Just by speaking to your audiences, you are a leader – a speaker leader.

Your audience perceives you as a leader. It is your job not to disappoint them.

Below are three traits of the Speaker Leader:

Speaker Leaders Seek to be Servants to Those They Lead

Another way of saying this is that it is all about your audience. It is not about you.

Robert K. Greenleaf coined the term “servant leadership” in his 1970 essay, The Servant as Leader. Greenleaf is considered the founder of the modern servant leadership movement. He inspired a subsequent generation of leadership thinkers and writers, one of which was Jim Collins of From Good to Great fame.

As a speaker leader, you are speaking to serve your audience’s needs, wants, and desires. You must leave your audience with something they can immediately implement to improve their personal and professional lives.

One of the best ways to be a Speaker Servant Leader is to determine as much as you can about your audience before you even walk onto the stage. This is the best way to ensure you provide your audience with helpful advice they can use.

Comedian Bob Hope who entertained military troops in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, was a master of this. He made a point to find out as much as he could about the people he entertained way before he entertained them. Bob Hope made jokes about specific people in the units. He was a hit every time he went out on the stage. His audience gave him thunderous applause.

So, Speaker leaders seek to be servant leaders.

Speaker leaders also seek to be good listeners.

Speaker Leaders Seek to be Good Listeners

Have you ever spoken to someone and gotten the impression they were forming their response to you instead of trying to understand what you were saying? Don’t be this type of speaker.

One of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was “Seek first to understand then to be understood.”

The sincerest respect you can give another person is concentrating on what they are saying to understand them. Speaker leaders like you get a chance to do this whenever you answer a question during or after your presentation.

Here is a method I have found very effective in doing this.

While the question is being asked, concentrate on what the person is saying and forget about your response. After the audience member has asked the question, repeat the question and delay saying anything for five seconds. During these five seconds, form your response making it as relevant to the person’s question as possible.

Like anything else worth doing, practicing listening has many benefits to you. You increase your credibility and likability with your audience. Audiences listen intently to speakers who they deem credible and who they like. Don’t discount this.

So, Speaker leaders seek to be servant leaders to be good listeners.

Finally, speaker leaders seek to vividly portray what the audience will feel after implementing what you are saying – their transformation.

Speaker Leaders Seek to Portray the Audience’s Transformation Vividly

Think about the last time you bought something expensive. It could be a sports car, a trophy house, or a sparkling diamond ring. Have you ever thought about what made you buy the item?

What enticed you to buy was the feeling you had driving the sports car fast down a country road, of knowing that by purchasing that trophy house, you had finally arrived, and the feeling you had after she said yes and you put the diamond engagement ring on her left-hand ring finger.

You bought the item because of the expected transformation you would feel, not because of the item’s features. Remember this the next time you try to sell someone something.

You must sell the transformation they will experience if they implement what you tell them. It’s as simple as that.

The best car salespeople sell the benefits of buying the car.

The best speaker leaders sell the benefits of the transformation after implementing what they are saying.

As a speaker leader, you should seek to be a servant leader and a good listener and vividly portray your audience’s transformation.

Do these things, and success will find you!

Call to Action

• Serve your audience’s needs, wants, and desires

• Listen intently to your audience

• Portray your audience’s transformation if they implement what you are saying.

Frank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.

Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals by improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Reach Frank at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.

Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!

“Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”

Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com