You can build your credibility by building listener belief in the way that actors do:  Create and pursue acting objectives.  An acting objective is an action that lies underneath the words you speak; and ACTION that you take toward your listeners as you speak.  It is a specific, active verb; it expresses what you want to do to your listeners; what you want to make them feel or do.

Choose objectives that are personally appealing and  for you to pursue, so that you’ll be motivated and project energy.   There are three ingredients for an effective acting objective. Each objective should have the following qualities.  It should be

1. a specific, active verb, Directed toward the listener
2. personal and appropriate to the spoken message and the listener’s situation.
3. truthful  (not necessarily actual, but  believable) 

Pursuing an objective gives you energy and focus as you speak, because it is a powerful action to take toward your listeners; a powerful action that lies underneath the words.  Listeners pay a lot of attention to the actions underneath the words you speak.

Here are some power verbs that might be useful at acting objectives (think, “I wish to __ my listeners”):  welcome them; stir their pride; impress them; honor them; warn them; make them laugh, etc.

Keep your acting objectives private; they should be your secrets.  The longer you keep a secret, the more power it holds for you.  You want your objective to have power of you; to have power to affect your delivery.  Keeping your acting objectives private will strengthen your motivation to speak and galvanize the commitment and passion in your voice and your gestures.

Actors write their acting objectives in the margin of the script, right next to the dialogue. Identifying power verbs as your acting objectives for each beat of your presentation will help you organize your ideas, internalize your message, and prepare you for the next step:  pursuing your acting objectives, as if you life depended on it!

Tags: acting techniques for business speaking, business speaking, business speaking skills, Creating successful converations, credibility, elevator speech, elevator speeches, engage listeners, executive speaking, how to engage your listeners, persuasion techniques, successful business speaking, visual and vocal impact, vocal strategies

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2015 at 11:22 pm and is filed under acting techniques for speaking, body language, building credibility, Creating successful conversation, Difficult business conversations, how to command attention, how to engage your listeners, how to sound authoritative, persuasive speaking, speaking strategically, Speaking with upper management, taking stage to take command. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.