When you think about how long people have been using public speaking to share their ideas, thoughts, expertise, knowledge, and so on, it’s pretty mind boggling.
The Greeks were convinced that “rhetoric” (which at its roots is about effective communication) was an essential skill. The Romans thought so too.
Before books and learning how to read, the only options people had for getting news, information, education, or to debate, was via public speaking. Okay… they could get it through gossip too, but whose information would you trust more? Someone who’s whispering over the back fence? Or someone who’s willing to stand at the front of a room AND answer your questions?
Public speaking was how people spoke to the masses at large until technology stepped in with radio and television. When that happened, the idea of what a stage was started evolving. The challenge was that not all speakers had easy/affordable access to the technology. And then, there were also plenty of speakers who just plain wanted to stay face to face with their audiences.
Fast forward a bunch of decades, and bam! Covid hits and speakers were quickly faced with the decision of whether to wait it out, thinking that life would return to normal soon, or embrace the newest online technologies….
Which brings us to where we are today. Now we have access to more public speaking options than ever. The question is: which ones have YOU taken advantage of? This is a list of 8 popular options we, as speakers, have at our disposal.
- In-person presentations
- Webinars
- Virtual meetings (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet)
- Live streaming on social media (e.g., Facebook Live, YouTube Live)
- Pre-recorded Videos
- Podcasts
- Hybrid events (combination of in-person and virtual elements)
- Public speaking in virtual reality
It’s interesting that the first option is speaking in-person, while the next seven are technology driven. I bet you know the basics of all seven too. What I’m wondering is, do you think about those seven as public speaking opportunities? Because they most definitely are.
Every business needs a strategy to survive. Without one, the likelihood of survival—never mind growth—is extremely limited. Options #2 – #7 on that list are all strategies for sharing your expertise virtually/digitally so you can reach and connect with more of the people you know you can help.
Because I’m so curious about what you may be using already, I created a google doc survey so you could let me know. It’s in the speaker tip section just below.
Lastly, I want to leave you with this thought… I’m not suggesting you should be using all of these options. I’m just pointing out that as part of your long-term business strategy, you might want to consider gradually adding one or more of these public-speaking strategies.
How Speaker Relationships Shape Success
