Category Archives: Business

Dec 18 0 comments
Business

Why Public Speaking is Good for Your Business

Neil Bakewell wrote:


You don’t really want the hassle do you? You’re a busy person running a growing business – why on earth would you want to go out there to event and put yourself through the stress of having to give a public speech.

Well, there is one key reason – public speaking will help generate wealth for you and your business.

I’m not talking about giving speeches at great big events, I’m not taking about becoming a motivational speaker. I’m taking about giving speeches at small networking events or club gatherings.

Say you are an accountant giving a speech about tax returns to a small group of 25 that met once a fortnight. You are suddenly seen as an “authority” – you are the “speaker” – you are an “expert”. It is highly likely that out of those 25 people – 1,2 or even more are going to give you the pleasure of handling their tax returns for them.

Repeat this speaking process once a week at various events and you have an excellent way of generating new business. Why? Because public speaking turns you into the “expert” and people like doing business with “experts”.

A wealthy stockbroker I know caught on the idea of giving short speeches at private schools across England. He focused on prep schools. He gave a talk to parents about saving for university fees – he showed them how much it would cost to send their little angels to university. He generated “concern” amongst his audience – even the prospect of university was still more than ten years away. He then gave them a “solution” – he explained one of his investment portfolios to them and how it could generate enough funds to cover the costs. In just three months he ahs attracted over £2million in new business -just by giving a few speeches.

If you are in business and you can solve a “problem” for people then public speaking is a great way to attract more wealth for you and your company.



Dec 16 0 comments
Business

How To Prepare For Public Speaking With Brainstorming

Joshua Poon wrote:


You may not have much time left to prepare for your public speaking. So what are the things you will for your public speech? Here are some pointers that you can use:

1. Brainstorming

2. Short-term goals

3. Long-term goals

4. Evaluation

5. Reflection

Start with brainstorming. If you are in the process of writing your speech you will need to brainstorm the topic. For the next 10 minutes I want you to write as fast as you can, what you want for this speech. Once you are finished you will read aloud the notes you wrote down. As you write however, do not concern yourself with precision rather write down every thought that comes from your mind on the speech topic.

Now that you have written down every thing in your head, continue by evaluating your list of thoughts. As you speak aloud you may notice missing components that could enhance your speech. If you note these elements, accordingly write them down. Next, you will look for commonalities in the subject, i.e. look at the information and bring it together so that you compose working sentences that targets your long-term goal. The long-term goal is finishing the speech, while the short-term goal is putting the speech together.

Now we can look closer at the long-term goal. What is your goal? Obviously it is to become a public speaking star. Therefore, what do you need to reach this goal? How much effort are you willing to put into achieving this goal? How hard can you work to accomplish this goal?

Now you come to the point where you can reflect on your written thoughts, while considering the criteria of the goal. What parts of the thoughts did you write down that reflects on your long-term goal? What did you consider to bring this speech together?

Here comes the time that you must put those reflections in perspective. Underline, or mark the key words on your brainstorming paper. Noting these important keywords can help you to pull the speech together. Are these keywords the point? What other parts of the thoughts could you use to make the key points come together? Remember, the point of your speech is driving a point home, while pulling a speech together so that it flows chronologically and logically. As you finish the speech you want to make sure accuracy is available, as well as make sure the speech lacks grammar and spelling issues.

Now what? Well, if you haven not come up with ideals that will put your speech together you will need to follow these steps again until you come up with a working speech. If you are confused in some areas, be sure to research to find information that will back your topic. For example, if you write in the speech that brainstorming, evaluating and reflecting, as well as goals bring success, yet you have doubts. Find information that will support these claims so that you can give for instances in your speech. For instances are reference quotes that recite, which means that the audience is aware you are supporting your information through research completed and facts verified. You have backup!

While commonly people are aware that brainstorming, evaluating and reflecting are grounded facts, some areas of your speech may not have grounded facts. Please, get the facts and speak them loud and clear as you give your speech. In other words, always tell the truth while giving a speech. The truth is that some people will do whatever it takes a person to the top regardless of the facts. No, do not do that, the truth will set you free.



Dec 16 0 comments
Business

Public Speaking: Use Props to Make Your Presentation Memorable

Keith Longmire wrote:


Most of us are familiar with using visual aids in our public speaking. Even if you are not an active public speaker yourself it is pretty certain that you have suffered from the odd day or two of ‘death by PowerPoint’. There are alternatives.

One of the most memorable presentations I ever saw used a child’s toy as a prop. Jon was a project team leader. He had to give an update on his project to a group of team leaders, project managers and support staff. An audience of twenty five to thirty in all.

On the face of it his subject matter was not that great. He was responsible for the implementation of a payroll outsourcing service. The client was a pubic service works company. They were particularly well known as refuse collectors in the London area though the services they offered were much more wide ranging.

All in all, the client employed around 20,000 monthly paid staff and almost 10,000 weekly paid workers. At $2.00 a payslip this deal was worth just short of $1.5m per year. No small matter for a relatively junior project leader.

I was a bit surprised that Jon didn’t prepare any slides. Instead he turned up with a large plastic supermarket bag. When it came to his turn to present Jon stood up with his bag in his hand. He outlined the basic details above. And then reached into his bag and pulled out a pretty well used and abused child’s toy. It was a battered refuse truck.

Jon then proceeded to use features of the toy to illustrate his project.

To start with Jon pointed out that the two characters in the cab of the truck were not looking at each other. He used this to describe the relationship between the client’s project manager and their existing payroll manager. They didn’t get on, weren’t communicating with each other or him.

He then spun one of the wheels - it was distinctly wonky (does that translate in American?). When pushed the truck moved reluctantly and erratically. Again Jon used this to describe the difficulties in maintaining progress, directions and momentum.

The presentation continued in this vein for some time. Each quirk of the truck was used to illustrate some feature of the project. All delivered with wit and controlled humour.

Once we understood the difficulties Jon then explained what he had done to correct each problem. The wheels were aligned and balanced, the headlight fixed, the suspension greased.

At the end Jon pulled out a new toy refuse truck. It was bright and shiny and in the client’s corporate colours. Jon then removed the 2 figures from the cab of the first toy and placed them in the cab of the new one. Both figures were still rigidly facing in opposite directions. It seems he had fixed all he could but he couldn’t get these two protagonists talking.

Now, I can’t remember all the points that Jon made - it was more than five years ago. The fact that I remember the presentation at all is truly remarkable. How much of your public speaking is as memorable?

Next time you are tempted to base your public speaking on a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation you might just consider if you could use a prop instead.



Dec 13 0 comments
Business

How to be a Public Speaking Star with The Use Of Computers

Joshua Poon wrote:


How to be a Public Speaking Star with The Use Of Computers

No, you will not be giving a speech using computers. A computer cannot speak for you on stage. No, that is not what this topic is about. I am saying computers can help you get in touch, while helping you search for information. You can use computers to help you write your speech, as well as to help you research effectively, edit your work, check spelling and grammar and more. Computers can help you avoid wasting time; avoid never ending revising of your speech.

A well-written speech should be typed on a computer. This looks more professional than handwriting. Furthermore, speeches often require research, support, correspondence and so forth. If you have a computer you can e-mail important messages much faster than taking the message to the post office. Furthermore, you can use the powerful Search Engine to find out any information you are searching for on the speech topic.

How much better can it get. The Internet has a variety of newsletters, articles, headlines, magazines, newspaper and more that can put you in connection faster with important facts needed to finish your speech. Imagine spending hours at the local library compared to spending a few minutes online. After all, it’s all about saving time and working sufficiently.

The Internet also has libraries all over the world with available information that will help you with the research process. Imagine delivering a ground-breaking speech to the public that is saturated with facts you can verify. The libraries often have helpful information and some libraries will literally find the information for you if it is not available in their library. As you can see you are not only saving time you are finding more information than you can deal with while writing your speech online.

While writing your speech you can also use spell checkers, grammar checkers and other tools to edit your speech. Furthermore, you are going to love this, you can actually use the Thesaurus to discover new words that might enhance your speech. The computers also give you the ability to research languages, i.e. if you want to point out something in Spanish in your speech, you will have the tools to do so even if you can’t speak Spanish.

Not only this, the time you spend writing your speech off the computer will stress you out. If you write, research and prepare your speech on a computer it will save you time, energy and money.

One important issue you want to keep in mind while writing a ground-breaking speech on a computer is that the Worldwide Web of Chaos has a bunch of suckers that will drag you into their arena. Stay out! Set your goal and plan ahead of the game and include in plan avoiding getting into computer based nonsense that will hinder you while writing your speech.

One thing you want to avoid also while writing your speech is stopping and revising the sentences as you write them. This will only hinder your progress. Instead, write the darn report and read it after you finish. If it makes sense and sounds good, use it, if it sounds disturbing…then you can edit the sentences.

As a writer one of the best tools I have is the ability to finish my articles, read them aloud, which helps me to spot out areas that needed brushing or polishing. In the world of editing you could nick and pick through every word and sometimes never find sense in the words, however, a good edit will read the words and define them carefully before considering abolishing the sentences. Thus, they look at structure, characters, grammar, spelling and more to decide whether it fits.

Conclusion

Overall the point is by using a computer; you can save time which in turn will reduce stress for you.



Dec 11 0 comments
Business

Six Tips for Great Public Speaking

Jeannette Kavanagh wrote:


Your first tip is that aural (speaking and hearing) communication is very different from visual communication. So it’s vital that your visuals (charts, photos and so on) complement what your audience is hearing. To quote Dorothy Sarnoff, one of my favourite writers on the subject of public presentations:

“Speechmaking confidence comes from knowing that you have something worth saying and that you can say it in a way that’s worth listening to”. (Sarnoff 1981: 42)

A picture is only worth a thousand words, if your visuals illuminate and extend the meaning of your spoken words. I know you’d never confuse your listeners by presenting difficult-to-follow visuals which I’ve had to endure.

Spend your preparation time to distil some complex information into a diagram that’s clear and easy to understand, with lots of white space around it, not a diagram that looks like a circuit for a computer – boxes all over the place, arrows going both ways, and a confusing colour scheme. Make three separate images, rather than try to squeeze an assortment of images onto one diagram.

My approach to public presentations is inspired by something Albert Einstein is alleged to have said:

“If you really understand something, you can make it understandable to a ten year old.”

So, be like Einstein: keep it simple. Your words and your visuals. If your visual aids don’t stand alone, or make sense by themselves, dump them.

If you don’t discard them, please at least have a very good second look at them. If your visual material is going to require lots and lots of verbal explanation, then they’re too complex for a public presentation. Include them in your conference paper, or hand-out materials by all means.

Notice, my sweet reader, that I’m referring to IMAGES your audience is seeing….NOT TEXT they’re reading on your slides. That leads me to an even bigger crime, I wish could carry a jail term of about 210 years.

Using PowerPoint!

GENERAL TIP # 2: PLEASE DON’T USE POWERPOINT

Except if you’re creating visual imagery.

Well, if you absolutely must, I suppose you must. I try to restrain myself about my hatred of PowerPoint, but there are so many reasons not to use it. PowerPoint is a way of dumbing down communication to a few dot points which usually have no meaning outside the PowerPoint presentation. If a text slide needs a speaker to explain what the words mean, then either the speaker or the slide is redundant.

Yes, alright. I’ll concede that PowerPoint can be useful for hand-out notes. Those notes will remind listeners about what they heard. Having them up on a projector while you’re speaking is just a total waste of time, and a distraction.

PowerPoint slides are ugly and clunky and they’ve ruined public presentations. They’re also easy to use so I admit I’m fighting a losing battle.

GENERAL TIP # 3: WHEN IT’S APPROPRIATE, LEAVE HANDOUTS FOR YOUR AUDIENCE.

Your hand-out material might be a list of books/articles they can read for more information, the text of your paper, marketing brochure about your other services. Handouts add to your credibility and allow people to recall the key points in your speech. When your audience goes home with handouts, they can also feel as if you have given them something ‘for free’

GENERAL TIP # 4: READ UP ON EXCELLENT PUBLIC SPEAKING AND PRESENTING.

I mention a couple of books I think are great in my bio. Your local library has many of them, and one cannot have too much information on such a foundational skills as speaking well.

GENERAL TIP # 5: JOIN TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL OR A SIMILAR GROUP.

To become a great public speaker, that’s it. You have to actually find as many opportunities as you can to practise what you’re reading about. That’s why joining Toastmasters or a similar group is great. Those groups offer a safe, supportive but challenging environment in which to do that. Let me repeat: the best way to improve your skills in anything is to practise – just do it.

GENERAL TIP # 6: INVEST IN A COURSE IN PUBLIC PRESENTATION SKILLS.

There are many such courses available, ranging from half-day seminars to courses that are twenty hours in contact time, plus assignments in between. If you’re a total beginner, I doubt that you’ll acquire much useful information and skills in half a day. However even that’s better than no exposure to public speaking protocols at all.



Dec 11 0 comments
Business

Effective Public Speaking

Jim Mack wrote:


Public speaking ranks right up there with death in terms of the things we are terribly afraid to do. Whether it’s the fear of being watched closely by others, or the insecurity and self-conscious feeling of slipping up during the presentation, these six tips will help you give a polished, professional speech that you (and your audience) can be proud of!

1. Know your audience. This is the single best piece of advice for delivering a presentation that really hits home. What are there interests? Their backgrounds? Why are they coming to hear you speak or present? What ideas do you have to share with them? Approaching your speech as more of a “me-to-you” discussion rather than a full-blown broadcast will make it more manageable (and less stressful) and easier on you.

2. Share a story. In public speaking circles, this is called a “hook” - something that gets your audience’s attention and makes them sit up and listen. Start off by asking questions or sharing an experience you had. People like to be active, rather than passive listeners. By giving them something that they can identify with, you’ll find that these people are, in essence - just like you! And that makes giving a presentation a whole lot easier. Just be sure your story has a beginning, a point, and an ending. There’s nothing quite as bad as telling a story to an engaged audience and then forgetting why you told it!

3. What do you want your audience to do as a result of your speech? What’s really at the heart of your presentation? By concentrating on the “end result” rather than slogging through the beginning, you can create a powerful punch that drives home your message instead of rambling on and losing your audience’s interest (or missing the point entirely!)

4. If you’re selling a product, focus on the benefits instead of the features. People would much rather hear WHAT a product can do for them than HOW it does it. Narrow down your product’s features until you get to the core of how it solves a problem. If you need help with figuring out the difference between a feature and a benefit, ask yourself “So What?” For example, if you’re selling a vacuum cleaner that has a hypoallergenic filter, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask yourself “so what?” The answer would be something like, “It picks up dust, mold and pet dander”. Again, “so what?” Answer, “You’ll feel relief from runny nose and sneezing plus itchy, water eyes.” Now THAT’s a benefit!

5. Above all, make sure your speech ends in a way that reiterates the beginning. Too often, speakers get carried away with the details and leave their audiences asking, “What was the point of all that?” People naturally digest information in “chunks”, so focus on the big picture rather than all the pieces. If the details are just as important, save it for an after-speech handout that the audience can take with them and read over at their leisure.

If you keep these five tips in mind, you’ll not only have an easier time overcoming your fear of public speaking, but you’ll have a very appreciative audience who will in turn be more receptive and eager to try your product or service. Go get ‘em!



Dec 07 0 comments
Business

Public Speaking - The Art of Speech Making

Robin Chandler wrote:


How do you speak naturally while all those people are watching you?

This document covers hints and tips on public speaking and presentation skill, dealing with public speaking nerves and anxiety, public speaking skills and public speaking techniques, public speaking training.

Common Fears of Public Speaking

What happens when you have to speak in public?

Did you know that public speaking tops the list of phobias for most people? Not spiders or heights - public speaking - speech in public!

Well, if you didn’t know that, we bet your body does. It will do all kinds of unpleasant things to you when you have to stand up and face a sea of faces with the hope of getting your message across in a compelling and interesting way.

Your hands may sweat and your mouth goes dry. Your knees may shake and a quaver affects your voice. Your heart may race and those well known butterflies invade your stomach.

When all that happens most people don’t think of getting their message across in a compelling and interesting way; they just think of getting off the ’stage’ as quickly as possible!

Have we frightened you sufficiently yet?

It’s normal

We don’t really mean to frighten you, just remind you that your body reacts ‘in extremis’ when put under pressure, and for most people, public speaking is just about the worst pressure they can be put under.

It’s normal to be nervous and have a lot of anxiety when speaking in public. In a way, it’s less normal not to have nerves or anxiety; in fact, to feel you have a phobia about public speaking.

Why do we get Public Speaking anxiety?

Fight or flight

Our bodies are geared to fight or flight from ancient time - fight that mastodon or get the hell out of the way. We don’t have too many mastodons around these days, but the body still reacts as though we do. So, if we have to get up and speak in public, all that adrenalin and noradrenalin goes coursing through our bodies - way more than we need.

We can’t run away (well, we could, but we’d be out of job pretty quick if we did it too often), so our only option is to fight. But in terms of speaking in public, it can be hard to define just what we’re fighting.

Why does public speaking do this to us?

Good question. You’d think that for most people, being given the opportunity to impress their audience would be a fantastic one. There you are in front of a group of people, the spotlight is on you and for the length of time you’ve been give, the world is yours.

Or is it?

The very fact that the spotlight is you is enough to trigger every fear, anxiety and phobia you’ve ever had about public speaking.

Here’s why

You may be judged by all those people, and judged badly You may feel like a fool You might make mistakes and loose your way You’ll be completely humiliated You’ll never be as good as _________ (fill in the blank) ‘They’ won’t like you ‘They’ won’t ‘get’ what you’re trying to say

How to overcome fear of Public Speaking What good are Nerves

Public speaking may not be comfortable, but take our word for it, nerves are good. Being ‘centre stage’ is not a good place to feel too comfortable.

Nerves will keep you awake and ensure you don’t get too complacent. Hard to feel complacent when your heart is beating so hard you’re sure everyone watching you can hear it.

If channelled well, nerves can make the difference between giving a humdrum presentation and giving one that keeps people listening.

Get your attention off yourself

It’s very tempting to keep focused on how you’re feeling, especially if you’re feeling really uncomfortable. You’ll start to notice every bead of sweat.

To make your nerves work for you, you need to focus on just about anything other than yourself. You can distract yourself by paying attention to the environment in which you’re speaking and seeing how you can make it work for you.

Once you’re actually in front of your audience, pay attention to them. If you can, notice how people are dressed, who’s wearing glasses, who has on bright colours. There will be dozens and dozens of things you can pay attention to help you trick your mind into not noticing what’s going on with you.

Anything will do and you will find that the less you concentrate on how you are feeling and the more you concentrate on other things, the more confident you will feel.

How to build confidence in Public Speaking

Your audience can be your friend

Unless you know you’re absolutely facing a hostile group of people, human nature is such that your audience wants you succeed. They’re on your side!

Therefore, rather than assuming they don’t like you, give them the benefit of the doubt that they do.

They aren’t an anonymous sea of faces, but real people. So to help you gain more confidence when speaking in public, think of ways to engage your audience. Remember, even if they aren’t speaking, you can still have a two-way conversation.

When you make an important point pay attention to the people who are nodding in agreement and the ones who are frowning in disagreement. As long as you are creating a reaction in your audience you are in charge.

Keep them awake

The one thing you don’t want is for them to fall asleep! But make no mistake public speaking arenas are designed to do just that: dim lights, cushy chairs, not having to open their mouths - a perfect invitation to catch up on those zzzzs.

Ways to keep them away include

Ask rhetorical questions Maintain eye contact for a second or two with as many people as possible Be provocative Be challenging Change the pace of your delivery Change the volume of your voice

Public Speaking Training

Get a coach

Whatever the presentation public speaking is tough, so get help.

Since there are about a zillion companies out there all ready to offer you public speaking training and courses, here are some things to look for when deciding the training that’s right for you.

Focus on positives not negatives

Any training you do to become more effective at public speaking should always focus on the positive aspects of what you already do well.

Nothing can undermine confidence more than telling someone what they aren’t doing well.

You already do lots of things well good public speaking training should develop those instead of telling you what you shouldn’t do.

Turn your back on too many rules

If you find a public speaking course that looks as though it’s going to give you lots of dos and don’ts, walk away! Your brain is going to be so full of whatever it is you’re going to be talking about that to try to cram it full of a whole bunch of rules will just be counterproductive.

As far as we’re concerned, aside from physical violence or inappropriately taking off your clothes, there are no hard and fast rules about public speaking.

You are an individual not a clone

Most importantly, good public speaking training should treat you as a unique individual, with your own quirks and idiosyncrasies. You aren’t like anybody else and your training course should help you bring out your individuality, not try to turn you into someone you’re not.

Hints and Tips for Effective Public Speaking

Here are just a few hints, public speaking tips and techniques to help you develop your skills and become far more effective as a public speaker.

Mistakes

Mistakes are all right.

Recovering from mistakes makes you appear more human. Good recovery puts your audience at ease - they identify with you more.

Humour

Tell jokes if you’re good at telling jokes. If you aren’t good, best to leave the jokes behind. There’s nothing worse than a punch line that has no punch. Gentle humour is good in place of jokes. Self-deprecation is good, but try not to lay it on too thick.

Tell stories

Stories make you a real person not just a deliverer of information. Use personal experiences to bring your material to life. No matter how dry your material is, you can always find a way to humanise it.

How to use the public speaking environment

Try not to get stuck in one place. Use all the space that’s available to you. Move around. One way to do this is to leave your notes in one place and move to another. If your space is confined (say a meeting room or even presenting at a table) use stronger body language to convey your message.

Technology

Speak to your audience not your slides. Your slides are there to support you not the other way around. Ideally, slides should be graphics and not words (people read faster than they hear and will be impatient for you to get to the next point). If all the technology on offer fails, it’s still you they’ve come to hear.

You can learn to enjoy public speaking and become far more effective at standing in front of a group of people and delivering a potent message.

When it comes to improving your public speaking skills we have three words:

practise, practise, practise!



Dec 07 0 comments
Business

How To Get Rid of Your Fear of Public Speaking

Morty Lefkoe wrote:


If you’ve had an intense fear of public speaking for many years and have tried a variety of ways to rid yourself of the fear - without success, you’ve probably concluded that you’ll probably never get rid of the fear. Or, if you do, it will take a lot of time, effort, and reinforcement.

If you’ve used most conventional methods to get rid of your fear, you’re probably right. The Lefkoe Method (TLM) is not one of the conventional methods. In fact, TLM is the only technique that has been scientifically proven to totally eliminate the fear of public speaking. As Lee Sechrest, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, concluded after conducting a rigorous scientific study with 36 people who had a severe fear of public speaking, “The Lefkoe Method was effective in virtually eliminating the fear of public speaking.”

How does TLM work and how can you use it to eliminate your fear? About twenty-one years ago I developed the first in a series of interventions that literally do produce rapid and permanent change. The most important one, the Lefkoe Belief Process (LBP), eliminates the beliefs that are the primary cause our behavioral and emotional patterns.

After helping hundreds of people with a fear of public speaking totally eradicate that fear, we discovered that there are only a few beliefs that cause the fear.

Mistakes and failure are bad. If I make a mistake or fail I’ll be rejected. What I have to say is not important. People aren’t interested in what I have to say. I’m not capable. I’m not competent. I’m not important. I’m not good enough. What makes me important or good enough is having people like me or think well of me. Change is difficult (or takes a long time, or needs reinforcement, etc.) Inherent in public speaking is at least some fear.

When all these beliefs are eliminated and a little bit of de-conditioning occurs, the fear is gone—permanently. Let me show you how the LBP works for one of these beliefs.

David, one of my clients, complained of significant fear whenever he had to speak in front of a group. His palms got sweaty, his heart pounded in his chest, and he had a hard time focusing on what he wanted to say. One belief he had formed that contributed to this pattern was Mistakes and failure are bad. Intellectually he knew that learning from mistakes was a good thing, but deep down he felt this statement was the truth for him and, in fact, making mistakes upset him.

When I asked David what happened early in his life that led him to that conclusion, he replied: “Dad and mom got annoyed with me whenever I didn’t do what they wanted, when they wanted. They’d say things like: ‘Can’t you ever do anything right?’ and ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’.” After telling David that his belief was, in fact, a valid child’s interpretation of his parents’ behavior, I asked him for a few additional interpretations of what his parents did and said. In other words, what else could their behavior and statements mean other than the meaning he gave it as a child?

His answers included: My parents thought mistakes and failure were bad, but they were wrong. My parents didn’t get angry because I made a mistake or failed; they got angry because I didn’t do what they wanted, when they wanted. The way my parents reacted had little to do with what I had done; it was a function of poor parenting skills; a couple of parenting courses and they might have treated me very differently.

I then asked David, “If your parents’ behavior could have had many different meanings, can you see that the belief you’ve been living with as “the truth” is only “a truth,” just one interpretation out of many?” He nodded agreement.

“Didn’t it seem as a child when your father was yelling ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’ that you could see that Mistakes and failure are bad?”

“I did see it,” he exclaimed.

“Take another look, now. I know you saw your parents and heard their words, but did you literally see Mistakes and failure are bad? Because if you really ‘saw’ it, please describe what it looks like.

“I guess I didn’t really see it,” David replied.

“What did you see?” I asked.

“I saw my parents yell at me when I didn’t do what they told me to do and I heard what they said.”

“And what is the inherent meaning of that? What do you know for sure about you or about making mistakes or failing?”

“Nothing. The events had no meaning until I gave them one.”

“David,” I said, “Say the words, Mistakes and failure are bad, out loud. … Do you still feel that that statement is the truth?”

“No. No I don’t believe that any more.”

David had eliminated one belief causing his fear of public speaking. However, David had to go through the same process several times to eliminate each and every belief that caused his fear of public speaking. In other words for other beliefs he had such as “If I make a mistake or fail, I’ll be rejected” he had to find out what happened earlier in his life that lead him to the belief, find other ways of interpreting those events, and realize that his interpretation could not be “seen” in the events and that the events had no inherent meaning. Each time he did that a belief was eliminated until all the beliefs causing his fear of public speaking were eliminated.

Try walking yourself through this belief, using the events of your own childhood and you’ll discover when you get to the end of the process, your belief will be gone.

copyright ©2006 Morty Lefkoe

“Steps of the Lefkoe Belief Process” copyright © 1985-2006 Morty Lefkoe



Dec 06 0 comments
Business

The Biggest Lie in the Public Speaking Industry, That is Causing Speakers to be Broke

James wrote:


Get ready for this dose of medicine because it may not taste good. But I guarantee you’ll be better off after it gets digested.

My goal for my Big Money Speaker Tips is to cut through the BS that’s been passed down for years in the public speaking industry so you can instantly start making the kind of money you desire. I’m here for you and to help you. That’s why I refuse to sugar-coat any of my tips in articles.

So here you go…

Stop listening to BS in the public speaking industry!

You know what I mean when I say Listening to BS because I’m sure someone who is a public speaker…or even worse…someone who tries teaching public speakers has probably told you the following:

Dream big and you’ll be on your way

to having a great public speaking career!

Be careful listening to whomever is telling you this, especially if you’re paying them your hard-earned dollars to coach you.

First off, understand that I’m a firm believer in dreaming, visualizing, planning and taking action. But here’s why you can’t get sucked into believing that to make big money as a public speaker all you have to remember is to dream big and you’ll be on your way to having a great speaking career!

Truth is that you can dream big as much as you want, but that doesn’t get your mortgage paid…or your electric bill paid…or your heating bill paid…or your whatever bill paid!

Bottom line, there’s only one thing that really matters if you’re going to make big money as a public speaker…and don’t you EVER forget it or take your eye off of it:

Tell me how to find the people who have the money to pay me to speak or I’m BROKE!

PERIOD! That’s it! Ball game over!

You can dream big all you want, but if you’re not getting booked by the people in your market (or niche) that have the money to book public speakers then you’re broke!

Don’t you EVER forget that and don’t you EVER take your eye off of that!

I wish someone would’ve taught me that years ago when I got into the speaking industry…nobody ever told me that!

I was told stuff like all you have to do be a big success as a public speaker is to ‘speak with passion’ and ‘tell your story,” all of which keeps getting told to public speakers today.

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I’m all about ‘speaking with passion’ and ‘telling your story.’ But what everyone who tells you that fails to realize is that you will NEVER even have the chance to ‘speak with passion’ or to ‘tell your story’ if you don’t FIRST get booked on the program!

See, it’s very simple. I can be the best public speaker in the world (which I’m certainly not. I’m simply decent). Hypothetically, I can be the best speaker in the world, but if you simply know how to find the people who have the money to pay you to speak…and I don’t…it doesn’t matter how good of a speaker

I am because you’ll get booked over me and I’ll be sitting at home…and probably broke!

If all you did from this moment forward, was to focus on implementing this one tip, I truly believe you would triple your income!

I should know because that’s exactly what happened to my speaking income when I finally figured out this was the KEY that opened the treasure chest to a public speaking fortune!



Dec 05 0 comments
Business

Top 10 Public Speaking Skills

Kevin Sinclair wrote:


Is there anything more terrifying than facing an audience of strangers and knowing you have to deliver an entertaining and informative speech?

OK, some people thrive on this type of challenge! But the vast majority of us are at least a little nervous every time we have to speak publicly. In fact, fear of public speaking is probably one of the most universal fears throughout all walks of life.

Thankfully, public speaking is a fear that can easily be overcome with a little practice and the right approach. You can use the tips below to improve your public speaking skills.

1. Be prepared and practice.

The more you know what you want to say, the better you’ll get at it. First, brainstorm the topic of your speech and research it, if you need to. Write down all the points you want to make and then organize them into an outline. Fill in the details. Once you have the essential content of your speech written (at least in your head), transfer your main ideas to index cards. Write the main idea in dark ink on the front of the card, and if you think you’ll need cues, write them on the back of the card in pencil. Then, practice your speech out loud at least 3 to 5 times. If you can, practice it in front of a friend or family member and ask them for feedback and if that’s not possible, at least practice in front of a mirror. Do it until you can talk naturally, with only a glance at your cards. Don’t ever read your speech word for word!

2. Know your audience.

The better you know your audience, the easier it will be to connect to them as you speak. When you are able to make that connection, you’ll hold their attention. And seeing that you’re doing so will increase your confidence and comfort level, making it even easier for you to speak well. So, find out everything you can about the people you’ll be speaking to. Know what their “hot topics” are, inside jokes and so on. The more you know about what makes them tick and what interests them, the better speech you’ll be able to give.

3. Dress the part.

When you’re standing up in front of an audience, all eyes are on you. Like it or not, your image is important in this situation. So, dress to impress this particular audience. If you know your audience well (see #2), then you’ll have an idea how to dress. For example, you might dress in a conservative navy suit if you’re speaking to a group of bankers, but in a more casual, fashionable outfit when the audience consists of artists and designers.

4. Pay attention to the old KISS principle, that is, Keep It Short and Simple.

The key is to get your points across as quickly as possible. Don’t beat around the bush or try to impress with complex metaphors. Stories, however, can be a powerful public speaking tool, especially when they contain at least a hint of humor. But again, keep them short and on point. Shorter messages leave the impression of a savvy, smart speaker. They’re also easier for your audience to remember.

5. Speak clearly and at just the right tempo.

The mark of an inexperienced, uncomfortable public speaker is someone who speaks all in a rush, slurring words in her desire to get it over with. Don’t be this kind of speaker if you want to hold your audience’s attention. On the other hand, don’t speak so slowly your audience’s minds start to wander.

6. Use visual aids to illustrate your points.

Many people will understand your message more clearly when it is more visual. What we see often leaves a more lasting impression than what we hear. You can use slides, photographs, PowerPoint presentations, or even a simple whiteboard to add visual cues to your speech. One caution though - don’t turn your back on your audience as you use your visual aid, and don’t turn the lights on low for long periods, or you might be surprised to look up and see they are all sleeping!

7. Interact with your audience.

Lectures will rarely have the same impact on an audience that an open discussion will. Look for opportunities to involve your audience in what you are speaking about. Ask for validation of points you are making (”Am I right?” “Has that ever happened to you?”) or allow time for questions. Also, make sure to establish eye contact with your audience, and keep it throughout your speech.

8. Speak with sincerity and passion.

You want to leave a lasting impression with the audience about your speech topic. So be sure you are true to yourself and your topic as you speak and don’t be afraid to inject passion and enthusiasm into the speech as well.

9. Come out from behind the podium.

You’ll project confidence and a sense of comfort when you have the courage to let go of the podium and stand in front of your audience with nothing to “protect” you. As you speak, you can walk back and forth across the stage, making eye contact with different people. Some speakers even walk out into the audience to get “up close and personal.” Be respectful of people’s personal space, though, if you decide to do this. You don’t want to be perceived as threatening or overbearing.

10. Close your speech in a memorable way.

Give your audience something to think about as you finish up your speech. Certainly, it’s a good idea to summarize your main points one more time, but then finish up with an inspiring story or quote, or leave them with a thought-provoking question.

Public speaking is an essential life skill that every person should strive to master. The ability to speak confidently in public will serve you in every part of your life, whether you are sharing opinions in a small group or delivering a planned speech in front of a group of hundreds.