Keep your audience’s attention with this one trick…

If I have one trick that I share with everyone about powerful public speaking, it’s this:

Enumerate your points and watch your audience hang on to your every word.

(See what I did there, eh?)

Enumerating your points means using numbers to strategically organize your speech content so that listeners will stay tuned to what you have to say next. Some simple examples are:

“There are three easy steps you can take right now to get started…”

“The two most powerful people you’ll meet in your career are…”

“The #1 rule to remember is…”

If I know that there are three ideas you want to share, I’m going to keep note in my head to listen for all three. If you say there’s one golden rule to remember, I’m going to listen sharply for that one thing.

Numbers are very powerful in speeches.

They help to quantify points and establish context…and they make your speech even more memorable. Beyond enumerating your points, use statistics and other numbers to illustrate your ideas and give context. Be sure, though, that your numbers are always accurate and that you don’t manipulate statistics to give a biased or false impression.

The next time, you prepare a speech, think about how you can use numbers to your advantage in this way.