Tag: speech
You're Always Public Speaking So Be Prepared
The funny thing about presenting and public speaking is that the majority of people will tell you they don’t enjoy it and/or aren’t very good at it. And yet regardless of who they are and what they do, most of the speaking they do on a day-to-day basis IS public speaking.
You see, mostly when we talk to ourselves we keep it as an internal dialogue that nobody else can hear. But whenever we open our mouths and actually make a noise in front of another person we’re speaking in public hence “public speaking”. So why do so many people find it so scary?
I think it’s the eyes. All those sets of eyes fixed on you….. BORING into you. It’s unsettling. So would it be any easier if your audience was ignoring you and all looking the other way? What if they all dozed off so it WAS as if you were talking to yourself? (Have you ever been a Rotary after-dinner speaker?)
Whatever the reason, the fact is that before getting up to speak, even the most seasoned professional will have some butterflies, whether they choose to call the feeling nervousness or excitement doesn’t really matter. Rest assured, we all experience it to some degree.
If I had one tip to pass on, if I was asked to tell you the most important lesson I’ve learnt over the years I’ve been presenting, it would have to be to stress the absolute necessity of being totally prepared.
Now this may sound obvious and I’m sure you’ve heard this before, possibly many times, and like a lot of important messages it tends to become diluted the more we hear it “Oh yes, I knew that, now what else?”.
And yet, knowing this, some people will be outside in the car park seconds before they have to deliver their sales pitch scribbling it out on the back of a business card. I know, I’ve been there.
When I talk about being prepared, I mean you should know your talk off by heart. You should be able to give it verbatim, standing on your head, without even having to think about what comes next.
Now some of you may be thinking “Yes, but I don’t work like that. I like to keep the spontaneityî or ìYes, but I want to tailor my talk to the occasionî or ìYes, but that would be boring because I’d just be on auto pilot.î
But actually, that’s not what happens. In effect, the opposite is true. When you know your talk by rote, it gives you the freedom to change it around, to add, to subtract without losing your direction. It’s like driving from A to B. If your route is set from the outset and you know it well, you can safely veer off and browse in a few antique shops and have a pub lunch in a picturesque village off the beaten track and still get back to where you were to complete your journey. But, if you’d just set off in the general direction with no main route to which to return, you’d soon get lost if you were to be diverted and you’d have difficulty picking up that thread again.
You see, there are so many things out there that can throw the speaker, and lots of unexpected things can occur when you’re dealing with the public. No matter how good you are, you will become distracted, so knowing your material to the nth degree is absolutely crucial.
If something happens that needs your attention, you’ll have to stop and deal with it, but you can return to your talk with barely a glitch and appear calm, collected and hence the ultimate professional.
You see we all get nervous. We all stick our feet in our mouths sometimes. We don’t ever operate in a hermetically sealed environment, especially when exposed to other humans. But prepare, prepare and over-prepare and not only will you enjoy the confidence of knowing that nothing can phase you because you know your material, but if you’re forced off your chosen route for any reason you can return smoothly and appear to be the consummate professional speaker.
And after all, if you can’t or won’t speak about your business, who will?
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Why It's Worth Fighting Your Dragons And Start Public Speaking!
This article talks about why you should learn and improve your speaking in public skills and tells of a personal journey and how that journey has benefited the author and changed, not only his life, but also that of many people he has coached.
Everyone hears about being nervous when speaking, and when you overcome it, you
become confident and very successful.
What you don’t hear from successful speakers is about the journey itself.
For example, when I started in the field of speaking, I was a corporate employee.
As a project engineer, I had to develop concepts and designs to solve problems within the plant.
I was good at this and yet my career progress was slow because I simply couldn’t speak well,
and I needed to present my proposals to obtain funding.
I would become nervous, tongue tied and confused.
So when I started my public speaking career I was so scared and terrified, that even the
thought of being in front of a group of people, made me feel physically sick, and would
make my heart race so much, I thought I was having a heart attack.
Clearly, I didn’t want to go through my life like that so I did some training and got ready
for my Maiden speech.
With this speech I was competing for a prestigious Silver Cup and I was excited because
I thought I was going to win it.
I walked out onto the stage in front of 200 people and arrived at the podium.
Suddenly my legs started to shake so much I thought I was going to fall down.
So I grabbed the lectern, which also began to shake, and then, at that moment, the butterflies
in my stomach turned into dive-bombers and I started to feel sick.
While shaking the lectern so much, I watched with horror, as my notes slid onto the floor.
In total confusion now, I decide to start my speech without picking up the notes.
My voice quavered as I stated my name, and then my mind went completely blank.
After what seemed an eternity, I grabbed my notes from the floor and fled the stage.
All I achieved that day was to let people know who I was and that I was one pathetic speaker.
Needless to say , I didn’t get the prize or even a polite or sympathetic applause from the audience.
It was such a horrifying experience that I had to make a decision to quit or do something about it.
(I was unable to get into the witness protection program to lose my identity!)
Well I studied, practised and used everything that I write about in my book and then some
12 months later, I had to give a speech on behalf of my company.
Now this was a seriously major important speech for the company and me.
If I didn’t do a brilliant job, my career would finish, the company would suffer and I reckon
I would have been out of a job.
That would mean, a massive change in lifestyle for my family, changing schools, changing
houses and even putting my food supply at risk..
So as I walked to the Podium this time I could feel this huge pressure bearing down on me.
And do you know?
I was confident, created humour and had them laughing, created pathos so they could feel
sad, lifted them with excitement, spoke a very clear message, had them in the palm of my hand
and when I finished ,they stood up to applaud.
Pretty good eh?
Oh yes, I got promoted and realised that day, that being a great public speaker helps you make
more money, no matter what your job is.
So what made the difference?
What transformed me from bumbling idiot to charismatic speaker?
And could anybody do the same?
Clearly, the answer is yes, if they went through all the stuff they I had.
Why am I qualified to say this?
Because it is based upon my learnings, my studies, my experiments, good and bad, and
most importantly, on my real life, in the fire, under the hammer, experience.
And then I even wrote my own book on how to overcome the Fear of Public Speaking!
As Chairman of the Public Speaking Group at the Australian Institute of Management I have
coached and helped many people who at the beginning of the year , could not even say their
name, and by the end of the year, had become articulate and confident speakers.
So overcoming the fear and building the skills, step by step, not only transforms your
presentation skills, it builds your confidence in all parts of your life.
And isn’t that a good enough reason to start!
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How To Communicate In His Love Language
Are you wondering how to communicate with that new man in your life? Or maybe you are just wondering about the next man in your life? New or old, it’s never too late to learn how to communicate in the language of love.
Maybe you’ve seen the tomboyish girl that somehow has men flocking around her. If you stopped turning green with envy for a moment, you’d notice why she was a man magnet. She just sort of fit herself into him, like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that he didn’t even know was missing.
Instead of rolling your eyes at that dazed and happy-in-love look he has on his face, why not look into how she did it? Learn these tips on how to communicate in a whole new way by getting to know his love language and speaking it fluently!
We all know that love is built on the solid foundation of communication. When we are in love we are on the same page as our lover. It’s a special level of communication that people in love have.
Some call it chemistry, but really, in order to even get to the chemistry stage you need to know his love language. For a clue as to what that might be, we need to understand how he relates to the world around him.
Everyone perceives their world with three senses – sight, sound and feelings. Psychologists have discovered that even though we use all three senses, one of these senses is always more pronounced. It doesn’t mean that it replaces the others, but if you pay attention, the more dominant one will reveal itself to you.
Asking questions is the easiest and fastest way to learn his language and since asking questions is the most common way to get to know someone or start a conversation, he’ll never suspect.
He’s just returned from a business trip. You ask about his trip. Pay attention to his answer:
1. If he’s visual he might say: the weather was terrible. I didn’t get to see the sun once!
2. An auditory guy will talk about sounds: we got the account, which was good. But the hotel I stayed at was too noisy.
3. He is a feeler if he answers something like: I have to admit; I’m not much into traveling alone. I get lonely when I visit new places.
Knowing a man’s love language is the key in how to communicate with him in a way that will make him feel that you are the missing piece to his puzzle. You’ll just fit. Of course, one question isn’t going to tell you. You’ll have to watch for a pattern to emerge.
Once you do find the prominent sense, you’ll want to speak his language. Talking with your visual man will be all about what you saw on the way over, while the auditory fellow will want to know about the new CD you just bought.
It doesn’t matter what your love language is. As long as you know how to communicate to him in his Love Language you’ll soon be the envy of all the other girls. That is, unless you tell them your secret.
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Bring Your Presentations To Life and Get A Standing Ovation
Giving a successful presentation depends on more than just writing down your words and delivering them. In this article you’ll learn 7 important techniques that will raise your delivery well above the ordinary.
Presentation techniques are the tools that help us to bring a page of written text to spoken life. They are the means by which we animate words, inject interest and build audience rapport. Learn the following 7 techniques and you’ll have your audience clinging to every word you say.
<b>1. Speak To Their Ears. </b>Remember that your audience receives your words through their ears. They aren’t reading it. That’s why you should continually ask yourself, ‘how will this sound to my audience?î. In particular, you should check forÖ
– the use of jargon, technical and bureaucratic language, long phrases and gobbledeegook. Avoid them.
– specific meanings: “next Friday” is better than “soon”.
– concrete words rather than abstract words: “microphone” is better than “sound amplification facilities”.
– Anglo-Saxon rather than Latinised words: “talk” is better than “communicate”.
<b>2. Use Conversational English. </b>Speakers who lack the confidence to speak directly to their audience tend to lean heavily on their prepared texts. This creates the risk of speaking the written word which can sound artificial and stilted. Conversational English on the other hand is natural and flowing. By creating the feeling of a personal chat, the conversational style helps to build audience rapport.
Idiomatic, conversational English is distinctly different from written English. It allows for occasional ungrammatical and incorrect use of words and sentences, as long as the meaning is clear and sounds right. You would not, for example, say the grammatically-correct “For whom is it?” in place of the colloquial “Who’s it for?”
<b>3. Make Everything Make Sense. </b>One of the most important points to remember about a presentation is that written English does not always make the same sense to a listener as spoken English. When we read written English we go at our speed and can pause, go back or jump ahead. When we are listening, we rely on the speaker to make sense for us. Notice the difference between these two ways of expressing the same sentence.
Not: “The user will no doubt be familiar with the consequences of a machine failure at difficult moments.”
But: “I expect you know the sort of thing I mean. You’re right in the middle of something worth saving when, Phut!, the whole damn thing goes up in smoke. Before your very eyes…”
<b>4. Signpost Where You Are Going. </b>The technique of Signposting, or Labelling, can be used throughout a presentation. Signposting, like the signs on a street, is a way of letting the audience know in advance what is coming next in your talk. It is used to tell the audience what you want them to understand from it.
– we can signpost the whole talk when we start: “I’d like to do three things this morning. First, I’d like to look at our current position; then our plans and finally, the costs.”
– we can signpost a sub-point: “My second area is to look at plans. First, this year’s; then next year’s…”
– we can signpost any issue: “Let me give you an example of what I mean…”
– we can signpost the end: “Just one more point before I finish…”
Audiences appreciate signposting because it helps them know where they are.
<b>5. Use Jokes To Build Rapport. </b>Jokes are a way of amusing an audience while at the same time sharing something with them. The point of contact is the shared laughter. If a joke works it brings you together; conversely, if the joke doesn’t work, it pushes you apart. Jokes need to be appropriate, well-presented and, of course, funny. A blue joke from the Rugby club dinner speech probably won’t work well at the annual conference of the Women’s Institute. Equally a joke told badly where you miss your timing, tell it too quickly or forget the punchline is worse than no joke at all.
This joke told by Patrick Forsyth seems to catch the mood of a farewell speech:
“I remember the day after Nigel joined us and overhearing the impression he’d made on two young ladies from Accounts.
“Doesn’t that Mr Green dress well,” said one.
“Yes,” replied the other. “And so quickly.”
<b>6. Pause For Maximum Effect. </b>Some of the best moments in a speech are, surprisingly, those moments when you stop. Knowing when to stop is the art of the creative pause. It can work for you in a number of ways:
– to tease the audience, perhaps after a provocative question: “I bet you’d like to know how you could make a million…”
– to pause before the punchline of a joke
– to wait for an audience to settle after laughter or a general discussion
– to give the audience time to think (for example, when looking at a new overhead)
– to show you’re in total control by holding the pause just slightly longer than you need to.
<b>7. Show Don’t Just Tell. </b>Turning a simple presentation point into a narrative or story can entertain and involve the audience on a different level. It is a way of showing them not just telling them.
Not: “Our personal computer has three kinds of memory storage: the random access memory, the hard drive and the floppy drive.”
But: “Designing the storage memory for this particular computer was always going to be a tricky problem. The first team to look at it was Rob James and Ellen Smith. After several experiments they discovered that they could build in a huge RAM but their problem was what to do with the hard drive. This was new territory. Neither of them had worked on anything like that before. First, they tried a separate box. No good. Then a new casing. Still no good. They were about to give up when news came from Japan about an amazing new microchip…”
Master these simple techniques and you’ll raise your presentation expertise to heights you will only just dreamed of before!
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Better Public Speaking
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 ësuccess 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 ñ 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.
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A world of presentations without PowerPoint
Most of the presentations made nowadays are made with the help of PowerPoint. There are also class teachers and lecturers who use PowerPoint to make the teaching and learning process more interesting. However, it is the professional who makes presentations without the use of PowerPoint, while following some of their age-old beliefs for presentations.
Presentations without PowerPoint prove to be quite boring. This is because the presentation will be monotonous, with no music background or visual aids to help in the presentation. PowerPoint presentations usually provide a change for the audience in the presentation, and also give the crowd some visual explanations to the points that are being told in the presentation. So without PowerPoint in the presentation, it is very important that the presenter use some creativity in the presentation. This is because it is only this creativity that will keep the audience interested and motivated in the presentation!
The most important thing that has to be remembered to give a successful presentation without PowerPoint is to exactly know what you are talking about. If you are well versed with the matter you intend to present, you can very well present it without the help of PowerPoint. However, make sure to make your presentation only after learning about the temperament and nature of your audience. Remember that it is of no use talking to the audience as a group of employees. Instead, make it a point to tailor your presentation to meet the intellectual of the audience you are facing.
When beginning the presentation, you have to present it while keeping the end of the presentation in mind. You have to know what the purpose of your presentation is, as without PowerPoint you might lose the interest of the audience! Make sure you see, hear and feel what exactly it is that you want people to respond to in whatever it is that you say. Make a strong start to your presentation. Without PowerPoint, it is very much important that the first words and your appearance set the right tone for the audience to listen to you throughout the presentation. One of the best ways of making a connection with the audience without the help of PowerPoint is to tell a story, or an anecdote that has universal appeal.
One of the main things that has to be done when giving a presentation is to practice on the speech as much as possible. This is the only way of looking polished while speaking. It is indeed a false notion that using PowerPoint slides in a presentation will make a person a dynamic speaker. The process of becoming a dynamic speaker lies in the hand of the speaker. Only practice can make one a successful speaker, and this is one skill that cannot be delegated to anyone else. One of the best techniques to implement for practice is called bits. Here one practices a short piece of material over and over again till perfect. It is not that you practice it for word for word, one just has to talk one’s way through the presentation! In this way, one can easily continue a presentation, even if there is a distraction while onstage.
If PowerPoint is not used in a presentation, it is important that props be used instead. This is because a prop is basically worth a thousand words. With props, people tend to anchor thoughts in their minds to these props. It is no difference if the prop is large, small, funny or serious, as long as it relates to the point that you are trying to make and that the audience sees it! Another way of making sure that the audience loves you despite the fact that you don’t use PowerPoint in your presentation is to bring solutions to the problems they have. With your research of the audience, you would already have an idea to what their problems are; it is only up to you to bring new ideas to them to try.
Remember that when you are not using PowerPoint, you are the visual aid of the presentation. People will then gain more interest in whatever it is that you say, instead of visuals or fancy slides or overheads. So basically, without PowerPoint, it is important that the speaker be more self-confident and well versed in his speech. Without this, it may be quite impossible to imagine giving a presentation without PowerPoint!
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9 Tips for Handling Public Speaking Questions
Do you know how to handle questions from an audience? This article provides nine simple steps that make you look professional, in control and in a manner that reflects on your message.
How you handle questions from an audience can often be the deciding factor as to how your presentation is received. If you’re pitching for business, then it’s absolutely vital to handle questions well.
1. Be prepared for questions – When you write your presentation, think about what you’re likely to be asked and what your answer is going to be. Maybe you won’t want to answer a particular question there and then, so think about what you’ll say to satisfy the questioner.
2. Make it clear at the start – You may decide to take questions as you go or at the end of your presentation. Whatever you decide, make it clear at the start and don’t change your mind. I would suggest questions at the end in a short presentation; if you take questions as you go, then your timing will get knocked out. And always remember, an audience won’t forgive you for taking half an hour when you were only scheduled to speak for fifteen minutes.
3. Never finish with questions – Far better to ask for questions five or ten minutes before the end, deal with the questions and then summarise for a strong finish. Too many presentations finish on questions and the whole thing goes a bit flat – particularly if you don’t get any.
4. Listen – When asked a question, listen and look like your listening. It may be something you’ve heard a million times before. Treat the questioner with respect and don’t trivialise their point.
5. Thank the questioner – It’s only polite, it shows respect and it gives you a bit more time to consider your answer.
6. Repeat the essence of the question – Some people may not have heard the question so your answer may not make any sense to them. It can also be irritating for them not to hear the question. Again, it gives you more time to think of the answer and it makes you look so clever and in control.
7. Answer to everyone – Don’t fall into the trap of only answering the questioner. If they happen to be near the front then you could end up having a conversation with them and exclude everyone else.
8. Keep it simple – Many speakers, when it comes to questions, have become more relaxed and the fact that someone is interested enough to ask them a question, leads them to go on too long with the answer – DON’T.
9. Don’t bluff or bluster – If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so and find out. Suggest to the questioner that you’ll ‘phone them or come and see them with the answer. It can even be a good way to make further contact after the presentation.
As we all know, it’s possible that you may not be asked any questions and you then have that awkward silence. People may be thinking about what you’ve just said and may need more time to ask. They may also be a bit shy and may take a few minutes to speak out. Why not have a question of your own prepared and say something like. “You may be asking yourself………?” If you still fail to get any questions then go straight into your summary and closing statement.
Handling a question and answer session well, demonstrates your professionalism and reflects on your message.
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5 Surefire Tips To Better Public Speaking
If you search in Google for the term ‘public speaking tips’ you get roughly 2.6 million responses. That seems like a lot, but when you have to be the one standing in front of the group there isn’t enough information in the world that could get you over that fear.
Believe it or not, most of those fears are self imposed. What do I mean? The people listening to you don’t really care how the information is disseminated, they just want at the information. It’s the speaker that puts themselves through the ringer weeks before the event. Here are some tips that may seem obvious, but once completed, will really put your mind at ease, trust me.
Public Speaking Tip #1
KNOW YOUR TOPIC! I don’t mean know your topic, I mean inside and out, upside down, what ever question someone could throw at you, you know the answer. You really need to be prepared to reach this level. You need to know your speech almost by heart; you need to know the products you will be discussing. Do your homework, you will know you have reached public speaking Nirvana when you get that ‘feeling’, it will come with knowledge. Believe!
Public Speaking Tip #2
Greet as many of the attendees prior to your speech as possible. Familiarity promotes confidence. Besides, think of the benefit you provide the topic you are to speak on when you take the time to meet people before you go on.
This strategy also prevents you from pacing back and forth and worrying yourself to death until you go on. There is no point in cramming now, if you don’t know it, you wont, and it will show.
Public Speaking Tip #3
DON’T think everyone in the audience is naked, this in fact will hurt your chances of a successful public speaking outing.
Public Speaking Tip # 4
When you find yourself with only a mouthful of uhs and ums, stop yourself, repeat the sentence as if to add importance, and replace the uhs and ums with silence to allow your points to hit home.
Public Speaking Tip # 5
Animate your speech. Most people think that good communication is mouth-centric. Nothing could be farther from the truth! To be a powerful communicator, you have to use your entire body. Gestures and body language add energy and enthusiasm to your speech.
These are tips can really help you take your next step in public speaking. Do you realize that people pass up promotions because they will be required to speak publicly?
Do you realize people fear speaking in public more than they fear dying? Maybe because dying is abstract and appears far away while the podium is right in front of them. Either way, you really can come to grips with your fear and maybe you won’t enjoy it, but you’ll be able to get through it easier. I can’t emphasize enough that half of your battle will be just knowing what you are going to say, and anticipating what others are going to ask. It can be easy!
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