~ A speech is like a love affair. Any fool can start it, but to end it requires considerable skill.
Lord Mansfield
Public Speaking has been my personal development path to phenomenal growth for more than twenty years now. I am not alone. There are millions of people all over the world who engage in some form of speaking to the public every day as a means of earning income and most of them enjoy it.
Yet I continue to hear such utter rubbish about this activity from normally intelligent members of this place called earth. It makes me sad that they would just embrace this information, internalize it and let it take them to a place where they are ever so happy to be afraid of public speaking.
Are you holding any of these myths in your mind? Then you are certainly limiting your own growth and getting in the way of your best fabulous life! What if these myths did not exist for you? Can you imagine how free and exciting your journey through life could be?
Well, today I'm starting your new journey with you. I will debunk five of your myths for you and you will begin to accept that yes you can stand up and speak before an audience and sit down and smile.
Myth # 1 - Public speaking is a gift that you're born with
Fact:
It is the skill of expressing your thoughts, convictions and ideas in an orderly manner, to an audience, so as to interest and convince them about a particular subject.
Notice first of all, that it is a skill. This means that it can be acquired and with practice, it can be improved. Practice is the key activity here. Can you imagine reading every book you can about swimming and then expecting to represent your country at the Olympics? Well you can't read about speaking to an audience and expect to be good at it either. You have to acquire and practice the skill.
Myth # 2 - Speaking in public is so stressful
Fact:
Speaking in public is no more stressful than anything else you do in life. Like everything else it's your interpretation of the circumstances that makes it so. Thousands of people who were initially terrified of speaking to an audience (like me!) have learnt to eliminate or reduce this fear. With the right approach and practice, you can too.
Myth # 3 - You have to be brilliant to succeed as a Public Speaker
Fact:
Who ever told you that? I am living proof that that's not true. The essence of making presentations is that your audience walks away with something of value. You don't necessarily have to be brilliant, witty or perfect to deliver a presentation. Admittedly, these things help, especially if you want to make a career of speaking to people. Essentially what you need is to be clear on your purpose for speaking and that it adds value to your audience.
Myth # 4 - You have to have lots of information in your speech.
Fact:
All you need is two or three main points. Research shows that people remember very few of the mountain of facts that some (inexperienced) speakers throw at them. Your audience basically wants to walk away with one or two main points that have meaning for them, so the degree of complexity that we think is necessary, is not.
Myth # 5 - Every time you make a presentation in public something "bad" is sure to happen.
Fact:
I know that the belief that something awful, terrible or publicly humiliating will happen to you when you speak in public is at the source of many public speaking fears. This is simply not true. Think about all the presentations you have seen. How many times did something "bad" happen? Why should it happen to you? Moreover, everything "bad" that happens can be used to your advantage. For example, if the microphone does not work, this should give you a chance to get closer to your audience.
There you have it! Five myths about public speaking that were holding you back and they came with five facts that will take you forward. Now every time these fears come up immediately focus on the facts, acquire the skill and step out there and speak.
My training in public speaking spans twenty years and include training and coaching thousands of people to achieve their public speaking goals. Before your next speech, download my Basic Steps to Public Speaking Handbook from the Purchase Zone at http://www.itds-training.com so that you can stand up and speak and sit down and smile.
You know in your heart that a one-hour -- or even a one-day -- presentation rarely creates long-term change. Yet you don't know how to create a system (which could include books, tapes, DVDs, software, workbook, coaching) that will truly help people make lasting changes -- and compensate you well. Bill faced this same dilemma and knew he wanted to make a bigger difference in his audience's lives beyond a one-hour or one-day program. He'll share his decisions along the way and how you can take your content and create an ongoing system. Bill's business generates well over $3 million annually thanks to these strategies that could help you move to a higher level, too.
Warning: this program is for professionals who really care about making a difference in others' lives -- or as Bill puts it, "this is for people who give a crap that someone does something with their content!"
You will learn:
- What kind of content lends itself to an ongoing system
- The questions to ask yourself to determine what kind of system will work for your material
- How to sell a systems-approach before or after a one-time presentation
- The pros and cons of having a system to implement
- How other staff can support the users to get results
- How having a system expands your revenue and personal satisfaction -- and determining if is it worth the trouble
Details are here
I've just discovered this article at Microsoft Office. What a treasure trove they have there.
This one, by Robert Lane and Andre Vlcek is called Speaking Visually: Eight Roles Pictures Play in Presentation.
Including pictures in presentations is a simple and powerful way of expanding your expressive potential as a speaker. Pictures communicate at levels beyond the descriptive possibilities of words and bathe the brain in much desired visual stimulation. At the same time, not all pictures are created equally. Choosing the right images, and using them in the right ways, can greatly impact your effectiveness.
... and there are some powerful examples. This one under the heading "Getting Attention".
Initially he was angry...
He just received a $500 bill from a plumber and the plumber was in his home for less than 10 minutes.
That's when he questioned the plumber...
"How can you charge $500 for less than 10 minutes of work when all you did was bang a couple pipes?"
The plumber's response was simple...
"Well sir, it's $5 for the 10 minutes I was here and $495 for knowing exactly where to bang the pipe!"
The lesson is simple...
The difference between failure and success is sometimes very small.
However, knowing exactly what to tweak can be the difference between making a few hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars.
Here's a few real-world examples:
When you click that link, you'll find a detailed video presentation where you'll hear how a few simple (but very powerful) persuasion techniques can very quickly translate into thousands of extra sales.
Little tweaks... big returns.
It's about knowing "what" to tweak in your sales presentation and how to tweak it to get the absolute best result.
Some of the stories you'll hear about are fascinating...
All they did was tweak a few minor things but the results were dramatic...
One person went from selling zero one week to $82,000 the next.
Another person averaged over $250,000 from each of his next 5 presentations.
One student did over $500,000 in one of his very next sales presentations using these "tweaks".
Please understand something...
These aren't major changes to the content of their presentation.
They are subtle selling techniques that have an enormous difference to your bottom line.
In fact, after this training, countless students are now averaging over 20% in their closing ratio.
If you have ever wanted to sell more of your products and services then you need to go watch this video as soon as possible.
I know you'll enjoy it.
Take care.
P.S Click on the link below right now, because the seminar offer expires soon.
How you walk during a presentation can be used as a powerful support fro your message.
If you are a passionate speaker who simply cannot stand still, then generally, this will support the passion of your message. Walking can certainly give the impression of enthusiasm and energy. Try to use standing still to give the same sort of impact that a pause in the middle of rapid speech would give.
If you choose to move or change position just to provide relief because you think your speech is boring; be careful. It may be that your movement will have more impact than your message. Timing can help. Change position with a new idea or with a new visual support. Try to make all of your body language work with the movement. If, for example, you want to walk to give the impression of thinking of a new idea, then set your hand up to your face to indicate thoughtfulness, and speak slowly or stop speaking altogether.
While writing a speech, you would think, would involve a pen and paper, or maybe a word processor. But one very vital aspect of writing a speech his visualisation. Visualisation is an incredibly useful tool. You can visualise the feelings you have as you present. Visualise your surroundings and how they work for you. Visualise the audience – who they are, what they are thinking, how they are responding. Visualise them as they stand to leave. What are they thinking now? What will they do in response to you presentation?
All of those things will provide the criteria you need when you are choosing the words to say, the structure of your speech, the language you use and the stories you tell.
How to Develop Self-Confidence And
Influence people with public speaking
Dale Carnegie
"this book contains brilliant depth."
"This book pulled my experiences together, and showed me how to make better use of preparation and presentation techniques. Carnegie addresses the whole person, and radiates an interest in people and their goals."
"I am sure the book can be of help to the novice as for the expert speaker alike."
Ermest writes ...
Public speaking and fear have something in common. For many, one thought of having to go up on stage and speak in front of a crowd of people is enough to bring out the critters of fear – butterflies in the stomach, faster heart rate, unwelcome physiological changes etc.. We have this scary picture inside our head of standing in front of a crowd of strangers, frozen. What we fail to realise is that public speaking is really a one to one communication. Just like when you speak with your friend or family member. The only exception is that you have more ears & eyes to connect with.
What follows in his article, Speak like a pro – what I learnt at a public speaking boot camp, is gold. There are several incredibly useful techniques. The two I enjoyed most were Raise your hand up to engage the crowd and Anchor objects associated to your story, but there is so much more.
For the rank amateur to the ignorant professional, audiences create the same effect no matter how small they are to a speaker. Fear and anxiety.
From a single person to a crowd as big as the fans in the Super Bowl, speaking in front of a serious listening audience is the true test and baptism of fire.
Despite this, audiences are predictable. Audiences listen to you because they want to learn something from the speaker.
Following this logic, the speaker would do well to follow the strategy of making it informative as well as interesting to listeners to see your speech through till the end.
Here are some tips on how you can have the audience listen in rapt attention.
