Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Public Speaking
Succeed in Public Speaking
Public speaking is an important skill in communicating knowledge and expressing ideas to groups of people. It is a primary medium for presenting and selling your products and ideas. Being able to verbally communicate effectively to other individuals or to groups is essential in school, business, as well as your personal life.
There is need for people who can effectively make presentations and speak to others. Your knowledge and skills in this area can help advance your career or improve your business. Also, if you are good or really enjoy public speaking, you may even choose speaking as a profession.
Goals of a Public Speaker
Anyone who is going to speak to a group must have specific goals in mind. You need to know what you are trying to achieve, what the audience would like to hear and what you want to get out of the speaking experience.
Whenever you speak to people, the goals you are attempting to achieve are to verbally express your thoughts and ideas, satisfy the listener or audience, and get rewards from the process.
Questions you may have include:
What can be achieved in a speech?
How can you tell what the audience wants?
What rewards can be gotten from speaking?
What you want to achieve
Before you give a speech, you really need to define what you want or expect to achieve in the talk. This is really the purpose of your talk, which can be any or all of the following:
To inform
To educate
To arouse
To persuade
To move to action
To entertain
It is important to make a personal statement of what you want to achieve before even starting to write your speech. For example, "In speaking to this group, I want to persuade them to consider our product, while also entertaining them with my stories."
Provide listener satisfaction
Speaking is a communication process. If the listener or audience does not understand or enjoy what you are saying, you have not achieved a major goal of the process.
Important factors to remember in obtaining listener satisfaction are:
Speak with confidence,
Speak with clarity, and
Get the audience to participate.
Expressing your ideas
A major motivation in speaking to a group--or anyone for that matter--is to express your ideas. In some cases, people may actually ask you to express your thoughts on a certain subject.
Sometimes difficult
It is sometimes difficult to verbally express what you are thinking to other people. Those without the "gift of gab" may have trouble putting their thoughts into words or may even fear speaking to others or to a group. Even professional speakers occasionally come down with the jitters before giving a speech.
Organize your thoughts
You should organize your thoughts before speaking to a group or on a one-to-one basis with a superior. Try to keep things down to three major points. Some people can organize what they plan to say in their heads, while most need to write things down.
There are some techniques to facilitate the verbal expression of your thoughts, such as writing and public speaking methods.
Get rewards
You want to get some sort of reward for the work you have done. This may be self-satisfaction, applause from the audience, or financial gain.
Satisfaction comes from achieving your own goals and feeling that you did a good job. That is completely up to you. Don't set your expectations so high that you are never satisfied with your performance.
If you do a good job, you may get applause from the audience. Sometimes you have to set them up or even prompt them to applaud.
In school
Being able to speak well in school helps you communicate better in presentations and to the teacher and classmates. This ultimately leads to better grades.
At work
Speaking well at work in presentations, at meetings or simply in personal interactions will create a better impression of your competence and result in raises and promotions.
Professional
Some speakers are good enough to charge money for their skills. At the local level, a speaker may receive $25 to speak to a Kiwanis Club. At the top end, celebrity speakers can receive $100,000 for a half-hour speech.
Professional speakers fall into three categories: those that have a good message, those that are entertaining or eloquent speakers, and those who are famous or celebrities. The famous speakers are the ones that get paid the most for their presence and words.
Summary
A successful speaker achieves the goals of expression, listener satisfaction and desired rewards. You should be aware of your goals as you pursue success in speaking.
Be a Champion Public Speaker
Being a champion public speaker doesn't necessarily mean that you are the best there is. Rather, it is following the philosophy of appreciating what you have, living your life as a champion, and enjoying the adventure of life by helping others enjoy theirs.
Questions you may have include:
What should be appreciated?
How does one live as a champion?
Why help others?
Appreciation
Appreciate and be thankful of what you have, especially concerning your public speaking or its effect on your career. Don't take your speaking or job for granted. Even the worst job is better than no job at all.
If you are presently out of work, appreciate your friends and family. Be thankful that you have skills and abilities. These will all be important in getting your next position.
Live as a champion
To live your life as a champion means to always seek to stay healthy, knowledgeable, excellent, valuable and honorable.
Health
You can't speak very effectively if you don't feel well. You should take care of your physical and emotional health, so that do what you want and need to do. If you are healthy, you simply feel good.
Knowledge and skill
A speaker needs to continually improve his or her knowledge in speaking techniques and subject matters. If you are knowledgeable and skilled, then your self-esteem will blossom.
Excellence
You must do your best and be able to to achieve your goals. Persistence and conscientiousness are important. If you accomplish things and are excellent at them, you feel confident about yourself.
Value
You must also make sure you provide value to your audience. The speech should be something they want and need. If you provide worthwhile speeches, you will be considered a valuable speaker.
Character
You must seek to maintain the position of being honorable and honest in your dealing with other people. In this way, you can hold your head up high and be respected for your integrity.
Enjoy
Life is a journey or adventure. Your chosen profession should also be an adventure, where you reap rewards and enjoy the trip. Hard work may be necessary, but you don't want to have the attitude that you are stuck in some drudgery. Enjoy the adventure.
Part of that enjoyment is giving back and helping others to enjoy their adventure. It is often difficult to find places to help others, so keep your eyes open. Give others at work a helping hand. Mentor to young people.
Giving and helping will only increase your enjoyment as a champion in life.
Summary
To be a public speaking champion, you should have the attitude of appreciating what you have, you should live your life as a champion, and help others to succeed.
A Short Guide to Effective Public Speaking
Delivering an effective presentation to 20 or to 200 people is difficult. Because listeners have better access to information since the internet became commonplace, audiences expect more content from speakers today. In addition, because of the entertainment slant of most media today, audiences want a presentation delivered with animation, humor, and pizzazz.
If you would rather spend your time preparing your content than reading a book on public speaking, this is an article especially for you! From my experiences in delivering over l500 speeches during the past 20 years, here is a quick guide to giving an effective and interesting presentation your very first time.
Questions you may have include:
How do you start a speech ?
What is a good structure?
What rewards can be gotten from knowing the audience?
Get attention
Begin with something to get the attention of the audience. This might be a startling statement, statistic, or your own story.
Listeners pay close attention when a person begins with, “Two weeks ago as I was driving to work a car pulled out in front of me….” You could begin with a current event: “You might have read in the paper this morning about the flood that….” A question is another way to make people listen. “How many of you feel our society spends too much on medical care?” might be a way to begin a presentation about curbing costs.
Whatever technique you use, when you grab the attention of the audience you are on your way to a successful speech.
Be energetic
Second, be energetic in delivery. Speak with variety in your voice. Slow down for a dramatic point and speed up to show excitement. Pause occasionally for effect. Don’t just stand behind the lectern, but move a step away to make a point. When you are encouraging your audience, take a step toward them. Gesture to show how big or wide or tall or small an object is that you are describing. Demonstrate how something works or looks or moves as you tell about it. Show facial expression as you speak. Smile when talking about something pleasant and let your face show other emotions as you tell about an event or activity. Whatever your movements, they should have purpose.
Structure
Structure your speech. Don’t have more than two or three main points, and preview in the beginning what those points will be. With each point, have two or three pieces of support, such as examples, definitions, testimony, or statistics. Visual aids are important when you want your audience to understand a process or concept or understand a financial goal. Line graphs are best for trends. Bar graphs are best for comparisons and pie graphs are best for showing distribution of percentages.
Transitions
Tie your points together with transitions. These could be signposts such as “First,” “Second,” or "Finally." Use an internal summary by simply including the point you just made and telling what you plan to talk about next. “Now that we have talked about structure, let’s move on to the use of stories,” would be an example. When you have an introduction, two or three main points with support for each, appropriate transitions, and a conclusion, you will have your speech organized in a way that the audience can follow you easily.
Tell story
Tell your own story somewhere in the presentation--especially in a technical presentation. Include a personal experience that connects to your speech content, and the audience will connect with you. You want to help the audience link emotionally with what you are talking about, and the personal experience does that. With almost any topic you might choose, you have at least one “war story” to relate to the topic. When you tell the story, simply start at the beginning and move chronologically through the narrative, including answers to the "W" questions: Who, What, When, Why, and Where.
Include visual aid
To add interest and understanding to your speech, include a visual aid. A visual aid could be an object, a flip chart, a PowerPoint presentation, overhead projector slides, or a dry erase board. Whatever visual you are using, make sure everyone can see it. The best way to insure this is to put the visual where you will be speaking, and then find the seat farthest from it and determine if you can read the visual from that seat.
Introduce the visual properly rather than simply throwing it at your audience; explain what the visual will do before you unveil it. Don’t allow the visual to become a silent demonstration. Keep talking as you show the visual. You are still the main event and your visual is an aid. Look at your audience, not your visual. When the visual is not in use, hide it from the audience. Humans are a curious lot, tending to keep looking at the object and losing track of the speaker—you!
In a persuasive speech
If you are delivering a persuasive speech, in addition to your own stories include testimony of experts whom the audience respects and whose views reinforce your points. Add a key statistic when possible to show the seriousness of what you are discussing. For example, if I were discussing the need for improved listening to better serve your customers, I might add that although we spend half of our communication time in listening, our listening efficiency is only about 25%. By using stories, testimony, and statistics in your persuasive talk, you add depth to your evidence.
Delivery
There are other factors in your delivery.
Eye contact
Look at the audience as you speak. If it is a small audience, you can look at each person in a short period of time. If it is a large audience, look at the audience in small “clumps” and move from one clump to another. One way to insure good eye contact is to look at your audience before you start to speak. Go to the lectern and pause, smile, look at the audience, and then speak. This will help you maintain good eye contact throughout your presentation as well as commanding immediate attention.
One of the ways to have consistently good eye contact is not to read your speech. Use note cards that have key words on them. The word or phrase should trigger the thought in your mind and then you can speak it. If you are including a quotation or complex statistics, reading from your note card actually lends credibility. If you write out your speech you will tend to read it and lose eye contact with the audience, as well as not being as enthusiastic in delivery as when you speak from note cards.
"Wow" factor
Include a “wow” factor in your speech. Something in your speech should make your audience think, “Wow!” It could be a story, a dramatic point, an unusual statistic, or an effective visual that helps the audience understand immediately. With a “wow” factor, you then have something to look forward to in the speech that you know will have an impact on your audience. You’ll become a more enthusiastic speaker because the “wow” factor will get you as well as your audience pumped for the speech.
Humor
Consider using a touch of humor in your speech. Don’t panic at this suggestion; you are not becoming a comedian but rather lightening up a serious speech so that people will be more accepting and interested in your ideas. Humor will help you to be perceived as an amiable person, and it is hard for people to disagree or be bored if they are smiling at you. Until you have lots of experience, keep your humor short. Perhaps inject a one-liner or a quotation. Yogi Berra said a lot of funny things. “You can observe a lot just by watching” for example.
Tell a short embarrassing moment in your life that you might have thought not funny at the time. Now that you can laugh at the experience, you understand the old adage, “Humor is simply tragedy separated by time and space.” Don’t poke fun at your audience; you should be the object of any shortcoming, showing that you can laugh at yourself.
Avoid long stories or jokes. Even seasoned speakers know that funny stories soon become unfunny if they go on too long. Probably the least risky use of humor is a cartoon. The cartoon is separate from you and if people don’t laugh, you don’t feel responsible. (Be sure to secure permission to use it.)
Something to think about
Finally, leave the audience with something to think about. People remember best what you say last. You might summarize your main points, or you might complete the statement, “What I want you to do as a result of this presentation is....” But beyond that, make your last words a thought to ponder. For example, I might end a speech on becoming a better speaker with "As Cicero said centuries ago, 'The skill to do comes with the doing.'"
A more modern guide to effective public speaking was penned by some unknown sage: "Know your stuff. Know whom you are stuffing. Know when they are stuffed."
Summary
One never becomes a “perfect” speaker; developing public speaking skills is a life-long experience. But the points discussed here will get you started in becoming the speaker you want to be and the speaker your audience wants to hear.
Overcome the Fear of Speaking to Groups
A great fear that many people have is speaking before a group or audience. The primary reason is that they are afraid of looking foolish in front of other people. The way to overcome this fear is through preparation, a safety net, and a positive attitude toward the audience.
Questions you may have include:
Why are people so afraid of public speaking?
What are ways to overcome this fear?
How can I apply these methods?
Reasons for Fear
The fear of speaking is rated as only second to the fear of snakes and before the fear of dying.
Effects of fear
What happens to many people is that--even before they start speaking--their heart starts beating faster and their mouth gets dry. Some may even get nauseous or feel like fainting.
Once the person starts talking, the heart keeps beating rapidly and the person may hear his or her voice tremble. The legs or even the whole body may start shaking. The person may also stutter or start speaking rapidly.
Although some people calm down, once they get going, others may ramble through the material incoherently.
Do you wonder why many people don't want to go through that ordeal again?
My experience
When I was in high school, I was terrified of speaking in front of the class. I would tremble and my mouth would fill with saliva. The only way I could effectively give a presentation to the class was to sit in a chair. My English teacher frowned on this and thought I was just trying to be different or difficult.
Looking foolish
The reason most people get anxious when required to speak to a group is that they are afraid of looking foolish or stupid in front of many of their peers and important people. They are afraid that their mind will go blank or that their lack of speaking skills will lower the opinion others have of them.
Being humiliated can destroy a person's ego and confidence. In fact, it can really ruin your day.
Steps to overcome that fear
There are several steps of tricks to use to overcome the fear of making a mistake or looking foolish when you speak to a group:
Be well-prepared before speaking to a group
Practice your speech
Have a backup, in case you forget what you want to say
Reduce the fear of your audience
Relax yourself just before you speak
In the following material, I will explain each of those points.
1. Be well prepared
One of the best ways to make sure you don't make foolish mistakes is to be well prepared before you speak to a group. You should know what are going to talk about, who you will speak to, and under what conditions you will speak.
Leave nothing to chance
A professional in any field does not leave anything to chance before a big game, important performance, or critical presentation to corporate executives. Strategies are laid out, all material is ready, contingency plans are made, and every detail is taken care of.
When you are well prepared, chances of failure or goof-ups are greatly reduced. You feel more relaxed and sure of yourself, because you have all the bases covered.
Your material
You need to know exactly what you are going to talk about. This doesn't mean to memorize exactly what you plan to say. Rather, it is to have a good outline of facts and information that you can talk about.
Know audience
It is good to be aware of what type of audience you will be speaking before. This will give you an idea of the subject matter and tone of your speech. If you are speaking before some important people or at an important event, that fact may increase your anxiety. But it is good to know up front, so that you can properly prepare for the occasion.
Conditions
It is good to check over the conditions under which you will speak. If you can, go up to the lectern to check things over and get a feel for things. If you will use a microphone, check it out.
In some situations, a person may simply make a presentation in a meeting room at work. Even then, it is a good idea to check out the room beforehand and try to visualize how you will be doing things.
Note that going through this process will actually relax you and give you more confidence when it is your turn to speak.
2. Practice
You should practice your speech many times before you give it.
Even if you know your material very well, practice is extremely important. The more you give a talk, the more automatic it becomes, the more meat it can have, and the more confidence you have in your abilities to give the speech.
Practice alone
Ways to practice alone are to first simply say the speech out loud. This is good to get the material more ingrained in your memory.
Use a mirror
Then say the speech, looking into a mirror. This is good to do, because you must concentrate more. You also get an idea of how you look when speaking. Finally, if you must refer to notes, it allows you to practice eye contact with the audience.
Stand in the corner
An interesting trick is to say your speech while standing in the corner. The sound reflects back to you, and you can get a good idea how you sound when you speak.
Record your practice
Another way to practice is using a tape recorder. This forces you to avoid pausing to try to remember things. It also allows you to play the speech back to study how you sound, your phrasing, and the content of the material.
Use a friendly audience
Practice before friends. This is a very important way to practice, because it is getting closer to the "real world" of speaking to a group. Even an audience of one person is good for this type of practice.
3. Have a backup
It is worthwhile to bring along a "security blanket" or "safety net" in case something goes wrong in your presentation. The main thing to worry about is forgetting what you were going to say next. This can happen even if you've done extensive practicing of the speech.
Outline
It is good to have your speech outlined on a few sheets of paper or on 3 X 5 cards. You can then refer to them in case you have a mental lapse. Referring to your notes is certainly acceptable to an audience, as long as you are not reading a speech word-for-word from a script.
Reduces anxiety
One thing that having a safety net provides is that it reduces you anxiety about forgetting what you were going to say or having your mind go blank. You may never even use the cards, but the fact that you have them--just in case--can greatly reduce the butterflies.
4. Reduce fear of your audience
The more important the audience or the occasion, the greater your fear can be. You don't want to look like a fool in front of the bosses at work, your peers, or even your friends and relatives.
Not that important
One method to overcome this fear is to visualize the people as not all that important. An old trick is to imagine that the audience is naked. Or perhaps imagine them all in clown outfits. A ridiculous image will make them seem not all that important.
Use positive approach
The problem with that method is that it seems somewhat negative. If you look down at your audience, it may be reflected in your speech. I prefer a more positive approach.
You have to realize that the audience is usually on your side. They want to hear what you have to say and to see you do well. Before you give your speech, think of them as caring, friendly people who want to hear you speak. It is just like talking to your friends.
The positive image should relax you and put you in a good frame of mind. The audience will also read your body language and respond accordingly.
5. Relax before speaking
When you are introduced to speak, take three breaths to settle you down before you get out of your chair. Then when you go up to the lectern, thank the person who introduced you and then count to 10 before you start speaking.
This will allow the audience to get settled and ready to hear you. It also is a way that you are showing that you are now in control.
It is not easy to do, because you have to look at the audience and panic may settle in. But if you have made all the preparations, you can be sure of yourself and deserve to be in control of the situation. It is a good feeling.
Applying your skills
If you have to speak before groups at school, work or in some organizations, it is good to practice speaking more often to hone your skills and to reduce any fears you may have. You can take classes in public speaking in night school, join Toastmasters, or find other opportunities to speak to groups.
Toastmasters
A good place to practice your speeches and to get helpful guidance in giving presentation is through your local Toastmaster Club. It is a well-run organization that helps millions of people hone their speaking skills and overcome any fears they have in speaking.
Summary
Many people are afraid to speak before a group or audience, because they fear looking foolish in front of other people. The way to overcome the fear of speaking to a group is to make sure you are well prepared, have some backup material ready in case you forget your lines, visualize your audience as not so important, and practice as much as you can before you speak.
Know Your Audience Before Speaking to a Group
Your goal in speaking to a group is to either inform, persuade or entertain them. To achieve any or all of those objectives, you should know their interests, likes and dislikes. Before you speak to a group of people, you should learn as much about them and their interests as possible. You can can also find information about them and their mood at the beginning and during your speech. You can then tailor your speech to their needs and to better assure a positive reaction from them.
Questions you may have include:
Why should you find out about the audience?
How can you find out about the audience?
What rewards can be gotten from knowing the audience?
Why you need to know your audience
Your purpose in speaking to a group is to inform, persuade, or entertain the audience. Your motivation is to get satisfaction from expressing your ideas and getting recognition or applause from the audience.
In order to achieve your purpose, as well as to get the expression and applause you desire, you must satisfy the audience with something in which they are interested. Thus, it is important to know what your audience is interested in, what their expectations are and even what mood they are in.
How to find out about the audience
You can find out about the audience through research before you speak, through interaction at the beginning of your talk, and by making adjustments during the speech.
Before you speak
Before you speak--and even before you prepare your speech--you should know what sort of audience you will have. What is the nature of the group? What do they expect to hear from you? Do they have any special interests or prejudices about which you should be aware?
Who is in the audience?
In speaking to a group of managers at work, you have a good idea of who will be in the audience. There may be some individuals to be wary of or to whom you should focus the speech. For example, I knew an Air Force Major who would always direct his speech to the highest ranking officer in the audience. He knew who was important to his career in giving his presentations.
Gain rapport
If you find out about some key people in the audience, you can use them in your opening comments to gain rapport with the audience. Everyone likes a humorous comment about the boss--at your expense, not at his or hers.
At the beginning of the talk
Comments you make at the beginning of the speech or presentation can give you clues about your audience and their expectations.
Comedian tested audience
Old-time comedian Milton Berle would start off his comedy routines before large audiences by telling five different types of one-liner jokes. From the reaction he got from the jokes, he would know if the majority of the audience was in the mood for silly humor, political humor, or blue jokes. Berle had an encyclopedic mind for jokes and comedy routines, so he would then present the routine that was effective for the particular audience that night.
Prepare for some modifications
Although, you can't be expected to have several versions of a speech or presentation, you can use some opening remarks and responses from the audience to give you an idea of the direction of their interest and perhaps their mood. If the audience seems in a light mood, perhaps you could sprinkle in a few jokes to keep their interest. If they seemed to be very serious about your topic, you could get right to the meat of the matter.
Don't be a self-centered speaker
Nothing is worse than going to a speech, wanting to hear some information, and having the speaker drone on and on about something of no interest to you or most of the audience. The speaker must get an idea in the beginning of his talk concerning what the audience wants--not what he or she wants to say.
During the talk
While you are giving a talk, you can often tell if the audience is enthralled with your material or if they are getting bored or restless. The problem usually occurs when the speaker is so caught up in what he or she is saying that the audience might as well not be there.
What's wrong with you people?
In a humorous talk, the speaker can usually tell if things aren't going good if there is silence and the audience is not laughing at the jokes. Some humorous speakers will blame the audience and say, "What's wrong with you people? This is funny material." Maybe it is funny to him, but apparently it isn't to this audience.
Don't get them bored
In any situation where it seems that the audience is getting restless or bored, the best thing to do is to summarize things and to end your talk. It is better to have a shorter speech than to go too long and bore people. This is true in any speech.
Benefits of know the audience
When you know what the audience wants and likes, when you know what mood the audience is in, and when you know something about the audience, they become more interested in what you have to say.
Often the speaker does not even have to be a good speaker, and sometimes the subject does not have to be very good, but if the audience feels there is good communication, they will listen and enjoy the speech. They will also give good recognition and applause for the effort.
Knowing the audience can result in the benefits you want form giving the talk.
Summary
A successful speaker achieves the goals of expression, listener satisfaction and desired rewards. You should be aware of your goals as you pursue success in speaking.
How to Cure the "Verbal Virus" A Five-Step Treatment Plan
Warning! You may be infected with a virus that could be lethal to your sales, your public relations and even your social life. I call it a "Verbal Virus".
Questions you may have about this are:
What is a verbal virus?
What harm do they do?
How can they be corrected?
Meaningless fillers
Verbal viruses are meaningless fillers that speckle our speech, distract from your message, drain our impact and annoy listeners. I call them verbal viruses because they seem to be contagious and we pick them up without being aware of it.
Common ones
The most common verbal viruses are: "uh" "um" "like" "you know" "well" "okay" and "sort of". They also include annoying mouth sounds and lip smacks.
You sound unsure
Verbal viruses are jarring to the ear and inconsistent with a professional image. They can make you sound unsure, unprepared and poorly educated. The good news about verbal viruses is that they are easily cured.
5-step plan
Here is a 5-step plan for prevention, treatment and cure:
1. Diagnose the problem
Since verbal viruses are unconscious, the only way you'll hear them is on tape. Record a few of your phone calls on a typical business day to quickly determine if you are suffering from a verbal virus infection.
2. Pause
Whenever you catch yourself saying a non-word, just stop talking. Say nothing. This gap of silence will feel scary at first, but if the pause is no longer than 5 seconds, the listener will scarcely notice. A pause will help you gather your thoughts while giving the listener time toreflect on what you have just said.
3. Record the voicemail messages you leave for others
Listen to them at the end of the day and note whether or not unwanted fillers have crept into your messages.
4. Enlist the help of a friend or spouse
Explain what you are trying to do and invent a code word he or she can use every time you use a filler word. The constant reminder will help you break the habit fast.
5. Take a breath
When you feel you are about to use a non-word, take a breath, hold it for a moment and then begin to speak. The focus on your breathing will occupy your mind, keep you calm and centered and make the silence between the words seem much less scary.
Summary
You should try to avoid using meaningless fillers when you speak. They can distract from our message. A plan to prevent using these "verbal viruses" is to diagnose the problem and take steps like pausing or taking a breath before speaking.
Be Brief in Public Speaking
Centuries ago great speakers often spoke two hours and more. But today when sound bytes on television news are the norm and serious problems are solved in an hour on a television drama, audiences are most interested in speakers that get their points across in a short period of time. In a speech delivered to a Women in Communication audience, Patricia Ward Brash said, "Television has helped create an impatient society, where audiences expect us to make our point simply and quickly."
Questions you may have include:
What about modern speakers?
What are some guidelines to follow?
What rewards can be gotten from knowing the audience?
Great speakers brief
Today, great speakers are noted for their brevity.
Billy Graham, in a recent city-wide campaign in Cincinnati, spoke about 20 minutes each night. Theodore Sorensen in his book Kennedy gave guidelines by which President Kennedy prepared speeches. No speech was more than 20-30 minutes. He wasted no words and his delivery wasted no time. He rarely used words he considered hackneyed or word fillers.
As Purdue communications professor and researcher Josh Boyd wrote, "In physics, power is defined as work divided by time. In other words, more work done in less time produces more power. In the same way, a speaker's message is most powerful when he [or she] can deliver a lot of good material in a short amount of time."
Guidelines
Here are guidelines to make brevity a key foundation in your next speech.
1. Keep stories under 2 minutes
First, keep your stories under two minutes in length. In preparing a story, continue to ask the question, "How can I say this in less time and in fewer words?" Script out your story and then seek to condense it.
There is an adage in using humor: "The longer the story the funnier it had better be." Connecting this principle to stories in general, we might say, "The longer the story, the more impact it had better have." To make sure your stories stay under two minutes, include only information that answers the questions, "Who?" "What?" "When?" "Where?" and "Why?" If it doesn't answer one of these questions, leave it out.
Make sure also that you have a sense of direction in the story. Each part of the story should move toward the conclusion in the mind of the listener. The listener should always feel you are going somewhere in developing your story.
2. Less is better
Second, when possible, follow the proverb, "Less is better than more." Never use three words when you can say it in two. Leave out clichés, filler words, and hackneyed words, such as "You know," "OK," and "All right." Leave out phrases such as "Let me be honest," or blunt, or frank. Avoid "In other words…" or "To say it another way…"
Speak in short sentences, short phrases, and short words. Word choice should be instantly clear to an audience. Make it a goal to make every word have impact in your speech.
3. Practice to find length
Third, know the length of your speech by practicing it. Never be surprised by the length of your speech. Never say to an audience, "I'm running out of time, so I must hurry along." You should know because of your preparation and practice of the speech.
To go one step further, if you know the time limit on your speech is 20 minutes, stop a minute short; don't go overtime. Audiences will appreciate your respect of their time and will think more highly of you as a speaker because of that. You should never be surprised by how long it takes you to deliver a speech.
4. Divide speech into segments
Fourth, learn to divide parts of your speech into time segments. Let's use a 20-minute speech as an example. The introduction should be no longer than 2½ minutes. You can get the attention and preview your message easily in that length of time. Avoid opening with generalizations about the weather or the audience. Let the audience know up front that every word you speak counts.
Spend the bulk of your time in the body of the speech. This is where you make your points and give support or evidence for each point. The final two minutes should be your summary and move to action statement. Some speakers have a hard time concluding. When you say you are going to conclude, do so. As one wise person stated, "Don't dawdle at the finish line of the speech."
Have few points
One way to keep your speech brief is to have few points in the body of your speech—no more than three. With a maximum of three points, you will have the self-discipline to condense rather than amplify. In organizing your material, accept the fact you will always have more material than you can cover and that you will only include material that relates to one of the two or three points you plan to make. Trying to cover four to six points will almost invariably make you go overtime in your speech.
Summary
A key to success in speaking is not just having something worthwhile to say, but also saying it briefly. We need to follow the speaking axiom, "Have a powerful, captivating opening and a strong, memorable close, and put the two of them as close together as possible."
Succeed by Studying Great Speeches
Successful people often present their ideas through giving speeches. Some write their thoughts and beliefs or use professional speech writers to reflect their concepts. Some are also eloquent speakers, who can arose or move an audience. What these people have to say is also of significance for historical or business theory studies.
There is need for people who can effectively write such speeches, either for themselves or for others. There is also a need for those who can make presentations and speak to others. Your knowledge and skills in this area can help advance your career or improve your business.
The purpose of these free online lessons is to give you a start at improving your writing, speaking, historical or business skills.
EXTRA READING
Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention.
Practice and rehearse your speech at home or where you can be at ease and comfortable, in front of a mirror, your family, friends or colleagues. Use a tape-recorder and listen to yourself. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Know what your strong and weak points are. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.
When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic.
Establish rapport with your audience. Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to project to the back of the room. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly.
Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary.
Master the use of presentation software such as PowerPoint well before your presentation. Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them.
Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience effectively. The material you present orally should have the same ingredients as that which are required for a written research paper, i.e. a logical progression from INTRODUCTION (Thesis statement) to BODY (strong supporting arguments, accurate and up-to-date information) to CONCLUSION (re-state thesis, summary, and logical conclusion).
Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. No need to make excuses or apologize profusely.
Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.
Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. If what you have prepared is obviously not getting across to your audience, change your strategy mid-stream if you are well prepared to do so. Remember that communication is the key to a successful presentation. If you are short of time, know what can be safely left out. If you have extra time, know what could be effectively added. Always be prepared for the unexpected.
Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.
Add humor whenever appropriate and possible. Keep audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same.
When using audio-visual aids to enhance your presentation, be sure all necessary equipment is set up and in good working order prior to the presentation. If possible, have an emergency backup system readily available. Check out the location ahead of time to ensure seating arrangements for audience, whiteboard, blackboard, lighting, location of projection screen, sound system, etc. are suitable for your presentation.
Have handouts ready and give them out at the appropriate time. Tell audience ahead of time that you will be giving out an outline of your presentation so that they will not waste time taking unnecessary notes during your presentation.
Know when to STOP talking. Use a timer or the microwave oven clock to time your presentation when preparing it at home. Just as you don't use unnecessary words in your written paper, you don't bore your audience with repetitious or unnecessary words in your oral presentation. To end your presentation, summarize your main points in the same way as you normally do in the CONCLUSION of a written paper.
Remember, however, that there is a difference between spoken words appropriate for the ear and formally written words intended for reading. Terminate your presentation with an interesting remark or an appropriate punch line. Leave your listeners with a positive impression and a sense of completion. Do not belabor your closing remarks. Thank your audience and sit down.
10 Tips for Public Speaking
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
3. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environ
Public speaking is an important skill in communicating knowledge and expressing ideas to groups of people. It is a primary medium for presenting and selling your products and ideas. Being able to verbally communicate effectively to other individuals or to groups is essential in school, business, as well as your personal life.
There is need for people who can effectively make presentations and speak to others. Your knowledge and skills in this area can help advance your career or improve your business. Also, if you are good or really enjoy public speaking, you may even choose speaking as a profession.
Goals of a Public Speaker
Anyone who is going to speak to a group must have specific goals in mind. You need to know what you are trying to achieve, what the audience would like to hear and what you want to get out of the speaking experience.
Whenever you speak to people, the goals you are attempting to achieve are to verbally express your thoughts and ideas, satisfy the listener or audience, and get rewards from the process.
Questions you may have include:
What can be achieved in a speech?
How can you tell what the audience wants?
What rewards can be gotten from speaking?
What you want to achieve
Before you give a speech, you really need to define what you want or expect to achieve in the talk. This is really the purpose of your talk, which can be any or all of the following:
To inform
To educate
To arouse
To persuade
To move to action
To entertain
It is important to make a personal statement of what you want to achieve before even starting to write your speech. For example, "In speaking to this group, I want to persuade them to consider our product, while also entertaining them with my stories."
Provide listener satisfaction
Speaking is a communication process. If the listener or audience does not understand or enjoy what you are saying, you have not achieved a major goal of the process.
Important factors to remember in obtaining listener satisfaction are:
Speak with confidence,
Speak with clarity, and
Get the audience to participate.
Expressing your ideas
A major motivation in speaking to a group--or anyone for that matter--is to express your ideas. In some cases, people may actually ask you to express your thoughts on a certain subject.
Sometimes difficult
It is sometimes difficult to verbally express what you are thinking to other people. Those without the "gift of gab" may have trouble putting their thoughts into words or may even fear speaking to others or to a group. Even professional speakers occasionally come down with the jitters before giving a speech.
Organize your thoughts
You should organize your thoughts before speaking to a group or on a one-to-one basis with a superior. Try to keep things down to three major points. Some people can organize what they plan to say in their heads, while most need to write things down.
There are some techniques to facilitate the verbal expression of your thoughts, such as writing and public speaking methods.
Get rewards
You want to get some sort of reward for the work you have done. This may be self-satisfaction, applause from the audience, or financial gain.
Satisfaction comes from achieving your own goals and feeling that you did a good job. That is completely up to you. Don't set your expectations so high that you are never satisfied with your performance.
If you do a good job, you may get applause from the audience. Sometimes you have to set them up or even prompt them to applaud.
In school
Being able to speak well in school helps you communicate better in presentations and to the teacher and classmates. This ultimately leads to better grades.
At work
Speaking well at work in presentations, at meetings or simply in personal interactions will create a better impression of your competence and result in raises and promotions.
Professional
Some speakers are good enough to charge money for their skills. At the local level, a speaker may receive $25 to speak to a Kiwanis Club. At the top end, celebrity speakers can receive $100,000 for a half-hour speech.
Professional speakers fall into three categories: those that have a good message, those that are entertaining or eloquent speakers, and those who are famous or celebrities. The famous speakers are the ones that get paid the most for their presence and words.
Summary
A successful speaker achieves the goals of expression, listener satisfaction and desired rewards. You should be aware of your goals as you pursue success in speaking.
Be a Champion Public Speaker
Being a champion public speaker doesn't necessarily mean that you are the best there is. Rather, it is following the philosophy of appreciating what you have, living your life as a champion, and enjoying the adventure of life by helping others enjoy theirs.
Questions you may have include:
What should be appreciated?
How does one live as a champion?
Why help others?
Appreciation
Appreciate and be thankful of what you have, especially concerning your public speaking or its effect on your career. Don't take your speaking or job for granted. Even the worst job is better than no job at all.
If you are presently out of work, appreciate your friends and family. Be thankful that you have skills and abilities. These will all be important in getting your next position.
Live as a champion
To live your life as a champion means to always seek to stay healthy, knowledgeable, excellent, valuable and honorable.
Health
You can't speak very effectively if you don't feel well. You should take care of your physical and emotional health, so that do what you want and need to do. If you are healthy, you simply feel good.
Knowledge and skill
A speaker needs to continually improve his or her knowledge in speaking techniques and subject matters. If you are knowledgeable and skilled, then your self-esteem will blossom.
Excellence
You must do your best and be able to to achieve your goals. Persistence and conscientiousness are important. If you accomplish things and are excellent at them, you feel confident about yourself.
Value
You must also make sure you provide value to your audience. The speech should be something they want and need. If you provide worthwhile speeches, you will be considered a valuable speaker.
Character
You must seek to maintain the position of being honorable and honest in your dealing with other people. In this way, you can hold your head up high and be respected for your integrity.
Enjoy
Life is a journey or adventure. Your chosen profession should also be an adventure, where you reap rewards and enjoy the trip. Hard work may be necessary, but you don't want to have the attitude that you are stuck in some drudgery. Enjoy the adventure.
Part of that enjoyment is giving back and helping others to enjoy their adventure. It is often difficult to find places to help others, so keep your eyes open. Give others at work a helping hand. Mentor to young people.
Giving and helping will only increase your enjoyment as a champion in life.
Summary
To be a public speaking champion, you should have the attitude of appreciating what you have, you should live your life as a champion, and help others to succeed.
A Short Guide to Effective Public Speaking
Delivering an effective presentation to 20 or to 200 people is difficult. Because listeners have better access to information since the internet became commonplace, audiences expect more content from speakers today. In addition, because of the entertainment slant of most media today, audiences want a presentation delivered with animation, humor, and pizzazz.
If you would rather spend your time preparing your content than reading a book on public speaking, this is an article especially for you! From my experiences in delivering over l500 speeches during the past 20 years, here is a quick guide to giving an effective and interesting presentation your very first time.
Questions you may have include:
How do you start a speech ?
What is a good structure?
What rewards can be gotten from knowing the audience?
Get attention
Begin with something to get the attention of the audience. This might be a startling statement, statistic, or your own story.
Listeners pay close attention when a person begins with, “Two weeks ago as I was driving to work a car pulled out in front of me….” You could begin with a current event: “You might have read in the paper this morning about the flood that….” A question is another way to make people listen. “How many of you feel our society spends too much on medical care?” might be a way to begin a presentation about curbing costs.
Whatever technique you use, when you grab the attention of the audience you are on your way to a successful speech.
Be energetic
Second, be energetic in delivery. Speak with variety in your voice. Slow down for a dramatic point and speed up to show excitement. Pause occasionally for effect. Don’t just stand behind the lectern, but move a step away to make a point. When you are encouraging your audience, take a step toward them. Gesture to show how big or wide or tall or small an object is that you are describing. Demonstrate how something works or looks or moves as you tell about it. Show facial expression as you speak. Smile when talking about something pleasant and let your face show other emotions as you tell about an event or activity. Whatever your movements, they should have purpose.
Structure
Structure your speech. Don’t have more than two or three main points, and preview in the beginning what those points will be. With each point, have two or three pieces of support, such as examples, definitions, testimony, or statistics. Visual aids are important when you want your audience to understand a process or concept or understand a financial goal. Line graphs are best for trends. Bar graphs are best for comparisons and pie graphs are best for showing distribution of percentages.
Transitions
Tie your points together with transitions. These could be signposts such as “First,” “Second,” or "Finally." Use an internal summary by simply including the point you just made and telling what you plan to talk about next. “Now that we have talked about structure, let’s move on to the use of stories,” would be an example. When you have an introduction, two or three main points with support for each, appropriate transitions, and a conclusion, you will have your speech organized in a way that the audience can follow you easily.
Tell story
Tell your own story somewhere in the presentation--especially in a technical presentation. Include a personal experience that connects to your speech content, and the audience will connect with you. You want to help the audience link emotionally with what you are talking about, and the personal experience does that. With almost any topic you might choose, you have at least one “war story” to relate to the topic. When you tell the story, simply start at the beginning and move chronologically through the narrative, including answers to the "W" questions: Who, What, When, Why, and Where.
Include visual aid
To add interest and understanding to your speech, include a visual aid. A visual aid could be an object, a flip chart, a PowerPoint presentation, overhead projector slides, or a dry erase board. Whatever visual you are using, make sure everyone can see it. The best way to insure this is to put the visual where you will be speaking, and then find the seat farthest from it and determine if you can read the visual from that seat.
Introduce the visual properly rather than simply throwing it at your audience; explain what the visual will do before you unveil it. Don’t allow the visual to become a silent demonstration. Keep talking as you show the visual. You are still the main event and your visual is an aid. Look at your audience, not your visual. When the visual is not in use, hide it from the audience. Humans are a curious lot, tending to keep looking at the object and losing track of the speaker—you!
In a persuasive speech
If you are delivering a persuasive speech, in addition to your own stories include testimony of experts whom the audience respects and whose views reinforce your points. Add a key statistic when possible to show the seriousness of what you are discussing. For example, if I were discussing the need for improved listening to better serve your customers, I might add that although we spend half of our communication time in listening, our listening efficiency is only about 25%. By using stories, testimony, and statistics in your persuasive talk, you add depth to your evidence.
Delivery
There are other factors in your delivery.
Eye contact
Look at the audience as you speak. If it is a small audience, you can look at each person in a short period of time. If it is a large audience, look at the audience in small “clumps” and move from one clump to another. One way to insure good eye contact is to look at your audience before you start to speak. Go to the lectern and pause, smile, look at the audience, and then speak. This will help you maintain good eye contact throughout your presentation as well as commanding immediate attention.
One of the ways to have consistently good eye contact is not to read your speech. Use note cards that have key words on them. The word or phrase should trigger the thought in your mind and then you can speak it. If you are including a quotation or complex statistics, reading from your note card actually lends credibility. If you write out your speech you will tend to read it and lose eye contact with the audience, as well as not being as enthusiastic in delivery as when you speak from note cards.
"Wow" factor
Include a “wow” factor in your speech. Something in your speech should make your audience think, “Wow!” It could be a story, a dramatic point, an unusual statistic, or an effective visual that helps the audience understand immediately. With a “wow” factor, you then have something to look forward to in the speech that you know will have an impact on your audience. You’ll become a more enthusiastic speaker because the “wow” factor will get you as well as your audience pumped for the speech.
Humor
Consider using a touch of humor in your speech. Don’t panic at this suggestion; you are not becoming a comedian but rather lightening up a serious speech so that people will be more accepting and interested in your ideas. Humor will help you to be perceived as an amiable person, and it is hard for people to disagree or be bored if they are smiling at you. Until you have lots of experience, keep your humor short. Perhaps inject a one-liner or a quotation. Yogi Berra said a lot of funny things. “You can observe a lot just by watching” for example.
Tell a short embarrassing moment in your life that you might have thought not funny at the time. Now that you can laugh at the experience, you understand the old adage, “Humor is simply tragedy separated by time and space.” Don’t poke fun at your audience; you should be the object of any shortcoming, showing that you can laugh at yourself.
Avoid long stories or jokes. Even seasoned speakers know that funny stories soon become unfunny if they go on too long. Probably the least risky use of humor is a cartoon. The cartoon is separate from you and if people don’t laugh, you don’t feel responsible. (Be sure to secure permission to use it.)
Something to think about
Finally, leave the audience with something to think about. People remember best what you say last. You might summarize your main points, or you might complete the statement, “What I want you to do as a result of this presentation is....” But beyond that, make your last words a thought to ponder. For example, I might end a speech on becoming a better speaker with "As Cicero said centuries ago, 'The skill to do comes with the doing.'"
A more modern guide to effective public speaking was penned by some unknown sage: "Know your stuff. Know whom you are stuffing. Know when they are stuffed."
Summary
One never becomes a “perfect” speaker; developing public speaking skills is a life-long experience. But the points discussed here will get you started in becoming the speaker you want to be and the speaker your audience wants to hear.
Overcome the Fear of Speaking to Groups
A great fear that many people have is speaking before a group or audience. The primary reason is that they are afraid of looking foolish in front of other people. The way to overcome this fear is through preparation, a safety net, and a positive attitude toward the audience.
Questions you may have include:
Why are people so afraid of public speaking?
What are ways to overcome this fear?
How can I apply these methods?
Reasons for Fear
The fear of speaking is rated as only second to the fear of snakes and before the fear of dying.
Effects of fear
What happens to many people is that--even before they start speaking--their heart starts beating faster and their mouth gets dry. Some may even get nauseous or feel like fainting.
Once the person starts talking, the heart keeps beating rapidly and the person may hear his or her voice tremble. The legs or even the whole body may start shaking. The person may also stutter or start speaking rapidly.
Although some people calm down, once they get going, others may ramble through the material incoherently.
Do you wonder why many people don't want to go through that ordeal again?
My experience
When I was in high school, I was terrified of speaking in front of the class. I would tremble and my mouth would fill with saliva. The only way I could effectively give a presentation to the class was to sit in a chair. My English teacher frowned on this and thought I was just trying to be different or difficult.
Looking foolish
The reason most people get anxious when required to speak to a group is that they are afraid of looking foolish or stupid in front of many of their peers and important people. They are afraid that their mind will go blank or that their lack of speaking skills will lower the opinion others have of them.
Being humiliated can destroy a person's ego and confidence. In fact, it can really ruin your day.
Steps to overcome that fear
There are several steps of tricks to use to overcome the fear of making a mistake or looking foolish when you speak to a group:
Be well-prepared before speaking to a group
Practice your speech
Have a backup, in case you forget what you want to say
Reduce the fear of your audience
Relax yourself just before you speak
In the following material, I will explain each of those points.
1. Be well prepared
One of the best ways to make sure you don't make foolish mistakes is to be well prepared before you speak to a group. You should know what are going to talk about, who you will speak to, and under what conditions you will speak.
Leave nothing to chance
A professional in any field does not leave anything to chance before a big game, important performance, or critical presentation to corporate executives. Strategies are laid out, all material is ready, contingency plans are made, and every detail is taken care of.
When you are well prepared, chances of failure or goof-ups are greatly reduced. You feel more relaxed and sure of yourself, because you have all the bases covered.
Your material
You need to know exactly what you are going to talk about. This doesn't mean to memorize exactly what you plan to say. Rather, it is to have a good outline of facts and information that you can talk about.
Know audience
It is good to be aware of what type of audience you will be speaking before. This will give you an idea of the subject matter and tone of your speech. If you are speaking before some important people or at an important event, that fact may increase your anxiety. But it is good to know up front, so that you can properly prepare for the occasion.
Conditions
It is good to check over the conditions under which you will speak. If you can, go up to the lectern to check things over and get a feel for things. If you will use a microphone, check it out.
In some situations, a person may simply make a presentation in a meeting room at work. Even then, it is a good idea to check out the room beforehand and try to visualize how you will be doing things.
Note that going through this process will actually relax you and give you more confidence when it is your turn to speak.
2. Practice
You should practice your speech many times before you give it.
Even if you know your material very well, practice is extremely important. The more you give a talk, the more automatic it becomes, the more meat it can have, and the more confidence you have in your abilities to give the speech.
Practice alone
Ways to practice alone are to first simply say the speech out loud. This is good to get the material more ingrained in your memory.
Use a mirror
Then say the speech, looking into a mirror. This is good to do, because you must concentrate more. You also get an idea of how you look when speaking. Finally, if you must refer to notes, it allows you to practice eye contact with the audience.
Stand in the corner
An interesting trick is to say your speech while standing in the corner. The sound reflects back to you, and you can get a good idea how you sound when you speak.
Record your practice
Another way to practice is using a tape recorder. This forces you to avoid pausing to try to remember things. It also allows you to play the speech back to study how you sound, your phrasing, and the content of the material.
Use a friendly audience
Practice before friends. This is a very important way to practice, because it is getting closer to the "real world" of speaking to a group. Even an audience of one person is good for this type of practice.
3. Have a backup
It is worthwhile to bring along a "security blanket" or "safety net" in case something goes wrong in your presentation. The main thing to worry about is forgetting what you were going to say next. This can happen even if you've done extensive practicing of the speech.
Outline
It is good to have your speech outlined on a few sheets of paper or on 3 X 5 cards. You can then refer to them in case you have a mental lapse. Referring to your notes is certainly acceptable to an audience, as long as you are not reading a speech word-for-word from a script.
Reduces anxiety
One thing that having a safety net provides is that it reduces you anxiety about forgetting what you were going to say or having your mind go blank. You may never even use the cards, but the fact that you have them--just in case--can greatly reduce the butterflies.
4. Reduce fear of your audience
The more important the audience or the occasion, the greater your fear can be. You don't want to look like a fool in front of the bosses at work, your peers, or even your friends and relatives.
Not that important
One method to overcome this fear is to visualize the people as not all that important. An old trick is to imagine that the audience is naked. Or perhaps imagine them all in clown outfits. A ridiculous image will make them seem not all that important.
Use positive approach
The problem with that method is that it seems somewhat negative. If you look down at your audience, it may be reflected in your speech. I prefer a more positive approach.
You have to realize that the audience is usually on your side. They want to hear what you have to say and to see you do well. Before you give your speech, think of them as caring, friendly people who want to hear you speak. It is just like talking to your friends.
The positive image should relax you and put you in a good frame of mind. The audience will also read your body language and respond accordingly.
5. Relax before speaking
When you are introduced to speak, take three breaths to settle you down before you get out of your chair. Then when you go up to the lectern, thank the person who introduced you and then count to 10 before you start speaking.
This will allow the audience to get settled and ready to hear you. It also is a way that you are showing that you are now in control.
It is not easy to do, because you have to look at the audience and panic may settle in. But if you have made all the preparations, you can be sure of yourself and deserve to be in control of the situation. It is a good feeling.
Applying your skills
If you have to speak before groups at school, work or in some organizations, it is good to practice speaking more often to hone your skills and to reduce any fears you may have. You can take classes in public speaking in night school, join Toastmasters, or find other opportunities to speak to groups.
Toastmasters
A good place to practice your speeches and to get helpful guidance in giving presentation is through your local Toastmaster Club. It is a well-run organization that helps millions of people hone their speaking skills and overcome any fears they have in speaking.
Summary
Many people are afraid to speak before a group or audience, because they fear looking foolish in front of other people. The way to overcome the fear of speaking to a group is to make sure you are well prepared, have some backup material ready in case you forget your lines, visualize your audience as not so important, and practice as much as you can before you speak.
Know Your Audience Before Speaking to a Group
Your goal in speaking to a group is to either inform, persuade or entertain them. To achieve any or all of those objectives, you should know their interests, likes and dislikes. Before you speak to a group of people, you should learn as much about them and their interests as possible. You can can also find information about them and their mood at the beginning and during your speech. You can then tailor your speech to their needs and to better assure a positive reaction from them.
Questions you may have include:
Why should you find out about the audience?
How can you find out about the audience?
What rewards can be gotten from knowing the audience?
Why you need to know your audience
Your purpose in speaking to a group is to inform, persuade, or entertain the audience. Your motivation is to get satisfaction from expressing your ideas and getting recognition or applause from the audience.
In order to achieve your purpose, as well as to get the expression and applause you desire, you must satisfy the audience with something in which they are interested. Thus, it is important to know what your audience is interested in, what their expectations are and even what mood they are in.
How to find out about the audience
You can find out about the audience through research before you speak, through interaction at the beginning of your talk, and by making adjustments during the speech.
Before you speak
Before you speak--and even before you prepare your speech--you should know what sort of audience you will have. What is the nature of the group? What do they expect to hear from you? Do they have any special interests or prejudices about which you should be aware?
Who is in the audience?
In speaking to a group of managers at work, you have a good idea of who will be in the audience. There may be some individuals to be wary of or to whom you should focus the speech. For example, I knew an Air Force Major who would always direct his speech to the highest ranking officer in the audience. He knew who was important to his career in giving his presentations.
Gain rapport
If you find out about some key people in the audience, you can use them in your opening comments to gain rapport with the audience. Everyone likes a humorous comment about the boss--at your expense, not at his or hers.
At the beginning of the talk
Comments you make at the beginning of the speech or presentation can give you clues about your audience and their expectations.
Comedian tested audience
Old-time comedian Milton Berle would start off his comedy routines before large audiences by telling five different types of one-liner jokes. From the reaction he got from the jokes, he would know if the majority of the audience was in the mood for silly humor, political humor, or blue jokes. Berle had an encyclopedic mind for jokes and comedy routines, so he would then present the routine that was effective for the particular audience that night.
Prepare for some modifications
Although, you can't be expected to have several versions of a speech or presentation, you can use some opening remarks and responses from the audience to give you an idea of the direction of their interest and perhaps their mood. If the audience seems in a light mood, perhaps you could sprinkle in a few jokes to keep their interest. If they seemed to be very serious about your topic, you could get right to the meat of the matter.
Don't be a self-centered speaker
Nothing is worse than going to a speech, wanting to hear some information, and having the speaker drone on and on about something of no interest to you or most of the audience. The speaker must get an idea in the beginning of his talk concerning what the audience wants--not what he or she wants to say.
During the talk
While you are giving a talk, you can often tell if the audience is enthralled with your material or if they are getting bored or restless. The problem usually occurs when the speaker is so caught up in what he or she is saying that the audience might as well not be there.
What's wrong with you people?
In a humorous talk, the speaker can usually tell if things aren't going good if there is silence and the audience is not laughing at the jokes. Some humorous speakers will blame the audience and say, "What's wrong with you people? This is funny material." Maybe it is funny to him, but apparently it isn't to this audience.
Don't get them bored
In any situation where it seems that the audience is getting restless or bored, the best thing to do is to summarize things and to end your talk. It is better to have a shorter speech than to go too long and bore people. This is true in any speech.
Benefits of know the audience
When you know what the audience wants and likes, when you know what mood the audience is in, and when you know something about the audience, they become more interested in what you have to say.
Often the speaker does not even have to be a good speaker, and sometimes the subject does not have to be very good, but if the audience feels there is good communication, they will listen and enjoy the speech. They will also give good recognition and applause for the effort.
Knowing the audience can result in the benefits you want form giving the talk.
Summary
A successful speaker achieves the goals of expression, listener satisfaction and desired rewards. You should be aware of your goals as you pursue success in speaking.
How to Cure the "Verbal Virus" A Five-Step Treatment Plan
Warning! You may be infected with a virus that could be lethal to your sales, your public relations and even your social life. I call it a "Verbal Virus".
Questions you may have about this are:
What is a verbal virus?
What harm do they do?
How can they be corrected?
Meaningless fillers
Verbal viruses are meaningless fillers that speckle our speech, distract from your message, drain our impact and annoy listeners. I call them verbal viruses because they seem to be contagious and we pick them up without being aware of it.
Common ones
The most common verbal viruses are: "uh" "um" "like" "you know" "well" "okay" and "sort of". They also include annoying mouth sounds and lip smacks.
You sound unsure
Verbal viruses are jarring to the ear and inconsistent with a professional image. They can make you sound unsure, unprepared and poorly educated. The good news about verbal viruses is that they are easily cured.
5-step plan
Here is a 5-step plan for prevention, treatment and cure:
1. Diagnose the problem
Since verbal viruses are unconscious, the only way you'll hear them is on tape. Record a few of your phone calls on a typical business day to quickly determine if you are suffering from a verbal virus infection.
2. Pause
Whenever you catch yourself saying a non-word, just stop talking. Say nothing. This gap of silence will feel scary at first, but if the pause is no longer than 5 seconds, the listener will scarcely notice. A pause will help you gather your thoughts while giving the listener time toreflect on what you have just said.
3. Record the voicemail messages you leave for others
Listen to them at the end of the day and note whether or not unwanted fillers have crept into your messages.
4. Enlist the help of a friend or spouse
Explain what you are trying to do and invent a code word he or she can use every time you use a filler word. The constant reminder will help you break the habit fast.
5. Take a breath
When you feel you are about to use a non-word, take a breath, hold it for a moment and then begin to speak. The focus on your breathing will occupy your mind, keep you calm and centered and make the silence between the words seem much less scary.
Summary
You should try to avoid using meaningless fillers when you speak. They can distract from our message. A plan to prevent using these "verbal viruses" is to diagnose the problem and take steps like pausing or taking a breath before speaking.
Be Brief in Public Speaking
Centuries ago great speakers often spoke two hours and more. But today when sound bytes on television news are the norm and serious problems are solved in an hour on a television drama, audiences are most interested in speakers that get their points across in a short period of time. In a speech delivered to a Women in Communication audience, Patricia Ward Brash said, "Television has helped create an impatient society, where audiences expect us to make our point simply and quickly."
Questions you may have include:
What about modern speakers?
What are some guidelines to follow?
What rewards can be gotten from knowing the audience?
Great speakers brief
Today, great speakers are noted for their brevity.
Billy Graham, in a recent city-wide campaign in Cincinnati, spoke about 20 minutes each night. Theodore Sorensen in his book Kennedy gave guidelines by which President Kennedy prepared speeches. No speech was more than 20-30 minutes. He wasted no words and his delivery wasted no time. He rarely used words he considered hackneyed or word fillers.
As Purdue communications professor and researcher Josh Boyd wrote, "In physics, power is defined as work divided by time. In other words, more work done in less time produces more power. In the same way, a speaker's message is most powerful when he [or she] can deliver a lot of good material in a short amount of time."
Guidelines
Here are guidelines to make brevity a key foundation in your next speech.
1. Keep stories under 2 minutes
First, keep your stories under two minutes in length. In preparing a story, continue to ask the question, "How can I say this in less time and in fewer words?" Script out your story and then seek to condense it.
There is an adage in using humor: "The longer the story the funnier it had better be." Connecting this principle to stories in general, we might say, "The longer the story, the more impact it had better have." To make sure your stories stay under two minutes, include only information that answers the questions, "Who?" "What?" "When?" "Where?" and "Why?" If it doesn't answer one of these questions, leave it out.
Make sure also that you have a sense of direction in the story. Each part of the story should move toward the conclusion in the mind of the listener. The listener should always feel you are going somewhere in developing your story.
2. Less is better
Second, when possible, follow the proverb, "Less is better than more." Never use three words when you can say it in two. Leave out clichés, filler words, and hackneyed words, such as "You know," "OK," and "All right." Leave out phrases such as "Let me be honest," or blunt, or frank. Avoid "In other words…" or "To say it another way…"
Speak in short sentences, short phrases, and short words. Word choice should be instantly clear to an audience. Make it a goal to make every word have impact in your speech.
3. Practice to find length
Third, know the length of your speech by practicing it. Never be surprised by the length of your speech. Never say to an audience, "I'm running out of time, so I must hurry along." You should know because of your preparation and practice of the speech.
To go one step further, if you know the time limit on your speech is 20 minutes, stop a minute short; don't go overtime. Audiences will appreciate your respect of their time and will think more highly of you as a speaker because of that. You should never be surprised by how long it takes you to deliver a speech.
4. Divide speech into segments
Fourth, learn to divide parts of your speech into time segments. Let's use a 20-minute speech as an example. The introduction should be no longer than 2½ minutes. You can get the attention and preview your message easily in that length of time. Avoid opening with generalizations about the weather or the audience. Let the audience know up front that every word you speak counts.
Spend the bulk of your time in the body of the speech. This is where you make your points and give support or evidence for each point. The final two minutes should be your summary and move to action statement. Some speakers have a hard time concluding. When you say you are going to conclude, do so. As one wise person stated, "Don't dawdle at the finish line of the speech."
Have few points
One way to keep your speech brief is to have few points in the body of your speech—no more than three. With a maximum of three points, you will have the self-discipline to condense rather than amplify. In organizing your material, accept the fact you will always have more material than you can cover and that you will only include material that relates to one of the two or three points you plan to make. Trying to cover four to six points will almost invariably make you go overtime in your speech.
Summary
A key to success in speaking is not just having something worthwhile to say, but also saying it briefly. We need to follow the speaking axiom, "Have a powerful, captivating opening and a strong, memorable close, and put the two of them as close together as possible."
Succeed by Studying Great Speeches
Successful people often present their ideas through giving speeches. Some write their thoughts and beliefs or use professional speech writers to reflect their concepts. Some are also eloquent speakers, who can arose or move an audience. What these people have to say is also of significance for historical or business theory studies.
There is need for people who can effectively write such speeches, either for themselves or for others. There is also a need for those who can make presentations and speak to others. Your knowledge and skills in this area can help advance your career or improve your business.
The purpose of these free online lessons is to give you a start at improving your writing, speaking, historical or business skills.
EXTRA READING
Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention.
Practice and rehearse your speech at home or where you can be at ease and comfortable, in front of a mirror, your family, friends or colleagues. Use a tape-recorder and listen to yourself. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Know what your strong and weak points are. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.
When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic.
Establish rapport with your audience. Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to project to the back of the room. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly.
Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary.
Master the use of presentation software such as PowerPoint well before your presentation. Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them.
Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience effectively. The material you present orally should have the same ingredients as that which are required for a written research paper, i.e. a logical progression from INTRODUCTION (Thesis statement) to BODY (strong supporting arguments, accurate and up-to-date information) to CONCLUSION (re-state thesis, summary, and logical conclusion).
Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. No need to make excuses or apologize profusely.
Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.
Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. If what you have prepared is obviously not getting across to your audience, change your strategy mid-stream if you are well prepared to do so. Remember that communication is the key to a successful presentation. If you are short of time, know what can be safely left out. If you have extra time, know what could be effectively added. Always be prepared for the unexpected.
Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.
Add humor whenever appropriate and possible. Keep audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same.
When using audio-visual aids to enhance your presentation, be sure all necessary equipment is set up and in good working order prior to the presentation. If possible, have an emergency backup system readily available. Check out the location ahead of time to ensure seating arrangements for audience, whiteboard, blackboard, lighting, location of projection screen, sound system, etc. are suitable for your presentation.
Have handouts ready and give them out at the appropriate time. Tell audience ahead of time that you will be giving out an outline of your presentation so that they will not waste time taking unnecessary notes during your presentation.
Know when to STOP talking. Use a timer or the microwave oven clock to time your presentation when preparing it at home. Just as you don't use unnecessary words in your written paper, you don't bore your audience with repetitious or unnecessary words in your oral presentation. To end your presentation, summarize your main points in the same way as you normally do in the CONCLUSION of a written paper.
Remember, however, that there is a difference between spoken words appropriate for the ear and formally written words intended for reading. Terminate your presentation with an interesting remark or an appropriate punch line. Leave your listeners with a positive impression and a sense of completion. Do not belabor your closing remarks. Thank your audience and sit down.
10 Tips for Public Speaking
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
3. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environ
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