I just came back from Convene in Vilnius (more about my stay later). On the first morning in Vilnius, I met in the elevator a familiar face. It was Susan Heaton-Wright, who I’ve got to know last year at Convene. She is a former opera singer and now works with clients to ensure they are using their voices and body language the best way. I wanted to find out a bit more about her job and so led an interview with her last year (you can find it by following this link).
At Convene 2017, she held a session about building successful communication streams with your suppliers. As I was very busy during Convene, I couldn’t manage to attend the seminar – unfortunately.
So I was very happy when I came across her LinkedIn pulse article yesterday. “Make your audience fall in love with you” – that’s the article’s headline. But how should this work? How can we make people listen, respect and respond to what we’re saying? Listen to her podcast and learn more!
In her article, she also gives a couple of valuable tips:
1. I take some time to know who my audience is. If it is a meeting = even an informal one-to-one meeting, I will do some research to find out about them.
2. I will ensure I craft my messages to resonate with the audience. So for example, I won’t talk about Strictly Come Dancing to a room full of middle-aged gentlemen, because, with respect, they are less likely to be interested in the topic than me!
3. I speak clearly with language and ‘jargon’ that they understand. Otherwise, they will switch off. If I speak too fast; with a strong accent or language they don’t understand or appreciate, they will switch off.
4. I am prepared. Whether I am in an informal meeting or presenting to an important client, I will know what I am going to say, and have clarity in my message. I don’t want to waste their time or annoy them!
5. I have an open body language and free voice so that there are no non-verbal messages being sent that confuse the audience.
Read the article by following this link.
More information about Susan on www.executivevoice.co.uk.
