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Public speaking is just below a visit to the dentist in the private fears of ordinary people. Yet, with the development of communications bringing the World into our homes, there’s more chance than ever that any of us may be called on to represent ourselves, our business or a group that we support with a formal speech or even respond to an unexpected media approach. Preparing ourselves to be better communicators can also improve our value to employers. It is even more important to us if we are self-employed. But, the advantages to us are much greater than that. All of us need and desire to make the best possible impression on people that we meet in business and social situations. But, since it is rare to find any formal programmes at school or in our early years in the workforce that help us to improve on our natural abilities in these vital areas, most of us fail to show our true potential at interviews or when meeting new colleagues or people that we want to become our friends. Learning the basics of Public Speaking helps to turn that around. It is worth the time and effort for everyone, even if we don’t aspire to become a professional speaker. The fundamentals of public speaking include developing our ability to deal with whatever situations arise in our lives. That involves becoming more organised, so that we are not confronted by as many unexpected developments in our business or private activities. This also helps us to keep our minds clear and better able to focus on making the best of any situation that we meet. Most public speaking courses provide tips and techniques for impromptu speaking, as well as opportunities to try out our new abilities in front of a friendly audience and get helpful feedback from the more experienced Members of the Group. This is invaluable – we all are likely to give a less than sparkling performance during this period and it’s helpful and reassuring when we can do it privately and in front of people that have all gone through the same experience themselves at some time. This way, we can polish the rough edges off our efforts and be more confident of delivering a seamless, and seemingly effortless, presentation when we have to speak in public. We've already suffered or, at least, seen someone else suffer the traps. So, we understand the pitfalls and have probably been furnished with some ways to minimize or even avoid them from the generous feedback offered by the other Members of our group. We all want to not just “get through” any sort of presentation that we make – we want to make a top impression on the people that see it, whether it’s one special or an audience of one thousand. That means making no mistakes and stamping our own personality or style on what we say. The first requirement is to ensure that everyone present gets the message that we want to deliver clearly and that we cause as many as possible to take action on that message. So, we focus on the audience and the message, rather than ourselves and our feelings. That can make it much easier for the other people to understand what we tell them and be more likely to react in the way we want. It also helps to move our inner focus, temporarily, to them. This will reduce the internal butterflies down from the size of buffaloes to something that is much easier for us to manage. It’s important that you stamp your own “brand” on your speech so that everyone gets something of your personality from it. Otherwise, it could be printed on a card for just anyone to read and would have the impact you’d expect from such an impersonal delivery. What you say is important, but the non-verbal parts of every presentation often have an equal impact on those listening and watching. The late American comedian, Jack Benny, was regarded as “the Master of the Pause”. George Burns was another that employed pauses to great effect, though he often used a cigar as an aid during them. The impression you make is influenced by how you: Stand: Do you impress by standing solidly or do those watching only focus on the tight grip that you keep on the lectern? Look: Do you look where you want the audience to concentrate or do they see you sneaking glances to the side, as if you’re looking for an exit? Do you keep your eyes focused on just one spot and seemingly ignore 90% of those watching you? Smile: A genuine smile is worth practicing, or it might seem like a fixed sneer to your audience. All our politicians and top business leaders make time for coaching in this area because they know that each public appearance that they make can have a powerful effect on their standing with their voters or shareholders and the powerful people that they deal with every day. Every new person that we meet, or business meeting that we attend, could hold the seed for more rapid advancement, while a poor showing could have a lasting negative effect on our progress. Improving our capability in this area is not a cost, it’s an investment! Success Resources: http://www.srpl.net/
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