Category Archives: Motivational

Dec 19 0 comments
Motivational

7 Public Speaking Survival Tips

Mark Tyrrell wrote:


to be terrified of public speaking - now it’s natural and fun.

Dry mouth, fast heart, sweaty palms, blank mind - yeah I’ve been there! It’s easy to fear public speaking. But I was never just content with overcoming fear. I wanted to be a great speaker. What I needed was a way of calming down and applying simple techniques and strategies to talk like a pro.

When I’d learned to relax (more of that later) I learned and applied the following four steps.

1 Reassure your audience - they need to know you know your stuff and you are human! 2 Hook them by being interesting and relevant. Tell them why what you are saying is relevant to them. 3 Inspire them by giving them information and ways of seeing that are new and applicable. 4 Leave them on a high by telling a story them encapsulates your central message . How do you become confident enough to apply the four steps?

Here’s some tips some of which are practical some of which are to do with the way you think about your public presentations and also how you can start to change the way you feel about them.

Tip One

Breath your way to calm. When you breath out you relax that’s why people sigh when they’re stressed.

Breathing in without breathing out causes hyperventilation and worsens anxiety. Just before your speech take five minutes breathing in to the count of seven and out to the count of eleven (quick count-not seconds!). On the out breath hold it a second before breathing in again. This will produce quick and lasting calm. Remember extending the out breath calms you down.

Tip Two

You have a responsibility as the presenter but relax you don’t carry all the responsibility. Presenting is a team effort. Audiences are responsible for politeness, extending their attention and attempting to learn. It’s not all you-it’s a meeting of two halves. Never mind how they judge you. How do you judge them?

Tip Three

Use metaphor and stories. We all experience life metaphorically. The most technical logical person spends at least two hours a night dreaming! Talk detail if necessary but present patterns with metaphors. Folk from 4 to 104 love stories. Use em.

Tip four

Captivate attention by using words that evoke all the senses. Describe how things look, sound, feel, smell and taste. Paint pictures and sensations in their minds with your words.

Tip Five

Vary your voice tonality and speed of delivery. Keep them alert and engaged. Convey energy when need be and slow down when you need to ‘draw them in close.’ You are the conductor to their orchestra. And pepper your talk with humour. Your willingness to be funny shows personal confidence and confidence is contagious.

Tip Six

Tell them what they are going to get. What they are currently getting and then what they have got from you. Sell your sizzle!

Tip Seven

Watch and learn from other great speakers until compelling, relaxed speaking is a part of you.

Rehearse positively. You need to rehearse how your going to feel as well as what you are going to present. Don’t think about your forthcoming presentation whilst feeling nervous as this creates an instinctive association between fear and presenting. This natural negative self-hypnosis is very common with nervous speakers.

Hypnotically rehearse your speech whilst feeling relaxed. This produces the right ‘blueprint’ in your mind. In fact when you do this enough times it actually becomes hard to be nervous!

All great speakers know how to use great self-hypnotic rehearsal. Hypnosis changes attitudes and can bring emotion under control. I used hypnosis, to change my instincts around public speaking. Now I just can’t get nervous whether it’s 50 or 500 people. The world needs great communicators. Go for it!



Dec 14 0 comments
Motivational

Five Elements of Public Speaking

Art Gib wrote:


When you are trying to choose one of many motivational speakers, there are five elements of public speaking that you should keep in mind as you make your list.

Speaker

Many conference coordinators are willing to book a speaker based completely on who they are. Whether they are an expert in a certain field of study, a successful athlete, a coveted comedian or a famous celebrity, heroes do have a tendency to attract attention and audiences. Reputation is not the only thing that makes a good motivational speaker though.

Message

The most important part of public speaking is the message itself; not the person who delivers it. The most obscure individual can still accomplish the things you need them to if they have the ability to speak well. This means that a good motivational speaker does more than simply inform their listeners. He or she should be able to influence their emotions, their thoughts and even their actions with the words they speak.

Audience

Audiences can be anything from critical or receptive to responsive or apathetic, but you can give your guest speaker a head start by simply matching the right audience with the right speaker. For example, businessmen will probably understand and respect another businessman more than they would an athlete or a musician. Simply match up your audience with a speaker they can relate to and understand.

Medium

In public speaking, the main medium for communicating is an individual’s voice. With more technology available though, some speaker may choose to use other forms of media during their speech like power point presentations, hand outs, videos and pictures. Although these extra props are not necessary for success, they can add a lot to a presentation; especially if your audience is made up of visual learners.

Results

Different speakers are designed to accomplish different result. For example, comedians are primarily hired to entertain an audience and make them laugh. Inspirational speakers appeal to emotion and good stories and motivational speakers are meant to lead people to action. Consequently, the kind of speaker you hire will largely affect the kind of result you will see.

Budget

Even though it isn’t an element of public speaking, budget is another factor that most event coordinators have to consider. Motivational speaker fees can cost as little as a couple thousand dollars to more than one hundred thousand dollars. The price is influenced by their fame, their speaking capability, the expertise, and their availability.



Nov 26 0 comments
Motivational

Preparation Techniques for Public Speaking

Faye B. Roberts wrote:


Preparation for public speaking is more than fact-finding or effective writing and then repeating the words by rote to your audience. Learning the more subtle skills like voice control and modulation, paper and equipment handling, posture and presentation, humor and timing, ease and confidence all require preparation.

Preparation techniques for public speaking includes practice, “real” practice, not just memorization. We’re all familiar with the adage, Practice make perfect”. But practice does not make perfect,Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.

Practice in front of a mirror 10 to 15 minutes a day, two or three times until the event. Practice speaking at the correct volume for the crowd and room size. You do not want to be overpowering or too faint to be heard.

Speak slowly and clearly. After reading a line, pause and look in the mirror, pretending you are looking at the audience, then return to your speech and repeat. To get immediate and realistic feedback, record your speech into a tape recorder and then listen critically.

You will hear where your strong points lie and the areas that need improvement. Doing that even once is worth ten silent read-throughs In the same way, one stand-up practice in front of friends and family members is worth ten read-alouds in front of a mirror. There will be nothing as helpful as practice and preparation to reduce or eliminate fear of public speaking. Practice, practice, practice.

Visualize your presentation in advance. Not only will your proficiency be increased by visualization, but so will your self confidence. Visualize yourself standing erect and proud, giving a flawless speech, the audience eager to hear every word. See yourself up on stage, fearless and powerful, connecting with your audience. Feel your pride. Hear the applause.

The fear of public speaking ranks high in the ratings of phobias. One of just many of the reasons for this is because of fear that someone in the audience may ask a difficult question after your speech, so anticipate and be ready with answers. There may of course be a question you haven’t anticipated and don’t know the answer to. Simply state, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you”. This will help eliminate your fear of ‘unanswerable questions’ and you can concentrate on your presentation.

Using these preparation techniques for public speaking will help to reduce or eliminate your stage fright. You’ve never learned how to do anything hard without practice, and speaking is the same way. Practice. You owe it to yourself and your audience.



Jun 07 0 comments
Motivational

The Guaranteed Cure for Severe Public Speaking Anxiety

Al Gammate wrote:


Public speaking is the most prevalent fear, I heard. And I believe it, because my acquaintances have this fear. However, people do not have the fear to the extent that I had. There were times where I, completely freezing at a scheduled speech, could not perform at all. But usually before this happens, I attempt to cancel the scheduled speech or not show up.

My public speaking fear began in the ninth grade of middle school. I vividly remember the turning point. I spent days preparing for a history class speech. As I sat in the history class, ready to give my speech, a friend seated next to me began teasing me. He laughed, “You look nervous.” “Are you sweating?” “You will hyperventilate while giving your speech.” “Don’t stutter and shake while standing in front of the class.” The teasing continued for some time, since others were scheduled to speak before me.

Then the teacher called my name; I walked to the front of the class. I looked at the audience, spotting my friend who was teasing me. He eyed me, smiling. Fear coldly filled me. My hands frozen, I began to breathe rapidly, concentrating difficultly. Speaking quickly, I stuttered, stumbled, and sometimes paralyzed. Time slowed; I torturously concluded my speech. The sympathetic audience did not ask me any questions during my speech conclusion. I returned to my seat in the back of the class-defeated.

Before this incident, I easily gave speeches, giving them well. But after this incident, my public speaking fear was born. I am sure that my friend who teased me never intended for this to happen. He probably thought his teasing was good-natured.

Throughout high school, I difficultly and poorly gave speeches. After every failed speech, my confidence waned. When I entered college, speeches petrified me. So whenever I enrolled in a course requiring me to give a speech, I quickly dropped the course and added a course without this requirement. By the time I graduated from college, dropped and added courses riddled my transcript.

Afterwards, I entered graduate school. I was in trouble; almost every course required me to give speeches. This panicked me. I performed poorly on the scheduled speeches that I attended. I did not attend many of them. Whenever I gave a speech, the audience gazed downwardly, attempting to ease the situation. After some time in graduate school, the mere thought of giving a speech terrorized me. My grades suffered. However, I eventually graduated.

Following graduate school, I entered the workforce. My job required me to regularly give speeches to large audiences. Unaware of this requirement, I accepted the job offer. Public speaking situations followed me wherever I went. I had to find the solution-fast. So during my spare time, I read articles and books on public speaking fear. Reading, I found the following:

1. Strong feelings of specific situations are produced by mentally connecting the feelings and situations together. For example, you, strongly fearing driving, fearfully experienced car accidents or fearfully heard about someone who experienced them. So whenever you drive a car, you fear. If you fear enough, you avoid driving. The same is true for fear and public speaking.

2. Some people are born with sensitive sympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system protects you from danger. For example, you, being chased by a wolf pack, run more energetically; because your sympathetic nervous system released large adrenaline amounts into your blood stream. This adrenaline also causes you to breathe rapidly, sweat, quiver, and shake. However, some people’s sympathetic nervous systems are easily triggered, triggered by even safe events. These people overreact to events.

3. Some people are born with brains wired for worry, fear, depression, frustration, or agitation. Brains wired this way have low levels of a calming chemical naturally produced in the brain. This chemical is called Serotonin. Serotonin calms the brain, producing feelings of relaxation and well-being. Also people born with normal brains, thinking negatively, lower their Serotonin levels. Therefore negative thinking, genetics, or both contribute to low Serotonin levels.

4. People diffident in giving speeches, being unprepared, fail at giving speeches. The better prepared you are, the more confident you are.

5. A person regularly facing a specific fear loses the specific fear.

Using the above findings, I confidently and superbly give speeches. I solved a pandemic problem, because I believed it could be solved. Indeed, every problem has a solution, no matter how difficult the problem. However, I hope that is not all you learned from my story. My story implies that we are responsible for our circumstances. My friend’s teasing did not create my public speaking fear; my thinking created it. He set the stage, but I went along with it. My story also implies that bad things are not always bad things. Sometimes bad things are good things. If I never feared public speaking, I never would have created the cure for public speaking fear. Furthermore, my story implies that if you persistently pursue a goal, you attain the goal. My goal was to attain a graduate degree. Did you notice that no matter how bad things got, I never quit? I attained my graduate degree, though difficultly.