Delivering a speech is more than just uttering those well thought of words before the audience; it involves giving out the speech in a manner that it is well understood by them. Moreover, a successful speech is one that keeps the audience engaged at all times. There are several factors that contribute to get maximized engagement; one crucial factor being stage presence.
Stage presence is the sum total of all the qualities that keep your audience engaged while you deliver a speech. Therefore it, without doubt, plays a vital role while delivering a speech. It is inclusive of everything from the body posture to the tone of your speech. Let us throw some light on a few of the most importance spheres that stage presence constitutes.
Appearance and comfort is our first sphere. You must be dressed to the occasion. If it is an official speech say for a corporate meet, then you must be formally dressed; on the contrary if you are making a speech to spread some awareness among the college students, your dress up can be more relaxed and casual but it must reflect your confident side at all times. Remember, if you are sure of your appearance you will automatically ooze that amazing self confidence that one necessarily needs while giving a speech before large crowds.
Body posture and attitude is the second sphere. Right from the moment you step on that stage your body language matters. The way you stand, your speaking posture, use of hand gestures etc. everything counts and hence must be well noted and taken care of. A little nervousness is understood, but you must put yourself at ease to reflect just the right amount of confidence. Your attitude must be positive, that is, keep in mind that the audience is intelligent and you must be ready to respond to any interaction on their part too. Here presence of mind is really important and a little wit won’t harm at all!
The third sphere is the tone of the speech. You can play with different styles, as is suitable to the topic of your speech. Voice modulation, use of examples, a peck of humor, etc. all this is important in engaging the audience.
The fourth sphere is the use of stage space. It is a smart move on the part of a speaker to choreograph his speech, that is, he must plan a speech to be delivered using different parts of the stage at different levels. You may even give up the stage for a while to get amongst the audience.
All of these spheres are equally important for an effective stage presence that is undoubtedly important to engage the audience while giving a speech!