A Public Speaker Is Also A Teacher!

A good public speaker is also a good teacher. Teaching involves first acquiring information, then organizing it in a logical, easy to understand manner, and finally presenting it clearly and convincingly to others. That is what a good speaker does, too.

Build on Prior Learning

Effective teaching builds on prior learning, using it as a foundation. Likewise, a good speaker endeavors to ascertain what his audience already knows, and uses that as his starting point. He then adds information which enlarges on and adds to what the audience knows and accepts already.

Logical Flow

Starting with the foundation, essential information is added in a progressive manner. The sequential manner in which concepts are introduced is critical, since acceptance of each concept depends on how well information presented previously was understood. One point should therefore lead directly to the next.

A good speaker, like an effective teacher, allows no gaps in understanding, because he loses part of his audience with each gap. To illustrate the need for continuity: Suppose you were in business attire, and needed to cross a small stream to get to a meeting. How delighted you would be to find large, flat stones rising from the stream bed, perfectly positioned to allow you to cross from one side to the other! Proper sequencing of points has a similar effect on an interested audience.

Comparison of Ideas

Effective speaking, like teaching, involves associating one idea with other, showing the relationship between them. Known concepts are used to introduce the unknown.

If the ideas are similar, comparisons are used. Since no two ideas are exactly alike, the ways in which they parallel each other are highlighted, and if there is a significant difference between these two similar ideas, this distinction is made for the sake of clarity.

If the ideas are primarily dissimilar, contrasts are made. Stress is laid on the ways in which the new idea is markedly different from the old, familiar idea.

By these means, ideas which are already familiar to the audience are employed to define new ideas. The new idea is easily understood when familiar ideas are used for comparison or contrast.

Use Word Pictures

Word pictures, such as illustrations, are usually used to make comparisons vivid and colorful. While a verbal comparison requires searching for words which fill the bill precisely, a good, appropriate illustration cuts to the chase and makes the connection crystal clear.

A good illustration can also stir emotions at the same time, which makes the illustration and the point it illustrates easy to remember, and hard to forget. After all, the best teaching is worthless if no one remembers it afterwards! The same is true of a good speech.

Your Voice Is Crucial In Public Speaking

How you use your voice in public speaking is crucial. Research shows a full 37% of an audience's first impression of a speaker is based upon the speaker's voice. It happens in seconds. What your voice does is every bit as impactful as what the rest of your body is doing.

Your Voice Needs Life

Most of us have had "conversations" on the phone with voice-recognition computer systems. It can be a little unnerving because the voice on the other end has no life to it. It's just repeating what it was programmed to do. A similar effect happens when a speaker is either just reading a script or rattling off memorized lines and not actually talking to the crowd.

When a voice has life, it has a personality behind it. That personality has emotions, intentions, and agendas. It can portray spontaneous happiness, sadness, nervousness, excitement and more. It can even showcase a person's honesty or dishonestly. So be transparent and sincere in the way you speak to an audience.

Your Voice Betrays You

In our voices are subtleties that convey many things we're often not even aware of. All these physical manifestations are a reflection of what's going inside ourselves. If you're feeling negative or less than enthusiastic about your presentation, your voice will reflect that. So check your thoughts and attitude before you step up on the stage. Your voice, like many other parts of your body, will be expressing much about you.

Your Voice Needs to be Dynamic

One trick to making your voice more interesting is to vary your range and pitch. Women especially in the broadcasting industry are taught this. The next time you're able, listen closely to an established female news anchor. Chances are you never really noticed the dynamic vocal fluctuations, but all the good ones employ the technique.

Broadcasting professionals use their voice in ways so that listeners are focused on the content. They use subtleties that don't draw attention to the actual vocal techniques. Your voice is the platform for the message, as well as a vehicle for your personal feelings about the message, but it should never distract from the message itself.

Start your sentences with your voice about where it is in a natural speaking tone, but then as you work your way through the line, use tone and pitch to stress points. End your sentences lower than when you start. This will create distinct breaks between thoughts and sentences.

The last thing an audience wants to hear is a mono-tone person who has no variance in his or her voice. Such a person sounds dull, boring, and not at all passionate about the message. This doesn't mean deliberately exaggerating different tones of voice, and yelling rarely works on stage. The idea is to enhance, not to be phony. Be natural, but more animated than you'd be when talking one-on-one to someone under normal circumstances.

Your Voice Needs Feedback

The best way you can improve your voice is to listen to recordings of yourself. If you have video feedback, listen to just the audio portion of it. Whenever I hear myself in a recording, I cringe, because it just doesn't sound like me. But it's crucial that you know how you sound to others. Remember that your own voice is vibrating around inside your head and it doesn't sound the same to others.

Your Voice Needs to be Loud

One of the most effective techniques I ever learned was the importance of being able to speak loudly and clearly, but without shouting. You need to speak at a higher volume than when talking in normal conversation situations. This will shed a huge I'm confident light on you from the get-go. You'll want to do this even when in a small conference room. It grabs interest and gets people to listen. When you first start practicing being louder, it'll feel uncomfortable. But doing this will immediately cause people in the room to focus their attention on you.

It's painful trying to listen to someone who's speaking in a volume that's difficult or impossible to hear. Such a person gives the impression that he or she is uncomfortable and would rather not be speaking--which is often the case! When you convey that kind of message, your audience ends up agreeing with you. People don't want to strain to listen to you, and won't make the effort for long. So speak up! Speak like the confident public speaker you are who knows exactly what message you want to deliver to the audience.

Kelly Libatique is a professional speaker, technical trainer, and author. He holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Anne and two sons.

Presentation Skills Courses - Top 10 Basic Improv Rules

Whether you are charged with the task of delivering a presentation at work, school, or for social purposes, there are a few factors to keep in mind.

The best presentation skills courses will teach you the following rules for improvisation, which is extremely important when speaking to the public.

1. Learn to think on your feet. This is one of the most important speaking and presentation skills to work on in general, whether you are improvising your speech or reading from prepared notes.

2. Establish rapport with your audience. You can draw in your audience by giving them facts that may relate to them personally, starting your presentation with a personal anecdote, or using humor. In presentation skills courses, students learn more about how to maintain this important line of contact and rapport.

3. Anticipate tough questions. Your biggest tool during improvisational presentations is the research that you conducted in advance. When you are researching an issue, be sure not to focus only on your own viewpoint, but read all you can about the opposing side as well.

4. Work on your timing. A good presentation will involve speaking skill combined with the right timing and delivery to inspire confidence in the audience.

5. Stand up straight to deliver your message with confidence. Imagine a string holding you up from the top of your head to the ceiling. This is taught in presentation skills courses to help speakers stand up straight, improving posture as well as vocal tone.

6. Maintain a positive attitude. Even when it seems like your views are under fire, if you stay positive, your point will come across much more palatably to your audience. Techniques to stay positive are taught in many courses in public speaking.

7. Listen to and accept other viewpoints. Show your audience that you are willing to take their views on board, and they will be more likely to listen to you in return.

8. Go in to the presentation with a clear goal in mind. Don't forget what your main aim is with your presentation. All of your statements, visual aids, and supporting facts should help support this main message.

9. Use your body language to support your message. As shown in presentation skills courses, a well-place gesture or movement can help bring your audience in closer to you.

10. Maintain a sense of immediacy. If your audience feels that your message is relevant to their lives now, it will help them stay interested.

These methods and more are covered in many presentation skills courses. By learning more about how to improvise in the real world, you can make your communication more effective not only in the workplace, but also in your day to day life.

At IMproSolutions we are passionate about helping you to overcome fear of public speaking. With courses in public speaking, including presentation skills courses, speaking and presentation skills training, and speaking skill tips. Read about our public speaking program from Author Scott Topper a three-time Emmy-nominated television show host, professional actor and speaker.

How to Put Your Nervousness to Good Use

In public speaking or any other type of live performance, the idea of trying to get rid of your nervousness is definitely not the right approach. Nervousness is that wonderful rush of adrenaline that can make you sharper, more alert and more focused. In fact, the benefits of nervousness are so powerful that trying to eliminate it is a huge mistake.

If you're not nervous, then you lose that wonderful edge.

The secret in dealing with nervousness is to learn how to take control of it. In doing so, you will find that it will work for you and not against you. And, the best means of controlling those nervous jitters - instead of your nervousness controlling you - is by breathing with the support of your diaphragm, something most people are unaware and most definitely not doing. The majority of the population resorts to upper chest or lazy breathing.

I am sure that you are wondering how breathing can make such a difference. First of all, many novice public speakers never even bother to breathe when speaking. This is why you often hear the pitch of their voice going higher and higher and their speed getting faster and faster. They are trying desperately to catch up on their limited air supply. The problem with this scenario is that lack of air, coupled with shallow breathing, actually increases nervousness.

It is a known fact that when someone is experiencing a panic attack, the 1st thing they are taught is to sit and take a deep breath. When you breathe in this manner, your body is able to rid itself of toxins in the blood that shallow or upper chest breathing is unable to do. Therefore, if you are a lazy breather and you are nervous addressing an audience, your breathing is actually increasing your nervousness.

When you learn how to breathe diaphragmatically, which is the same type of breathing used in meditation and yoga, you will discover that you are in control of your nervousness. When that happens, you are able concentrate on your message and your delivery instead of your nerves.

One woman with whom I worked thought she was going to vomit before addressing my class during our 1st session. After learning how to breathe with support, not only was she able to give presentations without being nauseous, but she actually got a promotion at work and was on the road speaking to all the branches of her bank.

Don't try to get rid of your nervousness. Learn how to breathe correctly and watch what your nervousness can do for you!

If you're hesitating to take the plunge into public speaking, ask yourself: "What's the worst thing that can possibly happen, even if I fail miserably in my first attempt at public speaking?" I'll tell you. You'll be embarrassed. Perhaps you'll be very embarrassed. That's it! And then what? Nothing, absolutely nothing!

What Happened Before?

Instead of imagining how terrible even that would be, do this: Think back to the most embarrassing incident in your entire life. What happened after that? Nothing that matters to you today, right? So, any discomfort you felt was just temporary, wasn't it? So, for all practical purposes, you could say that the result was... nothing.

Only if you've allowed that experience to control some aspect of your life can it be said that the experience actually harmed you. And, if that's the case, it's so only because you chose to allow it to. It's over, so let it go.

What If You're Criticized?

Back to the present. Suppose you somehow manage to give an absolutely horrible presentation. What then? Most people will be in your corner. The next time you speak, they'll pull for you, and will admire you for your courage.

But what if someone says something negative to you about your presentation? It's unlikely, but if they do, take it away from them by beating them at their own game.

If they say it was bad, you thank them and say they're just being kind to you, that it worse than bad, it was simply atrocious! As you go on and on, they'll soon tire of it, stop you and say that you're getting carried away, it wasn't that bad. They'll try to balance the scales, and will wind up complimenting you. So, you can effectively neutralize even your worst critics by outdoing them.

However, the odds are maybe 100 to 1 that you'll never have to employ that device. So, where does that leave you? With no audible critics except the worst critic of all - you. Let's go back to your most embarrassing incident. Who has been your worst critic about that incident since it happened? You. So, self-criticism was the most harmful result of the incident, not what others did or said.

You're In Control!

That's good to know, because it tells you that the worst outcome of your giving the worst presentation of all time will be the criticism you'll level at yourself. What's good about that? Well, that's the only thing you can control after your presentation! So, the outcome is in your hands. You'll determine how things turn out by how you choose to view the matter afterwards.

Of course, you can easily avoid what's mentioned above, and make it a good presentation, and you will. We'll talk about what you can do in other articles. The point of this article is that you can effectively deal with whatever may happen, even it you hit the jackpot and give the worst presentation ever!

Mastering the Brag/Bash Balance

I'll never forget how hard my Mom laughed when I got the term wrong. I mentioned that I preferred it when speakers were 'self-defecating.' She coughed onion soup through her nose, sent me to a dictionary, and I never made that mistake again.

'Self-deprecating.' It's a quality we admire and a technique that we advocate in good speeches and presentations. But doing it well is a tricky balancing act. Too much, and we lose the underlying 'follow me' effect; that psychological pull that inspires audiences to emulate our behaviours. Too little, and you position yourself as an abrasive braggart, earning audience reactions like, "I can't believe they paid him to come here and preen."

I have to walk this line in my own presentations. I have some humorous stories about embarrassing moments in my life, including:

- The time I fell off a treadmill at gym and landed up in a pile against the back wall, ankles around my ears - The time the IT guy accidentally loaded porn onto the screen behind me while I was speaking to an audience, and - (One that I'm still working on with my therapist).

... but I also need to refer to some victories, in order to illustrate certain key points; incidents like:

- Winning the Toastmasters Championships for public speaking in my country five times - Landing my first job on radio, and - Publishing my first book.

If your speeches are structured in such a way that you need to refer to personal incidents to make your points, are there any useful guidelines you could follow?

Absolutely! Let's explore them by looking at each end of the scale in turn:

1. 'Bragging':

The rule of thumb is this: All self-promoting illustrations must have intrinsic value. They must contribute to the audience's understanding of your message. They have to make a point. If they don't, they shouldn't be there.

Of course you want the audience to know about your credentials, but if they don't add to the speech, they should be relegated to your introduction, if they appear at all. Be secure enough to accept that not every audience needs to know everything you've accomplished.

Our job is to focus on making them greater people, not to illustrate our own greatness.

And so, the question to ask is this: Am I telling this story because I want them to know about my accomplishment, or will this genuinely inspire them? Intrinsic value is always the key.

2. Self-deprecation:

Self-deprecation does not necessarily have to have as much intrinsic value as its counterpart. To a large extent, we use it for the emotional impact it will have on our audiences. Therefore, the criterion becomes:

- It should move them (to laughter or tears) - It should help them to relate to you as an accessible human being - It should create an enjoyable, entertaining effect.

What it should not do is take you so far away from your actual point that you dilute the effect of your message. Nor should it make your audience feel uncomfortable. The usefulness of self-deprecation ends where self-pity or self-indulgence begins. Ask yourself: Am I telling them this because it will create emotional impact, or do I simply want pity?

Another useful purpose for self-deprecating stories is to create emotional tension before a triumph, for greater contrast in your speech delivery. You can sell an idea more effectively if you talk about your pain before you applied the idea. In this instance, your 'down' moment exists to throw greater light on the 'up' moment to follow.

A talk about personal finances, for example, can be brought to life with a self-deprecating story about how poor your own financial scenario was prior to your application of the forthcoming ideas. The further down you were, the greater the impact of the subsequent triumph. Without that subsequent triumph, you are merely using your audience as a therapist... And that's not what you get paid for.

Then there's the delivery:

When you must tell one of your success stories, don't try to play it down. It actually comes across as a reverse form of bragging, which is equally annoying. If you won the World Championships in one or other field, don't try to diminish its effect by saying, "I won a contest." Say, "I won the World Championships." Belittling a legitimate achievement doesn't make you look humble. You're just over-doing your attempt to avoid bragging, and it shows. If it is truth, state it. Don't play it down. But always begin by asking: Is there intrinsic value to the audience?

Some of the most ticklingly fantastic humour we'll ever create is born in our most embarrassing moments. Some of our most powerful points find their genesis in our own accomplishments. Present them with the right balance, and your audiences will come to love the human being bearing all before them!

Public Speaking: Create A Compelling Conclusion!

Concluding a speech is like landing a plane filled with passengers. How skillfully it's done makes a world of difference to all concerned!

More Than Just An End

Your conclusion is much more that simply an end to your speech. It is a critical part of your speech, perhaps the most important part of it. Why? For your speech to have a lasting effect on others, they have to remember it afterwards. What is stated last is often remembered longest.

Therefore, you should craft your conclusion carefully to create a lasting impact on your audience. It should drive home the overall point of your entire discussion.

What Is The Point?

This forces you to examine your objective, or the purpose of your discussion. While developing your presentation, no doubt you had an objective in mind, and that objective helped you to decide what material to use and what to omit. It guided you in your selection of your main points. Don't change horses in mid-stream, stick to that objective.

So, the paramount question is still: What do you want to accomplish by means of this speech? If your objective is to move the audience to take action, your conclusion should strongly urge them to take that action, in no uncertain terms. It should answer the question beginning to take shape in the minds of your listeners: "Based on what you've said thus far, what should I do?"

A Compelling Conclusion

A compelling conclusion uses both reason and emotional appeal. Its appeal to reason is found in the fact that the main points in the body of your discussion point directly to what you offer or urge in the conclusion. The conclusion is therefore the culmination of a logical progression of thoughts. It summarizes the main points and presents them again to your audience, for maximum impact.

However, logical reasoning does not always move people to action. For that, an emotional component is needed. This could be supplied by highlighting the benefits of acting as you suggest and coupling this with an earnest appeal to the audience to act in their own best interests. The conviction and earnestness you express here is essential.

To Compel, Convince!

This means, of course, that you have to sincerely believe what you advocate. That sincerity will help you to be enthusiastic, and to transfer your enthusiasm to the audience. Enthusiasm is both contagious and convincing.

Using a conclusion which employs convincing reasoning, and which skillfully appeals to your audience's desire to act in their own best interests, will be very compelling. Your objective will have been achieved and your speech will be a success!

The Surprising Genetic Link to the Fear of Public Speaking

So when I recently discovered that there's an evolutionary component to being in the spotlight, it made a lot of sense to me.

Did you know that the fear of public speaking is linked to prehistoric man?

Predators seek the easy prey: those who are alone, vulnerable, in a flat, open area. More than two million years ago, early man learned that his chances for survival plummeted when he was standing alone in open territory (no place to hide), unarmed, in front of a pack of animals that were staring at him, licking their chops.

The odds were high that he'd soon be attacked. So our ancestors developed a fear response to this type of life-threatening situation.

Over millennia, this fear became programmed into our genes. And although your audience today isn't a pack of hungry wolves, the vulnerable feeling persists.

Though it's a bit of a stretch, your genes are programmed to look for threats. It's called adaptation, and we're geniuses at it.

The modern twist on this genetically programmed anxiety is to fear humiliation, embarrassment and rejection. Granted, these are big fears. Not life-threatening, but they are some of the biggest fears of modern life.

It's natural for you to want to avoid embarrassment like the plague because you don't like it when your self-confidence takes a big hit. Ditto when you're humiliated; you temporarily lose your sense of identity.

From asking a hottie out on a date to speaking in front of a hundred people, performance anxiety touches your life in a wide variety of situations. The key to mastering your biology is to understand it, then find ways to plug the holes in your self-confidence.

When you recognize that public speaking triggers a lot of nervous energy, you can learn to focus that energy in a beneficial way. Nervous becomes excited. Motivated. Passionate. Engaging. Likable.

When you're nervous, your energy is scattered. Your thoughts are dominated by self-doubt and worry-neither of which help you deliver a strong presentation. Others will pick up on your nervousness and will be turned off by it.

But when you speak from your passion, you are your most persuasive. Passion is both attractive and contagious. People want to be around you; they're more open to hearing and agreeing with you when you speak from your heart.

Writing a Speech Is Like Planting a Garden

Now that the nice weather is here I have been thinking about gardening and speeches, and I have realized that they have many things in common... and not just that they are both hard work...

Do you garden? If so, you probably look forward to receiving the seed catalogue, poring over them and deciding what to put in where in your garden - flowers or vegetables, what kinds, how many. You may read books about perennial planting, or container gardening. You talk to other gardeners to get advice about the best flowers or vegetables to plant for your soil, and maybe get pictures of their garden so that you know what you are looking for. You might want to attract hummingbirds or other birds to your backyard and so you look up information on what types of shrubs to plant. Then you have to decide where your garden will be, how big, will you have a pathway, what will your focus be. You need to make sure that you have different colours and plants throughout the garden and not just bunch them up in one place. You might want to put in a path so that people can leisurely stroll through your garden. Perhaps you will have a bench where they can sit and pause as they view your garden, perhaps close to your piece de resistance - the most beautiful flower or amazing vegetable plants.

If you are a speaker who is a member of Toastmasters International, each month you receive a Toastmasters magazine with many articles and suggestions for speeches. You also read through your manuals deciding on what type of speech you will give (you do, don't you???) and if you belong to more than one club, to which club you will give it. You may keep a file folder of funny stories that you have found, or those from your personal experience. You talk to other Toastmasters and ask for advice about how to craft your speech, what to put into it and what to leave out. Then you decide on a plan. What will you use to attract the attention of the audience? What colourful words or alliterations can be used to draw people in? Then you think about the body of your speech. You will need to have it move at a gentle pace so that everyone will be able to understand what you are saying. You will need to add pauses for particular points (your best flowers) so that people can appreciate what you said.

You will want to fill out the body of the speech, just as you would the garden - a few points here, a few more over there, leading the audience gently down the garden path of your speech to the conclusion where you give them your best parting tip.

I am sure you can now clearly see how crafting a speech is like planting a garden. If you follow this "speech gardening plan", you will be sure to create excellent speeches. Just remember the following:

Just as a garden needs a variety of colour - a speech needs colourful words to draw pictures in the minds of the audience.

A garden contains many different types of flowers and/or vegetables. A speech needs many points of interest or stories.

A garden needs a path to guide the viewer. A speech needs to be linked with words and phrases to lead the audience from opening to conclusion.

People often want to "stop and smell the roses." The audience needs time to pause and ponder a particularly powerful statement. The speech needs to be nicely paced and not rushed.

In a garden it is important not to bunch everything together, but to spread it out so that people can enjoy it. In a speech it's important not to rush or to put all the information in the first paragraph or the last paragraph.

Oh yes, one more thing. A gardener has to work on his or her garden and pull the weeds on a regular basis in order to keep the garden beautiful and a speaker needs to read through and weed his speech in order to take out extraneous words to make it fit the required time frame.

Five Reasons Why You Must Make Visual Contact With Your Audience!

Should you make eye contact with individuals in your audience? The answer is: Yes. In fact, it is essential that you do so.

It Shows Speaker's Interest In Reaching Audience!

Here's why. When you speak to an audience, you are attempting to communicate with them. That's what public speaking is, one person attempting to communicate with others. And what is communication? The flow of ideas from one mind to another, or to a group of individual minds.

In everyday life, if you're talking with someone, and they look first at their watch, then at the ceiling, then at a magazine they have in their hand, and finally at others passing by, what feeling do you start to get? You begin to feel that they have little interest in communicating with you, and you're probably right. Why? Because they never look at you!

It Builds Trust!

Similarly, when a speaker looks over the heads of those in his audience, or at the back wall, in an effort to seem to make visual contact, no one in his audience is fooled. He might as well focus on his notes and not look up at all. The effect on the audience is the same. It becomes easy for them to feel that the speaker has no real interest in them, but is simply giving a speech. So making eye contact builds trust.

Holds Interest of Audience!

Another benefit of making visual contact with various individuals in the audience is that the entire group is more likely to feel that you are conversing with them, rather than giving a speech to them. People find it easier to pay attention to a conversation they're engaged in than to a speech someone is giving. To be conversational, we have to look at members of our audience. This helps to maintain their interest.

Provides Feedback!

In one-on-one conversations, we look at the other person to get feedback. Even if they make no reply to a statement we make, we try to fathom their reaction by the expression on their face. If they smile or nod their head, we take that as agreement. That feedback encourages us to continue. If they frown or shake their head from side to side, we know they may not be in total agreement with what we just said, and we may give a more detailed explanation to convince them.

Speaking to an audience is similar. We need feedback, to see whether they seem to accept what we're saying, or if more explanation is needed. The person in the second row who smiles and nods her head is telling you what you need to know. She's saying that she both understands and agrees with you. But how can you perceive that if you're looking at the back wall?

It Gives Emotional Support To The Speaker!

A fifth reason to look briefly at different people is your audience is the emotional support you'll often receive. While you are not primarily seeking support, you'll often somehow sense that the audience is emotionally in tune with you. You cannot sense that if you avoid looking at individuals in your audience. This, in turn, is a powerful stimulant to you as a speaker, and may even improve your presentation.

Why You Should Not Seek Perfection in Public Speaking

When you have a job at hand, is your goal to do it perfectly or to the best of your ability? Be honest with yourself in answering that question because, in public speaking, it could mean the difference between a dynamic presentation and one that is so-so.

Without a doubt, there are some things I want done perfectly - like the surgery on my dog's eye to remove a large cyst or the adding of numbers when I do my taxes. When I was a child, my mother taught me to sew and we made identical dresses with a striped pattern. I can't tell you how many times she had me rip out the seams until I had matched the stripes perfectly. I know this was one of my best lessons in life.

There are other things, however, in which seeking perfection will thwart your success. Any type of live performance, be it on a stage, the football field or a baseball diamond, is subjective. Who is to say that the game, the concert, or the play is perfect? What I may think is perfect may not be what you think is perfect. In that sense, seeking perfection is a waste of time.

If you want to be able to speak and do it well, I suggest you:

1. know your material inside and out (which you have practiced out loud over and over and over again); 2. speak with emotion, with life, and with passion; 3. make eye contact with your audience; 4. breathe; and, 5. believe in yourself.

When you can incorporate those 5 rules into your delivery, you will then be achieving the best you can do. What this means is that you will give an excellent speech or presentation. No, it will not be perfect. In fact, you will probably make a mistake or two. Remember, your audience is not looking for perfection from you: your audience is looking for a great message that inspires or motivates or persuades them.

Deliver your message just as if you were having a conversation in your living room and you will be creating an intimacy with them that is not possible if your material is memorized or read from a script. Watch those who are really skilled at public speaking and you will see that they all share that one characteristic in common. They treat their listeners as if in conversation and they don't worry about a couple of mistakes.

Next time you are scheduled to speak, stop fretting over the unattainable and seek that which is easier to accomplish and much more dynamic in the long run.

What to Do If You Fear Public Speaking More Than Death

Do you do any public speaking or training? If not, why? Is it because you believe there are people who are gifted in public speaking but not you? Or is it because you feel that you are not good enough in public speaking? Whatever reasons (and I call these excuses) you use to justify why you do not do any public speaking, I would still like to let you know that you can become an expert in public speaking if you choose to. Why? The short answer is that public speaking is a learnable skill.

There is a saying that no one is born smarter than the others. In fact, if you speak to anyone who is a practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, I believe he will tell you that if it is possible for the others, it is possible for you too.

Since public speaking is a learnable skill, I am going to share with you 4 tips that will help you to overcome fear in public speaking. Before I do that, I have to first acknowledge that the original ideas did not come from me. I did not invent or create anything new. Nevertheless, what is original here is my unique experience, which is what I am sharing in this article.

Tip No.1: Start small first

If you have not done any public speaking before, I can only imagine that you would freak out if I ask you to speak in front of a large group of people. There is no short cut in acquiring any skill. It takes time to practise and perfect the craft.

When I first started public speaking, I started with a small group of 5 to 10 people. The reason was that I had to create my identity as a public speaker, and this allowed me to form certain beliefs that I could become an excellent public speaker in future.

In addition, I am sure that we all make mistakes especially when we are considered beginners. Would you prefer to make mistakes in front of a smaller group or a large crowd?

After you get used to speaking to smaller groups, you can consider increasing the size of the group progressively. Take one step at a time.

Tip No.2: Control your mind

I must say that our mind has good intention for us at all times. It does not want us to feel awkward or uncomfortable whenever we are doing something new.

Here was what happened to me before. When I was on the stage, I was nervous and my inner voice suggested that I should leave the stage immediately. It did not look good on me as a speaker. Many years later, I have learnt from my mentor that I had the power to control my mind. With continuous practices, whenever my mind now suggests anything that is not useful to me in a particular situation, I will say to myself "thank you for sharing" or "shut up". Which one you should use will be entirely up to you. Both work well for me.

Tip No.3: Have a script in front of you

From my experience, part of the reasons why some of you may fear public speaking is that you are afraid of making mistakes when giving your speech. This is especially when the subject matter is highly technical in nature.

In my case, some of my trainings involve discussing complex financial products such as derivatives and options. How do I remember all the important details and make sure that my participants understand the subject matter? The secret is to have a script in front of me so that I can follow it closely. You can consider using cheat sheet too.

Tip No.4: Have a coach to give you feedback

My last tip is for you to engage a coach who will provide you with feedback on your training or public speaking engagement. Many years ago, I thought I delivered a great training. However, my participants did not feel the same. I did not know why because i did not seek help from anyone.

Over the years, I have learnt to be humble and get some experienced coaches to sit in during my training to provide me with feedback and suggested improvement. This allows me to identify my weaknesses so that I can improve my delivery next time.

As you have seen, there is no need to be afraid of public speaking. You just need more practices and you will eventually be able to deliver the topic you are passionate about in front of a large group of audience. I hope you find my sharing insightful and use these tips in practising your public speaking skill.

A Public Speaking School for Skills Improvement

When it comes to effectively delivering a speech in front of an audience, skills need to be developed and what can help you with this is a public speaking school. Majority of those who have tried at delivering one yet failed along with those with extremely sensitive nerves for social interactions would truly find this a very difficult task to confront. There could be two ways to meet this task where one is through attending classes with other people of the same predicament to work on and another is by working on your own.

Dealing With Nerves via Lessons

A public speaking school comes to serve not only to rid of nerves but also as a vital part of putting your other skills into better and more practice. Even when at most times a traditional class could aid many people in eliminating nervousness in some cases it can't. A case that is most serious could be one having very serious nerves particularly when trauma is there already buried deep within. One such case could be best addressed via therapy like hypnosis and it is only when this has been resolved can one effectively attend classroom teachings.

People with excessive nerves when it comes to social interactions may also find a classroom setup in a public speaking school quite tough to deal with. Perhaps these people have attempted to speak publicly before yet failed to materialize. Being one with such a case should cause you to remember that trying too much too soon is not wise because should failure become a recurring pattern it is only likely to cause further damage. You can instead try making small speeches and practice them in front of a mirror. By doing this you can better connect with your inner mind in convincing it that you can indeed make a public speech even in a gradual manner.

Being Armed for Attending Public Speaking School

When you get into a public speaking school it is important you come prepared and it helps to practice the mirror technique. Be sure that you continue with it at home even when initial classroom lessons have progressed for you to benefit from those lessons. Lessons should work to improve speaking techniques along with confronting your need to rid of anxiety and for the best results, both parts of the method in public speaking should work together. In the beginning you may need to work with a variety of speeches to determine your strength. With this, humorous and serious materials are not excluded.

Classroom learning via a public speaking school is beneficial in the area of speech preparation and its efficacy when delivered. People at most times find it more enticing to use an existing speech or make one out of a material that is already of public domain. What could be a predicament here is that there can't be maximum familiarity as opposed to a material which you have prepared on your own. Whether you choose to use one material over the other, in any case there is a need for extensive practice.

Additional Advantages in Attending Public Speaking School

Of the advantages of attending public speaking school one that is obvious is the ability to have feedback from other people prior to your actual public speaking stint. What can be aided here includes refining of your posture, making the proper eye contact and even the manner in which you speak. When speaking before an audience in a large room, you need to utilize a different method as the need to overcome the room size and length of space found between the audience and yourself is there. The use of a microphone also comes with the need for mastery using a different skill which your school in public speaking could help you with.

Public Speaking - How To Overcome Hesitation And Speak Confidently

Have you encountered this before? You were giving a presentation in front of 100 participants. You were nervous because you were afraid of making mistakes and your participants might be laughing at you.

I know how embarrassing it could be because I personally encountered such situation before. Nevertheless, this is not the end of the world. With some help from more experienced trainers, I have learnt how to overcome this and speak confidently in my training sessions. In this article, I am going to share with you 3 great tips that allow you to overcome hesitation and speak confidently in your next presentation and hopefully you will find my sharing useful.

Tip No 1: Preparation helps to overcome hesitation

In my opinion, hesitation is an indication that the trainer on the stage does not appear to be confident. I am not sure if you agree with me here. As a trainer, my job is to transfer my energy to my participants so that they can learn. Honestly, I strongly believe that if I am not confident enough, my participants can feel it. What will happen next? This can have an adverse impact on my credibility as a trainer in front of my participants.

To overcome hesitation and improve your confidence level, choose your topic carefully and make sure that it is something you are familiar with. Prepare an outline of your presentation and decide in advance the following:

the key objectives of the training; the learning outcome for your participants; and the key points or messages in your training

Tip No. 2: Set out your rules of engagement with your participants properly at the beginning of your presentation

Did you encounter this before? During your presentation, one of your participants challenged a point you made. As this came as a surprise to you, you were hesitant in deciding what to do next. Further, it disrupted the flow of your presentation and other participants were not impressed with your inability to deal with this situation and gave your negative feedback.

One thing I have found useful is to set out my rules of engagement with my participants properly at the beginning of my presentation. From my experience in using Extended DISC profiling tool, some of the participants have C-Style and this means that they tend to be judgemental and look for the trainer's mistakes.

Here is my rule to deal with the potential problems created by my C-Style participants. I will ask all my participants not to believe the words I say because what I share in my presentation represents my experience only. Therefore, there is no right or wrong, true or false; or good or bad experience. My C-Style participants will find it more difficult to challenge me.

Tip No. 3: Decide when to take questions from your participants

I know some trainers prefer to take questions from their participants during the presentation and some prefer to take questions only after the presentation. Whichever way you prefer, you must set out your rules clearly with your participants. Here is my experience. If I am extremely familiar with the topic, I will invite my participants to ask me questions during my presentation because I can use these questions to reinforce what my participants have learnt. If otherwise, I would ask my participants to ask questions only after my presentation so as not to disrupt the flow of my presentation and make me nervous.

In case you are not aware, it is normal if you cannot answer your participants' questions immediately. What I will do in such cases is to assure them that I will look for the answer and revert to them. It is risky to say something I am not sure if I am correct and my participants will feel it. Do you agree that your participants will appreciate you more if you are sincere and honest?

I hope you realise that you are able to overcome hesitation and improve your confidence level in your next presentation. I hope the tips I share in this article will be useful to you.

A Good Outline - A Speaker's Best Friend!

Many speakers prepare and give their presentations verbatim, or word-for-word. This is one of the least effective ways to prepare and present material orally. Using an outline is far more efficient and effective. Why? Consider just a few of the reasons why this is so:

A Logical Manner!

Using an outline forces a speaker to organize his material in a logical manner. As the outline is being prepared, it's easy to decide on the proper sequencing of ideas. Just a glance at the outline reveals whether a point is out of sequence or not.

A logical presentation is easier for the audience to follow, accept and recall later. Why? Because it makes sense!

It Saves Time!

It takes less time to outline material and prepare it for presentation. Once outlined, changes and revisions are easily accommodated. A manuscript, or word-for-word presentation, requires much more work to incorporate changes, since material surrounding the revision must also be tweaked to make that passage flow smoothly.

It also takes much less time to review an outlined presentation than to read over or rehearse one which has been written out word for word. The speaker has only to quickly read through the outline to review his presentation. This reduces the time required to become thoroughly familiar with it.

Keeps It Fresh and Spontaneous!

An outline helps the speaker to shift his focus from a misguided concentration on specific words to be used, to the specific ideas he wants to cover. This helps to keep his presentation fresh and spontaneous, since each time he gives it, he will choose slightly different words to express his ideas. He therefore avoids giving a speech which sounds "canned."

Better Audience Contact!

Using an outline when presenting allows for better audience contact. The speaker is not tied to his notes. He can actually look at various members of his audience as he speaks to them, and note their reactions to his words. He can elaborate, rephrase or explain as he feels is necessary for his audience to get the point.

As a result, his delivery is more conversational. This, in turn, helps him to hold the attention of his audience, since they feel that he's simply conversing with them, and not giving a lecture.

You'll Never Go Back!

Much more could be said, but the most telling argument is this: Once a speaker gets comfortable using an outline to make a presentation, he'll never go back to using a manuscript!

How to Deal With Fear of Public Speaking

How to deal with fear of public speaking is considered by most of us as the hardest thing to deal with because this is the fear that we alone do inflict on ourselves. However, as we always say, fear is only in the state of mind so fear in public speaking is nevertheless a manageable state.

We have two options when dealing with the fright on speaking to the public. Either we run or we face it. If we shy away from people, we can never be able to achieve our goals to be effective public speakers. But if we learn how to deal with the nerves, getting to be an accomplished speaker can be one of the greatest accomplishments we can achieve for ourselves.

So here is the deal now, we can teach you steps on how to deal with your fear of public speaking and then try to develop you skills further by practicing so that one day you can find yourself facing and talking to your audience full of ideas and confidence.

Basic Steps to Become an Effective Public Speaker:

Always be prepared whenever you are tasked to speak in public. Preparation is the key to arm yourself to become more confident, skillful and better in public speaking. The better you are prepared the less nervous you can become. You can practice alone. You can create a presentation, face the mirror and say your piece. While delivering your speech, watch your hands, facial expression and your head. This is how you project yourself in front of many people. When you are familiar with practicing alone you can become more prepared by practicing with actual people. You can make your friends or relatives as your audience and use a microphone to feel your words. After your short speech, ask for your audience's observations. You can use their suggestions to improve yourself.

Use visualization technique. Whenever you practice your speech alone, you can imagine yourself speaking in front of a crowd. You can choose the crowd in your mind which most likely would be your actual audience.

Dress for the occasion. When it will be the time to deliver your actual speech, you must always dress for the event that so that your looks can help you deliver your message. You must not overstate your clothes but avoid wearing too simple outfit. Remember that your audience must see you as someone with an authority and has the power to address them. Dressing right is essential because it can give you the feeling of confidence and authority as well.

Examining the venue. Always try to arrive earlier to feel your speaking venue and observe its space accordingly. You can acquaint yourself with the lighting, audio and the gears which you will use.

Relax yourself. Practice deep breathing and relax your mind as you wait for your audience. You can drink a cup of herb tea and talk to people around. Avoid coffee by the way. This can make you feel more anxious. You can also walk around and exert some energy to release the tension that is building up inside you.

When your audience starts to congregate, examine them carefully. You can chat to some of the people you know or better yet approach a group who recognize you. Talking to familiar people who are among the audience can help you feel you are not alone.

As you wait for your turn to speak, take deep relaxing breaths. If you get nervous, you tend to accumulate oxygen in your brain thus you must release the tension to loosen the grip inside you. And when doing your speech, try to draw a deep breath silently for every long phrase you say.

You can also throw a joke sometimes. If you know some jokes that you are sure can draw laughter from the crowd, say it but say it right. Laughter from the crowd can also be the antidote for your wrecking nerves.

You can use bodily or hand motion to stress your point. This can also release the tension that is gripping your breath. Also moving about and moving your body as you speak can also make you feel relaxed and can create an air of confidence.

Look into the eyes of your audience. You don't have to look intently at the eyes of a single person because this can make you more nervous. Instead, you look at one person's eyes then turn your sight to the crowd as if you are just talking to people familiar to you.

Don't be too overly anxious in what you say. If you feel that tension is holding you down, you can always take a deep breath and drink some water to cool yourself up. Don't apologize if you stutter because this can also make you more anxious. Just say whatever you say and see your audience as people you have already met.

Feeling the nerves or becoming extremely shy in facing a crowd is just a normal reaction. Even professional public speakers do experience the nerves sometimes. But anyone can be able to learn how to deal with fear of public speaking through constant practice, actual exposures and if you have the motivation to become an effective public speaker, you can really succeed.

Practice to Speak Clearly and Effectively - Hold Audience Attention

When you begin a journey, you must know where you are going - if you don't know where you are going, how do you know when you get there? Is your purpose to raise funds for charity or to sell a product or to persuade people to vote? Be specific. If you haven't mapped out where your are going, the audience won't be able to figure it out either. I like to write my speeches beginning with the conclusion so that I and my audience know right away where I am going.

Check out your audience. Are they mainly older or younger? Try to talk to some of your audience and to figure out what they are expecting from you. Learn their needs and then give them information that will meet those needs.. Let your words answer the question members of the audience may be asking, "What's in this for me?" Keep this question in your mind all through your entire presentation

Grab the attention of your audience in your opening. I have heard excellent openings using a humorous one liner, a poem or a question. This is one place that you may want to practice until you plant it in your memory so it will come out smoothly. If you struggle with it, the introduction will not do its job no matter how well you wrote it.

Think of your speech as a sandwich - the opening and the closing are the bread slices and the body of your speech is the filling for the sandwich. Spice it up with anecdotes and stories that are better if they come from your own experience. Always be factual, keep your content in good taste, interesting and entertaining and don't go astray from your topic and your speech map.

I have seen speakers who try to use visuals. I personally think this is a way they can use visuals as a prompter rather than being something the audience can enjoy. There are exceptions to that, of course, but if you use visuals, make them large enough so all your audience can see them. If they are not large enough, don't use them at all. If your speech follows these guidelines that I'm giving you here, the audience will stay with you.

The person who will introduce you will appreciate your furnishing an introduction. Type it in large print. Mail it a week or two before the event to the master of ceremonies or the one who will be responsible for introducing you. Keep your introduction short - not longer than two minutes and it should announce your topic with a brief reason why it is important and how your audience should listen to learn how your speech can benefit them.

You can use 3x5 cards that give a keyword for every paragraph, especially when you use statistics to illustrate parts of your speech. The words on the cards nudge you to the next thought and keep you from reading your speech. Walk confidently to the podium or lectern, stop, briefly survey the audience and make eye contact with the people you met before the meeting began.

Avoid a monotonous voice pattern - instead, change your pace and the rhythm of your vocal variety to keep your presentation interesting. Every smooth speech comes from practice so rehearse, rehearse, rehearse before a full-length mirror. Record your speech and play it back so you can hear the timbre of your voice and the rhythm of your delivery,