How To Be An Effective Speaker: Dananjaya Hettiarachchi’s Tips to Winning & Effective Public Speaking
Dananjaya Hettiarachchi is no stranger to the world of public speaking. In fact, he is the first Asian to win the grand prize in the World Championship of Public Speaking in 2014. Prior to this victory, he has been a competitive public speaker for ten years. Aside from this, Dananjaya Hettiarachchi also works as a corporate trainer, an entrepreneur, and a public speaking and communication coach. In this short chat, Muneer asked Dananjaya for some tips on how to be an effective speaker. Here are the things that he learned.
Dananjaya Hettiarachchi’s Tips on How to Be an Effective Speaker
Be authentic. Never try to be someone you are not. When you give a speech, do not talk about something that does not correspond to your own beliefs. If you push a message that you yourself do not believe in, the audience will feel your insincerity, and this will slowly turn them off. Remember, part of becoming a great speaker is finding who you are. To become an effective communicator, you have to have a solid belief on your own philosophies. In short, to be authentic, you have to find and speak about your own philosophies.
Know that 80%of your audience – is you. When you go around the world, you see 20% of people who are different in race and color than you. But once you take away the cream (surface) what is left inside is just – you. It’s just another version of you, living in another country, wanting the same things as you, but with a different name, different height, different face. What makes you a great speaker is the ability to recognize that ‘You are me.’ Once you learn the ability to shave away the cream, and connect with the you in the audience, that will make you a powerful speaker.
Tips on Being a Winner
Being no stranger to success, Muneer also asked Dananjaya for tips he can give to people who wants to find their own success. According to Dananjaya, winning is just a momentary speck in time. The important thing is that you focus on the journey, not on the result. You can win in many different ways. But it takes something special to make something extraordinary. So focus on the journey, focus on the person you need to become. In everything that you do, strive for excellence. Even if it is just a simple task like brushing your teeth, eating your food, or putting on your shirt, do it well. Because how you do anything is how you do everything. So when you make that your philosophy, the victory will come. Remember, you can always be exceptional even in the simplest ways.
A lot of people are too focused on finding success, when success is not even something you can find. Success is something that happens. So what you can do is to be ready when that moment happens. How do you ready yourself? Focus on your skill, focus on your craft, and focus on who you are – truly inspiring words from world champion, Dananjaya Hettiarachchi .
This video is part of a YouTube series called Chats with Champions. Here, Muneer interviews world champions and people with exceptional stories. Click here to see more videos like this.
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