Communication Is an Art: How Do You Become an Artist?

Communication is an art, so how do you become an artist? Why do some people communicate with others with complete ease, while so many find it very difficult? The art of public speaking and addressing an audience, for example, is one form of communicating with people, but it is not within everyone’s reach. According to studies from Harvard University in the United States, only 7% of people are able to address an audience naturally, in other words they were born to be on stage, while 93% find the stage and facing an audience a very hard exercise. So if you find yourself in a tight spot on stage, sweating, your throat dry and your words halting and hesitant, do not be unfair to yourself by saying: “I am a failure. Look at my friend stepping up to the podium and speaking to the audience with total self-confidence, and I cannot do what he did.” In that situation, tell yourself: “This is normal. I am not a natural speaker or lecturer, but I will leave the ordinary 93% and join the 7% for whom the stage and the art of public speaking are paradise.”

You will tell me that is all very well, but how do I become an effective conversationalist, speaker and lecturer who draws people in and captivates them with my words and phrases? The secret is clear and simple: as they say, luck only favours those who are prepared. That is why every talk or speech must be prepared professionally, steering clear of improvisation, because the result is never guaranteed in the end. First of all, do not forget the content, and do not venture into fields you have not mastered and in which you have no experience. Preparing the content requires theoretical knowledge as well as real-life examples that are close to your audience and support the theory; that way your speech or talk will have a better impact on the listener. Choose the most important information you want to present and arrange it in order of importance. Then remember that one of the most important parts of your speech is the first few minutes on stage, which we use to capture the listener’s attention and focus. If you do not succeed in “captivating” the audience in the first five minutes of the talk, they will not follow the rest, and it becomes tiresome and boring. The introduction breaks the ice, that high wall built between you and the people, and it is also the secret to the success of the rest of the speech. In the language of public speaking, the opening is called the “Mind Grabber”, meaning what captures attention or focus. The examples are many and varied but depend on the type of audience and its culture: you might tell a joke or a short story, begin your speech with a well-known quotation, or use sound or visual effects and the like to capture the listener’s attention before presenting the information and content. And do not forget that the introduction is what gives you the chance to launch your speech; we can compare it to an aircraft’s take-off. It is a difficult phase, but getting through it is easy if it has been well prepared. At the end of the talk or speech, remember that people cannot concentrate continuously for more than 20 minutes, so you must summarise in the conclusion and leave a good impression of the speaker. Do not forget to break the ice and capture the audience’s attention, and finally summarise and open up new horizons. Then go for it.

Fares Ben Souilah

International trainer and speaker in personal skills development