Mar 13

James Norton, who introduced Rosamond Wolford as an accomplished violinist, later confessed that he was frightened before he gave his speech. He was not sure how his speech would be received, and he worried that he might make a mistake. But when James walked in front of the room to speak, he seemed confident, decisive, and enthusiastic. In short, he conveyed the qualities of forcefulness. Whatever he might have secretly felt, his audience responded only to what they saw and gave him high marks for his sense of command.
At first you may not feel confident about public speaking, but you should seem as though you are. If you appear self-assured, listeners will respond as though you are, and you may find yourself becoming what you seem to be. In other words, you can trick yourself into developing a very desirable trait When you appear to be in control, you also put your listeners at ease. This feeling will come back to you as positive feedback and further reinforce your confidence. One of our students, John Scipio, was at first intimidated by the public speaking situation, but John was blessed with two natural virtues: He was a large, imposing person, and he had a powerful voice. And then he found a subject he truly believed in. When John presented his classroom tribute to the final speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he radiated force, in addition to competence, likableness, and integrity:
When I asked him during a telephone interview why he thought Dr. King was such an effective leader, Ralph Abernathy said, “He possessed a power never before seen in a man of color.” What was this power that he spoke of? It was the power to persuade audiences and change opinions with his words. It was the power of speech…. In this speech, Dr. King had to give these people hope and motivate them to go on. … He spoke to all of us, but especially to those of us in the black community, when he said, “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” And when he talked of standing up to the fire- hoses in Birmingham, he said, “There’s a certain kind of fire that no water can put out.” And on the last night of his life, with less than twenty-four hours to live, he was still thinking—not of himself, but of our nation: “Let us move on,” he said, “in these powerful days, these days of challenge, to make America what it ought to be.”
To appear forceful, you must also be decisive. In persuasive speeches, you should consider all the important options available to your audience, but by the end of the speech there should be no doubt as to where you stand and why. Your commitment to your position must be strong. Finally, you gain forcefulness from the enthusiasm you bring to your speech. Your face, voice, and gestures should indicate that you care about your subject and about the audience. Your enthusiasm endorses your message.