What is a speaker’s mindset and how to unlock it by Sabirul Islam

You might often ponder whether the route you pursue as a speaker is a true alignment and reflection of who you want to be and the message you wish to portray. Or whether a speaking gig is often seen as just another way to earn a quick buck. One of the biggest flaws I’ve comes to acknowledge as a speaker within the in the speaking network is that we have far too many ‘self-proclaimed’ specialists who haven’t discovered the true essence and value of ‘the speakers mindset.’

The speaker’s mindset is an internal belief system, that whatever you feel and believe in, with regards to public speaking, it must project a sense of motivation combined with positive attitude and behaviour in order to achieve the outcome intended. As a speaker it’s easy to talk about any given subject, but I deeply believe that to have true impact on your audience you must have an internal connection with the between you and your message. This is why passion in public speaking matters.

A core area of focus the speaker’s mindset is passion, which is a powerful connection between you, your message and the outcome you want to achieve from your speech. When you evade passion in your speeches, you lose credibility.

• Self-exploration

Unlocking the internal belief system that is the speaker’s mindset requires a sense of exploration to identify what matters to you, with a strong focus on your audience and the change you want them to go through.

Self-exploration as a speaker allows you to connect with your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, feelings and dreams all which are essential to deeply have a powerful impact in leading an audience to feel some form of change.

As human beings we often only skim the surface of self-exploration because we feel too many external factors come in the way, whether that is a busy lifestyle, workload etc. What self-exploration does is allows you to understand your strengths, traits, helps to unveil new characteristic and allows you to discover a side of you that can bring out a much more potent version of you. One that you can use to greater advantage when serving your audience.

• Speak with an intention to serve

Professional speaking on stage places you in a position of authority and leadership. And as a leader on stage, the first intention must be to serve and to serve with an honest intention to make a difference. As a servant speaker you put your audiences’ interests and intentions ahead of yours. This helps to both tailor your speech and on-stage presence that makes them feel comfortable and at ease with the message you are sharing.

A speech, even if it is a personal success story, should never be ‘I, I, I’ – But using your life experiences as an example to help your audience to connect the dots with their own life. Make it relatable to them, research what makes them click. With this intention you not only deliver a great speech, but you are serving their needs even if it is needs which they’ve yet to discover. It opens minds where your audience sees the broader picture and feels a part of the journey.

Both self-exploration and to speak with an intention serve are critical components that help to shape and unlock the speaker’s mindset. It takes out any negative agenda or an ego-driven speech to help you boost both your like-ability factor and credibility a speaker.