As new speakers, we search for and try to lock in our style — the way we present ourselves and our content to the audience.
Early on in my career I received some very valuable advice from master coach David Greenberg. He had watched me present at a small workshop and simply stated I needed to be more conversational. I had been very professorial, after all I was the expert in the room. He said that if I really wanted to connect, I should have a conversation with my audience. I needed to loosen up.
Being more conversational doesn’t necessarily mean having an actual 2-way conversation with your audience, although that can be a great technique if handled well. What it does mean, I think, is to have a conversational tone. Think about how you would talk with a small group of friends about a great restaurant or movie you had experienced lately. That somewhat casual, real tone will be more intimate, more inviting than the formal lecturing attitude many of us have seen in the past.
Most of us develop our style in a constant, ever evolving process. Consider the idea of being more conversational in your delivery. You are letting go of some of your control but possibly opening up a closer relationship with your audience.
