If I don't connect with people that I'll be speaking with then there's a disconnect and I'm all about making the connections. — @Maura4U #PublicSpeaking #Connection #Authenticity #StoryTelling Click To Tweet

2-Minute Tip — Connect with Your Audience

Before speaking, meet your audience members. In a small meeting, maybe that means greeting them as they come in to the conference room. At a larger event, that may mean mingling with attendees in the venue.

By meeting with some of your attendees before you speak, you start to build a connection and a more personal relationship. It can make your audience instantly more friendly to you as a result.

It can also give you Valuable information about things that are on the audience’s minds that you may be able to incorporate into your talk. There are all sorts of valuable things that can come from those connections.

Additionally, it can help distract you from your own nerves in the lead up to your talk.

I always love asking people about their earliest memory, especially because I know oftentimes it will point to something significant. — @Maura4U #PublicSpeaking #Connection #Authenticity #StoryTelling Click To Tweet

Maura Sweeney — The Ambassador of Happiness

Maura Sweeney is the world’s Ambassador of Happiness. She has built a career around speaking as part of traditional corporate roles she’s held and later as an entrepreneur.

The recurring theme in this episode is connection — how you connect with your audience on a personal level and the importance of connecting your message with your stories. Those connections all need to be internally consistent find success and happiness in public speaking.

When you meet people one by one, you realize they're just like you. — @Maura4U #PublicSpeaking #Connection #Authenticity #StoryTelling Click To Tweet

Bio

Author, Podcaster, and International Speaker, Maura Sweeney has transformed her own mantra of “Living Happy – Inside Out” to become a global influencer.

A former corporate manager and home schooling mom transitioned again at age 50 to make her life long goal a reality. Today, she brings uplift and unity to an often disempowered and divided world.

A former HuffPost columnist who has traveled to 60 countries, Maura was first called the Ambassador of Happiness by the UNESCO Center for Peace when invited to speak at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Day celebration. Since then, she’s trademarked her title and become a popular media guest featured on hundreds of media outlets in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Australia.

Maura has lectured on Influence and Leadership at universities, leadership conferences, women’s organizations, Model UN’s and several American Embassy outposts. In 2018, she was named Women of the Decade at the Women Economic Forum held in The Hague. Maura Sweeney’s genuine and first-hand approach empowers others of every background to become their finest version of self and helps us see what’s best in us all.

Maura just released an ecourse for Personal Leadership, Happiness and Authenticity on the Ingomu Learning Platform.

My words and my actions on a routine basis were in harmony and therefore it made it a lot more compelling for people to listen to me. — @Maura4U #PublicSpeaking #Connection #Authenticity #StoryTelling Click To Tweet

Links

It's really about the message. It's really about the bigger idea. — @Maura4U #PublicSpeaking #Connection #Authenticity #StoryTelling Click To Tweet

Call To Action

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• Don’t get best…get better.

For me the energy comes out of story. — @Maura4U #PublicSpeaking #Connection #Authenticity #StoryTelling Click To Tweet

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.