Public Speaking and Communications - Commanding a Room

Commanding a room is key to building your professional image. Networking and who you know is a necessary skill. Yes, degrees and intelligence count and get you to the threshold of the door but how do you get in the door? By building your professional brand image. Your brand begins with commanding a room and your non-verbal body language. This article provide you with a few tools to help you command a room. Command a room, build your professional brand and your career sails smoothly through the rough waters of business communications. From proper posture to eye contact to body language that showcases that you are in control of the room. We will walk you through the steps to exude self-confidence.  Sail smoothly through the rough waters of public presentations; visualize and practice and you will get that career advancement you deserve.

Proper Posture

Proper posture is needed not just for your health but also for your personal brand. Your personal brand needs to demonstrate strength and leadership ability. The way to make the greatest presence is to stand tall and dignified. If you have the Einstein hunch, you must conscientiously work at your posture both for you health and to be seen in the light of commanding authority.

Eye Contact

Eye contact is the single most important skill and perhaps the hardest non-verbal skill to learn. You need to engage your audience and you can only connect with them with your eyes.

Mary Kay, the founder of the global cosmetic company, stated she made millions by zeroing in on the individual. Everyone wants and needs to be notice. Take special care to assure everyone in the room - they are special to you. As the video details, when speaking to a group, break the group of and move your focus from one part of the room to the next. Be sure to include everyone.

Open Gestures

No crossed arms, no lectern to hide behind. You want to be near the room participants or your audience. My downfall - is holding a binder - don't do it - no school girls belong in business and no school girl will ever be invited to the board room hiding behind a binder even if it is leather.

Learn to Read Others Non-Verbal Signals

The video I have titled "Approaching Group" demonstrate what groups are saying with their non-verbal behavior. Learn the non-verbal signals and you will be a better net worker and have a greater ability to more readily command a room. Reading non-verbal signals and knowing how your non-verbal reactions communicate to other is an important part of Emotional Intelligence which is critical to effective communications.

The Lighthouse Affect - Exude Self-Confidence

Jackie Kennedy built her personal brand so strong that after her death, her faux pearl necklace which was worth $800, sold at auction for $211,500! Jackie was taugh by her father John Vernou Bouvier III, whose nickname was "Black Jack" in appreciation of dark tan and flamboyant style to command a room as if she were a lighthouse. The "lighthouse affect" is the ability to exude self-confidence.

A lighthouse stands tall and solid, never fidgeting. This air of self control is further intensified by an inner joy, beaming forth a light - very similar to the lighthouse on the cliff - never wavering, always with light shining forth. So too, we need to enter a room - solid and strong. Gestures are purposeful and large. Your stance is wide and powerful. And your conversation is denoted by hand gestures are complex symbolizing your complexity of thought.

Need a demonstration - check out some of the videos to the right.

A Proper Handshake

Research has shown, we only have two seconds to make a great first impression. There are a variety of different handshakes, only one is proper. A proper handshake is focused, very short with the movements being only the hand extension generating from the shoulder and movement from the elbow. Eye contact combined by a strong verbal introduction precisely targeted to your audience are the tools you need to command a room.

Commanding a Room is a Necessary Leadership Skill

The subtle nuances of non-verbal behavior, the emotional and social intelligence and the ability to command a room are all necessary communication skills for great leaders. The tools to command a room are simple when they are demonstrated and discussed. Watch the videos and learn.

Practice in Front of a Full Length Mirror

Then practice in front of a full length mirror. Pay special attention to your posture and hand gestures. Work on this consciously daily and soon it will become a simple skills that automatically sets in. Sail smoothly my friend through the rough waters of communications.

#1 Body Languageis the Key

It is your non-verbal signals that set the benchmark for your authority.

1. Eye contact - make everyone feel important.
   
2. Open Body Posture.
   
3. Use Hand Gestures - complex hand gestures reflect complex ideas and thoughts
   

#2 Lighthouse Affect

Beam with joy and self-confidence. Your movements are precise. You are comfortable and patient and can wait for others to approach you. You are approachable and you know the rules of approaching groups.

#3 Proper Handshake

A proper handshake is pivotal for building your professional brand and commanding room.

FTC Disclosure

The author has no affiliation of any kind with any of the companies or governmental entities listed within this article. Additionally, she does not receive financial or service remuneration.

The author has a broad range of interests and frequently writes about communications, art, fitness, health and food safety. She is the inventor of the EZ Swimmer and President of American Son Products, Inc.

Notes of Appreciation

Sources: www.carminegallo.com