Simon Sinek is a successful TED Talk presenter who credits his success to pushing past his comfort as an introvert through practice. He shared some public speaking tips in an interview. Three noteworthy tips were: 1) Show up to give, not take - make it about fostering discussion, not selling; 2) Focus on engaged "supporters" in the audience to feel more at ease; 3) Say thanks at the end to show gratitude for the audience's time.

1. Advice For
Public
Speaking As
An Introvert
Dominic Carter

2. Simon Sinek is the third most-watched
TED Talk presenter ever, and he credits
much of his success at public speaking
to constantly pushing his instinctive
boundaries of comfort as an introvert.
With continued practice and a lot
of blunt self-appraisal, Sinek has
trained himself to become an excellent
public speaker, and in a recent
interview with Kim Lachance Shadrow
of Entrepreneur, he shared a few of his
top tips for public speaking. I find 3 of
them to be noteworthy enough that I
wanted to talk about them on this blog,
so without further adieu, here are my
favorite pieces of Sinek’s advice:

3. This piece of advice rang very true to
me. As a public speaker, it’s your
responsibility to connect on a genuine
level with your audience. If you don’t
conscientiously remind yourself that
at its core, public speaking is about
fostering discussion, and you decide
instead to sell something – an idea, a
product, a brand – don’t be surprised
if your presentation doesn’t go over
very well.
SHOW UP TO
GIVE, NOT TO
TAKE

4. It can be awfully intimidating to stand on a
stage in front of an audience of people who
are all waiting to see what you’ll do next. I
appreciated and agreed with Sinek’s
suggestion to focus on your “supporters,” or
the people who are the most visibly
engaged with your presentation. Their
affirmative body language and positivity will
encourage you; if you just imagine that
everyone else in the audience’s face looks
the same, you’ll be much more at ease.
IGNORE THE
NAYSAYERS

5. As Sinek says, “They give you their time, and they’re
giving you their applause…that’s a gift, and you have to
be grateful.” Sinek hits the nail on the head when he
says that the real reason why it’s so important to say
thank you at the end of a presentation is because your
audience has just given you their most precious
commodity: their time. Stay mindful of this, and you’ll
be genuinely appreciative when the time comes to
show your gratitude, which will end your presentation
on a positive note.
SAY THANKS
WHEN YOU'RE
DONE

6. THANKS!
Website: DominicCarter.org
Twitter: @DominicTV
LinkedIn: Dominic Carter TV