Why should public speakers improve their persuading skills and how?

Answer 1

Persuasion boils down to understanding the person in front of you in order to bring that person to not only understand your point but to value your point and agree with it. The reasons why you think something is valuable, good or right, may be different from the person in front of you. Understanding your audience is invaluable in public speaking! A speaker must not only have a good grasp on the subject matter, he or she must always connect with the audience's needs, desires, and/or values. Some times you can tap into something that is shared by all human beings, like the desire to be understood, or to be happy. Sometimes you need to find a more specific need, like reducing monthly expenses or losing weight etc...

When preparing a presentation or talk, its important to ask questions about your audience: who are they? what do they want?, what reasons do they have for being here? How can i use media or interaction to engage them from the start?

In short, it's not only about the message, but how to SHAPE that message.

Persuasion in public speaking and marketing is a huge topic. Here are a few books you could read should you be interested in exploring this topic more:

The Art of Persuasion, Bob Burg

How to win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

To Sell is Human, Daniel H. Pink

Just to name a few :)

If you're not a big reader, take time to watch a few you-tube videos! There are some great resources out there! I would recommend starting with the TED talks on Influence.