Speaking isn’t just about transferring information. It’s also about connecting, inspiring, and leading.
Your ideas, your vision, and your work all have the potential to make a significant impact, but only if your message hits home and sticks with your audience long after you have spoken.
Poor communication increases employee turnover, decreases engagement, and reduces performance, with an estimated annual cost of $37 billion for companies with 100,000 or more employees.
But what if I told you that speaking could become one of the most empowering skills you’ll ever develop? Here is the five-step process I use to help people find their voice.
Step 1: Identify the core fears and challenges: The first step is to understand what holds individuals back from effective communication. It’s about acknowledging the fears that hinder one’s expression.
Step 2: Apply Aristotle’s blueprint (ethos, logos, pathos): These three pillars build a tried-and-true foundation for persuasive communication.
Step 3: Apply real-world examples through historical context: By learning from great orators and historical moments, individuals can develop an understanding of how to effectively apply ethos, logos, and pathos in their own communication.
Step 4: Utilize customized coaching and continuous support: Providing one-on-one guidance that caters to each person’s unique needs ensures they continue to grow and refine their skills.
Step 5: Focus on the long-term impact. This process isn’t about short-term gains. It’s about creating lasting change and giving individuals the confidence and tools to continue growing as communicators and leaders.
This combination of the right tools, the right atmosphere, and a well-defined process ensures that individuals can find and use their voice effectively, ultimately making an impact in their personal and professional lives.
Following this process allows agency leaders to communicate with impact.
Strategies can be crafted to make compelling speeches, overcome speaking fears, and foster open dialogue. With practical exercises and lessons from the great orators of the past, the reader will be empowered to lead with clarity and conviction.
In my book, Voices of Reason, Lessons for Liberty’s Leaders, I use the work of famous orators to teach lessons about liberty.
I chose a “magnificent seven,” historical leaders and orators to amplify their contributions to powerful speaking: Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Ayn Rand, and Magatte Wade. A chapter is dedicated to the history and accomplishments of each of these figures, inspiring speakers through their success as leaders of liberty.
Setbacks As Teachers
Setbacks are inevitable, but they are also teachers. It’s essential to embrace a mindset that views challenges as opportunities for refinement.
Some of the common setbacks are:
Plateauing: After experiencing significant improvement, the speaker becomes stuck. Plateaus often signal a need to set higher goals or pursue a new challenge.
Criticism: As influence is gained, critics often surface. The solution is to separate constructive criticism from noise.
Burnout: As speakers grow, so do the demands on their time. The goal is to evaluate which opportunities align most closely with their values and goals, and to say “no” to the rest.
By diagnosing issues, applying the principles of ethos, logos, and pathos, and consistently refining your approach, you can turn challenges into opportunities.
For agency leaders, the ability to troubleshoot effectively ensures that the speaker’s voice remains a powerful force for change, whether on stage, in business, or in their personal life.