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PUBLIC SPEAKING

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, your self-esteem blossoms.

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.

In conclusion

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.

In your role as a public speaker, it is important that do your best and deliver excellent speeches. Your audience will appreciate the effort to provide quality, and doing so will increase your confidence and esteem. Excellence requires not only providing what is promised to the audience, but going beyond what is expected.

Questions you may have include:

·         What determines excellence?

·         What are the benefits to a speaker?

·         How can a public speaker achieve excellence?

What is excellence?

Excellence in public speaking concerns how well you give your speech and how good the speech itself is. Evaluation is both personal and by the audience.

Your evaluation

The first part of excellence relates to doing something to the best of your ability. If you set a goal of delivering an excellent speech, thoroughly prepare, then give your best performance, you have achieved that goal and done an excellent job at presenting the speech.

The second part of excellence for the public speaker is an evaluation of the speech itself. You can evaluate your speech by considering your abilities and your criteria of success. But the audience also evaluates the speech, according to their own expectations.

Audience viewpoint

A good speech is one that fulfills the stated requirements and is delivered without mistakes or hesitations. An excellent speech goes beyond what is required and exceeds the audience's expectations. It is synonymous with quality.

Excellence is in the eye of the beholder. If you have done your best, you may feel your speech is excellent. But some people in the audience may have different expectations and a different evaluation of whether or not the speech was excellent. That is why it is important to have an idea of expectations before proceeding on delivering your talk or presentation.

Benefits of an excellent speech

Benefits of giving an excellent speech can be an increase in your own confidence and esteem, as well as recognition and praise from the audience.

But it is also possible that you will receive criticism from those who did not think you were excellent.

Confidence and esteem

If you set a goal of giving a speech to the best of your ability and you succeed in that, you get the sense of achievement and confidence. It is a good feeling when you complete a difficult speech. It can increase your confidence in being able to even more challenging tasks.

Your evaluation of the speech to a large extent determines your self-esteem. If you have done your best, gone the extra mile and delivered what you feel is an excellent speech, you can feel proud of yourself and your abilities. It is especially gratifying if you can listen to a tape of your speech at a later time.

Praise

If your audience also feels your have done excellent work, you will receive applause and other forms of praise. You might even receive special compensation for your speech. Your audience will recognize you as an excellent speaker.

If you are speaking or making work-related presentations, your supervisor, the customer and your peers will recognize you as a person who does his or her best to produce a quality product. A speaker with a reputation for doing excellent work will certainly advance in his or her career.

Criticism

It is also possible that your audience had other expectations or that you did your best, but the requirements were beyond your skill-level. It is also possible that some people in the audience are the type  who do not acknowledge excellent work. In such a situation, you may receive no praise or acknowledgment. In fact, you may even be criticized for the "poor job" you did.

Be proud

If you feel you gave an excellent speech, you can still be proud of your work. But you must also evaluate whether you misinterpreted the requirements and expectations, there were unrealistic demands, or some personality issues. But still, be proud of your excellence.

Become excellent

The first thing in ensuring that you do excellent public speaking is to know the requirements for the speech you are to deliver. You must then work hard to develop the speech and practice your delivery per the requirements. You need to be well-prepared, with no uncertainty in what you will be saying.

The attitude of being excellent goes beyond simply satisfying audience requirements. It is delivering a speech that is beyond expectations. You should put in the extra touch of quality. For example, you could find out about individuals in your audience ahead of time and personalize your speech to meet their specific needs. Relating to the audience adds a touch of quality to a speech.

Giving an excellent speech is a natural progression from being healthy and skilled in speaking. It leads to being valuable to the audience and requires character to complete your assignment.

In conclusion

Giving an excellent speech will increase your confidence and esteem. You may also get praise for your speeches and advance in your career. Excellence requires satisfying the requirements and going beyond what is expected.

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?

Reason 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:

1.      Be well-prepared before speaking to a group

2.      Practice your speech

3.      Have a backup, in case you forget what you want to say

4.      Reduce the fear of your audience

5.      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 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.

In conclusion

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.

The manner in which you are introduced before you speak to a group—or even to an individual—is an important factor in the response you get. That is why you should make sure that you are properly introduced before you speak.

Questions you may have about this are:

·         How does the introduction affect audience response?

·         How can I make sure I get the right introduction?

·         Is there a good format to use?

Introduction affects audience response

The introduction to you as a speaker prepares the audience for what you have to say. It helps to them get in the proper frame of mind, as well as to lead them into your subject matter.

If the people are not familiar with you, it lets them know that you are an authority or knowledgeable about the subject matter. In fact, the introduction you get can actually be considered part of your speech or talk.

Make sure it is a good introduction

Although you do not have complete control over what another person is going to do, you can make some efforts to get the type of introduction you want. Giving the type of introduction material you want will help assure a good lead-in to you.

One way to make sure you are properly introduced is to give a written outline to the person doing the introduction. This not only tells the toastmaster or master-of-ceremonies what you feel is important, but it also makes the person's job easier.

Just remember that giving the person a well-written introduction is no guarantee that you will be properly introduced. You should realize that the person introducing you might not completely follow your script or may even ignore it..

Suggested format to use

Some people make introductions that are flowery and rambling. They often think it is an opportunity for them to be clever. Giving them concise notes on what is important on your speech will help them keep on track.

There is also the problem that if there is too much written about you, the person will not get to the important points. Again, being concise in what you write for your introduction is important.

What I suggest is to give a sheet of paper, or better yet a 3x5 card, with notes on:

1.      Qualifications on subject matter. "Has studied bees for 12 years."

2.      Job information. "Works as a clerk for Ace Trucking Company."

3.      Personal tidbit. "Hobby is skiing."

4.      Title of speech.

5.      Name.

Reading this material, in order, would result in a nice introduction that is to the point. It should prepare the audience for you and get them in the mood for an excellent speech or presentation.

In conclusion

It is important to be properly introduced to the audience before you speak. It prepares them for your subject and shows your credentials. Make sure you get a good introduction by giving the moderator a concise outline of information about you. This will help the success of your speech or presentation.

Everyone wants to have others listen to what they have to say. Other people will listen if it appears you have some interesting, valuable or important information to convey. They will also consider the source of the information and whether there is a possible or promised reward for listening. To get people to listen, you must have something to say or be able to provide some motivation for them.

Questions you may have include:

·         What is interesting or valuable information?

·         What sort of rewards would cause someone to listen?

·         How do you provide what they want?

Types of information

People will listen to what you say, if it is interesting, valuable, important or useful to them. Obviously, if you provide boring information, they will quickly tune out.

Interesting

Interesting information is something that you might want to know about or that may be amusing, entertaining or clever. It may be about the other person or something in which he or she is involved. Often, clever or unusual information is considered interesting.

Most people like to talk and hear about themselves or their interests.

Valuable

Information that is valuable would be something that might result in personal gain for the other person. For example, you might tell another person, "I have some valuable information concerning the stock market." 

A salesman may often have supposedly valuable information on how you can save money by buying his product.

Important

Information that is important is something that it vital, critical or highly desired. It is information that if not heeded or received can result in negative consequences.

Examples of important information might be that you need to go to a meeting at 10:00 AM at work or that you left your car lights on.

Useful

Useful information concerns what you can use or apply. For example, someone might tell you a good way to prevent squirrels from getting in the bird-feeder.

Boring

Useless or boring information is often things about another person or some subject about which you don't care.

Sources of information

The source of information determines whether or not a person will care to listen to it. If the person seems to be a viable source of important, useful or valuable information, you will tend to listen to it. If the person seems to have little creditability, his talking may go on deaf ears.

Friends

You often will listen to relatives, friends and acquaintances because of the social understanding that they will--in turn--listen to what you have to say. It is a fair exchange, usually not having to do with content.

Charisma

People who have good voices, charisma or are animated are often listened to as being interesting or entertaining.

Power

People with wealth and power will usually be listened to, because of their social position and ability to reward or punish, even if what they say is drivel.

You will listen to you boss talk about his personal experiences, even if they are boring, because you don't want to offend him.

Poor impression

If you can't reward another person, you sound boring or give the impression of not being worthwhile, other people often will not listen to the information you may have to give.

Getting people to listen

There are a number of things you can do to get people to listen to what you have to say.

Make a strong impression

Probably the most important thing to do in trying to get other people to listen to what you have to say is to make an impression of being a good source of interesting, useful, important or valuable information. This means that you should make sure what you say is worthwhile.

Know subject and person

You must also know whether your information is important, valuable or useful to the other person. You really have to know what the other person likes for you to pick an interesting topic.

Use qualifiers 

Some people use qualifiers before they speak. They can be effective in getting and keeping attention:

"This is real interesting. The paper says a man bit a dog."

"I've got some information that should be valuable to you. They're hiring a McDonald's."

"Quite please. This is important. Everyone must remain in their seats until the bell rings."

"Here's some information that should be useful to you. You can stop fish from smelling, by clogging up their noses."

On the other hand:

"Let me tell you about all the problems I've had throughout my life. First of all, 10 years ago..." Boring!

Be rich and beautiful

Obviously, if you have money, fame, good looks or such, people will tend to listen to you more than to the average person.

In conclusion

People will listen if you have some interesting, valuable or important information to say or if you are consider a source possible rewards. To get people to listen, you must have something to say or be able to provide some motivation for them. You can also use qualifiers to get their attention

In your role as a public speaker, it is important that your speaking skill and your speeches are considered valuable or important to your audience. In return, you will receive applause, praise and other rewards. Making sure you present speeches that are interesting and contribute to audience knowledge is a way to make yourself more valuable.

Questions you may have include:

·         What is valuable?

·         What benefits do you get as a valuable public speaker?

·         How do you improve your value?

Valuable service

Both the speech and the speaker can be considered valuable.

Speech

A speech that is valuable to an audience is one that provides information they can use to better their lives or their businesses. An important speech is one that is critical to their well-being. An entertaining speech can be considered valuable if it allows people to relax and relieve tensions. 

The criteria for value relates to what the audience wants or needs. It has to be something that interests them. It is considered valuable if they would pay good money to hear you or the topic.

Speaker

A speaker can be considered a valuable resource if he or she can provide a needed contribution to a meeting or event. A good speaker is valuable to the success of a banquet. Speakers can inspire and inform personnel at a business meeting or convention.

Being valuable is a natural progression from being healthy, knowledgeable, excellent and honorable. 

Benefits from being valuable

Providing an interesting and enjoyable speech will result in the audience giving you applause and praise. By being a valuable and important public speaker, you can establish a lucrative speaking career or progress in your profession. Companies will provide good compensation to a valuable speaker, who can present company information in an effective manner to an audience.

There is also the personal satisfaction of being important to the audience or your company.

Become valuable

As a speaker, you want to present a speech on a topic that is valuable and even important to the audience and is what they want to hear about. Certainly, the material in the speech must be presented in a manner that will effectively communicate its message. Also, the value of a speech is often based on the reputation of the speaker,

Content

The way to assure your speech is valuable or important to the audience is to find out what their interests, concerns, needs or desires are. Usually, a speaker will talk on his or her experiences, background or special interests. In such a case, it is important that the speech is presented to a specific audience, having the same interests.

For example, and expert on child behavior could provide a valuable speech to teachers and parents. On the other hand, a speaker who has had some amusing personal experiences may provide valuable comic relief to people seeking entertainment.

Reputation

The audience often will judge whether it is worthwhile to listen to a speech by the reputation of the speaker. Knowing a person is an expert in child behavior will mean that person is a valuable speaker. Likewise, hearing that the speaker is real funny, will prepare the audience to be entertained.

Sometimes a public speaker must do things outside the job description to increase his or her value or reputation. Self-promotion is common among popular speakers. Even if a speaker is not famous, awareness of his or her background will help to determine whether the speaker can provide some valuable or interesting information or entertainment.

In conclusion

Giving speeches that contribute to the audience's knowledge or enjoyment can make you valuable and important. The money you make and your career can benefit from being considered a valuable public speaker. To increase your value, you must publicize the perception that you are valuable.

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