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5 Powerful Senses Ignite Passion for Better Public Speaking

Laurie Burton • Oct 11, 2013

Do you know your passion? A more successful life and career depend on knowing what you are truly passionate about. Passion is the most compelling part of our emotional makeup and, in many ways, defines who we are. Better public speaking begins when communicating from a passion ignited by your own 5 powerful senses.


One of the most powerful ways to express our life force is through passion. People respond to passionate expression, giving speakers the capacity to profoundly influence and affect others. People perceive us as more colorful and alive when we are intimately in touch with our passion and skilled at expressing it.


The ability to passionately express yourself can be like discovering your own personal, internal paint box, enabling you to paint with any vibrant color you want – at any time!


Passion is an essential element of our life force. It is intrinsic to our human nature. Unfortunately, most of us are going too fast, experiencing too much stress with work, family, and life in general to take stock of the 5 powerful senses that assist with stirring our passions. We take our senses, and our ability to communicate for granted, barely aware of the potential strength and power available to us through the art of speaking words, ignited by a passion.


Communications lack strength and variety when a speaker’s foundation isn’t strong and filled with a variety of passions – or even just a few that run very deep. The solution to a weak and passionless foundation is right in front of each of us, every moment of every day. And it is simply this: Put your 5 powerful senses to work for you!


Begin to:

  • Notice
  • Welcome
  • Examine


Every aspect of your daily life that makes you feel something, causes an emotional response, creates an image in your mind, or stirs you to take a specific action, should be noted, considered and recorded. By incorporating these passions into your daily life, you will begin to build a solid foundation from which to communicate. When you speak from this passion, your words ignite a passion in your audience – whether one or one hundred. Better public speaking results through this type of effective, successful communication.

People will respond to your passion – and to you! The following exercise will help you to find your passion – but it may not be as easy as you think!


Write down 10 things you are really passionate about in 10 minutes. Can you do it?


NOTE: Most people can think of about five things – and then, they get stuck. This is not necessarily because they do not have the answers. They simply don’t take the time to truly absorb and appreciate the things in life that really move them. They may not even recognize the innate value of their life experience and its connection to passion.


When you are in your passion, you are connected to all of your senses.


  • You feel self-confident
  • You quit doubting yourself
  • You naturally release your true feelings, emotions, and expressions


This connection with passion is the first step toward meaningful expression and successful interaction, because information about the world comes to us through our senses. Since it is these same five senses that stimulate our responses to life, we need to expand our knowledge of them, measure how they affect us and begin to give rise to our emotions, improving our ability to communicate.

Passionate speaking is what an audience pays to hear, and speaking passionately is one sure way to become a sought after public speaker.


Practice expanding your focus on each of the five senses. Take your time and try to find 5 to 10 new passions for each sense, using the following guidelines:


SIGHT – What do you see or what have you seen that you are passionate about? It could be anything!
Examples: Yosemite. The face of your child. A rosebud.


SMELL – What have you smelled that you are passionate about?
Examples: The fragrance of Night Jasmine. Rain on cement after a long drought.


TASTE – What have you tasted lately that you are passionate about?
Examples: Hagen Daz coffee ice cream. Spaghetti with basil, tomato, garlic, and lots of Parmesan cheese.


SOUND – What sounds have you heard that fill you with passion?
Examples: Your granddaughter’s voice. Samba music. Creek water spilling over rocks.
 
TOUCH – What have you touched that you feel passionately about?
Examples: A cold mountain stream. A German Shepherd puppy’s face.
 
Sensory experiences arouse your emotions. They occur in every waking moment – you just need to bring your awareness to them to experience the richness around and within you.


Passionate speaking results when you are talking about that about which you are passionate. But it also involves being able to communicate:


  • WHY you have the passion
  • WHAT causes (or stirs up) that passion
  • WHAT you do with that passion
  • HOW you use that passion to your advantage


Better public speaking happens when you use your 5 powerful senses to find your own true passion, and then speak from that passion to those same 5 senses waiting to be aroused within others.



If you are in need of better, more effective personal and professional communication skills, we can help – and we make it fun! Get a FREE gift when you visit LaurieBurtonTraining.com, today.

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