The video teaches 9 habits to become a clearer speaker, divided into three categories: delivery habits, vocal habits, and cognitive habits. These habits help improve communication clarity, confidence, and connection with others.
Delivery Habits #
- Pause More
- Creates "white space" in speech, making ideas more digestible.
- Prevents ideas from blurring together.
- Perceived as more confident and trustworthy.
- Slow Down to Highlight
- Speaking at one fast pace dilutes impact; nothing stands out.
- Slowing down at key moments acts as a "verbal highlighter."
- Combine with pauses for greater impact.
- Use Declarative Statements
- Prevents rambling which occurs when thoughts lag behind speech.
- Declarative statements are short, concise, and to-the-point sentences.
- Makes you sound more assured and coherent, even when you know your subject well.
Vocal Habits #
- Warm Up Your Voice
- The voice is a muscle system and needs warming up to prevent strain and underperformance.
- Recommended warm-up: Lip trills for one minute on a single note, then lip trilling a song, and finally short bursts of lip trills for another minute.
- Helps reset breath support, reduce vocal tension, and leads to clearer, stronger projection with less fatigue.
- Do these warm-ups privately.
- Default to Nose Breathing
- Mouth breathing dries out the throat and vocal cords, leads to shallow breathing, and causes fatigue.
- Nose breathing humidifies air, keeps vocal cords hydrated, improves oxygen efficiency by 20%, activates the parasympathetic nervous system (calming), and filters air.
- Crucial during non-speaking times.
- Use More Volume (Not Shouting)
- Speaking with healthy volume transfers energy, not just information.
- Vocal strength is subconsciously linked to personal strength and conviction.
- Prevents playing "too small" and allows people to connect with your voice and energy.
Cognitive Habits #
- Finish One Thought At a Time
- Starting new thoughts before finishing the current one makes the listener mentally chase you, leading to confusion or zoning out.
- Creates fragmented, scattered, and often messy speech.
- Master communicators finish a thought, pause, then move to the next idea, making it structured and digestible.
- Learn to Use Frameworks
- Helps explain complex ideas simply and logically.
- Introduces the "CCC" framework:
- Context: Set the scene, explain the "why" before the "what."
- Core: Deliver the main idea clearly and simply (one main idea).
- Connect: Show why it matters to the listener, demonstrate relevance.
- Reduces over-explaining and helps transition from rambling to resonating.
- Explain Differently with Analogies
- When an explanation isn't understood, don't just explain it slower or harder; explain it differently.
- Analogies are shortcuts to understanding, connecting complex or unknown concepts to simple and familiar ones.
- They make messages stick, simplify complex ideas, and make you more relatable and memorable.
last updated: