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As a business owner, having to speak in front of large audiences is part of the entrepreneurial game. Though public speaking is empowering, it can also be difficult to manage. In my experience, how you should stand, have your hands, look or dress when giving a speech can be confusing.

After reading Sandy Linver’s Speak and Get Results, I have learned how to get my message across through powerful body language.

In her book, Sandy outlines three key areas for superb public speaking: You must transmit authority, energy and audience awareness. Authority refers to looking and sounding like you have something to say about the subject; energy refers to looking like the subject is important to you, and audience awareness is having an interaction with the audience so that they feel like they’re a part of the experience. Here’s a more intrinsic look at these key areas:

• Authority
• How do you transmit authority? I have learned that there are several ways in which your body language or non-verbal language can signal authority to the audience.
• Visual Image: The clothes you chose to wear at 7 a.m. will have a big impact on how your audience judges you. Do you look the way an “expert” on your topic would look? If you’re speaking to an audience about business, you should always look the part.
• Body Image: Feet should be wide apart, body balanced, gestures supporting the key moments of the speech— these actions convey confidence. There should be nothing distracting the audience from being able to engage your message. If you have your hands in your pocket, for example, it will look like you’re more interested in your car keys than your speech.
• Voice: According to Sandy, there are five characteristics of a powerful voice:

01. Breathing – Relaxed, deep breaths give you projection and power

02. Articulation – Open your mouth and clearly pronounce the words; no mumbling and no “filler words” (i.e., um, ah, like)

03. Downward Inflection – In all languages, we tend to signal answers by terminating the statement with a downward inflection, and we signal questions by finishing the phrase with a raised tone. Many times nerves will drive us to use inflections incorrectly, which will confuse the audience. Slow down to emphasize the right points of your message.

04. Pauses – Include three-to-eight-second pauses at key moments; i.e., just before key statements or right after a story.

05. Projection and Resonance – When speaking in public, it’s best to use your whole diaphragm— the chest and lungs, as well as mouth and nose. A voice that comes from the chest will transmit powerfully.

Energy

Emitting the right energy during a speech is easy; all you have to do is look like you care about the subject on which you’re speaking. If the speaker doesn’t act like the subject is important, it will be impossible for the audience to engage the messaging.

Audience Awareness

Audience awareness is an integral part of the speaker’s responsibilities. By assessing the audience and determining whether people are engaged or not, the speaker will know what to emphasize and where to slow down. Usually, a quick glance at the audience or a pause in speech can show them that they matter to you.

There’s no hidden secret to excelling at public speaking; it just takes a lot of practice, determination and a willingness to adopt helpful habits. After reading Speak and Get Results, I’m confident I can continue to deliver powerful speeches to the people who are most important to me and my company.

By: Cameron Blake

“I always forget how amazing it is to be in nature until I’m actually out in the thick of it, and think to myself, ‘Oh yeah! I should probably do this more often’

I’m not a spiritual person, but it is always in the great outdoor that I’ve had the closest thing to a spiritual experience. Sitting out in the terrace between sets as the sun is rising and there’s nothing but you and the silence. Lying in the sun in the luxurious meadow with a good book or camping in the woods in the middle of nowhere, listening to the whisper of the wind and fall of the water. So much tranquility!

Life in the countryside of Sri Lanka can be a truly spellbinding experience. In this part of the country it is generally warm during the day but surprisingly quite chilly towards the evening.

Surrounded by lush greenery and a secluded mango-fringed garden fronting the Uva country side, there is an exquisite Villa located in Buttala; one of the best parts of the country for combining lazy days around the lush greenery by exploring the country’s natural wealth.

Milla Holiday Resort has the ideal facilities for a family vacation and honeymooners to experience the village life in the countryside of Sri Lanka. It is unified by the fact that it is totally unique.

Set in Monaragala, the journey towards the resort itself is quite eventful with a few elephants parked in the middle of the road waiting to be fed by motorists bypassing them the Kataragama area. When entering the village, it presented a change of nature suiting to dry weather with where more shrubs and stretches of fields laden with golden crops. It was a joyful endless sight. As far as the eye could go, we saw standing tall plants with ripe grain as we were enchanted by the whole outlook of the village.

Boasting a village life in the countryside, the Holiday Resort offers relaxing stays amid a landscaped garden at Milla. The name ‘Milla’ is given as the whole structure is built centering a Milla tree shielding the resort. The rooms are built with rustic wood that blends with nature and open up to a private balcony facing dense vegetation and solid trees. Split into two separate eco-friendly units, the three bedroom bungalow has a panoramic view of the acres of organic garden heavy with its growth.

The villa has a spacious lounge, dining area and a BBQ facility outside in the garden. The villa’s restaurant serves interesting twists on classic local and international dishes sourcing many ingredients from its organic garden. Guests have the experience of picking various vegetables they would like to include in the meal right before it is prepared from the organic garden. The staff here is just amazing, and is willing to cater to your every whim. A leisurely picnic lunch under a mango tree with peacocks walking about freely is an experience that should not be overlooked.

A night at Milla Resort is not going to include a bubble bath and champagne cocktails but an authentic experience of a dip in the Kumbuk Oya. Fenced by the silence and acres and acres of Kumbuk trees, the coldest water which seeps through your body will transfer you to peacefulness.

Hidden away in the Monaragala District, just about 1Km from the Milla Resort is the Maligawila Buddha Statue, the tallest free-standing Buddha Statue in Sri Lanka, at 45ft high. Carved from a single piece of limestone rock, the statue dates back to the 7th century A.D. The site also contains a rock Bodhisattva, standing at 34ft tall. The site also lays claim to the only square moonstone in the world. The surrounding jungle and pleasant walk make it that much more magical. It’s also much more off the beaten track, hence generally you will have the site all to yourself.

In this part of the country, houses are usually inhabited by entire family generations. The people living in these rural areas are generally curious over visitors and quite welcomingly take you to their homes for a cup of tea. Eating simple food in rustic surroundings has its own taste, which you would surely appreciate. During this country side trip, you will experience various aspects of village life, their feelings and emotions, how they scrape a living. It is truly fascinating to experience the simple facts of life focused on fishing, wood carving, bakery, farming, village market, village trekking, a simple herbal tea with homemade kithul jaggery, can be a heaven on earth!

By: Chantal D.
Photography by: T. A. A. N. Siriwardane