Every leader wants to leave a positive, lasting legacy. The way in which they impacted their organization, the people they influenced, the products and brands they built and the messages they sought to deliver.
Leaders who have engaged in a lot of public speaking will undoubtedly be more well-known, and they’ll have certain messages that are associated with their name, and those messages can stay with people long after their life.
Look at Steve Jobs, for example:
He left an astonishing legacy. He changed the way we viewed and now use technology and created ground-breaking products. He also delivered inspiring presentations, including his very candid speech to graduating students at Stanford University with stories about his own life and struggle in his career.
This got me thinking about legacies.
If you are a public speaker, your legacy will be created from a number of attributes, including the message you deliver, the people you influence, and the perceptions and feelings people have about you.
Let’s look more closely at some of those attributes to see how we can control them to leave the legacy that we want:
Triumph over adversity
Many leaders’ journey into success starts with struggle. They use storytelling as a vehicle to share how they have personally triumphed over struggle in their lives. These stories resonate with audiences because we are hard-wired to empathize with one another and it’s a great way to emotionally connect with your audience.
Your values and beliefs
Knowing what’s important to you and what drives you is really important as a public speaker. No matter what message you are delivering, your core values and beliefs lie at the heart of your presentation or speech. It comes back to knowing yourself, your passion and staying as true to that as possible. It’s what will make you unique!
Clear communication and a positive attitude
Model the attitude and work ethic you want people to embrace and allow them to see your leadership in action. Inspire others when you speak so that they too can make it and triumph over victory. If your audience know that you believe in them, that’s the first step in them taking action.
Final thoughts
Remember that when you hold your audience’s attention, the thing that they will remember most is how you made them FEEL with your words and message.
As Maya Angelou so eloquently said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
When you’re next delivering your presentation or speech, how do you want to make people feel? This will undoubtedly be your legacy.
If you would like 1-to-1 Presentation Coaching with me to help you build and craft a great speech that will leave a lasting legacy, book an initial FREE consultation with me today.
