Speaking to strangers or talking in front of a large crowd is often an activity that most individuals dread. “Speak with Impact and Impress them” by Marco Yim was an inspirational workshop that taught me how to step out of my comfort zone and take the next steps in building my networking and public speaking skills.
Marco spoke of how we often get lost when talking about a subject because we don’t have a “road map”. We get caught up in the idea of just speaking to new people that we don’t have a clear train of thought, instead we stumble with words, ideas, and phrasing. In order to keep our audience engaged, we need to relax, not to over think our messages, and just state the basics or facts. Marco presented a method called the “chunking technique”, where it follows the concept of taking a subject and breaking it up into chunks. The technique has you breaking your subject into three main points. These points can be stated in six main different ways, chronological, topical, spatial, cause-effect, problem solution, or comparative. These are not the only ways to state or chunk your three points, however they’re the most often used.
Taking a step back to consider this can help you build that “road map” and create a more engaging and professional sounding speech, which is very useful if you’re networking or speaking to a large crowd. If you wish to build your skills go out and try networking at an event or take on more opportunities to present. If you want to further your research or talk to Marco himself, check out his company, Extempra and book a coaching session.