How To Become A Better Speaker

The Secret to being a better speaker is to actually talk less…

And the reason I say you should talk less is because everyone likes talking about themselves, so if you keep talking, it gives the other person less of a chance to talk, and they just think to themselves, “this guy is sooo annoying, I cant get a word in.” And they won’t even listen to you because they have in their mind what they wanna say.

Now I’ve been in sales for 3 years now, and sales is literally getting people to give you money Just by using words. And of course you need to actaully talk and practice to get better, but I’ll give you the essentials that I’ve learned over this period so when you get into sales, or just speaking, you already have these things so you can advance quicker.

Because a smart person learns from experience, a genius learns from others experiences.

The first thing you need is the 3’s. Smile, Eye Contact, and Enthusiasm. Because no one wants to talk to a sad looking guy who’s looking down and who just sounds depressed.

With smiling, don’t over do it with a huge grin, because that is very creepy. Don’t show your chompers. Just smile enough to the point where your eyes start to squint.

Then with eye contact, don’t just stare into their soul, look at one eye at a time and then shift between eyes every 5-10 secs. And widen them every now and then or raise eyebrows whenever they emphasis something or they something that catches your attention.

And with enthusiasm, just be excited, like you are happy to be where you are, doing what you’re doing and being with the other person(s) Think of it as bottled enthusiasm, like you’re a volcano thats holding in all the bubbling lava. And if that lava came out you would literally be the most excited version of yourself.

Next, the thing is with talking better, you should actually focus on being a better listener. And thats not by just standing or sitting there staring blankly with a smile. But actually engage, throw in some “mmmmm” and “ooohhhs” into your listening vocab, nod your head and every now and then to show that you’re listening just repeat some things that they said with emphasis.

“You know Kevin said X the other day!” You should reply “X?!”

But don’t do it after every sentence, just every now and then otherwise it just comes off as incincere and sarcastic. So be engaged with what they’re saying and let them know that you’re listening and that you care.

People like being listened too. I bet the people you like the most are the ones that you talk the most with.

But don’t think you can just let the other person talk 24/7 without you saying anything, a perfect convo should be 70% you listening and 30% you talking. And the best way is to just ask questions. Like after they say something, ask about it, ask about something you genuinely wanna know about.

If they’re obsessed with their work, like me, and I love when people say things along the lines of this to me. Ask ‘how’ they got into it, or how they figured certain things out. Because when someone gets the opportunity to talk about how smart they are, they will. And they won’t shut up about it and they’ll love you for asking and listening.

And the thing is with sales, you don’t just talk to talk, you talk with an end goal in mind, the other person buying from you, and I didn’t notice this but ever since I started sales, I subconsciously in my normal convos outside of work, with every conversation I have an end goal in mind. Be it making the other person like me more, agree with me, etc.

So next time you go to talk to someone, have a goal in mind, that way you aren’t just talking about non sense and so there’s actually a reason to say what you say. This will also make it harder to run out of things to say, and when you do, that means that the convo is over.

Lastly you need to practice it, and I’m not gonna tell you to join some club or go outside because everyone says that. What really helped me with getting better at talking is just recording myself talking. Not even just with Youtube, but in the beginning in sales, my mentor told me to just record your pitches voice only, and I swear if you do that you will be a better speaker. Because you get to hear yourself and the mistakes. And thats to first step to improving.

Also, you don’t need to post it, but record yourself and listen to it. As you go through it you’ll find moments in your speech where you just say to yourself, “I could say that better,” “I can remove some of my uhhs, uhmss” etc. So start recording yourself.

And I have a whole speaking and sales course on issafard.com, they’re all free and I go a lot more in depth in there if you wanna check it out.

And a quick recap—

• Talk less— Always say less than necessary

• Smile, eye contact, and enthusiasm

• Use Active listening

• Talk about what they like

• Talk with a goal in mind

• Record yourself talking to practice

And this is essentially what has made me into the speaker I am today. Although I don’t have speaking awards I have gained a lot through my speaking, leading my team in business and being good at sales. So hopefully this gets to help you too.

And thank you for reading, enjoy your day.