Tuesday, October 15, 2013

How Police Chiefs & Command Staffs Can Add Flair and Charisma to Their Public Speaking Skills




Edward Brown, M.S.


What distinguishes those individuals who are at the top of their profession versus those who, while successful, may not share a similar position? The answer is flair, charisma, and showmanship! Personalities that revolutionize an industry are those who are able to capture the imagination of their audiences. The late Pop superstar Michael Jackson, magician David Copperfield, and animal trainers Siegfried and Roy, are a few examples of individuals who have risen to the highest heights in their fields by being expert showmen. Each day in police roll calls throughout the U.S., police managers and supervisors have an opportunity to inspire and influence police officers just before these officers hit the streets.  This is the best time to reinforce employee engagement and retention among the troops.

Like most things in life, people who possess flair and charisma are not born but made. The most mundane speaker can learn how to capture an audience's attention by adding flair to his presentation. Here are a few tips for engaging and inspiring an audience:

1. Bring or Create Your Personality on Stage- Speakers are closely aligned with actors and actresses because they are often required to re-create reality on stage. Speakers who are natural extroverts bring their personalities to the stage easily. Extroverts engage the audience by penetrating their audience’s emotions as well as their logic. These speakers add color and verve to their presentations by the use of stories, analogies, drama, and humor. The presentation takes on a life of its own. Extroverts are often jokingly referred to as "hams".

Speakers who are natural introverts can create an extroverted personality on stage. The introvert must see himself in a bigger- than- life role by envisioning how he wishes the audience to respond.   The introvert may be very different on stage than in private.  Through imagery, pauses, calculated movements, articulation, the speaker becomes anything he desires.  By saturating one’s mind with images of an ideal outcome, the introvert becomes an exciting speaker on stage contrary to his slight and indistinct manner off stage.

2. Develop Your Own Sense of Style- The speaker who develops a unique and authentic style will have more effective presentations than imitators will. A speaker's haircut, clothing, brand of humor, and animated gestures, become his trademark. The challenge for a speaker in developing flair is to constantly enhance one's true self.  If you push yourself too far out of the sphere of authenticity, you become a cartoon of yourself. Also, it is important that one's flair should remain in the realm of proper social etiquette.  Any behavior deemed "outlandish" might have a negative impact on the audience.

3. Develop a Regimen that Enhances Flair- Athletes often take ballet and dance lessons to become more graceful and coordinated.  As a speaker, the most essential part of your presentation is your non-verbal communication. Ballet and dance enhances a more rhythmic flow of natural gestures. For those who can’t afford ballet and dance lessons, your living room and a good CD player will suffice.  Dancing to your favorite songs positively affects your body movements and gestures.  Furthermore, you may alter voice rate and variation by reciting alphabets or reading aloud from your favorite novel. A practiced ritual helps condition the mind to duplicate efforts when giving a presentation even with very little notice and preparation. The more you adhere to a regimen to enhance flair, the natural it will become when it’s time to give a presentation on-call.

4. Study Entertainers in Different Fields- Effective entertainers and speakers share certain traits. One trait is their ability to captivate the audience through emotions. Another trait is the ability to produce memorable performances and experiences for an audience.  You expand your imagination by viewing personalities in other fields. These diverse personalities have an uncanny way of maintaining audience interest for long stretches of time.

Putting flair and charisma into your presentation is a learned art. A boring speaking style does not have to be a way of life. If you want to give more dazzling presentations in roll calls, community meetings, or city council hearings, discover how to speak with flair.  With flair, you will talk your way into the hearts and minds of your listeners.


Discover how to speak with more flair and persuasion by visiting: http://policerecruitmentandselection.core-edge.com/events

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