When you watch a leadership speaker talk, it might seem like they can do it effortlessly. They seem to have the gift of gab. You’d be surprised to know that they’re also incorporating a lot of science to do what they do when they are giving their speech.

Here are some of the things that a leadership speaker can bring each time they step on stage. They are varied, and some of them aren’t blatantly obvious and can be surprising to the layperson sitting in the audience. While this isn’t going to be an exhaustive look, there are things to consider:

They help people overcome base instincts that hold them back

Most of the time, people aren’t thinking about leading in any capacity. Instead, they’re thinking about survival, avoiding things that they are afraid of, like networking in large groups. They’d rather hang back in the pack and not step forward. That’s not conducive to them moving ahead in either their career or their life. 

A great leadership speaker can help them override that. It’s usually not a situation where they’ll snap their fingers and everyone will overcome that (barring secret mass hypnosis, and that’s ethically shaky, to say the least). Instead, they’ll plant the seed and the flower of leadership may eventually grow in the audience. 

They utilise storytelling

What’s better – a dry lecture about leadership or one that weaves in storytelling elements? If your speaker is droning on about leadership, you’re likely going to see some closed eyes or people looking at their phones instead of the speech. By incorporating a story, especially a personal one, it can make a big difference. 

Here’s one area where your speaker might be walking a bit of a tightrope. They could do some audience participation early on and an answer to a question might open the door to them being able to naturally come up with a story. It’s a way to bring people in and it’s a great psychological tactic.

They gain trust with preparation

Would you rather see a speaker who got up on stage and fumbled with notecards while stammering or one with a well-put-together speech that you can tell that they have memorised?  The second one, right? There’s nothing like seeing a confident person give a speech with no interruptions. 

The key thing here is that they can do this without seeming like they are just performing the speech on autopilot. They can make it seem like they are giving for the first time every time. They can also fine-tune their speech or presentation so that it can perfectly fit both the location and occasion. 

Ultimately, the main takeaway is that the speaker is going to do everything that they can to make themselves trustworthy. That takes a lot more effort than just walking into an auditorium and speaking off the cuff about something that they might not be qualified to discuss. If they used the above things, then their speeches will be truly impactful and you’ll be glad that you hired them.

Adam Mulligan, a psychology graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, has a keen interest in the fields of mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.