Do People Listen When You Talk?5 Quick Tips to Improve Your Verbal Communication, Kymberly Williams-

Evans, MA  Have you ever felt trapped listening to someone droning on and on? Or hit the "stop" button on an audio link even though you thought the content originally sounded interesting? Or wondered, "what does this talker want from me? I am no longer paying attention and can't wait for this to de OVER!"  Worse yet, have you perhaps been that person?  Ouch!  Shift from boring to bodacious; from irrelevant to on target by employing 5 easy speaking tips. 

You can be the speaker who hooks people from the get go! Whether you are creating an online video clip, giving a formal speech, or whipping together an "off the cuff" answer to a question in front of your pals or work colleagues, these 5 tips will improve your "listenability." 

1) Ask yourself, "What's in it for my listener?" "Why should my listener care?"Shift from a "speaker's perspective" to a "listener's perspective."

2) Put your bottom line on top.People want to know "what" before "why." Give them the objective of your talk up front. State the decision or action you want from your listeners, then go into background, reasons, data, history.

3) Establish eye contact; find the friendly face(s).2 Second ruleAim for above the eyes if nervousFocus then scan

4) Vary your vocal quality -pace-pitch-tone-inflection-volume

5) What you get to the end, STOP!