August 31, 2010
BigMoneySpeaker .com asked:
Have you ever wondered how you can develop a poweful and effective speaking voice?
The sound and tone of your voice can greatly affect the effectiveness of your speech. The audience is normally receptive to pleasant sounding voices. Clarity and inflection are essential as well.
In public speaking, the voice is the carrier of the information. If your voice lacks volume and clarity, the message will be poorly received. Monotonous sounding voices lack the personality and will bore listeners. For these reasons, speaking voices can make or break the success of the speech.
Fortunately, speaking voices can be developed and improved. With consistent practice and proper training techniques, your speaking voice will develop into a very pleasant and influential tone.
The only way to improve your speaking voice is through practice and exercises. But you must hear yourself speak first. So, try to rehearse a speech while recording it. It will be better if you don’t try too hard at first. Try to speak as naturally as possible so you can determine if your normal efforts will sound good enough.
After the recording, listen to your voice. Take note of your flaws and determine the parts in which you hear yourself having difficulties. You must know the what gives you most trouble.
These are the common blunders in speaking voices and the ways to remedy them:
1. Low volume
Having an inaudible voice is public speaking mortal sin. You are not whispering to your spouse; you are addressing a crowd!
Low volume can be a result of poor confidence but if confidence is not the problem, insufficient lung power or lung capacity is the likely reason. To resolve this you must loosen up your speaking muscles and do some breathing exercises.
Take a deep breath. As you exhale, vocally count to ten. Increase your volume in every count. Repeat as often as you want. Keep in mind to breathe from your diaphragm and use your stomach muscles for volume not your throat. Straining your throat may harm your vocal chords.
Learn to relax the muscles above your neck. Loose muscles will not fatigue easily. It will be much easier to control your voice if you are loose and relax. The muscles from the throat, jaws, and nasal airways are only used for effect such as, pitch and tone. They should not be used for volume increase as much as possible.
Posture is also important. A straight and relaxed posture will allow you to expand your lung capacity and lets the air in your body flow easily.
2. Monotone
Speaking in monotone makes it look like you lack personality and you won’t be able to arouse audience interest.
Try to speak with passion. Learn to emphasize important phrases by breathing into them while using your throat, jaw, and nasal muscles to produce inflection.
Don’t try too hard to speak out of your natural pitch. Be natural but professional sounding. Humming in different tones can help develop pitch control.
3. Pacing
Fast pace will give the audience a hard time to catch up while too slow of a pace will turn off people.
You must not forget to breath and pause. Start your speeches slowly because you tend to increase the pace as you get along with your speech. Fast pacing will often result to gibberish. Articulate the words if you have a tendency to speak fast.
Have you ever wondered how you can develop a poweful and effective speaking voice?
The sound and tone of your voice can greatly affect the effectiveness of your speech. The audience is normally receptive to pleasant sounding voices. Clarity and inflection are essential as well.
In public speaking, the voice is the carrier of the information. If your voice lacks volume and clarity, the message will be poorly received. Monotonous sounding voices lack the personality and will bore listeners. For these reasons, speaking voices can make or break the success of the speech.
Fortunately, speaking voices can be developed and improved. With consistent practice and proper training techniques, your speaking voice will develop into a very pleasant and influential tone.
The only way to improve your speaking voice is through practice and exercises. But you must hear yourself speak first. So, try to rehearse a speech while recording it. It will be better if you don’t try too hard at first. Try to speak as naturally as possible so you can determine if your normal efforts will sound good enough.
After the recording, listen to your voice. Take note of your flaws and determine the parts in which you hear yourself having difficulties. You must know the what gives you most trouble.
These are the common blunders in speaking voices and the ways to remedy them:
1. Low volume
Having an inaudible voice is public speaking mortal sin. You are not whispering to your spouse; you are addressing a crowd!
Low volume can be a result of poor confidence but if confidence is not the problem, insufficient lung power or lung capacity is the likely reason. To resolve this you must loosen up your speaking muscles and do some breathing exercises.
Take a deep breath. As you exhale, vocally count to ten. Increase your volume in every count. Repeat as often as you want. Keep in mind to breathe from your diaphragm and use your stomach muscles for volume not your throat. Straining your throat may harm your vocal chords.
Learn to relax the muscles above your neck. Loose muscles will not fatigue easily. It will be much easier to control your voice if you are loose and relax. The muscles from the throat, jaws, and nasal airways are only used for effect such as, pitch and tone. They should not be used for volume increase as much as possible.
Posture is also important. A straight and relaxed posture will allow you to expand your lung capacity and lets the air in your body flow easily.
2. Monotone
Speaking in monotone makes it look like you lack personality and you won’t be able to arouse audience interest.
Try to speak with passion. Learn to emphasize important phrases by breathing into them while using your throat, jaw, and nasal muscles to produce inflection.
Don’t try too hard to speak out of your natural pitch. Be natural but professional sounding. Humming in different tones can help develop pitch control.
3. Pacing
Fast pace will give the audience a hard time to catch up while too slow of a pace will turn off people.
You must not forget to breath and pause. Start your speeches slowly because you tend to increase the pace as you get along with your speech. Fast pacing will often result to gibberish. Articulate the words if you have a tendency to speak fast.
Filed under Training Your Voice To Sing by on Aug 31st, 2010. Comment. 
August 26, 2010
Kevin Hensey asked:
For some, spiders; for many, ghosts; others would say heights, but there are those who would admit that public speaking is their greatest fear.
It is actually normal. Come to think of it, there is nothing more frightening than having to stand up and speak in front of a group of people who could sleep, shout at you, laugh at you, or leave while you are talking. Even actress Debra Messing of Will and Grace surprisingly had this fear all her life. And she’s an actress! Imagine how much worse this could be for those who haven’t even had the chance to go up a stage ever in their lives.
Thankfully, public speaking is a fear that can easily be overcome. If you are not exactly fearful, but you think you still need improvement on it, then don’t worry as well. You can improve your public speaking skills quite easily by following the tips below.
Be prepared and practice. The value of preparation can never be overemphasized. It adds confidence and substance to your speech. Research well about the topic you will talk about and try to find the best way to present it. Outline your points and use cue cards if necessary. Practice your delivery to make sure that your talk will not exceed the time allotted for you and so that you could also asses your delivery yourself. If you are to speak in a very important engagement, try to practice your speech in front of someone who could properly assess how you have done.
Know your audience. Technically, this is still part of being prepared but it is just so important that it calls for a separate entry. Knowing your audience provides you with valuable insight on the type of presentation that would appeal best to them. It guides whether you can be casual and funny or whether you would have to be serious and sophisticated. It also gives you great input in streamlining your speech by suggesting what you need to include and what you can do without.
Dress the part. As much as we refuse to admit, image is everything. How the audience responds to you highly depends on how they perceive you. Generally, you would appear as a more convincing speaker if you are dressed well. Also, since the audience will have to look at you anyway, might as well make that experience a pleasant one for them.
KISS. Keep It Short and Simple. Even geniuses have limited attention spans. Do not bore your audience to death with a speech that is too long. The faster you can get your message across, the better. A short and simple message also appears smarter and it prevents you from being perceived as someone who came unprepared. It also allows your listeners to retain what you have said easily.
In addition to these, your public speaking skills will also be improved if you practice establishing eye contact with your audience. Also, if the occasion and your resources will permit, you can use visual aids such as slide presentations, product samples, handouts, etc to stimulate your audience’s attention. To cap off your presentation, you should be able to answer the audience’s question confidently and with tact.
Remember that there would really come a time when you will have no other choice but to speak in public. So you might as well be ready when that time comes. It could either be a disastrous or a pleasant experience for you; and you have all the power to make the most out of it. Follow the tips above and you’ll surely be on your way to become a natural at public speaking.
HOW TO BE A PUBLIC SPEAKING SUPERSTAR:
http://publicspeaking.pan100.net/?e=kevin121554@yahoo.com
For some, spiders; for many, ghosts; others would say heights, but there are those who would admit that public speaking is their greatest fear.
It is actually normal. Come to think of it, there is nothing more frightening than having to stand up and speak in front of a group of people who could sleep, shout at you, laugh at you, or leave while you are talking. Even actress Debra Messing of Will and Grace surprisingly had this fear all her life. And she’s an actress! Imagine how much worse this could be for those who haven’t even had the chance to go up a stage ever in their lives.
Thankfully, public speaking is a fear that can easily be overcome. If you are not exactly fearful, but you think you still need improvement on it, then don’t worry as well. You can improve your public speaking skills quite easily by following the tips below.
Be prepared and practice. The value of preparation can never be overemphasized. It adds confidence and substance to your speech. Research well about the topic you will talk about and try to find the best way to present it. Outline your points and use cue cards if necessary. Practice your delivery to make sure that your talk will not exceed the time allotted for you and so that you could also asses your delivery yourself. If you are to speak in a very important engagement, try to practice your speech in front of someone who could properly assess how you have done.
Know your audience. Technically, this is still part of being prepared but it is just so important that it calls for a separate entry. Knowing your audience provides you with valuable insight on the type of presentation that would appeal best to them. It guides whether you can be casual and funny or whether you would have to be serious and sophisticated. It also gives you great input in streamlining your speech by suggesting what you need to include and what you can do without.
Dress the part. As much as we refuse to admit, image is everything. How the audience responds to you highly depends on how they perceive you. Generally, you would appear as a more convincing speaker if you are dressed well. Also, since the audience will have to look at you anyway, might as well make that experience a pleasant one for them.
KISS. Keep It Short and Simple. Even geniuses have limited attention spans. Do not bore your audience to death with a speech that is too long. The faster you can get your message across, the better. A short and simple message also appears smarter and it prevents you from being perceived as someone who came unprepared. It also allows your listeners to retain what you have said easily.
In addition to these, your public speaking skills will also be improved if you practice establishing eye contact with your audience. Also, if the occasion and your resources will permit, you can use visual aids such as slide presentations, product samples, handouts, etc to stimulate your audience’s attention. To cap off your presentation, you should be able to answer the audience’s question confidently and with tact.
Remember that there would really come a time when you will have no other choice but to speak in public. So you might as well be ready when that time comes. It could either be a disastrous or a pleasant experience for you; and you have all the power to make the most out of it. Follow the tips above and you’ll surely be on your way to become a natural at public speaking.
HOW TO BE A PUBLIC SPEAKING SUPERSTAR:
http://publicspeaking.pan100.net/?e=kevin121554@yahoo.com
Filed under How To Develop Successful Work Teams Using Rhetorical Maneuvers by on Aug 26th, 2010. Comment.
August 25, 2010
SpeechTime asked:
Elmer Fudd isn’t the best public speaker. But he makes a great public speaking teacher!
Filed under Comedy by on Aug 25th, 2010. 25 Comments.
August 22, 2010
Christopher Byrnes asked:
Although public speaking is generally regarded as a monologue, this monologue is usually addressed to a willing and receptive audience who desire to learn from you as much as you desire to offer them something worthy. However, it has to be said that how much your audience is able to learn from you, will depend to no small degree, on how you connect with your audience, in short on how effective your public speaking audience centered approach bears out.
Following are some common-sense, but effective points that, put into practice, will immediately improve your audience-centered approach to public speaking:
Greet your audience in advance
Minutes before your actual speaking engagement, why not walk around the venue and familiarize yourself with the people who will be listening to your speech or presentation? As the audience and the attendees arrive, offer them a warm and sincere greeting. The reason for this is that it is is so much easier to deliver a speech to people with whom your are acquainted, however briefly, than a sea of unfamiliar faces.
Be positive
Trust in the fact that people expect and want you to succeed. Audiences want to be as informed, stimulated and entertained by you as they can be. If they have taken the trouble to attend your presentation or speech, they want to get as much out of the event as they can, so all paranoia aside, they are on your side. They empathize with you. If you fail, they cringe with you. Succeed and your audience reaps the benefits of message your great speaking performance set out to convey.
Don’t apologize!
If you approach the audience by saying that you are nervous or if you express your apologies to any problems you think may exist about your speech or your speech delivery, you may be setting them up to focus on the very thing you are apologizing for. If you do bring up your fear, you’re drawing your audience to the very thing you wanted them to . Relax and be silent and your audience will relax with you. Learn some basic deep breathing and relaxation techniques, such as those freely avalable on the Internet.
Establish strong eye contact
An audience-centered approach towards public speaking requires that you connect with your audience, appearing natural. You’ll know you are well on your way to mastery when you can get the audience to nod their heads as an acknowledgement of what you are trying to convey. Do not breeze through your speech. Instead, pause for a while or for a brief moment, especially at those points you want to emphasize. You should also avail yourself of this opportunity to establish eye contact with your attendees as well as to catch that much needed breath.
Don’t get drawn into a debate
If, during the question and answer part of your speaking engagement, all or part of you audience expresses disagreement with any part of your message, let go of the need to impose your point of view on your listeners. If you encounter those ‘awkward’ attendees who continue to make a point open for debate, getting into the debate can very often be highly counter-productive. The best way to deal with such ‘hecklers’ is to offer to continue the conversation after your speech. This not only demonstrates a high degree of professionalism, but it also allows you to get onto other questions from other attendees, without causing friction.
Incorporate the simple elements above into your speaking and you’ll see that public speaking, an audience centered approach can work for you.
Although public speaking is generally regarded as a monologue, this monologue is usually addressed to a willing and receptive audience who desire to learn from you as much as you desire to offer them something worthy. However, it has to be said that how much your audience is able to learn from you, will depend to no small degree, on how you connect with your audience, in short on how effective your public speaking audience centered approach bears out.
Following are some common-sense, but effective points that, put into practice, will immediately improve your audience-centered approach to public speaking:
Greet your audience in advance
Minutes before your actual speaking engagement, why not walk around the venue and familiarize yourself with the people who will be listening to your speech or presentation? As the audience and the attendees arrive, offer them a warm and sincere greeting. The reason for this is that it is is so much easier to deliver a speech to people with whom your are acquainted, however briefly, than a sea of unfamiliar faces.
Be positive
Trust in the fact that people expect and want you to succeed. Audiences want to be as informed, stimulated and entertained by you as they can be. If they have taken the trouble to attend your presentation or speech, they want to get as much out of the event as they can, so all paranoia aside, they are on your side. They empathize with you. If you fail, they cringe with you. Succeed and your audience reaps the benefits of message your great speaking performance set out to convey.
Don’t apologize!
If you approach the audience by saying that you are nervous or if you express your apologies to any problems you think may exist about your speech or your speech delivery, you may be setting them up to focus on the very thing you are apologizing for. If you do bring up your fear, you’re drawing your audience to the very thing you wanted them to . Relax and be silent and your audience will relax with you. Learn some basic deep breathing and relaxation techniques, such as those freely avalable on the Internet.
Establish strong eye contact
An audience-centered approach towards public speaking requires that you connect with your audience, appearing natural. You’ll know you are well on your way to mastery when you can get the audience to nod their heads as an acknowledgement of what you are trying to convey. Do not breeze through your speech. Instead, pause for a while or for a brief moment, especially at those points you want to emphasize. You should also avail yourself of this opportunity to establish eye contact with your attendees as well as to catch that much needed breath.
Don’t get drawn into a debate
If, during the question and answer part of your speaking engagement, all or part of you audience expresses disagreement with any part of your message, let go of the need to impose your point of view on your listeners. If you encounter those ‘awkward’ attendees who continue to make a point open for debate, getting into the debate can very often be highly counter-productive. The best way to deal with such ‘hecklers’ is to offer to continue the conversation after your speech. This not only demonstrates a high degree of professionalism, but it also allows you to get onto other questions from other attendees, without causing friction.
Incorporate the simple elements above into your speaking and you’ll see that public speaking, an audience centered approach can work for you.
Filed under Speaking by on Aug 22nd, 2010. Comment.
August 20, 2010
sheila Mulrennan asked:
Think of the last really memorable talk or presentation that you attended. Now, was that easy to do, or did you really have to rack your brains to remember one? Sadly, too many presentations are easy to forget. And that’s a big problem because the only reason the presenter gave the talk was to communicate something to you.
However, there are four basic things that you can do to ensure that your verbal messages are understood – and remembered – time and time again.
Although somewhat obvious and deceptively simple, these are:
Understand the purpose of the presentation
Keep the message clear and concise
Be prepared
Be vivid when delivering the message
Understand what you want to achieve:
Before you start working on your talk or presentation, it’s essential that you really understand what you want to say, who you want to tell and why they might want to listen. To do this, ask yourself: Who? What? How? When? Where? Why?
Who are you speaking to? What are their interests, beliefs and values? What do they share in common with others; how are they unique?
What message do you wish to convey? One way of answering this question is to ask yourself about the ‘success criteria’. How do you know if and when you have successfully communicated what you have in mind?
How can you best put across your message? Language is most important here, as are non verbal cues such as body language and expressions. Choose your words and non verbal cues while keeping your audience in mind. Plan a beginning, middle and end. If time and place allow, consider and prepare audio-visual aids.
When? Timing is important here. Develop a sense of timing, so that your contributions are seen and heard as relevant to the issue or matter at hand. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent.
Where? What is the physical context of the communication in mind? You may have time to visit the venue, for example, and rearrange the furniture. Check for availability and visibility if you are using audio or visual aids.
Why? In order to convert hearers into listeners, you need to know why they should listen to you – and tell them if necessary.
The Importance of Simplicity:
When it comes to wording your message, less is more. You’re giving your audience headlines, too much information will overload and bore your listeners.. They are not expecting to become experts on the subject as a result of hearing your presentation, therefore simplicity is best.
If you’re using slides, limit the content of each one to a few bullet points, a single statement or a very simple diagram.
Preparation:
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. In fact, it is the most important factor in determining your communication successes. When possible, set meeting times and speaking and presentation times well in advance, thus allowing yourself the time you need to prepare your communications. Each minute of a presentation deserves thirty minutes preparation.
Of course, not all communications can be scheduled. In this case, preparation may mean having a good, thorough understanding of the office goings-on, enabling you to communicate with the knowledge you need to be effective, both through verbal and written communications
Successful Delivery:
The manner in which you deliver your speech or presentation has a lasting impact on your audience. Again, preparation is paramount here, in order to hold the listeners attention. Some useful tips for keeping your presentation vivid include:
Use examples to bring your points to life
Keep your body language up-beat – don’t stay stuck behind a rostrum
Don’t talk to fast. Less is more here too. Pauses are effective.
Use a variety of tones of voice
Use visual aids.
Presentations and public speaking, although daunting, can be a very enjoyable, rewarding experience, once adequate time is taken to prepare and rehearse them. An enthusiastic speaker who is confident with their material will make a lasting memorable impression on their audience.
Think of the last really memorable talk or presentation that you attended. Now, was that easy to do, or did you really have to rack your brains to remember one? Sadly, too many presentations are easy to forget. And that’s a big problem because the only reason the presenter gave the talk was to communicate something to you.
However, there are four basic things that you can do to ensure that your verbal messages are understood – and remembered – time and time again.
Although somewhat obvious and deceptively simple, these are:
Understand the purpose of the presentation
Keep the message clear and concise
Be prepared
Be vivid when delivering the message
Understand what you want to achieve:
Before you start working on your talk or presentation, it’s essential that you really understand what you want to say, who you want to tell and why they might want to listen. To do this, ask yourself: Who? What? How? When? Where? Why?
Who are you speaking to? What are their interests, beliefs and values? What do they share in common with others; how are they unique?
What message do you wish to convey? One way of answering this question is to ask yourself about the ‘success criteria’. How do you know if and when you have successfully communicated what you have in mind?
How can you best put across your message? Language is most important here, as are non verbal cues such as body language and expressions. Choose your words and non verbal cues while keeping your audience in mind. Plan a beginning, middle and end. If time and place allow, consider and prepare audio-visual aids.
When? Timing is important here. Develop a sense of timing, so that your contributions are seen and heard as relevant to the issue or matter at hand. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent.
Where? What is the physical context of the communication in mind? You may have time to visit the venue, for example, and rearrange the furniture. Check for availability and visibility if you are using audio or visual aids.
Why? In order to convert hearers into listeners, you need to know why they should listen to you – and tell them if necessary.
The Importance of Simplicity:
When it comes to wording your message, less is more. You’re giving your audience headlines, too much information will overload and bore your listeners.. They are not expecting to become experts on the subject as a result of hearing your presentation, therefore simplicity is best.
If you’re using slides, limit the content of each one to a few bullet points, a single statement or a very simple diagram.
Preparation:
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. In fact, it is the most important factor in determining your communication successes. When possible, set meeting times and speaking and presentation times well in advance, thus allowing yourself the time you need to prepare your communications. Each minute of a presentation deserves thirty minutes preparation.
Of course, not all communications can be scheduled. In this case, preparation may mean having a good, thorough understanding of the office goings-on, enabling you to communicate with the knowledge you need to be effective, both through verbal and written communications
Successful Delivery:
The manner in which you deliver your speech or presentation has a lasting impact on your audience. Again, preparation is paramount here, in order to hold the listeners attention. Some useful tips for keeping your presentation vivid include:
Use examples to bring your points to life
Keep your body language up-beat – don’t stay stuck behind a rostrum
Don’t talk to fast. Less is more here too. Pauses are effective.
Use a variety of tones of voice
Use visual aids.
Presentations and public speaking, although daunting, can be a very enjoyable, rewarding experience, once adequate time is taken to prepare and rehearse them. An enthusiastic speaker who is confident with their material will make a lasting memorable impression on their audience.
Filed under Speaking by on Aug 20th, 2010. Comment.
August 18, 2010
Kerrie Espuga asked:
Public Speaking: 3 Tips to Remove Workplace Fears
Fears at work are countless: Public Speaking, fear of conflict, fear of small cubicles, and fear of speaking up. Why are the phobias at work are endless? Why is it that Public Speaking is still on the top of the phobia lists? Wikipedia quotes fear of public speaking as stage fright affecting as much as 75% of the population.
Most careers require an adequate ability to present which is vital to continued success. Could Fear of Public Speaking actually be the fear of rejection? Fear of being seen as weak? Fear of being put on the spot? Since this topic continues to resonate, here are some tips to overcome these fears and anxieties:
PREPARE:
Proper preparation exudes confidence. Always use bullet points for your presentations. Memorizing speeches can result in freezing on stage. Use a format instead (e.g. opening/3 main points/closing) and you will know where you are during all stages of the talk. Following the format in your own words will make you sound conversational and relaxed. See yourself as the Expert. Know more about the subject than expected (have some reserve power for after your talk).
PUT YOUR AUDIENCE FIRST:
Be genuinely interested in your audience. How will the purpose of your talk benefit your audience? What are their needs? What steps in their lives should they take which will help them? Is there a dramatic effect on the audience if they take make these changes in their lives? Did you research their interests before going on stage? Do you have intriguing facts about that particular audience to capture their attention up front? As an audience member, we enjoy Speakers who smile, tell memorable stories, are passionate, and honestly care about us.
PRACTICE:
Practice in front of a mock audience (perhaps co-workers if they have a similar need). See if the stories work. See if the audience is engaged. Be open to implementing their feedback. Practice without coaching is like not practicing at all. Think of fluent speakers who had great impact. Chances are they took the above approach to overcome their fears to convey conviction and confidence.
Trina Paulus once said, ‘How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” Take the opportunities to prepare, put your audience first, and practice, and you, too, will become the envy of others! Chime in at meetings when you normally wouln’t. Challenge yourself to be the first participant to chime in on teleconferences. Have you taken the opportunity to speak in the community lately? Remembe that old quote: “You miss 100% of the shots not taken.” How can we become proficient if we’re not consistently practicing?
Kerrie Espuga is Founder and Managing Director of Corporate Trendsetters, a NY professional training consulting company. Her expertise includes Public Speaking, Team Building, and Sales/Management Training. Kerrie has extensive experience in Corporate America at Fortune 500 companies, including facilitating/training, selling, and coaching/managing in the Pharmaceutical industry. She’s an exciting innovative Facilitator, who enjoys keeping groups engaged to enhance the learning! Kerrie Espuga, Managing Director Corporate Trendsetters Training Consulting http://highpowerpres.com/Test/gen-step1.php
Public Speaking: 3 Tips to Remove Workplace Fears
Fears at work are countless: Public Speaking, fear of conflict, fear of small cubicles, and fear of speaking up. Why are the phobias at work are endless? Why is it that Public Speaking is still on the top of the phobia lists? Wikipedia quotes fear of public speaking as stage fright affecting as much as 75% of the population.
Most careers require an adequate ability to present which is vital to continued success. Could Fear of Public Speaking actually be the fear of rejection? Fear of being seen as weak? Fear of being put on the spot? Since this topic continues to resonate, here are some tips to overcome these fears and anxieties:
PREPARE:
Proper preparation exudes confidence. Always use bullet points for your presentations. Memorizing speeches can result in freezing on stage. Use a format instead (e.g. opening/3 main points/closing) and you will know where you are during all stages of the talk. Following the format in your own words will make you sound conversational and relaxed. See yourself as the Expert. Know more about the subject than expected (have some reserve power for after your talk).
PUT YOUR AUDIENCE FIRST:
Be genuinely interested in your audience. How will the purpose of your talk benefit your audience? What are their needs? What steps in their lives should they take which will help them? Is there a dramatic effect on the audience if they take make these changes in their lives? Did you research their interests before going on stage? Do you have intriguing facts about that particular audience to capture their attention up front? As an audience member, we enjoy Speakers who smile, tell memorable stories, are passionate, and honestly care about us.
PRACTICE:
Practice in front of a mock audience (perhaps co-workers if they have a similar need). See if the stories work. See if the audience is engaged. Be open to implementing their feedback. Practice without coaching is like not practicing at all. Think of fluent speakers who had great impact. Chances are they took the above approach to overcome their fears to convey conviction and confidence.
Trina Paulus once said, ‘How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” Take the opportunities to prepare, put your audience first, and practice, and you, too, will become the envy of others! Chime in at meetings when you normally wouln’t. Challenge yourself to be the first participant to chime in on teleconferences. Have you taken the opportunity to speak in the community lately? Remembe that old quote: “You miss 100% of the shots not taken.” How can we become proficient if we’re not consistently practicing?
Kerrie Espuga is Founder and Managing Director of Corporate Trendsetters, a NY professional training consulting company. Her expertise includes Public Speaking, Team Building, and Sales/Management Training. Kerrie has extensive experience in Corporate America at Fortune 500 companies, including facilitating/training, selling, and coaching/managing in the Pharmaceutical industry. She’s an exciting innovative Facilitator, who enjoys keeping groups engaged to enhance the learning! Kerrie Espuga, Managing Director Corporate Trendsetters Training Consulting http://highpowerpres.com/Test/gen-step1.php
Filed under Researching Canadian Police Investigation Techniques by on Aug 18th, 2010. Comment.
August 16, 2010
awesomeseminars asked:
Very cool secrets from Neil lazarus
Filed under Howto by on Aug 16th, 2010. 2 Comments.
August 14, 2010
tom antion asked:
One of the most common problems I see, even with experienced public speakers, is that they do not seem to be capable of standing still when they should. It is very distracting to try to listen to a public speaking presentation when someone is wandering and swaying around on stage.
I have stated in previous articles that you should move at least three steps, in a particular direction, and for a purpose whenever you move on stage. Small to and fro movements during your speaking engagement are very distracting. As we move into a century that will likely include more distance / TV training, keeping still is even more critical when you are speaking in public.
When you are on TV or video your movements are magnified. I got a good reminder lesson in keeping still while doing the weather and traffic report for a broadcast station in Orlando, Florida. I was all set to be my highly animated self. They put me at an anchor desk and turned me loose with a set script on the teleprompter. My normal performance looked absolutely ridiculous. In fact, it wasn’t even close to being acceptable for the tight shot they used. I had to stay perfectly still with the exception of my head and eye movement and facial expressions.
You can practice this at home with a simple video camera zoomed in to a tight close up shot. Either stand or sit and don’t move your shoulders and arms at all. Talk to the camera and only allow movement from the neck up. To do an el cheapo simulation of a teleprompter, cellophane tape a script on to the bottom of the lens of the camcorder.
Once you master this technique and can convey all your non-verbal information with only head and eye movement and facial expression, you can add small amounts of body, arm and shoulder movement as the video shot gets wider.
Learn to make a home run presentation everytime!
One of the most common problems I see, even with experienced public speakers, is that they do not seem to be capable of standing still when they should. It is very distracting to try to listen to a public speaking presentation when someone is wandering and swaying around on stage.
I have stated in previous articles that you should move at least three steps, in a particular direction, and for a purpose whenever you move on stage. Small to and fro movements during your speaking engagement are very distracting. As we move into a century that will likely include more distance / TV training, keeping still is even more critical when you are speaking in public.
When you are on TV or video your movements are magnified. I got a good reminder lesson in keeping still while doing the weather and traffic report for a broadcast station in Orlando, Florida. I was all set to be my highly animated self. They put me at an anchor desk and turned me loose with a set script on the teleprompter. My normal performance looked absolutely ridiculous. In fact, it wasn’t even close to being acceptable for the tight shot they used. I had to stay perfectly still with the exception of my head and eye movement and facial expressions.
You can practice this at home with a simple video camera zoomed in to a tight close up shot. Either stand or sit and don’t move your shoulders and arms at all. Talk to the camera and only allow movement from the neck up. To do an el cheapo simulation of a teleprompter, cellophane tape a script on to the bottom of the lens of the camcorder.
Once you master this technique and can convey all your non-verbal information with only head and eye movement and facial expression, you can add small amounts of body, arm and shoulder movement as the video shot gets wider.
Learn to make a home run presentation everytime!
Filed under Speaking:Words Are Funny by on Aug 14th, 2010. Comment.
August 6, 2010
expertvillage asked:
Add personality to a public speech by emphasizing vocal inflections. Avoid speaking in a monotone voice with tips from a communications specialist in this free public speaking video. Expert: Tracy Goodwin Bio: Tracy Goodwin has received numerous public speaking awards and has been a college professor of public speaking, interpersonal communications, voice and diction, and business speech for over a decade. Filmmaker: MAKE | MEDIA
Filed under Howto by on Aug 6th, 2010. 25 Comments.
August 5, 2010
Faith asked:
It is often observed that many people’s top ranking fear is not death but having to speak in public. The joke is that these people would rather be lying in the casket at the funeral than giving the eulogy. Public speaking for people who suffer from panic attacks or general anxiety often becomes a major source of worry weeks or even months before the speaking event is to occur.
These speaking engagements do not necessarily have to be the traditional “on a podium” events but can be as simple as an office meeting where the individual is expected to express an opinion or give verbal feedback. The fear of public speaking and panic attacks in this case centers on having an attack while speaking. The individual fears being incapacitated by the anxiety and hence unable to complete what he or she is saying. The person imagines fleeing the spotlight and having to make all kinds of excuses later for their undignified departure out the office window….
This differs slightly from the majority of people who fear public speaking because their fear tends to revolve around going blank while speaking or feeling uncomfortable under the spotlight of their peers. The jitters or nerves of speaking in public are of course a problem for this group as well, but they are unfamiliar with that debilitating threat which is the panic attack, as they most likely have not experienced one before.
So how should a person with an anxiety issue tackle public speaking?
Stage one is accepting that all these bizarre and quite frankly unnerving sensations are not going to go away overnight. In fact, you are not even going to concern yourself with getting rid of them for your next talk. When they arrive during a speech/meeting, you are going to approach them in a new manner. What we need to do is build your confidence back to where it used to be before any of these sensations ever occurred. This time you will approach it in a unique, empowering manner, allowing you to feel your confidence again. It is said that most of the top speakers are riddled with anxiety before speaking, but they somehow use this nervousness to enhance their speech. I am going to show you exactly how to do this, although I know that right now if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks you may find it difficult to believe you can ever overcome it.
My first point is this and it is important. The average healthy person can experience an extreme array of anxiety and very uncomfortable sensations while giving a speech and is in no danger of ever losing control, or even appearing slightly anxious to the audience. No matter how tough it gets, you will always finish your piece, even if at the outset it feels very uncomfortable to go on. You will not become incapacitated in any way.
The real breakthrough for if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks happens when you fully believe that you are not in danger and that the sensations will pass.
“I realize you (the anxiety) hold no threat over me.”
What keeps a panic attack coming again and again is the fear of the fear—the fear that the next one will really knock your socks off and you feel you were lucky to have made it past the last one unscathed. As they were so unnerving and scary, it is your confidence that has been damaged by previous anxiety episodes. Once you fully understand you are not under any threat, then you can have a new response to the anxiety as it arises while speaking.
Defeating public speaking and panic attacks…
There is always a turning point when a person moves from general anxiety into a panic attack, and that happens with public speaking when you think to yourself:
“I won’t be able to handle this in front of these people.”
That split second of self-doubt leads to a rush of adrenaline, and the extreme anxiety arrives in a wave like format. If, however, when you feel the initial anxiety and you react with confidence that this is not a threat to you, you will move out of the anxiety rapidly. Using this new approach is a powerful ally because it means it is okay to feel scared and feel the anxiety when speaking–that is fine; you are going to feel it and move with and through the sensations in your body and out the other side. Because he or she is feeling very anxious, often before the talk has begun, that person may feel they have already let themselves down. Now, you can relax on that point. It is perfectly natural to feel the anxiety. Take for example the worst of the sensations you have ever experienced in this situation—be it general unease to loss of breath. You will have an initial automatic reaction that says:
“Danger–I’m going to have an episode of anxiety here and I really can’t afford that to happen.”
At this point most people react to that idea and confirm it must be true because of all of the unusual feelings they are experiencing. This is where your thinking can lead you down a train of thought that creates a cycle of anxiety that produces a negative impact on your overall presenting skills.
So let that initial “oh dear, not now” thought pass by, and follow it up immediately with the attitude of:
“There you are–I’ve been wondering when you would arrive. I’ve been expecting you to show up—by the way, I am not in the least threatened by any of the strange sensations you are creating—I am completely safe here.”
The key to controlling your fear of public speaking and panic attacks is that instead of pushing the emotional energy and excitement down into your stomach, you are moving out through it. Your body is in a slightly excited state, exactly as it should be while giving a speech, so release that energy in your self-expression. Push it out through your presentation not down into your stomach. You push it out by expressing yourself more forcefully. In this way you turn the anxiety to your advantage by using it to deliver a speech where you come across more alive, energetic and in the present moment. When you notice the anxiety drop as it does when you willingly move into it. Fire a quick thought off when you get a momentary break (as I am sure you have between pieces), asking it for “more.” You want more of its intense feelings as you are interested in them and are absolutely not threatened by them.
It seems like a lot of things to be thinking about while talking to a group of people, but it is not really. You’d be amazed how many different non-related thoughts you can have while speaking. This approach is about adopting a new attitude of confidence to what you might have deemed a serious threat up until now. This tactic will truly help you with fear of public speaking and panic attacks you have associated with them.
If your predominant fear of the speaking engagement is driven by a feeling of being trapped, then I would suggest factoring in some mental releases that can be prepared before the event. For example, some meetings/speeches allow for you to turn the attention back to the room to get feedback etc. from the group.
If possible, you might want to prepare such opportunities in your own mind before the engagements. This is not to say you have to ever use them, but people in this situation often remark that just having small opportunities where attention can be diverted for the briefest of moments can make the task seem less daunting. It my even be something as simple as having people introduce themselves or opening the floor to questions. I realize these diversions are not always possible and depend on the situation, but anything you can factor in that makes you feel less trapped or under the spotlight is worth the effort and can help alleviate fear of public speaking and panic attacks.
It is often observed that many people’s top ranking fear is not death but having to speak in public. The joke is that these people would rather be lying in the casket at the funeral than giving the eulogy. Public speaking for people who suffer from panic attacks or general anxiety often becomes a major source of worry weeks or even months before the speaking event is to occur.
These speaking engagements do not necessarily have to be the traditional “on a podium” events but can be as simple as an office meeting where the individual is expected to express an opinion or give verbal feedback. The fear of public speaking and panic attacks in this case centers on having an attack while speaking. The individual fears being incapacitated by the anxiety and hence unable to complete what he or she is saying. The person imagines fleeing the spotlight and having to make all kinds of excuses later for their undignified departure out the office window….
This differs slightly from the majority of people who fear public speaking because their fear tends to revolve around going blank while speaking or feeling uncomfortable under the spotlight of their peers. The jitters or nerves of speaking in public are of course a problem for this group as well, but they are unfamiliar with that debilitating threat which is the panic attack, as they most likely have not experienced one before.
So how should a person with an anxiety issue tackle public speaking?
Stage one is accepting that all these bizarre and quite frankly unnerving sensations are not going to go away overnight. In fact, you are not even going to concern yourself with getting rid of them for your next talk. When they arrive during a speech/meeting, you are going to approach them in a new manner. What we need to do is build your confidence back to where it used to be before any of these sensations ever occurred. This time you will approach it in a unique, empowering manner, allowing you to feel your confidence again. It is said that most of the top speakers are riddled with anxiety before speaking, but they somehow use this nervousness to enhance their speech. I am going to show you exactly how to do this, although I know that right now if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks you may find it difficult to believe you can ever overcome it.
My first point is this and it is important. The average healthy person can experience an extreme array of anxiety and very uncomfortable sensations while giving a speech and is in no danger of ever losing control, or even appearing slightly anxious to the audience. No matter how tough it gets, you will always finish your piece, even if at the outset it feels very uncomfortable to go on. You will not become incapacitated in any way.
The real breakthrough for if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks happens when you fully believe that you are not in danger and that the sensations will pass.
“I realize you (the anxiety) hold no threat over me.”
What keeps a panic attack coming again and again is the fear of the fear—the fear that the next one will really knock your socks off and you feel you were lucky to have made it past the last one unscathed. As they were so unnerving and scary, it is your confidence that has been damaged by previous anxiety episodes. Once you fully understand you are not under any threat, then you can have a new response to the anxiety as it arises while speaking.
Defeating public speaking and panic attacks…
There is always a turning point when a person moves from general anxiety into a panic attack, and that happens with public speaking when you think to yourself:
“I won’t be able to handle this in front of these people.”
That split second of self-doubt leads to a rush of adrenaline, and the extreme anxiety arrives in a wave like format. If, however, when you feel the initial anxiety and you react with confidence that this is not a threat to you, you will move out of the anxiety rapidly. Using this new approach is a powerful ally because it means it is okay to feel scared and feel the anxiety when speaking–that is fine; you are going to feel it and move with and through the sensations in your body and out the other side. Because he or she is feeling very anxious, often before the talk has begun, that person may feel they have already let themselves down. Now, you can relax on that point. It is perfectly natural to feel the anxiety. Take for example the worst of the sensations you have ever experienced in this situation—be it general unease to loss of breath. You will have an initial automatic reaction that says:
“Danger–I’m going to have an episode of anxiety here and I really can’t afford that to happen.”
At this point most people react to that idea and confirm it must be true because of all of the unusual feelings they are experiencing. This is where your thinking can lead you down a train of thought that creates a cycle of anxiety that produces a negative impact on your overall presenting skills.
So let that initial “oh dear, not now” thought pass by, and follow it up immediately with the attitude of:
“There you are–I’ve been wondering when you would arrive. I’ve been expecting you to show up—by the way, I am not in the least threatened by any of the strange sensations you are creating—I am completely safe here.”
The key to controlling your fear of public speaking and panic attacks is that instead of pushing the emotional energy and excitement down into your stomach, you are moving out through it. Your body is in a slightly excited state, exactly as it should be while giving a speech, so release that energy in your self-expression. Push it out through your presentation not down into your stomach. You push it out by expressing yourself more forcefully. In this way you turn the anxiety to your advantage by using it to deliver a speech where you come across more alive, energetic and in the present moment. When you notice the anxiety drop as it does when you willingly move into it. Fire a quick thought off when you get a momentary break (as I am sure you have between pieces), asking it for “more.” You want more of its intense feelings as you are interested in them and are absolutely not threatened by them.
It seems like a lot of things to be thinking about while talking to a group of people, but it is not really. You’d be amazed how many different non-related thoughts you can have while speaking. This approach is about adopting a new attitude of confidence to what you might have deemed a serious threat up until now. This tactic will truly help you with fear of public speaking and panic attacks you have associated with them.
If your predominant fear of the speaking engagement is driven by a feeling of being trapped, then I would suggest factoring in some mental releases that can be prepared before the event. For example, some meetings/speeches allow for you to turn the attention back to the room to get feedback etc. from the group.
If possible, you might want to prepare such opportunities in your own mind before the engagements. This is not to say you have to ever use them, but people in this situation often remark that just having small opportunities where attention can be diverted for the briefest of moments can make the task seem less daunting. It my even be something as simple as having people introduce themselves or opening the floor to questions. I realize these diversions are not always possible and depend on the situation, but anything you can factor in that makes you feel less trapped or under the spotlight is worth the effort and can help alleviate fear of public speaking and panic attacks.
Filed under Speaking by on Aug 5th, 2010. Comment.