Psychologists have classified human beings using various personality tests. The most predominant one is that of introvert and extrovert. Let us see look at how introverts can cope with public speaking moments.
Introverted employees need to attend job interviews so they have to speak to interviewers, they also head important functions where they need to participate productively in discourses that matter.
The world tends to reward the loudest voices to detriment of those soft-spoken ones. Speaking in this life is so important like drinking water. Knowing how to articulate issues is great for professional growth. Raising a wonderful voice with solid perspectives is a necessity for business and personal branding scalability. Do those employees who haven’t mastered the art of being voluble lose opportunities?
Psychology Today has told us that an introverted personality is a basic personality style characterised by a preference for the inner life of the mind over the outer world of other people.
What are the major signs of being an introverted person. They include preference for solitude, being thoughtful and reflective, being selective in socialisation, being reserved in demeanor and being comfortable with silence. The Oxford Dictionary has gone further to say that an introverted person is a quiet person who is more interested in their own thoughts and feelings than in spending time with other people.
Research shows that there are numerous advantages of being an introverted person. Those advantages are the ones that can be deployed by shy and reserved people to excel in the necessity of public speaking. Sometimes speaking well in a competitive environment is a life and death issue. I agree with Sir Charles Darwin that it is the most adaptable animal that survives.
How can the introverted employees awe their audience? Silent people have super observational skills that can be used in stagecraft. Pound for pound introverted people beat extroverted in seeing many things that are important but easily forgotten. The devil is in the details. The introverted people can use this ability to do more meticulous presentations during meetings. Chance of extroverted people to gloss over issues is always pronounced.
The introverted person should align content creation towards furnishing the audience with quality than quantity. It isn’t the length of the speech that counts. It is the impact and intensity of the speech. We aren’t saying that one becomes so brief until the beauty of speech magnificence is lost. We are saying that they will bring more breadth and depth as opposed to extroverted presenters who would talk more.
Introverted public speakers are better time keepers than the opposite who will stretch their materials to repetitive levels. Introverted people can strive to be catchier and punchier than being longwinded like extroverts.
Is there any better active listener than an introverted person? During the question and answers sessions it requires one to be quite attentive to get the whole juice of the questions and concerns being generated by the audience. Active listening is essential trait in the field of speechmaking. Introverted speakers can encourage audience engagement rather than dominate discussions.
Preparation is another module that is emphasised in the art of eloquence. This is where introverted can outshine their opposite counterparts. An introverted can practice and rehearsal with more details being taken care of.
With rigorous and consistent training there is nothing to stop reserved people from making captivating speeches. Not knowing how to master speaking well is a way of missing endless opportunities.
Magoma is an award-winning HR trainer and conference speaker.
