As a motivational speaker, you want to deliver a message that resonates with your audience, motivates them to take action, and leaves a lasting impact. But how do you create a speaker persona that reflects your authentic self and your unique value proposition? In this article, we will explore some tips and strategies to help you craft a speaker persona that suits your style, goals, and audience.
Find expert answers in this collaborative article
Scroll to see contributions from invited experts. React to the ones you find valuable.
Define your purpose
Before you create your speaker persona, you need to define your purpose as a speaker. What is your mission, vision, and core values? What are you passionate about and why? What are the problems you want to solve and the outcomes you want to achieve? By answering these questions, you will have a clear idea of what you stand for and what you want to communicate.
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Archie Roundtree Jr
Attorney | Published Author & Writer | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility advocate | Mentor | National Public Speaker |
The work of the self is the hardest work. Allow yourself to feel at ease with taking up space in the room. You have earned your place on the stages where you are giving your expertise. Your trials and tribulations made you uniquely qualified for the opportunity before you. Allow your full authentic self to be in the room for the presentation. A persona is not needed in a presentation. When you accept yourself, your presentations will feel different and have a greater impact on your audience.
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Identify your audience
Next, you need to identify your audience and understand their needs, challenges, desires, and expectations. Who are they, what are they looking for, and how can you help them? How do they prefer to learn, communicate, and interact? What are their pain points, fears, and objections? By researching and empathizing with your audience, you will be able to tailor your message and style to their interests and preferences.
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Bernice Chao
Freelance Creative Director | Speaker | Author | AAF Hall of Achievement + Working Mother of the Year
Creating a meaningful impact in a room hinges on understanding your audience to establish resonance. By grasping the goals and objectives of the people present, you can effectively weave relatable stories to support your points. While they may not have encountered your exact situation, they can connect with the emotions you experienced in that moment.
Develop your voice
Your voice is the way you express your personality, tone, and emotions through your words and delivery. Your voice should be consistent, authentic, and engaging. To develop your voice, you need to consider your strengths, weaknesses, and preferences as a speaker. Are you more humorous, serious, or inspirational? Are you more casual, formal, or conversational? Are you more logical, emotional, or creative? By finding your voice, you will be able to connect with your audience and convey your message effectively.
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Isabelle Fortin
I help people align what they do with who they are | Growth Mindset Coach & Public Speaker | Leading Workshops & Conferences
Authenticity IS your voice. As a motivational speaker, you have to use all of who you are. The good along with the not so good. In my experience, you can only truly motivate anyone by being inspiring. If they see what’s you’ve been able to accomplish, what dark hole you dug yourself out of, how you were able to overcome obstacles.. THAT is how you use your voice. Using emotions, showing your vulnerability! The rest such as your tone or the speed is just fluff. If your audience connects to you, nobody is going to care if you speak with an accent or if you roll your rrrrrrrrrs.
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Choose your stories
Stories are powerful tools to capture attention, illustrate points, and inspire action. Your stories should be relevant, memorable, and meaningful. To choose your stories, you need to think of your personal and professional experiences that relate to your topic, purpose, and audience. How did you overcome challenges, learn lessons, or achieve results? How can you make your stories relatable, vivid, and actionable? By selecting and crafting your stories, you will be able to add value and emotion to your speech.
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Axel Rittershaus
My Why? Support & Develop Future Leaders – because employees deserve great leaders
Stories are THE way to inspire people, and the most crucial factors of making a story stick are : – The audience must trust the speaker and their story – The story must resonate with the audience and give them an inspiration they can turn into action. Too often a great story is just that. A great story. But it does not inspire real action. If you can inspire and assist the audience in taking action, your story has the impact most speakers are dreaming of.
Practice your delivery
Your delivery is the way you use your body language, voice, and visuals to enhance your speech. Your delivery should be confident, clear, and compelling. To practice your delivery, you need to rehearse your speech in front of a mirror, a camera, or a friend. How can you improve your posture, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions? How can you vary your pitch, volume, pace, and pauses? How can you use slides, props, or images to support your speech? By practicing and improving your delivery, you will be able to create a lasting impression and influence your audience.
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Bernice Chao
Freelance Creative Director | Speaker | Author | AAF Hall of Achievement + Working Mother of the Year
Practicing your delivery and reflecting on areas for improvement is undeniably vital. Whenever feasible, rehearse in the exact space where you’ll present, as it aids in fine-tuning your eye contact and movement within that environment. In the case of virtual presentations, recording and subsequently evaluating a practice run is invaluable. This process enables you to scrutinize how your tone and body language harmonize with and reinforce the message you’re delivering. Remember that consistent rehearsal can significantly boost your confidence and day of presence.
Evaluate your feedback
Your feedback is the way you measure your impact, effectiveness, and improvement as a speaker. Your feedback should be constructive, specific, and actionable. To evaluate your feedback, you need to ask for and listen to the opinions of your audience, peers, mentors, or coaches. What did they like, dislike, or remember about your speech? What did they learn, feel, or do as a result of your speech? How can you improve your content, style, or delivery for your next speech? By evaluating and applying your feedback, you will be able to refine your speaker persona and grow as a speaker.
This is where invited experts will be adding contributions.
Experts are selected based on on their experience and skills.
Learn more about how members become contributors.
Here’s what else to consider
This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?
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Gregg Tate
Coach, Mentor & Trusted Advisor to HR Professionals – Retired Global HR-SVP
And, after you’ve done all the great things highlighted in the previous sections, you need to be sure to be yourself. DO NOT try to be someone or something you aren’t. People see right through those facades and are immediately tuned out, with your message not landing at all. You must be authentic, be real and be YOU!!
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Dr. Evi Prokopi
Award-winning Success Coach | Soft Skills & Leadership Trainer | Global Keynote Speaker | Harvard BR Advisor | Top 41 Global Future of Work Experts
Share tips, tools and techniques that people will be able to start using right away. Stories are awesome, but people forget. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. And that’s how they will remember you.
How can you create a speaker persona that inspires action and leaves a lasting impact?
As a motivational speaker, you want to deliver a message that resonates with your audience, motivates them to take action, and leaves a lasting impact. But how do you create a speaker persona that reflects your authentic self and your unique value proposition? In this article, we will explore some tips and strategies to help you craft a speaker persona that suits your style, goals, and audience.
Find expert answers in this collaborative article
Scroll to see contributions from invited experts. React to the ones you find valuable.
Define your purpose
Before you create your speaker persona, you need to define your purpose as a speaker. What is your mission, vision, and core values? What are you passionate about and why? What are the problems you want to solve and the outcomes you want to achieve? By answering these questions, you will have a clear idea of what you stand for and what you want to communicate.
-
Archie Roundtree Jr
Attorney | Published Author & Writer | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility advocate | Mentor | National Public Speaker |
The work of the self is the hardest work. Allow yourself to feel at ease with taking up space in the room. You have earned your place on the stages where you are giving your expertise. Your trials and tribulations made you uniquely qualified for the opportunity before you. Allow your full authentic self to be in the room for the presentation. A persona is not needed in a presentation. When you accept yourself, your presentations will feel different and have a greater impact on your audience.
Identify your audience
Next, you need to identify your audience and understand their needs, challenges, desires, and expectations. Who are they, what are they looking for, and how can you help them? How do they prefer to learn, communicate, and interact? What are their pain points, fears, and objections? By researching and empathizing with your audience, you will be able to tailor your message and style to their interests and preferences.
-
Bernice Chao
Freelance Creative Director | Speaker | Author | AAF Hall of Achievement + Working Mother of the Year
Creating a meaningful impact in a room hinges on understanding your audience to establish resonance. By grasping the goals and objectives of the people present, you can effectively weave relatable stories to support your points. While they may not have encountered your exact situation, they can connect with the emotions you experienced in that moment.
Develop your voice
Your voice is the way you express your personality, tone, and emotions through your words and delivery. Your voice should be consistent, authentic, and engaging. To develop your voice, you need to consider your strengths, weaknesses, and preferences as a speaker. Are you more humorous, serious, or inspirational? Are you more casual, formal, or conversational? Are you more logical, emotional, or creative? By finding your voice, you will be able to connect with your audience and convey your message effectively.
-
Isabelle Fortin
I help people align what they do with who they are | Growth Mindset Coach & Public Speaker | Leading Workshops & Conferences
Authenticity IS your voice. As a motivational speaker, you have to use all of who you are. The good along with the not so good. In my experience, you can only truly motivate anyone by being inspiring. If they see what’s you’ve been able to accomplish, what dark hole you dug yourself out of, how you were able to overcome obstacles.. THAT is how you use your voice. Using emotions, showing your vulnerability! The rest such as your tone or the speed is just fluff. If your audience connects to you, nobody is going to care if you speak with an accent or if you roll your rrrrrrrrrs.
Choose your stories
Stories are powerful tools to capture attention, illustrate points, and inspire action. Your stories should be relevant, memorable, and meaningful. To choose your stories, you need to think of your personal and professional experiences that relate to your topic, purpose, and audience. How did you overcome challenges, learn lessons, or achieve results? How can you make your stories relatable, vivid, and actionable? By selecting and crafting your stories, you will be able to add value and emotion to your speech.
-
Axel Rittershaus
My Why? Support & Develop Future Leaders – because employees deserve great leaders
Stories are THE way to inspire people, and the most crucial factors of making a story stick are : – The audience must trust the speaker and their story – The story must resonate with the audience and give them an inspiration they can turn into action. Too often a great story is just that. A great story. But it does not inspire real action. If you can inspire and assist the audience in taking action, your story has the impact most speakers are dreaming of.
Practice your delivery
Your delivery is the way you use your body language, voice, and visuals to enhance your speech. Your delivery should be confident, clear, and compelling. To practice your delivery, you need to rehearse your speech in front of a mirror, a camera, or a friend. How can you improve your posture, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions? How can you vary your pitch, volume, pace, and pauses? How can you use slides, props, or images to support your speech? By practicing and improving your delivery, you will be able to create a lasting impression and influence your audience.
-
Bernice Chao
Freelance Creative Director | Speaker | Author | AAF Hall of Achievement + Working Mother of the Year
Practicing your delivery and reflecting on areas for improvement is undeniably vital. Whenever feasible, rehearse in the exact space where you’ll present, as it aids in fine-tuning your eye contact and movement within that environment. In the case of virtual presentations, recording and subsequently evaluating a practice run is invaluable. This process enables you to scrutinize how your tone and body language harmonize with and reinforce the message you’re delivering. Remember that consistent rehearsal can significantly boost your confidence and day of presence.
Evaluate your feedback
Your feedback is the way you measure your impact, effectiveness, and improvement as a speaker. Your feedback should be constructive, specific, and actionable. To evaluate your feedback, you need to ask for and listen to the opinions of your audience, peers, mentors, or coaches. What did they like, dislike, or remember about your speech? What did they learn, feel, or do as a result of your speech? How can you improve your content, style, or delivery for your next speech? By evaluating and applying your feedback, you will be able to refine your speaker persona and grow as a speaker.
