Teacher Preacher or Public Speaker- Who are You?

When you are on the speaking platform, are you a Teacher, Preacher, or Public Speaker? – Who are you – is a question many speakers and audiences sometimes struggle to answer. Teaching and preaching do have much in common with public speaking. But when you represent yourself as a Public Speaker, you should always remember the following: Teachers teach, preachers preach, while good Public Speakers communicate their message by developing topics with unique points of view. Public Speakers tell stories to make a point or make a point to tell a story. Public Speakers build trust with audiences by speaking naturally to communicate in different styles. Their style may include teaching and preaching. However, the predominant communication style they choose often reflects who or what they truly are when they are on or off the speaking platform.

Public Speaking takes many hours of practice, which never ends with perfection. Speakers must master many different disciplines before they can change their default behaviors as a speaker, especially when they are on the platform. Vocabulary, gestures, and even pauses, to name just a few, take many hours of stage-time and practice to become an accomplished speaker. The same goes for teaching and preaching or any other field of practice. Perhaps that is why professionals begin a “Practice” once they become qualified in their chosen field.

If you wish to add teaching or preaching to your style of speaking, tell stories to make your points or make your point by telling stories just as was done in biblical days by the great teachers and preachers since the beginning of time. They used parables and sermons to illustrate their moral and spiritual lessons. Carefully add that style of speaking to your repertoire, and your audience will receive your message without ever realizing you are teaching or preaching.

Speaking opportunities and platforms will vary. Your platform should determine the content you will deliver to your audience. As you continue to grow as a speaker, your primary style of speaking may remain constant. Content will vary, but who you truly are will always creep into your presentations as you continue your journey. The life lessons you have leaned — the change you made along the way. The wisdom and skills you are developing will reflect in your style of speaking, whether you are on or off the platform. Your platform can be a meeting at work, a conversation with friends and family, or even a speech or contest. Once you have a point of view that engages your audience and you are authentic on that platform, there will always be an audience for your message.

As you continue to grow, avoid lessons, audiences don’t care to learn. Avoid repeating sermons your audience may have heard many times before. I was once given this bit of wisdom: “if you follow the herd, you will never be heard.” Your challenge as a speaker is to present your point of view differently. Speak in ways that make the ordinary extraordinary. Speak about topics with universal appeal, topics that can make audiences want to think, feel, or make changes to their lives and the lives of others. Speak about your successes, your failures, and the painful lessons you learned along the way, never forgetting to mention those who helped you see the light, in your hours of darkness. Public Speaking is a long and winding road to your self-discovery. It is the road that leads you to your answer to the ultimate question – Who are you? – a Teacher, Preacher, or Public Speaker.