Margaret Romney Watts is one in the series: MasterSpeaker Lab Conversations.
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