Have you ever evaluated your public speaking skills? If so, you probably recognize that there is significant room for improvement. This is true for everybody, as public speaking is an art that can be improved throughout your lifetime. Whether you are in a profession which requires you to use your public skills regularly or not, there will certainly come a time when it pays to be proficient at delivering a message to an audience.
Public speaking skills encompass a wide variety of techniques and methods of communication. Unlike one-on-one communication where you have a regular interchange of ideas between another person, public speaking requires that you keep your audience captivated and understanding without the back and forth that goes on in a regular conversation.
Just because your audience does not spend much time talking with you does not mean that they are unable to communicate with you. A big part of developing your public speaking skills involves reading cues from your audience. Much of communication is non-verbal, so despite not directly speaking with you, your audience nonetheless communicates. By learning to read your audience’s non-verbal communication you can deliver your message in the most effective way.
If your audience seems interested, they probably are. This will indicate that you are moving along at a good pace and should continue with your approach. However, if your audience seems to be drifting, you need to know how to modify your approach so as to draw them back in. Studying public speaking will teach you how to do this.
Developing your public speaking skills is not always an easy thing to do, but it is a worthwhile endeavor. When the time comes for you to deliver a message to an audience, you want to be prepared.
Filed under Tone Of Your Voice by on Dec 4th, 2010. Comment. 
PublicSpeakingSkills.com shows you a few of the simple behaviors you need become both comfortable and effective at public speaking.
Filed under Howto by on Dec 4th, 2010. 25 Comments.
Learn how to use humor in your public speeches with this free video lesson from a professional public speaker. Expert: Scott Ginsberg Contact: www.himynameisscott.com Bio: Scott Ginsberg is an author of five books, a professional speaker, and the only person in the world who wears a name tag 24-7 to make people friendlier. Filmmaker: Ross Safronoff
Filed under Howto by on Dec 6th, 2010. 23 Comments.
Public Speaking
Speaking in public is one of the life’s tasks that many people dread. Indeed the thought of speaking in in front of others can, for many people, bring feelings similar to a panic attack, instant fear and dread.
The fear of speaking to an audience, whether that is a social or professional group can be all consuming and play on someone’s mind so much, it can affect their sleep.
Some people have even avoided promotion in their careers because they knew that the promotion would mean speaking at meetings, giving presentations, and talking in front of others. So why does public speaking provoke such an instant reaction in many people?
Presentations Fears and Causes
Often the cause of the fear of making a speech relates to a past experience. It could be that the person remembers being ridiculed in front of their class as a small boy or girl. It could be that at university they did not prepare adequately enough for a presentation and forgot what they wanted to say. For some, it can simply be that they hate being in the spotlight and feel uncomfortable with being the centre of attention.
Fortunately there is help available to improve existing presentation skills and reduce and release speaking nerves and anxiety. Hypnotherapy is most effective in the area of phobias and at releasing anxiety and tension.
Some of the most competent actors and politicians are known to have suffered with “stage fright” prior to stepping in front of an audience. Whilst practice makes perfect, it can also be that you need to change how you perceive the situation. It can also be encouraging to know that many people who are good are giving a speech, did at one time suffer from a lack of confidence and nervousness. If they can get over their nerves so can you.
Public Speaking Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy aids public speaking confidence by helping you to change the way you think or perceive your speech, presentation or meeting skills and abilities. It brings with it a state calmness and relaxation that then gets associated with giving a speech confidently and with authority.
Hypnotherapy for confident public speaking helps you to feel more assured and confident. As a natural result many of the clients I have helped over the years, talk about enjoying and relishing speaking in front of others. In fact they have changed their view of public speaking so much that they often volunteer to speak.
Public Speaking Confidence
If you would like to let go of your phobia or fear of addressing a group of people, hypnotherapy can help you. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to feel confident and calm when talking to groups of people? It’s also worth considering the positive impact more confidence will have on the rest of your life too.
Filed under Speaking by on Dec 10th, 2010. Comment.
If you have a fear of speaking in public (like millions of people do…), you may want to consider taking up a public speaking class. They can be extremely helpful in getting over your fear of speaking in front of large crowds and/or giving a speech. Just like with anything else, schooling and training can help you to become skilled and more confident in whatever area you are studying. In this case, being trained to speak properly and how to properly address your audience depending on who they are would significantly boost your speaking self esteem.
When choosing the right public speaking class for you, stop for a moment and jot down on a piece of paper what your strengths and weaknesses are. Also, what areas of giving a speech do you need most work on?
Maybe you have a problem projecting your voice loud enough, or maybe you get so nervous that you can not stop rubbing your hands together while you talk. Whatever it is that you need assistance with, make sure that the particular public speaking class you are checking out covers that area. Speak with the teacher, or read the online course description and see if it fits your personal needs.
Within a very short amount of time, you can see a dramatic improvement in your speaking abilities with the right public speaking class. Sometimes however, it can take a little bit longer if someone has a really intense fear of speaking in public. Anxiety can be uncontrollable and it is a very unpleasant experience for many. Some people have trouble sleeping days, weeks and even months before they have to give a speech. They let their nerves get the best of them. I like to win the battle against my nerves and fight back with serious mental training and self education.
Filed under Speaking by on Dec 11th, 2010. Comment.
Robert Graham (www.grahamcomm.net) teaches the fundamentals of great public speaking and presentation skills. grahamcomm.net grahamcomm.net Benefits for Roberts Presentations, Keynotes, and Workshops: * Increase Your Confidence When Selling & Presenting * Increase Sales and Revenues * Enhance Your Profile Inside & Outside Your Firm * Conquer the Fear of Public Speaking * Deliver Compelling Sales Presentations * Effectively Lead Meetings with Clients and Colleagues * Minimize the fear and reluctance to selling * Improve public speaking skills * Create relationships and establish trust – genuinely * Improve Sales Performance
Filed under People by on Dec 13th, 2010. 25 Comments.
I’m going to show you how to overcome public speaking fear. Surprisingly, statistics show that people fear public speaking more than death. I find that hard to believe because people rarely ever think of “death” all the time, so naturally speaking in front of a large group of people would scare you. There is absolutely no reason to have a fear, I hope to show you how to get past it.
People Don’t See Nervous: When you’re walking out onto the stage toward the podium, no one knows you’re nervous. Your stomach could be in knots and you feel like you’re going to be sick, but you really aren’t showing nervous behavior. I think the idea of nervous thought, especially with public speaking, is that people may notice you’re nervous and this makes you even more nervous. There are only a few sutle cues that show a person is nervous and they’re so small, that the ordinary person wouldn’t put more than 1 second into them. Don’t worry so much. People don’t see that extreme nervous beast inside you. Be Prepared: This is just one important thing that can get you through this. Naturally, this is how to overcome public speaking fear, because you force yourself to be prepared to give a good speech. You know what you’re going to say. You know how you’re going to say it. You know the material. That doesn’t guarantee that you won’t bumble on some words, but you’ll do fine and it’ll really take the edge of knowing you’re prepared. The Impossible Scenarios are Impossible: You’re going to have the most far fetched things going through your head when you’re nervous before a speech. You have to accept the fact that most of these are impossible. You could have situations running through your head of booing, you might even feel like you’ll get sick on stage. All these are scary thoughts, but none are going to happen. Everyone feels these, but none of these will really happen and you need to accept that.
Filed under Speaking by on Dec 14th, 2010. Comment.
Fear of public speaking is one of the most common fears that is seen in the modern generation. One of the reasons for this may be the fact that in the modern day, we live a much alienated life than our forefathers did. We are brought up in alienation and like to live our life by ourselves.
However there might be other reasons behind this too. Whatever be the reason, fear of public speaking can become a source of great worry especially if you are in a profession like the corporate world, where your performance depends on speaking. In this article, we shall discuss a few ways to get rid of this fear of public speaking.
Speak Up
That’s correct. Speak up your mind. You might be scared, you might be hesitant or nervous, but don’t let this stop you from speaking your heart out. Rather, don’t care. If you let this stop you now, then it will be much easier to stop you in the future. Do it!
Select a Goal
The first few times, this will not be an easy task. You will feel like a heavy burden has been dropped on to you. But select a goal and make it a point to finish it. It might take a few extra efforts before you realize that this work has not killed you! This will make you less scared of the event, the next time it happens and you will be able to speak more freely.
You might have heard that practice makes a man perfect. The more you keep on speaking publicly, the more will your performance level increase. This will in turn increase your confidence. Thus it will also get rid of the fear of public speaking.
Once you get good at it, you will also learn to enjoy it. This will further reduce your inhibitions about public speaking.
Don’t Expect Too much
Fear of public speaking is caused directly by too much expectation people have of themselves. It’s more like you are being asked to fly a plane when you don’t have nay instructions or have never flown before. It is therefore not unnatural to succumb to this pressure. Chances are that if the pilot called you to fly a plane in the midst of a journey, you are likely to crash. There is no harm in admitting that.
Failure is Not Fatal
People are not going to throw stones at you if you are not god at public speaking. Relax. You learn best when you fail. Unless you stumble, you will not be able to walk. A person who is speaking for the first time in public is not expected to dazzle minds. Set realistic expectations.
If you follow the above steps, it is most likely that your fear of public speaking will go away.
Filed under Speaking by on Dec 15th, 2010. Comment.
Learn how to use hand gestures sparingly in public speaking with expert public oration tips in this free online public speaking video clip. Expert: Don Varney Bio: Don Varney was one of the first 33 members of the US Air Force to receive the Professional Performer Award, an award created in 1974 to honor excellence in the Air Force. Filmmaker: Mark Sullivan
Filed under Howto by on Dec 17th, 2010. 16 Comments.
This film is pure nostalgia! Great for training in the office as an ice-breaker (Oh, the things we had to do in the days before PowerPoint! This early Coronet film takes us through the basics of effective public speaking, with its focus on body posture and gestures. There is some very funny footage here; especially in the scene demonstrating how not to make gestures when speaking (what a forensic geek this dude is!). The final “live” speech is great in that it is about nuclear energy! The speaker’s motions are so calculated (albeit exaggerated for example), they are counter-productive to the film’s lesson and ultimately distract from what the speaker is trying to say. Great film. See the complete original print of this film for auction on eBay through 10/23! Note: The following clip was taken directly from the original 16mm print and has been edited to approximately half the film’s original length.
Filed under Entertainment by on Dec 17th, 2010. 20 Comments.