How To Give A Presentation

Almost everyone feels a bit nervous about delivering a presentation before a group. It seems that some people would rather undergo a root canal than experience the anxiety of giving a speech.  They must have a really good dentist!


If you can follow some basic guidelines for preparation and delivery, you can transform your nervousness into positive energy that will allow you to achieve the results you desire.

The secrets to successful presentations are simple and are based on common sense. Unfortunately, many people fail to discover these secrets.

Step One: Purpose

This first step is the most important step.  You need to ask yourself some hard questions, such as:

* What’s the purpose of your presentation? Why this topic?  Why you?  There are many reasons to make a speech or announcement, and you need to clearly define your goal.
* Do you have to deliver bad news to your department?
* Do you require a decision from your superiors on a problematic business situation?
* Do you have a solution and want to convince people?
* Are you trying to sell a solution or product?

The reason you are giving your speech is to persuade your audience to buy into specific ideas. You must sufficiently inspire and motivate listeners to take action or give the green light to act on suggested solutions.

 However, unless they believe they “own” the decision, they won’t act upon it.  You need to lead your audience through the decision-making process so the audience members can go through it with you.

It’s critical to avoid spelling everything out for them. Let them “see” what the problems are and which decisions are needed. They will then be happy to engage in finding solutions and be enthusiastic about acting on them.

Step Two: Know Your Audience

Your audience includes those who may be influenced or affected by your proposal. Before you think about what to say, you must determine who your audience is and what they’ll need from you to buy into your argument.  Always focus on your audience's interests.

Make sure you’re selling the benefits of your solution—not the features. For example, if your new program benefits the company by saving time and money, this is what you should emphasize. It will appeal to your audience much more than any discussion of actual program features. 
Step Three: Structure Your Presentation

Most of the time, it’s a good idea to open with a story that reveals a picture of the problem at hand. Stories engage people, especially if they’re personal and real. They create an authentic connection and grab people’s attention. Remember: Your first 30 seconds are the most crucial.

Follow up your story with an honest analysis of the problem, and back it up with research statistics. The Internet makes this part of your task easy, but be cautious about spending too much time on stats.

Then, present the solution. This is the “good stuff,” as people want to know relief is in sight. Spell out the benefits to your audience.

Strengthening Your Presentation

Slides or PowerPoint graphics should supplement your talk and illustrate key points, not deliver the presentation for you. Don’t use graphics that contain every word you say, and never read directly off the screen.  After all, if people can read the information, why do they need you?

Limit text to subheadings, which should be large enough to read from the back of the room. Don’t talk to the screen instead of your audience. And always be prepared for the possibility of a power or technological failure; bring handouts and have an alternative way to deliver your speech in case there’s no screen.

Managing Anxiety

Some experts suggest memorizing the first 60 seconds of your speech. If you do this, make sure it sounds natural and authentic. Because you’re likely to open with a personal story, introduce yourself and explain why your topic is so important to you. This makes the first 60 seconds sound natural, even if you memorize your text.

Don’t draw attention to your nervousness by telling your audience about it. You can share your feelings, but not your anxieties. Your goal is to present yourself authentically, as a real human being.

Don’t fidget or fiddle with your hair, clothes or body parts.

Practice your speech in front of a mirror as often as you can, and minimize nervous tics by standing behind a lectern, if necessary.

Practice drawing a deep breath for instant relaxation.  Take two or three deep breaths before you get up to speak.

To your success in speaking!

Fran

P.S. If you would like some more tips on public speaking, click here

Sticks and Stones...

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me".... when I was a child, this is what we used to say to people who were mean to us.  The truth is, though, words can and do hurt.

Words hurt, heal, motivate, and aggravate.

They are powerful.

They control emotions and can even control a person physically.


A word is worth a thousand pictures.

“Come here.” Two words that move a person from there to here.

“Write this down.” Three words that cause people to put words on a page.

“Remember a time when you felt angry.” Seven words that can create an overload of emotions.

Your words are power. Think of the number of people you have made smile by saying, “I really appreciate you.” Or the number of people you have hurt by saying, “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you do anything right?”

Words possess just as much power when spoken to a crowd of a thousand as in a one on one conversation. It’s one thing to get one person excited, but impassion an entire group, and you have irresistible intensity on your side.

Use your words more effectively…

1. Understand their influence. Do not use or choose your terms lightly. A wrong word can turn an audience from friends to fiends. The better you know your group the better you can tailor your terms for their benefit.

You get to choose the outcome. Want the group to be charged, mad, excited, encouraged, content, or happy? You can produce any of those by using the right words in the right way.

2. Don’t be afraid to be edgy. Too many speakers are soft. You can be tough without being obnoxious, or insulting a group’s intelligence. You can be humorous and still make a hard-hitting point.

Imagine this - "coming in at 1 a.m. after spending two days speaking to 1,500 people. Get this – all the reviews came back at the top level, and I was tough on the folks. Several came up and said, “You’re not afraid to tell it like it is!” The words I chose challenged the group without breaking them."  This can be you!

What about your words? Do you toss them out lightly, or with precision power? Your words can change lives and influence millions. Choose and use them well.   To your speaking success   Fran

Why Toastmasters

Here is a link to a video created by one of the District 61 Toastmaster clubs.

If you want more info on Toastmasters, click here

Deadly Sins in Public Speaking

Deadly Sin #7: Pride


Andrew Dlugan, sixminutes.dlugan.com

Pride is committed by a speaker who believes that public speaking is about them.

It’s not.

 It’s never about you.
 It’s never about your impressive accolades in your introduction.
 It’s never about your dazzling delivery where you channel Churchill.
 It’s never about your sumptuous slides which prominently feature your company logo beside dazzling 3-D pie charts.

Public speaking is always about the audience and the message you want to convey. Failing to put the audience first will kill any presentation. You need to perform audience analysis to discover how best to structure your presentation and deliver the message.

“It’s never about you. Public speaking is always about the audience and the message you want to convey.”

Avoid this sin by starting to analyze your presentation from the audience’s perspective. Amazingly, most of the other speaking sins will go away.

 You’ll recognize that you need to prepare. (Sloth)

 You will realize that you are uniquely capable of delivering your message to this audience. (Envy)

 You will trim all of the fluff to deliver a message which is focused and easy-to-understand. (Gluttony)

 You will respect the time your audience has given you. (Greed)

 You won’t saddle your audience with your problems. (Wrath)

As for Lust when speaking, well… that’s just silly

I hope you enjoyed these tips from Andrew Dlugan. You can find a lot more information at his website: www.sixminutes.dlugan.com including tips for family members on stocking stuffers for public speakers. His site is pretty amazing and I would recommend you check it out.

To your success as a public speaker!

Fran Watson

P.S. For more tips on public speaking, click here

7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking

from Andrew Dlugan sixminutes.dlugan.com

Deadly Sin #1: Sloth
Sloth, or laziness, is committed by speakers who fail to prepare.

Speaking in public, whether formally or informally, is an essential activity that requires effort. Yet, the majority of people expend no effort to improve their effectiveness as a speaker. Tragically, they are content to drift from one frustrating presentation to the next.

“Speaking in public, whether formally or informally, is an essential activity that requires effort.”

You can avoid sloth in a number of ways:

■Enroll in a public speaking course
■Read public speaking books
■Read public speaking blogs
■Join Toastmasters or another local speaking club
■Study great speakers
■Hire a speaking coach

(By reading this article, you’re making the effort to improve. Sloth has no claim on you!)

Failing to prepare for life by improving your speaking skills leads to a chain of excuses, characterized by… (come back tomorrow to find out..)

To becoming a better speaker!!

Fran

P.S. For more help in developing your public speaking skills, click here.

100 Reasons To Join Toastmasters

WHEN YOU JOIN TOASTMASTERS

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you 100 reasons to join Toastmasters. You may have heard the name before. You may have read some articles in the paper. You may have heard people talk about it. But you are still not sure if Toastmasters is for you. Perhaps after you read these articles you will decide that it is indeed for you and for many of your friends. If so, please contact me and I will give you more information., or go to www.toastmasters.org to find a club near you.

To start out, let’s look at some of the growth you will experience with Toastmasters.

You will develop:
1. Public speaking skills – if you are in customer service in any capacity, you can benefit from learning to develop your public speaking skills. If you are an employer, you might want to encourage your staff to attend weekly meetings.

2. Presentation skills – have you ever been called upon at the last minute to give a presentation or a talk on something you’ve been working on, or something for a new client? Well, Toastmasters can help you think on your feet and be well organized so that this will become easy for you.

3. Communication skills – this involves more than just talking. It also involves shutting up. Communication is a two way conversation. Many people say, “I have no problem talking”, and those around them are well aware of that. These people may have a problem letting other people talk. How many times have you been at a meeting where the person is supposed to speak only for 5 minutes and 15 minutes later they are still at it? At Toastmasters you learn how to craft a speech within a specified time frame.

4. Listening skills – are an important part of communication. It is important to listen well enough so that you really “hear” what the other person is saying. At our weekly meetings the Quizmaster tests the listening skills of the group by asking questions about things that went on during the meeting.

5. Leadership skills – are developed as members take on roles such as Toastmaster, Table Topics Master, Timer, Quizmaster, General Evaluator and others. Each person takes control of the lectern for their role.

6. Evaluation techniques – it is important to learn how to correctly evaluate someone so that they learn about the things they need to improve while being recognized for the things that they already do well. If all they hear is criticism, they don’t feel very good about themselves. Toastmasters teaches the “sandwich technique” for evaluations. Come to a meeting and find out more.

7. Vocal variety – helps keep your conversations lively and worth listening to. Have you ever listened to a boring lecture where the person just drones on and on with no variety or depth to their voice? It’s enough to put you to sleep. You will learn how to effectively use your voice for the highs and lows to keep people’s attention.

8. Effective non-verbal communication – your body often speaks louder than your actual words and people “read” what you are saying by the way you say it. You can learn how to use gestures and eye contact to keep the audience watching and listening.

9. Research techniques are developed as you prepare for your roles. If you are providing the word of the week, you will research the word to find out where it came from and what it means. If you are giving the Toast, you may want to look up more information on the weekly theme. If you are giving an Educational Tip, you will want to research your topic and prepare.

I hope this article has intrigued you and that you will consider joining us.

Toastmasters is an international non-profit club run by volunteers to improve our public speaking ability by speaking regularly in a supportive environment with a solid program and helpful feedback. Anyone over 18 who is interested in public speaking can join. Clubs have a great mix of experienced and beginning speakers, young and old. We believe that a diverse club offers the best learning opportunities. There are also opportunities for youth programs.

Find out more at www.toastmasters.org

Fran Watson
District 61 PRO

Social Media and Public Speaking

Use the Web to expand your Toastmasters journey.
By John Zimmer

During a 1996 speech on the Internet, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton famously remarked, “When I took office, only high-energy physicists had ever heard of … the Worldwide Web. … Now even my cat has its own page.”

Now the Internet is an omnipresent and indispensable feature in the lives of millions. Used wisely, it can enhance our public-speaking skills and our Toastmasters experience.

 Read more

Funny You Should Ask - Humourous Speeches

When John Zimmer of Geneva, Switzerland, gave his speech last November, he donned a pair of black shades and broke out a nimble Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. Not only that, but The Terminator’s timing was spot-on.


The occasion was a Humorous Speech Contest, an event that Toastmasters International presents every year. The competition is held at various Toastmasters venues throughout the world, and it produces loads of laughter and fun for everyone involved.
 
Read more

Body Language in Public Speaking

DO YOU SHOUT - EVEN WHEN YOU ARE SILENT?
By Martin Avis

There is a language that we all speak, but few are conscious of: the language of our bodies.

When we are talking to others - either face-to-face, or from the front of the room, our posture, gestures, eye movements and general demeanor communicate far more than our words.
It is said that women interpret up to 80% of the meaning of a conversation by non-verbal means. Men fall a bit behind and 'only' rely on non-verbal clues for about 30%. However, in either case, if you are unconsciously giving out the wrong signals, the meaning behind your intended message will be weakened or lost.

Body language is a vast, fascinating subject, but from a business point of view, there are several pointers that can help to strengthen your message. The aim is to match your audience's unconscious template of what makes a person trustworthy and believable.

Try out these five tips and see if they help you:

1. Personal Space
Everybody has a personal space threshold. Generally, Americans and Northern Europeans prefer to stand about a meter (3 feet) apart. People from Southern European and Asian countries are comfortable a little closer. Folks who live in rural areas like a little more space. Social situations allow closer proximities than non-social.
Be aware if the person you are talking to is backing up, and try not to intrude on their territory. Otherwise the reaction will be defensive or hostile.

2. Eye Movements
Many people are nervous about making eye contact - it is vital to overcome that fear if you want to be respected and believed. An evasive or indirect gaze sends out a strong signal of untrustworthiness.

When speaking to a room full of people, it is essential that you allow yourself to make - and maintain for a few seconds - eye contact with everyone in the room, over and over.

++++++++++ True Story ++++++++++
I was recently invited to America to give a presentation to about forty business people, few of them known to me. The meeting went well and I made as much eye contact as possible. Afterwards, a guy who had been sitting off to my left came up to me and thanked me for a useful and entertaining talk. Then he said something strange: he apologized for offending me.

Puzzled, I assured him that it wasn't so, and asked why he thought so. This is what he said:
"Oh, I had a very late night last night, and after you had been talking for twenty minutes or so, I couldn't [keep] myself [from] yawning. After that, you didn't make any eye contact with me for the rest of the session, so I figured I'd upset you."

The truth was, I hadn't seen the yawn. He had been sitting just outside my comfortable visual area, and I had been concentrating on eyeballing everyone else in the room so hard, that I had missed him out.

I gave him a lot of attention he went away happy. But I couldn't help think that that guy might have been the most important person in the room and I could have blown the whole trip with that stupid act of inattention.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

3. Appearance
It seems old-fashioned to talk about the need to be 'well turned out', but the axiom that 'you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression' is as true today as ever.

Experts say that the first five seconds of a meeting are more important than the next hour. Check all the obvious things like hair, teeth, fingernails, shoes, breath, immediately before the meeting. But also make sure you are putting on your best front, well in advance.

Even if the dress code is casual, there is a world of difference between dirty jeans and a crumpled T-shirt, and freshly laundered casual trousers and a polo shirt. Remember - dress to respect yourself and you automatically respect your audience.

4. Hands
Your hands are like semaphore flags. They send a message whatever position they are in.

Take a look at prominent politicians - they almost all use their hands to reinforce their words. Whether it is a chopping motion, like John F. Kennedy, or an open handed gesture like the English Prime Minister Blair, they are all intended to send visual signals directly to the right-brain of the listener to augment the words which normally address the left-brain.

One of the things I am asked most often when teaching presentation skills is 'what do I do with my hands?'
The easy answer 'just be natural' is not only unhelpful, but also completely wrong. You have to think of your hands and arms as every bit as important as the charts and slides you are presenting.

There are five places your hands can comfortably be:

- 1. In your pockets. Don't do it! It might feel natural, but the signal this gives is anything but. You will look uncomfortable, casual and unsure of yourself.

- 2. Clasped behind your back. This looks aloof and superior, and should be avoided.

- 3. Relaxed, by your side. This feels very unnatural to most people, but actually looks good to the audience. It makes you seem to lack tension.

- 4. On your hips. This is a very positive position. It sends out a message that you are comfortable and self- assured. Don't overdo it. This stance is best used at moments when you stop speaking and are allowing the audience a moment to absorb your message.

- 5. Gesticulating. Learn the messages that your hands convey and use them to emphasize your points: an open hand denotes honesty; a closed fist, aggression or evasion; a pointing finger, hostility. Also be aware of cultural differences. The American thumb and forefinger gesture meaning 'okay' may be insulting in Denmark.

5. Read the Room
You are not the only one who is communicating non-verbally. Learn to recognize the unconscious signals that your audience is feeding back to you.

* A tilted head and direct eye contact indicates attentive approval.
* Raised eyebrows and forward-leaning posture denotes attentive alertness.
* Indirect gaze, accompanied by pen or finger biting show uncertainty.
* Folded arms can indicate hostility.
* A hand to the chin show that you are being summed up.
Finally, learn constantly. Whenever you watch a presenter, try to work out why they are good or bad. Every time you make a presentation, try to detach yourself and see how you can be even better next time.

And remember, applause doesn't always mean you are great - the audience might be being polite, and gentle snoring from the back of the room doesn't always show that you need to work on your technique - the CEO probably just had too good a lunch!

Martin Avis publishes a free weekly newsletter: BizE-Zine - your unfair advantage in Internet marketing, business and personal success. To subscribe, and get 4 great free gifts, please visit http://www.BizE-zine.com

Yours to letting your body speak positively for you!

Fran Watson

Ten Tips TO Becoming A Better Communicator

3 January, 2010
By Liz Guthridge, HR Columnist, Troy Media

In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, he reports that an individual needs to practice a complex task for about 10,000 hours before he or she becomes a world-class expert. He cites the Beatles, Mozart, Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and others. (Ability, luck, support from others and timing are also important for success.)
Generally, you can reach the 10,000 hour milestone after 10 years. According to a neurologist cited in the book, the brain needs that many hours to assimilate all the lessons from practicing a complex craft to reach a level of mastery.

What about the 10,000 hour rule in day-to-day communication? Most of us certainly spend the majority of our waking hours communicating -- much more than the 1,000 annual hours for a decade.

Yet how come so few of us are experts? Yes, we have flashes of brilliance every now and then, some of us more often than not. But many of our co-workers, friends and families still complain about our miscommunication misfires.

Unlike the musicians, athletes and technologists, we probably aren't taking our practice as seriously as we should. For example, to ensure we're becoming better communicators, not just older communicators, consider following these 10 tips.

1. Know our intent, including what outcomes we want.

2. Put ourselves in others' shoes to help us shape our message.

3. Rehearse what we'll say and edit what we write.

4. Listen better.

5. Acknowledge what people tell us.

6. Question ourselves and others; be curious.

7. Tell more stories.

8. Work with a coach.

9. Match our words and actions.

10. Practice humility.

It's ironic that a frequent excuse for not communicating well is not having enough time. We communicate many more hours than Tiger Woods (used to) play golf, yet few of us are on par with him. (Yes, bad pun intended for which I should get knocked down a few hundred hours.)

So be mindful about practicing. Eliminate wasteful communication. Make the hours matter and become a better LEAN Communicator.

Fran

P.S. Joining a local Toastmasters club cvan help make you a better communicator - check it out here to find a club near you. http://www.toastmasters.org

Make Public Speaking Easier

7 Tips To Make Public Speaking Easier

Tip 1: Normalize your fear. In other words, be aware that just about everyone shares the fear of public speaking. It is normal in our society.

Tip2. Remember that your thoughts create your reality. If you tell yourself, “I am a terrible public speaker,” then you’ll become that which you think.

Tip 3. Remember to visualize how you want to see yourself being. How would you ideally like to feel when speaking in front of people? Would you like to be calm and relaxed? Start visualizing yourself as a calm and relaxed speaker, and step inside of the picture and feel the feelings as if they are happening right now.

Tip 4. Give yourself a positive verbal suggestion, such as “I am a calm, confident, dynamic public speaker.” Within a short period of time you will became what you affirm.

Tip 5. Ask yourself why you are afraid? Did a negative episode happen in your life where you where ridiculed or judged? If so, a part of you decided, “I’ll never do that again.” It became your survival strategy. Healing that wound will require that you ask the scared part what it would need to feel safe. Perhaps your scared part would only be willing to speak up if it was being heard by a friendly, supportive audience, where mistakes were allowed (such as a Toastmasters Club.)

Tip 6. Find a person who will listen with support and encouragement, like a coach or a mentor. Then role play with that person until you feel comfortable speaking.

Tip 7. Speak from your heart. Realize that your speaking is a gift. It is benefiting the listener. Become passionate about what you say. Focus on them, not you. This is about them and what you have to give to them.

Adapted from Dr. Maya Bailey, http://www.90daystomoreclients.com/

**************************

Fran

P.S. For a Free copy of over 800 Speech Topics send me an email to
speakersinfo @ getresponse.com (no spaces) or click here

Presentations

How to give a great presentation

Most of the presentations you’re asked to give in a business setting aim to achieve one of two purposes: (1) to inform or (2) to persuade. In an informative presentation, the audience learns about a new subject or learns something new about a familiar subject. In a persuasive presentation, the speaker attempts to change the audience’s attitudes or behaviours.

Whether your purpose is to inform or to persuade, your presentation will include many of the same elements. It is important that you know your own purpose before you give a presentation or you may give away details you did not intend to or leave a weak impression on your audience. Always assess your goals before the presentation – your presentation will be stronger as a result. The success of your presentation lies in your ability to reach your audience.

If you are presenting to a large group, you’ll need to do more to make all audience members feel involved in your presentation. With a small group, it may be easier to encourage participation. With some audiences, you may need to provide more background/historical information about your topic before you can effectively persuade them of the correctness of your point and if the audience is not inherently motivated to listen to you, then you’ll need to give them reason to listen within the presentation itself.

The space in which you present will impact both you and your audience. Sometimes you have little control over space constraints, but it is important to check it out before you give your presentation in order to make allowances for comfort of the audience and to ensure that they can all see you, no matter where they are sitting.

A study by Albert Mehrabian at UCLA shows that 55 percent of our total message in face-to-face interactions is communicated through body language. A big part of body language is how you dress. As a general rule, you should dress slightly better than your audience. Conservative dress and solid colours are always winners in the business arena.

Your presentation should have an introduction, body and conclusion. The first part of your presentation is called the opening. You use the opening to get the audience’s attention, build (or continue to build) rapport with the audience, introduce your topic, and prepare the audience for the rest of your presentation. The opening should take only a fraction of your total presentation time. For example, if you’re giving a fifteen-minute presentation, you might dedicate two to three minutes to the opening. Your opening should set the tone for the rest of your presentation. First impressions are important. Make sure everybody knows who you are. The audience needs to know who you are and why they should listen to you. Present your credentials and let people know why you’re an expert on this topic. Be careful not to sabotage yourself in your dress or your spoken words.

Seven ways to sabotage a first impression:

1. Sloppy language. Using words like “anyways” or phrases such as, “That’s a whole ‘nother thing”.
2. Lazy language. Using phrases such as “you guys,” “okey dokey,” “no problem.”
3. Verbal fillers. Using “ums” and “ahs”.
4. Hiding your hands. This demonstrates a lack of trust. Keep your hands where people can see them.
5. Being late for the presentation.
6. Throat clearing. The message sent here is that you think you are superior. Not a good first impression.
7. Lack of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm sells. If you’re not enthusiastic and excited, why in the world should your audience get excited about your presentation?

Many people feel that humour is necessary in a presentation. It may be a valuable attention-gaining technique, but use it wisely. The joke you tell should have some relationship to the rest of your presentation or to your audience. Using humour can help arouse interest, allow you to connect with the audience, disarm hostility, show that you don’t take yourself too seriously and make a positive impression. However, if you don’t feel comfortable with humour, then make them think. Two key strategies will help you get your audience thinking: Present facts, figures and expert opinions or invite the audience to participate. Your opening is your promise to the audience about what they’ll get out of your presentation – make sure you promise something you can deliver.

*****For More Info on Presentations Click Here!"

One way to demonstrate your expertise is to open your presentation with data, exact figures, latest developments, and interesting little-known facts. Provide the audience with some “ah-ha” evidence of a problem or need with which they can relate. Select relevant information that will fascinate or surprise the audience. Try to get the group involved from the beginning by taking an audience poll or holding a mini-brainstorming session.

You have a limited amount of time to address the audience, so you must limit the number of main ideas covered in your presentation. It’s best to stick to two to five main points. You need to provide supporting evidence for each main point, so allow enough time to develop each point in adequate detail. You need to plan your presentational structure and organize the body of your presentation in a way that makes sense for your subject.

Common organizational patterns are:

1. Topical – when several ideas relate to your theme and each distinct idea becomes a main point.
2. Chronological – uses time sequence for a framework.
3. Spatial – organizes material according to physical space.
4. Classification – organizes material by putting things into categories.
5. Problem/Solution – organizes material by describing a problem and then presenting a solution.
6. Cause/Effect – organizes material by describing the cause of a problem and then presenting the effects of the problem.

A good outline includes the main points of your presentation, plus reference to your evidence and should be composed mainly of keywords. You should always practice your speech from your outline. That way it doesn’t sound stilted or memorized.

To create a credible presentation, you must provide supporting materials to back up your claims. Evidence serves to clarify your position or main ideas, prove that your claims are true and creates a lasting and memorable impression. Types of evidence include: facts and figures, statistics, statements by authority, testimony, narratives (stories), definitions and humour.

It is important to separate your main points by using a technique called a transition. Transitions may emphasize the organization of your speech or demonstrate how your ideas relate back to the theme of your presentation. For example, “now that you understand _________, let’s move on to my next point, which is _________.”

When you have covered all your main ideas and don’t have any new ideas to present, you are ready to close. The opening and the conclusion are bookends to the body of your presentation. The goal of the conclusion is to: inform the audience you’re about to close, summarize the main points, leave the audience with something to remember. Whenever possible, as part of your wrap-up, leave your audience with something to do. Giving your audience a call to action in your conclusion accomplishes two main purposes:

(1) It gives your listeners direction regarding what to do with the information you’ve just presented.
(2) it gives your audience incentive to think about your presentation later.

Remember to keep the call to action simple enough to be something your audience can accomplish. For example, “by next Monday I will make 4 calls to potential clients.”

The difference between a good presenter and a great presenter is often “presentational style” or the intangible elements of a presentation including a speaker’s poise, movement, projection of enthusiasm, and comfort in front of a group. Even the most experienced speakers can exhibit ticks and tendencies that interfere with their presentations. Some common problems to look out for as you practice your presentation include:

(1) Verbal fillers – “um”, “uh”, “yeah, so”
(2) Swaying and rocking
(3) Pacing
(4) Hands in pockets
(5) Lip smacking
(6) Fidgeting

The solution to these and other common problems is practice and experience. Nerves are usually the cause of such problems, so the more confident you feel, the less likely you are to engage in such habits. Joining a group such as Toastmasters can help you develop your public speaking skills and make you more confident. With preparation and practice, anyone can give a great presentation. The act of getting up in front of an audience gives you a certain amount of credibility. To be worthy of the audience’s trust, follow a few simple guidelines:

 Be truthful
 Give credit to your sources
 Use current information
 Do not rely excessively on appeals to people’s emotions
 Show respect for your audience’s intelligence


Information adapted from hp learningcenter.com “planning your presentation”

****************
Yours for a GREAT Presentation!

Fran

For More Info on Presentations Click Here!"

A Speaker's Greatest Tool

Your greatest tool as a speaker is your voice. Every time you address an audience your mind, your body and your voice act as partners in the task of getting your message across to your listeners. When you speak, your voice is the primary link between you and your listeners – it’s the medium of your message.

The importance of having an effective voice isn’t restricted to public speaking. A good, controlled voice is an asset in every contact with others. Your voice mirrors your personality with a language all its own – a language that people recognize and respond to immediately. A natural voice that projects an image of cordiality, cultivation and authority is a significant tool for personal success. It can help in gaining promotions, making sales, winning the respect of others and improving your social opportunities, as well as in speaking effectively to audiences.

When you speak, your voice reflects your psychological and emotional state of mind. You can’t hope to persuade or influence others – or even get them to listen in a positive way – if your tones are harsh, scolding and unfriendly. Such a voice can repel even when the speaker wishes to attract. The quality of friendliness is a prime requisite for a good speaking voice. It’s largely a matter of habit, as is the unfriendly tone.

If you’ve fallen into the habit of scolding, snarling and speaking in an unpleasant tone, and the effect you seek is to produce the genial, cheerful and gracious tones that characterize a good speaking voice, you may need to do more than simply develop your voice. You may have to reassess your way of looking at yourself, other people and events in general.

But if you’re like most people, the chances are excellent that you can develop the sort of voice that wins favourable attention and reflects the qualities you wish to project. To do so, you must strive to strip away any bad speech habits that may have accumulated over the years. And you must work to build the type of positive habits that will enhance your speaking voice.

Your voice and your face are your “public relations” agents. More than any other factors, they serve to establish an image of you in the minds of others. Your face, body and speech are the interpreters of your mind. They reveal your character – the real you – as nothing else can.

A smile – whether it starts in your face, your disposition or your voice – reacts on the other elements and tends to induce a positive, constructive complex which makes your attitude and appearance attractive and pleasing.

Your best voice can help bring out your best self. Nature has given you a priceless gift in your voice. It is the means by which you can communicate with others – the medium of your message. It also makes possible understanding and camaraderie. By your voice and your words, your influence is made upon those whom your life may touch.

Yours for better speaking

Fran

Using Unexpected Openers

Use Unexpected Openers to Capture Audience Interest
By David Green

The informal networking session was over and the 20-odd working speechwriters took their seats in the conference room in eager anticipation of the lunch speaker. It was to be Ted Sorenson, renowned speechwriter and confidante for John F. Kennedy during his White House years.

Sorenson took his place at the podium, smiled kindly at the gathering, and then began: “Thank you so much for having me here today. It is quite an honor to be with you…and that concludes my prepared remarks.”

Now, if you are a god in your industry and have the audience hanging on your every word before you even open your mouth… you can get away with an opening like that. But when it comes to making speeches and presentations, most of us are still mere mortals. And, as the saying goes, you have only one chance to make a first impression. So your opening comments are critical. You have to engage your audience from the get-go.

That’s why so many speakers think they need to start their talk with a story or a joke – to get the audience “on their side.” These opening gambits are what I call “speech props” and they can be extremely useful…in concept. But not if they come from one of those “500 great jokes for public speakers” sourcebooks.

Because you not only have to engage your audience, you have to overcome their expectations so that they don’t write you off before you get to the good stuff in your presentation. Oh yes, the audience thinks they know what to expect from you. They know your title, your company, maybe they’ve seen an abstract – they think they’ve got you pegged.

Power of the Unexpected

So it’s time to counter-program by opening with a story that throws them off balance, that bends their perspective, that makes them look at you with fresh eyes…and listen with fresh ears. This is pure Made-to-Stick 101 – and if that reference doesn’t ring a bell, you might want to check out Chip and Dan Heath’s book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.

The Heath brothers offer 6 basic precepts for creating memorable communications, but the one I particularly fancy is Principle 2: Unexpectedness. Here’s their take on why unexpectedness matters:

“How do we get our audience to pay attention to our ideas, and how do we maintain their interest when we need time to get the ideas across? We need to violate people’s expectations. We need to be counterintuitive.”

Okay, fine…so, how do you do that exactly? By following these three basic “rules.”

1) Look outside the box

Get outside your industry. Look for stimuli that aren’t “making the rounds.” Seek provocative thinking. One of the best sources might be the web site of the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference, http://www.ted.com/ Many of the five- to 20-minute talks posted there, videotaped from the conference proceedings, are highly effective at turning your head around and making you see your world differently.

I have a friend who, knowing that I do a lot of work with technology companies, occasionally sends me articles like “The 10 stupidest tech company blunders” with the note “good anecdotes for speeches.” But you’ll often find that the best anecdotes for speeches are the ones that come from out of left field. These tend to engage the audience more as they try to figure out where you are going. For example, in recent speeches and ghosted columns for an art-education association client, I’ve used these topics:

•The doctrine of the Cluetrain Manifesto.
•Bud Clark’s stunning mayoral win in Portland, Oregon in 1984.
•The fact that Minneapolis and St Paul aren’t entirely on opposite banks of the Mississippi.
How could such a hodge-podge of disparate and arcane leads make sense? Well, since the association was going through a major cultural transformation, my client’s first task was to get her membership’s attention. Then she needed to champion her cause – over a period of time – enlisting passionate support, and creating local champions to spread the gospel.

So the Cluetrain Manifesto, which advocates for digital media’s ability to overcome the stranglehold of corporate-speak, introduced the power of authenticity in an individual’s voice. The Minneapolis-St. Paul geographic trivia reference was the intro to a speech she gave in Minneapolis – and was used as an example of how preconceptions based on conventional wisdom can keep us from our goals. Bud Clark’s mayoral win, which I knew about from living in Portland shortly before that election, was a model for harnessing populist fervor to overcome great odds.

Dramatically different leads, but all working on the same wavelength to effectively empower the association’s members to take a more activist role.

2) Let inspiration come to you

Many years ago, when I was working as an advertising copywriter in New York City, I told my boss that the company should just pay me to walk back and forth between the subway station and the office because I got more good ideas during those 30 minutes – when I wasn’t really trying – than in the eight hours a day I spent at my desk. A few months ago, a client told me that she loved getting e-mails from me that start out “I was just out for a walk along the reservoir and I got to thinking…”

The best ideas are like that squiggly dust mote on your eye that you catch a fleeting glance of when you gaze up into a summer sky, but that darts out of sight when you try to look directly at it. The more you expose yourself to influences outside your industry, the more you open yourself up to cross-pollination, which is where creativity is most often born. For instance, I once found the conceptual construct for a speech on complexity vs. simplicity in the midst of watching the movie “Pollock.”

Watching Pollock’s chaotic jumble of splatter painting seemed to represent technological complexity in a very obvious way. Later, for stark contrast, I chose Mark Rothko’s tranquil works, with their blocks of muted color, to represent simplicity. The speech was by the CEO of a networking equipment company to industry analysts and angel investors and, after a brief scene-setting comment about the challenge of developing breakthrough innovation, he got into his true lead:

“So every now and again, I like to look at our challenge from an entirely different frame of reference. It keeps me fresh. And I’m willing to bet that it will make the next 25 minutes more intriguing than maybe you thought they were going to be. I figured I could get away with using Jackson Pollock as my keynote visual, because you’re all eclectic, multi-dimensional people, with diverse interests. If I tried this with an engineering audience, I’d probably lose the entire audience while they scribbled down all the architectural flaws in Pollock’s schematic.

Now, I’m a network guy. I look at Jackson Pollock, and I see networks. Specifically, I see today’s wide area networks – the complexity, the layers, the obstacles to flow. Of course, if you know anything about Jackson Pollock as a person, you know that he was a bona-fide tortured soul – which I suspect might eventually describe the engineers in charge of building broadband networks on [complex] SONET-based architecture.

Now, Mark Rothko – he’s my idea of an Ethernet Everywhere guy. There’s a fundamental simplicity here, and a sense of the infinite – infinite space, infinite potential.

3) Practice storytelling

This may seem like splitting hairs, but there really is a difference between storytelling and telling a story. Storytelling is about more than the relating of an anecdote; it’s about the creation of a distinctive, intriguingly listenable voice.

Let me give you an example. I had a technology client who wanted to build a keynote address around the message that his industry needed radical innovation in order to jump start recovery from the 2001 recession. The tepid, incremental, more-bang-for-your-buck product improvements that had dominated the recession period no longer would get the job done.

While the speech was still in incubator mode, I came across an article about building strategic competitive advantage that included a quotation about the noted computer scientist, Alan Kay, with the catchphrase, “Perspective is worth 80 points of IQ.”

This was the resulting presentation lead:

“In March 1975, a new office building was dedicated on Coyote Hill Road in Palo Alto, CA. Now, ordinarily, I wouldn’t much care about the dedication of an office building, and I can’t imagine you would either. Except that this building was the new home to a still-youthful organization called the Palo Alto Research Center, better known as Xerox PARC – and you probably all owe your jobs to what was invented in that building. I know I certainly wouldn’t be standing here before you if Bob Metcalfe and David Boggs hadn’t joined forces there in the mid-‘70s to develop Ethernet technology.

The creations that originated at Xerox PARC are mythic, and their creators are legendary. One of the most legendary of these is a man named Alan Kay, who is responsible for inventing object-oriented programming, the graphical user interface, and the very concept of a personal computer. Alan Kay has one of the most original minds in the technology field – perhaps one of the most original minds, period.

But I come here, not to praise Alan Kay – nor to bury him – but to quote him. Alan Kay once said that perspective was worth 80 points of IQ. In other words, it’s not how smart you are that matters, it’s your ability to see things from different points of view. That’s how innovation happens: by looking at things from a different angle and making connections that no one has made before.”

After my client finished, the conference organizer met him backstage and told him that, unlike the previous day, when a more prominent CEO had some 300 people leave his keynote before he finished because his approach was too “same-old, same-old,” not one person left before he finished.

A good speaker also knows how to leave his audience on a powerful upnote – but that’s a story for another time. So next presentation, look for a way to start that will take your audience by surprise (as long as you can make it relevant to your message). It may make you a little bit nervous – but then, the best communications solutions almost always do.

About the Author:

David Green is principal of UnCommon Knowledge, a speechwriting and strategic communications consultancy in the New York City area. He has written speeches for senior executives at Hewlett-Packard, Mercedes-Benz USA, Advanced Micro Devices, Johnson & Johnson and Extreme Networks, among others – all while being an involved father of 11-year-old twin boys. He’s not sure which activity is the more demanding. For more on David Green, visit www.uncommon-knowledge.com

******************
Check out David's website for his 3 simple rules

Hope for your Bad Speaking Habits

5 Simple Remedies to Overcome Your Speaking Voice Bad Habits

Our speaking voice should be a wonderful expressive instrument for communication. However, many of us have unconsciously fallen into bad habits either in conversation or public speaking. Others will inevitably associate the habits of our voice with habits of our mind and will use these habits to draw a conclusion as to our character. Very few of us ever make the time to improve the quality of our voice to make it pleasing and melodious. We do have the makings of a good voice and training will help make it better.

An excellent check on the qualities of your voice is to record it and play back. Even without this a little listening practice will make you conscious of your voice. Listen to your voice and honestly analyse to determine any bad habits.

The most common public speaking bad habits, their consequences and their simple remedies are listed below:

Bad Habit 1 - A strident high pitched voice. This has the hallmarks of a nervous person. It is hard on the listeners and many will find it difficult to listen to the point they lose interest.

Remedy 1- Take several deep breaths, this will help to calm the nerves and make it easier to control your voice.

Bad Habit 2 - A monotonous drone, speaking too slow or deliberately. This will ruin even the best prepared presentation by making it sound dull and may even put some people to sleep.

Remedy 2 - Pick up the tempo of your talk through thinking faster. You will naturally talk faster when your zest to do your best gets into gear.

Bad Habit 3 - Rapid delivery - this exhausts the audience and they will lose the context of your ideas.

Remedy 3 - Start off slow and adopt a conversational manner as talking to a friend. Make sure you enunciate clearly.

Bad Habit 4 - Too soft - who will know what you said?

Remedy 4 - Test the volume when you speak. Ask whether they can hear you at the back. Most audiences will appreciate you taking the time.

Remedy 5 - Additionally many voice faults can be remedied by reading "out loud." Read a variety of material; try everything from casual quotations to vigorous argument. The "out loud" reading must have feeling put into it. Reflect the feeling of the words in your voice. Experiment with words that reflect love and compare the sounds with words that convey hatred. Your voice will reflect the mood you have in mind and the audience will target in on it. Practice rounding out your syllables and opening you mouth wide to raise the resonance of your voice. This will help cure mumbling. However, be careful you don't end up with an affected accent that sounds worse than the original issue.

By understanding your own voice bad habits and tackling them you can replace these habits with good "listening" tones. It is useful to recall that Demosthenes a famed Greek orator from long ago struggled with stammering. It is recorded that he overcame this challenge by filling his mouth with pebbles and talking over the roar of crashing waves.

Author: Edward Hope Learn how to improve your speaking effectiveness in public or private. Claim your free preview of "The Art of Great Conversation" visit http://www.selfconfidentspeaking.com.

To your improvement!!!

Fran Watson

Working on a New Ebook

Hi

I am working on a new e-book on public speaking. If you want to be one of the first to see it and get a free copy just for a short testimonial, contact me. I have a few special surprises up my sleeve for my subscribers.

Fran Watson
P.S. Looking forward to sharing some information with you.

Top Ten Tips For Incredibly Successful Public Speaking

by David Meerman Scott of WebInkNow
I've been to something like one hundred conferences and corporate events in the past several years as I travel the world delivering keynotes and running seminars. I've seen a few great speeches. Sadly, most speeches I see are not very good. Some are downright terrible.

I've been collecting some observations on what makes a good presentation and also drawing from my own experience.

Most of us have an opportunity to speak, perhaps at your industry event, or your company's sales conference, or to a local club.

Make the most of your opportunity.

1. Take it seriously. If 200 people are in a room and you speak for a half hour, you are taking up 100 hours of people’s time. I see many speakers "wing it" and it makes me feel sorry for the audience. Don't look bad.

2. Know the conference organizer's goals. When I speak, I work with organizers to deliver three goals in equal proportion: Education, entertainment, and motivation. Since I am a paid speaker, I must deliver on all three so the conference organizer is happy they invited me. You need to know the goals for being on the podium too. Why were you invited? How would the organizer define success?

3. Tell stories. When someone says: "Let me tell you a story...," you're interested, right? When someone says: "Let me tell you about my company...," is your reaction the same? It doesn't sound like a way you want to spend your valuable time, does it? Stories are exciting. Most presentations are dry. Open with a story. Tell stories to illustrate your point. It's fascinating to see an audience sit up and pay attention when you start to tell a story on the stage.

4. Nobody cares about your products (except you). Yes, it's just like what I say about Web marketing. What people do care about are themselves and ways to solve their problems. A speech is not about you; it is about your audience. You must resist the urge to hype your products and services. Even if you’re asked to speak about your company or your products, make it about your customers or the problem you solve instead.

5. Prepare and practice. Run through your presentation as many times as required so that you are completely comfortable with the material. You should know the presentation so well that you could do it without PowerPoint and without notes.

6. Don't use PowerPoint as a TelePrompTer. Slides are great for showing images, charts, and the like. Consider showing a short video. But definitely don't use slides to show bulleted lists of text. Yawn! Way too many people just read off their slides. Don't! PowerPoint is not a speaker's crutch; it is a way to illustrate your spoken point. By the way, some of the best speakers don't use slides at all.

7. Arrive early. There is nothing worse than a presenter fumbling with technology on a stage. Everyone becomes uncomfortable and it is nearly impossible to make up that bad first impression. You should plan to arrive at the venue with plenty of time to spare and go to the room at least one hour prior to when you go on. You may need to arrive much earlier if there are sessions before yours because you will want to set up and test your equipment and stand on the stage to get a feel of the room. Use the microphone to hear your voice. Get as comfortable as possible with the venue before people arrive (or when they are on a break). The conference organizer and the A/V people will love you for arriving early! And when you are comfortable with logistics, you will deliver a better speech.

8. Bring an electronic copy of your presentation. I always carry my presentation on a memory stick and wear it around my neck from the moment I step out of my house until after I have presented. I wear it on the plane and in the hotel. I wear it out to dinner. You never know what may happen to your computer (I spilled water on my computer in Brussels once and fried it), so having that backup is comforting.

9. Don't go long. When you build a speech and deliver it for the first time, it almost always runs long. Don't go over time! It's okay to end short because you can take a few questions, but running long makes the entire event schedule get out of whack. Worse, they may pull you off the stage, which looks awful.

10. Be aware of body language. My friend Nick Morgan, author of Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma says: "When words and body language are in conflict, body language wins every time." If you are nervous, it shows. If you don't believe what you're saying, it shows. If you aren't having fun, it shows. And your audience will always react to your body language instead of your words.


Hope you enjoyed this

Fran
www.franwatson.ca

P.S. Check out David's article Why Public Speaking is Like Billiards

10 Ways To Empower Your Communications

There is so much more to know about conversation that anyone, could ever realize. You can watch talk shows; listen to radio programs; attend clubs dedicated to public speaking such as Toastmasters; and have ordinary everyday conversations, but certain rules still apply when it comes to speaking. Even though it's your mouth that's doing the work, your brain needs to be put in gear before you speak. It needs to work twice as hard to effectively churn out the information you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communicator than to get to know the very person closest to you: yourself.

1. What you know.
Education is all about learning the basics, but to be an effective speaker is to practice what you've learned. At Toastmasters we learn that we all have our limitations, but that doesn't mean we can't learn to keep up and share what we know.

2. Listening.
It's just as important as asking questions. As we listen to others, we learn good ways to communicate and ways that we don’t want to communicate. Also, sometimes listening to the sound of our own voice can help us to be a little more confident with ourselves and to say the things we believe in with conviction.

3. Humility
We all make mistakes, and sometimes we tend to slur our words, stutter, and maybe even mispronounce certain words even though we know what they mean. So in a group, don't be afraid to ask if you're saying the word correctly. Sometimes you can make a joke out of your mistake. You may make everyone laugh.

4. Eye Contact
Eye contact is very important when you are communicating with someone, whether as an individual in a conversation or speaking to a group. It makes a connection between you and the people you are talking to.

5. Kidding around
A little bit of humor can do wonders to lift the tension, or worse boredom, when making your speech. You'll get the attention of the majority of the crowd. If you use personal stories, they'll feel that you're approachable and as human as they are.

6. Group Interaction
Interaction is all about mingling with other people. You'll find that you will get a lot of ideas, and you will get to know more about the people in your group.

7. Me, Myself, and I
Admit it, there are times you sing to yourself in the shower. I know I do! Listening to the sound of your own voice while you practice your speech in front of a mirror can help you identify places where pauses would work and correct the stress areas of your pitch.

8. With a smile
A smile says it all much like eye contact. When you face your audience with a smile, you will usually get a smile back. You draw them in and you begin to relax so that you can better express what you want to say.

9. A Role Model
There must be at least one or two people in your life you have listened to when they're at a public gathering or maybe at church. Take a mental note of how they emphasize what they say. This can help you once you take center stage.

10. Preparation
Some people like to write things down on index cards, some memorize their speeches, while other resort to looking at their notes written on the palm of their hand (not for clammy hands, please). Practice enough to be comfortable with what you know.

Three Easy Steps To Be Good In Public Speaking

Presentation Secrets Click Here!
*********************************************

Throughout the history of human civilization, people have been expressing their confidence and strength, not only by force, but also by the noble art of public speaking. The orators of ancient Greece were highly respected and valued in the community. Likewise, today’s world leaders are admired and esteemed when they have the power to address the public with poise and conviction.

Such a high regard for public speaking makes the average person cringe at the idea of talking in front of an audience no matter how big or small the size. Whether giving a toast at a wedding or delivering a speech to a large assembly, most people make a big deal about public speaking and try to avoid it as much as possible. But public speaking should not cause such a big fuss. Challenging as it may be, public speaking can be done with a few simple guidelines.

Before Making The Speech: Preparation

Like any other endeavor, public speaking requires careful preparation to be successful. Many people would dream of having those “inspired” spontaneous speeches seen in movies; however, such scenes rarely happen in real life. To have at least a decent speech, one should plan well. Even the world’s most famous leaders prepare for public addresses, and most even have teams to work on those plans.

Well, even if one does not have a speech preparation committee one can prepare for public speaking. First, one should know for what the occasion the speech is for. The Gettysburg address would definitely not be appropriate for a wedding; thus, a speech has to fit the event it will be delivered to. Second, one should examine the audience who will witness the speech. An assembly of academics would not take a perky speaker seriously; one should choose a suitable public speaking style based on the audience. Third, one should ponder what is being expected in the speech. A farmer’s association would usually not be interested on a speech about the intricacies of beadwork; one should carefully study the subject matter to be tackled in public speaking.

Making The Speech: Writing

Again, dazzling spontaneous speeches rarely happen in real life. Most good speeches have been written before their delivery. While most noted public figures have speech-writing committees, one can make a good speech even without the help of a team of ghostwriters.

When writing for public speaking, one should carefully organize the contents of the speech. It usually pays well to begin with a very strong introduction. It is important to catch the audience’s attention early to prevent them from being bored easily. Next, the body should be purposeful. The contents of the speech should relate well and support each other. It is not good to digress too much; though at times some deviations help attract attention when boredom arises. Lastly, one should make a conclusion that sticks to the mind. No matter how stirring a speech is, it is useless if the people forget it the instant they leave the gathering. Conclusions should give a concise but memorable recap of the body.

The Actual Public Speaking: Delivery

A written speech would not be consummated without the actual public speaking itself. This is the part most people are afraid of; but when proper planning and writing is done well, the delivery should follow easily.

One must decide whether to speak from memory or to use notes. Beginners should benefit from a script or a guide, when one becomes more comfortable speaking in public, one can start relying from memory. Reading directly from a script can be quite boring for the audience; thus, it is important to keep constant contact with them. Speaking from memory is quite impressive, but it can be difficult to avoid missing some parts of the speech. Speaking with notes can be a good compromise so long as one is able to expound on the points well. The choice of how to deliver the speech depends entirely on the speaker; thus, it is important for one to weigh the options carefully.

Learning More About Public Speaking

Several resources could help one do well in public speaking. Several books and articles about the topic have been published and they can well be accessed through the library or the bookstore. Many companies offer public speaking training, and such services provide in-depth courses that could help one speak well in public. There are also several articles and courses available through the internet, some of them are even posted for free.

Public speaking is challenging, but can be a very worthwhile skill. With the guide provided above, one should no longer be afraid to speak in public.

Happy Speaking
Fran

**********************************
Presentation Secrets Click Here!
**********************************

Train your children to be fluent speakers, build their self esteem and untap their potential with Public Speaking for Kids

Self-Consciousness in Public Speaking

Presentation Secrets Click Here!
**************************************************************

Self Consciousness in Public Speaking

“There is a strange sensation often experienced in the presence of an audience. It may proceed from the gaze of the many eyes that turn upon the speaker, especially if he permits himself to steadily return that gaze. Most speakers have been conscious of this in a nameless thrill, a real something, pervading the atmosphere, tangible, evanescent, indescribable. All writers have borne testimony to the power of a speaker's eye in impressing an audience. This influence which we are now considering is the reverse of that picture—the power their eyes may exert upon him, especially before he begins to speak: after the inward fires of oratory are fanned into flame the eyes of the audience lose all terror.”—WILLIAM PITTENGER, Extempore Speech.

Students of public speaking continually ask, "How can I overcome self-consciousness and the fear that paralyzes me before an audience?"

Practise, practise, PRACTISE!

Practise in speaking before an audience will tend to remove all fear of audiences, just as practise in swimming will lead to confidence and facility in the water. You must learn to speak by speaking.

Do not be disheartened if at first you suffer from stage-fright. For one reason or another, some master-speakers never entirely overcome stage-fright, but it will pay you to spare no pains to conquer it. Daniel Webster failed in his first appearance and had to take his seat without finishing his speech because he was nervous. Gladstone was often troubled with self-consciousness in the beginning of an address. Beecher was always perturbed before talking in public.

Be Absorbed by Your Subject
If you feel deeply about your subject you will be able to think of little else. Concentration is a process of distraction from less important matters. It is too late to think about the cut of your coat when once you are upon the platform, so centre your interest on what you are about to say—fill your mind with your speech-material and, like the infilling water in the glass, it will drive out your unsubstantial fears.

Self-consciousness is undue consciousness of self, and, for the purpose of delivery, self is secondary to your subject, not only in the opinion of the audience, but, if you are wise, in your own. To hold any other view is to regard yourself as an exhibit instead of as a messenger with a message worth delivering.

If the theater caught fire you could rush to the stage and shout directions to the audience without any self-consciousness, for the importance of what you were saying would drive all fear-thoughts out of your mind.

Far worse than self-consciousness through fear of doing poorly is self-consciousness through assumption of doing well. The first sign of greatness is when a man does not attempt to look and act great. Before you can call yourself a man at all, Kipling assures us, you must "not look too good nor talk too wise."

Nothing advertises itself so thoroughly as conceit. One may be so full of self as to be empty. Voltaire said, "We must conceal self-love." But that can not be done. You know this to be true, for you have recognized overweening self-love in others. If you have it, others are seeing it in you. There are things in this world bigger than self, and in working for them self will be forgotten, or—what is better—remembered only so as to help us win toward higher things.

To increased self-confidence!

Fran Watson

**************************
P.S. If you have to speak at a funeral, Click Here!

*************************