By Rosemary Ravinal
Public speaking is a vital skill to have if you want to make a difference in the world. It’s known as the foundation of leadership. We do it to establish authority, persuade people to our point of view, educate, inspire, and advance our careers and businesses.
But what about private speaking—the kind we do with family, friends, and neighbors? This is the kind of speaking you need to be a better parent, to have great relationships, to be a real friend or simply be someone who makes people stop and listen.
You may find private speaking more difficult than public speaking. If you do a lot of speaking for business, exposing your “warm and fuzzy” side may not feel as comfortable. That’s even more reason to work on it. Private speaking will improve your public speaking.
Whether you are leading a video conference, behind the lectern on a stage or whispering words of kindness to your grandmother, it boils down to communicating and connecting genuinely with other human beings.
In a video, posted below, I offer you 12 actions you can take to have a healthy conversation-filled holiday this year.
Among these actions:
- Find the positive angles. Talk about the good things that have happened this past year, stay away from whining and complaining—which could result in a full-blown gripe session.
- When you speak and listen, make more eye contact than you normally would.
- Match your words with vocal tone and variety and expressive body language.
- Do more listening and receiving than talking and delivering.
- Hug everyone.
Public speaking is the foundation of leadership. I remain committed to helping people tap their potential to persuade, influence and change lives by harnessing the power of the spoken word.
Rosemary Ravinal brings more than three decades of accomplishments as a communications expert in the U.S. mainstream, Hispanic and Latin American markets. She has held senior public relations positions at multinational corporations, non-profit organizations and agencies in New York and South Florida.
