Public Speaking

 

Illustrations - Mastering a Masters trick

The master teacher or public speaker knows that having a bag full of tricks or elements to engage his audience is vital to the success of the topic he is covering in his presentation. One element of public speaking that we are going to cover now is using illustrations.

What is an illustration? An illustration can be a story, a likeness or even a physical object. The important element of an illustration is that it creates some kind of response whether it be emotional or intellectually in your audience. And the goal of your illustration is to move away from just speaking words to creating mental images in the minds of your listeners that can be associated with your topic. We are engaging the mind by using illustrations.

An illustration or illustrations in your presentation will create something in the minds of your listeners. What is that? Pictures. Let me give you an illustration of illustrations.

Here’s our exercise: I’m going to say a couple of different words and I want you to take note of what you see in your mind.

Dog
Elephant
Moose
Apple

Now when you read each of those words what came into your mind? Pictures come into your mind. A picture of a dog, elephant, moose or an apple was flashed in your mind. I doubt that in your mind you just saw a picture of the word dog, elephant, moose or apple. The reason for this is because that is how the human brain works. We memorize and see things in our head by pictures. So then we can use this in our public speaking. And the key to that is by illustrations.

In planning out an illustration with enthusiasm to use in our presentation what are some key factors to keep in mind? This is an important part for our illustration to be effective. Consider your audience. Ask yourself these questions. What kind of an illustration would appeal to the audience I will be speaking to? What are the demographics of this audience that might clue me in to what is on the mind of this audience? For instance if you were speaking to an audience in a third world country and the illustrations that you picked had to do with the US stock market I doubt it would have an impact on those listeners. However if you spoke to them with illustrations that surrounded things like growing food or living in mud huts then you would be onto something.

You might also take into account the kind of employment or profession that your audience is probably very familiar with. Maybe even one they are directly linked to. Usually the kind of employment they are involved in plays a key role in what they open their minds to. So if you have an audience of surgeons and you’re talking to them about their financial futures maybe you cross how you’d plan their financial future with planning the incision that would be made on a patient. Illustrations that relate to the type of person you’re speaking to and can be connected to your discussion is your goal.

Some of the greatest speakers in human history were adept at using illustrations. I’ll give you an example of one person who has made a huge impact on the lives of people even though he has not been on earth for a very long time. What he said though still influences people today. The man’s name, Jesus Christ. If you study the things he said and the way he talked you’ll find he taught largely with illustrations. In fact the Bible itself says that Jesus would not speak without the use of an illustration. And many times when those that he was speaking to did not fully grasp what he was saying he would employ illustrations and after he did this his audience would grasp what he was telling them. So there you have a testimony of just how powerful illustrations can be in your public speaking.

Illustrations need not be long lengthy or difficult. If they are it’s just going to be harder on you and harder on your audience to get the point of what you are saying. Instead simple illustrations not filled with too many details but that get right to the point is where you want to be with your illustrations. If you have too many details your audience is going to get exhausted listening to an illustration that has turned into a full blown story.

The transition is also an important element of your illustration telling. You want to find an area in your illustration that parallels the most with the point you are really trying to get across to your audience. When you find that plan to end your illustration there and transition into the point of your presentation.

Illustrations also work well at the very beginning of your presentation. Usually you want something to attract attention to your whole discussion. Illustrations attract attention and can bring the ears of your audience to your speech. That’s why starting out with a simple illustration can benefit you. It also will benefit you because usually telling illustrations are fun and easier than having to explain the main points of your presentation. So by doing that in the beginning you are building your own confidence in your public speaking for the rest of your public speaking outing.

If you’re looking for ideas of illustrations you can check the Internet for various stories to pick from. However the greatest key I have found to finding good illustrations is just by good reading. Usually I’ll pickup illustrations for my public discussions from things I’ve read in the past from magazines, books, news items, facts or internet web sites. So maybe you have something in your memory to use for your illustrations.

Remember that giving illustrations are fun for the speaker. When you think back to your discussion you may find that the most fun came when you talked about the illustration. If you have fun with your illustrations your audience will have fun listening to them. So don’t be afraid to be lively even a little emotional and energetic when telling your illustration.

I hope all goes well for you and the best of success to you with illustrations!