What Made the Winning Speeches Stand out? Part 1

Wow, I can’t believe six Speaker Slams have taken place! Thank you to everyone who has come out and experienced the community we are building. We have had some tremendous speakers take our stage, some very experienced and some just starting out, and boy have they surprised us! They have moved, touched and inspired us with their messages. Through these messages, others have been inspired to become speakers on our stage.
 
We wanted to use this opportunity to look back at our previous winners and see what made their speeches stand out to our judges. Each speech is totally different from the other in the way it is delivered. However, each speaker does something unique and does it so well, that it is something that catapults them into the hearts and minds of the audience. These are the strengths the following speakers showcased:

1. Marcos Mendosa: Passion & Audience Engagement
2. Joyce Dias: Personal Storytelling
3. Ted Lyberogiannis: Attention to Detail

1) Marcos Mendosa
When you watch Marcos, there is one thing you can’t deny, he is passionate! That energy he shoots out electrifies the crowd. In the first Speaker Slam, Marcos did something, that he didn’t even expect. He had the entire audience join him as he led them through his “I Am” affirmation (see at 2.57). I still remember getting shivers in that moment. It was that moment, that really catapulted his speech into our hearts because we invested ourselves into it. Audience engagement is an amazing tool every speaker should try to incorporate into their speech. It allows people to become more present and invested in the speaker, allowing their message to carry more weight. A simple, “raise your hand, if you….” at the start of your speech can quickly make you stand out from others.

2) Joyce Dias
Joyce takes center stage and holds it in her power pose, it was her clear gentle voice that opened the hearts of our audience that allowed us to listen. She tells a story about herself that ropes together one of the fundamental speaking mantras, “tell a personal story.” As the audience, it's difficult to be talked down too, so when a speaker shares something about themselves. It allows us to listen and be apart of their world. Joyce does this beautifully as she uses her words to paint a world of her past and takes us there with her. The perfect blend of humor and wisdom along the way, really made her message stand out.

3) Ted Lyberogiannis
When you watch Ted, you can tell there's a certain charisma about him, the twinkle in his eye that he has this in the bag. There is a reason, he has his speech meticulously planned out through practice and visualization. Ted, not only crafted a beautiful speech with some laugh out loud humor. He incorporated props into his speech. He used protractors, magazine boards, gym equipment and even wore a t-shirt under his suit to end his speech. The level of thought that went into his speech was outstanding. What not a lot of people might know, but Ted came early to the venue and he studied the stage. He was visualizing and perfecting his movements on the stage before anybody. That is dedication to the craft and something to applaud.

These were only a few examples of what makes a winning speech stand out. There are many different ways to rock the stage. Come be our guest and discover them soon at the next Speaker Slam live in person! Buy your ticket here: http://www.speakerslam.ca/nextevent.html

​​- Dan Shaikh