25 Phrases to Guide You to Greatness in Speaking

Every now and then it is important to remind ourselves of some of the foundations that can lift us to great heights in speaking. Here are 25 phrases to do just that.

  1. Speak to one but look to all
  2. When you lift yourself up you let your audience down
  3. What gets recorded gets rewarded
  4. Don’t add humor to a speech; uncover humor within it
  5. What’s loose is lost
  6. When you squeeze your information in, you squeeze your audience out (this one is not mine. It’s an old speaker proverb).
  7. You master what you measure
  8. Conflict is the hook and Dialogue is the heart
  9. Put the process, not the person, on a pedestal
  10. The phrase determines what stays
  11. To be a great speaker you must be a great tease
  12. Be a similar person with a special process
  13. Never sell a product, always sell a result
  14. Let your story lead to their story
  15. Never end with the Q&A
  16. People remember best what they hear first and what they hear last
  17. Don’t tell; ask
  18. You can’t affect if they don’t reflect
  19. Become niche and famous (If you try to speak to everyone you will end up speaking to no one)
  20. A confused mind says no but a clear mind says go
  21. Give the visual before the verbal
  22. Give the look that goes with the line
  23. Reactions tell the story (Darren LaCroix)
  24. Too many speakers try to get across too much information in too little time
  25. Don’t speak for standing ovations, speak for standing invitations

To get a better understanding of what these phrases mean and how life-changing they can be for your speaking, see the World Class Speaking book.

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