Articulate: Surprise

Our love of novelty is perhaps the most endearing and frustrating characteristic of the human-animal. But, since we can't change it we might as well engage it.

Directing attention to your speech can be as simple as changing volume, using silence, and engaging in deliberate breathing. It can also be the use of humor and/or storytelling. I suggest something both more simple and more radical. Spend some time really pronouncing your words. Give them space and consequence. Let yourself hear the ending consonants as they float away, just a millisecond. Crisp diction is so uncommon off the stage, it will get the room's attention.

Figure out what the most important thing you plan to say is and form those words as if your life depends on it. Observe what that does to how people engage with you in the room. It's a lovely surprise.