Toastmasters Tips: Sincerity in Speaking

by Mike Etchemendy, DTM, member of Blue Ridge Club

Being sincere in speaking compels an audience to appreciate the message. Think about how you feel listening to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speech known as “I Have a Dream” when he repeats in his heartfelt quavering voice, “I Have a Dream” then a statement, then “I Have a Dream”. As each refrain repeats, we feel the dream and wait for more information. As an audience we are glued to Dr. King’s words, ideas, and calls to action. Listening to Dr. King’s speech there’s no doubt this man is speaking with sincerity, that he truly believes. We naturally want to continue to listen, we see his sincerity as we know in our hearts the message is pure.

We don’t need to be as great as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at public speaking or to be sending as big a message. Every one of us can be sincere and speak from the heart on something we believe. It takes courage to speak sincerely. It took big courage for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak his heart and mind. The audience will respect that we are giving them undisguised opinions, words we believe, and opening ourselves up to all for discernment. Our sincerity in speaking has depth and value for the audience. By putting our hearts into our content, we earn the audience’s trust and attention for our next idea and ultimately our call to action.

The time to ask for a call to action comes after earning the interest of your audience. A call to action can be asking for anything such as changing someone’s mind to raising a hand to answer a question from the speaker. As a speaker we take on a responsibility because we have a room full of people giving us their time to listen to us. We should give them something in a message, an inspiration, or a problem to solve. All speakers may dream of having the audience completely engaged in their speech, laughing in unison, gasping in unison, or clapping in unison. This kind of audience response is earned by the sincerity, content and delivery of the speech. Asking an audience to jump into being interested in our speech too early is a mistake because it hasn’t been earned. By a show of hands, how many think … by another show of hands… at the beginning of a speech does not earn audience engagement but only polite compliance from our audience. Yes, we see hands raised but we don’t have that audience’s interest because they don’t know our opinion, belief, or problem. It is worth giving an audience something to ponder before asking for a call to action.

Communicating with sincerity includes all communication elements. A speaker runs a risk giving a sincere sounding message that does not match with facial expressions and gestures. All people sense very early when something does not seem congruent. When it’s not, trust is lost. Be deliberately committed to sincerely believing in your message, deliver that message, and take pride in the value given to an audience.

Would you like to hear this historic speech? Click to watch.