First of all, if you aren’t already approaching your public speaking engagements as audienced centered, you are a boring public speaker.(For more help, Click Here! )

Sorry to be harsh, but connecting with your audience as a public speaker needs to be your number one priority. People need to know that you are interested in them before they will be interested in you.

The best way to do do this is to keep eye contact with them as much as possible. As you say your speech, look around the room, always scanning. Look at people’s faces, but not at any one person’s for too long, because that can make people feel uncomfortable. This means that you will have to memorize your speech, which is more work, but will also make you more comfortable when you are up in front. Even if you have your speech perfectly memorized, still bring a copy up with you, just in case.

Be Funny! I don’t mean that you have to be a standup comedian up there, but if you have a small joke about the subject matter that you are speaking about at the start of your speech, people will listen to the rest of your speech more intently. Self-depreciating humour is excellent to break the ice. Everyone will see that you do not take yourself too seriously. As well, if you make a mistake in your speech, laugh, or at least smile. This will also put people at ease.

Repeat Yourself! Studies have shown that people only remember about 10% of what they here in a speech fifteen minutes later. The more you repeat your main points, the more likely it is for your audience to remember it. Don’t say the exact words over again, but continue to push your main idea throughout the speech.

Those are my tips for making an audience feel that they are the reason that you are speaking. This is just one facet of public speaking, although it is an important one.

It’s really too bad that our education system doesn’t spend more time on teaching public speaking. It is an integral skill for everyone, whether you are a high-powered CEO talking to board members or a fry-cook asking your boss for a raise. The skill set is the same. You need to be clear, confident and concise. I really recommend learning all you can about the art of public speaking and practising as much as possible.

Remember, no one is a natural at public speaking. If someone looks like they are, it is because they practise and have been taught well. To learn more about public speaking for yourself, I recommend that you Click Here! and get the jump on everyone else.

You’ll also be the life of the party.

Jared loves public speaking.

Public speaking can be a rewarding experience that allows individuals to showcase their skills or knowledge in a public forum. Public speaking opportunities can allow an individual to help enrich the lives of anyone in the audience by impressing experiences or information that can have life changing qualities. That being said, many individuals suffer extreme shyness or nervousness when faced with public speaking situations.

These situations can range from large audiences of hundreds or thousands of participants to rooms with a few people present.

Regardless of the situation, ensuring you have the proper level of public speaking self confidence will aid you remarkably in this foray.

When it comes to public speaking, possessing self confidence is a must. If you find your self confidence low or nonexistent, the best way to boost it up is to practice, practice, practice.

Individuals with high self confidence have an ingrained sense that they can handle any and all situations, regardless who is watching or listening.

These individuals are well versed in their specific subject matter and have a good idea of how they are going to present the information so that the audience will have the greatest understanding. Additionally, these individuals are capable of fielding questions on their particular subject and can explain the topic on several different levels.

If you find yourself unable to do this, begin preparing for your public speaking opportunity at once.

Ensure your knowledge in the topic is high and seek out to learn as much as you can.

This knowledge will help you indefinitely in both planning your speech and delivering the speech to an audience of individuals who may or may not be familiar with it.

Furthermore, in depth knowledge of your subject will aid you immensely when dealing with questions and answer sessions that most likely will follow any public speaking opportunity.

If necessary, ask other individuals about your topic and be able to explain the topic to individuals of all levels.

When writing your speech, take care to analyze your audience. If you are speaking to individuals who have a great understanding of the topic, you can clearly use a more in depth approach, more acronyms, and more jargon than if speaking to an audience unfamiliar with the subject.

Furthermore, know the average age and educational extent of your audience in order to create a speech that will speak directly to these individuals.

Knowing your speech is written to the best of your ability will boost your self confidence, as will having the necessary notes and prompts that you can rely on while giving your speech.

When preparing for your speech, take care to not memorize the content. This may seem like a good idea, but can lead to disastrous results. If you find yourself to be nervous before you present any project or speech to a public audience, you might forget the content of your speech and be forced to pull it together from memory.

Additionally, if you leave out a specific idea or topic from your speech, your audience may not clearly understand the topic of point of your presentation. The best way to prepare for your speech is to make notes that allow cues or special points you should make in your speech.

Have a general idea of what you plan to say and ensure the content covers these points.

Also, have any visual materials carefully arranged in the order of presentation so that you will remember to include all items seamlessly in your presentation. Public speaking should not produce a crisis, and ensuring your self confidence is high in yourself and your capabilities will make all the difference in the quality of your presentation.

Building high self confidence and self esteem is key to making breathtaking presentations. You need to develop skills to be an effective speaker but developing your self esteem and self confidence is the number one key to be great as a public speaker.

Learn how to be a great presenter by building your self-esteem and self confidence. Learn my 12-minute technique to increase the level of your self esteem now. Get also my f*ree minicourse “Discover the TOP 5 secrets of EVERY highly successful Person to Achieve What You Want” today at http://www.vision-to-action.com

You know the signs, knots in your stomach, sweaty palms, clammy skin, rapid respirations…. all revolving around your having to speak before a group of people.

Public speaking can be quite intimidating for some, to say the least. Perhaps it is just your office staff, or maybe you have to present a report to your co-workers.

It doesn’t matter whether the number of people you must speak before is three or 300, you still feel the same fear and anxiety.

Many of us have experienced these “jitters” or a sensation known as “butterflies” when we have had to speak in front of a group of people. Generally, our first time doing so was more than likely while we were in elementary school. Unfortunately, this fear did not stop there. It has followed us through our life. It has accompanied us throughout our entire education right into the job market. It even has an official title these days, if you will, and is more commonly known as the fear of public speaking.

For some, speaking in front of others can present a huge problem. They may experience various levels of discomfort ranging in intensity from butterflies in the stomach to full blown panic.

Thanks to a wonderful new technique known as EFT, or Emotional Freedom Techniques, no one need suffer any such negative emotion such as the fear of public speaking. EFT was developed by Gary Craig, a Stanford Engineering graduate and ordained minister. It is based on the ancient practice of acupuncture however, instead of using needles to activate the acupressure meridians, they are activated using gentle pressure or tapping.

Gary Craig understood the cause of all negative emotions to be due to a disruption in the body’s energy system. Thus, by correcting this disruption, EFT re-aligns the energy system and allows you to be free from fears, phobias, anxieties, self-limiting beliefs, etc., easily, quickly, and painlessly.

EFT is easy to learn and can be used to treat a variety of issues. I have been using EFT on myself as well as clients for quite some time and have yet to come across an issue that it has not worked on. When using EFT for a specified issue such as the fear of public speaking, one of the key elements is to zero in on the emotions or feelings the person associates with this issue. For instance, they may state they have the fear of being laughed at or of losing their train of thought. By tuning into these specific emotions and addressing them one by one, the discomfort the person feels surrounding the issue of public speaking is generally greatly reduced after just a few rounds of tapping. Often these feelings are totally gone after just one session of EFT.

An EFT coach or practitioner will teach you how to effectively use EFT for yourself in as little as one to three sessions. Or, if you feel confident that you can learn on your own, Gary Craig offers the basic manual as a free download on his website at www.emofree.com. Once you learn the basic recipe, you can work on many issues for yourself. Gary’s site also offers a wealth of articles on EFT as well as a directory for EFT Practitioners. For easy reference, I have an EFT Tapping Points guide that is available as a free download on my usinglawofattraction.com website where you can also find additional information and articles on EFT.

So, the next time you experience those “jitters” or “butterflies” why not contact an EFT coach or practitioner? It is a wonderful thing to be free from anxiety and have the choice to do a particular event or not instead of being held captive by fear, doubt or anxiety. The choice is completely up to you. As for me and my clients, we choose freedom, Emotional Freedom that is!

But, remember this, EFT is an experimental technique that has shown great results. It is beginning to be used by therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and various medical doctors around the world as part of their treatment plans. However, EFT should not be used instead of the conventional treatment you may already be receiving. If you are currently under a doctor’s care, let them know you are interested in adding EFT to your treatment regimen and get their advice before going ahead on your own.

Wishing you the best of success, always!

©2007 Judith A. Wentzel, CTACC, EFT-ADV – Law of Attraction Coach, Life & Business Coach, EFT Practitioner, Teleclass Leader & Image Smarter Marketing Specialist. Assisting individuals and small business owners to unleash the power within and skyrocketing their lives and business since 1997. Offering EFT telephone sessions – results guaranteed. http://www.JudithWentzel.com & http://www.usinglawofattraction.com

How skillful are you at pubic speaking? Have you mastered the public speaking skills?

If you want to master public speaking, then you need master the public speaking skills. There are dozens of skills required in a talk. These skills are an essential part of the art of public speaking and are especially important in persuasive speaking. How do you measure up in just 10 of the skills?

In the following you will find the skills and a brief explanation of what the skill is or requires.

Informative to the Audience

To be informative to the audience it needs the all important ‘what’s in it for me’ factor. It also needs to go beyond just facts and figures. The information needs to be massaged in a way the audience can use it.

Know the Make Up of Your Audience

Seemingly obvious, this is often overlooked. For instance, you would think that you will speak to doctors differently than people without a health care background. However with all the information overload doctors deal with, most want the common version, the one they will share with their patients. Know how the audience will best receive the material you deliver. Introductions that Capture Attention

The introduction is the key that unlocks the door of the mind so that what you say might be listened to. It is essential that the words used and the way they are used are effective in capturing the attention of the listener. Although this may seem one of the more basic speaker skills, it is in reality one of the most important.

Accurate Pronunciation

Imagine listening to a great speaker who constantly mispronounces words. Will you wonder if it is because he did not know. If he did not know, then how credible is everything else he has to say.

Words Clearly Spoken

Like pronunciation, clarity is essential. Whach-y-all-do-in (what’s you all doing) may be acceptable when we are with friends, but when speaking into a microphone, it can be annoying to the audience. A lack of clarity can result in sound that you would not want to use in public. Even worse, slurred words are the sign and symptom of a stroke. Someone may call 911 not only to rescue the audience, but mistakenly (as far as the stroke is concerned) to rescue you.

This is one of the public speaking skills we may take for granted but also may get us in trouble.

Fluency

Fluency refers to the flow of your thoughts. The speech that is fluent sounds like a harmonious whole rather than several small and fragmented pieces of thought tightly tucked together.

Avoiding Word Whiskers

In addition to the common word whiskers, and uh, and uh and uh would be the venerable, ‘and now.’ Or sometimes just plain ‘now.’ Speaking in Spanish a common word whisker is ‘therefor.’ There are many other word whiskers, ‘you know.’ Using them once can in some instances be acceptable. Using them over and over is distracting and annoying to the listener, uh, and now you know.

Pausing

Pausing can be for emphasis or for effect. It is a speaker skill that is often underused. Pause mid sentence to emphasize a particular word or part of the thought. Pause before making a bold statement or to emphasize the statement. Pause no less than one second and not much longer than three. This is one of the more difficult of the speaker skills to master and be natural.

Sense stress

Putting the right stress on the right words or right part of the section of a talk is an art that needs practice. Inexperienced speakers will be found giving sense stress to more than one part of a sentence or in more than one part of a thought being shared.

Enthusiastic Presentation

Did you know there are two kinds of smiles. One is a put on or Pan Am Smile and the other is a real smile. Enthusiasm can be just like the smile. It can sound put on or it can sound real. Learning how to master the real is essential for great speaking. Mastering this along with other speaker skills will make a talk come alive.

These are only overviews of 10 of the many speaker skills. To master public speaking means to master the public speaker skills. The ultimate practice will come in front of an audience. Learn them, practice them and once proficient, you will have attained speech mastery.

Jonathan Steele, RN is a nurse, artist, public speaker and speaking coach, part time faculty at Northampton Community College in PA and Webmaster of http://www.speechmastry.com and http://www.GlutathioneDiseaseCure.com

1. The audience will listen because I’m a subject matter expert and what I have to say is interesting. This is probably one of the most frequent mistakes made by speakers. We all like to think that we know our stuff, and many people do. But that alone will not engage your audience. Albert Mehrebian the US Educational Psychologist’s research demonstrated that only 7% of your presentation’s impact will be your words. Only 7%… This is worrying for subject matter experts. You could prepare for weeks, select the best words and key messages, you could have the best introduction, middle section and ending than any speaker on the bill, but your impact could be negligible. A few year’s ago I became a school governor and as such, I was offered training sessions by my local Education Authority. The general standard of the 2 hour presentations was good. One evening, the guest speaker, a man who had worked in education all his life with a career that spanned being a headmaster, Ofsted inspector and a senior role in the Ministry of Education and Science; what this fellow didn’t know about the history of secondary education was not worth knowing. However, he ended every sentence with a pronounced hmmmmmmmmm. Imagine that 6 times per minute, for two hours…. I nearly lost the will to live. Tip – Listen and react to feedback from your colleagues. I’m certain that over the course of this fellow’s long and distinguished career, many people must have mentioned his verbal mannerisms. If your company culture prohibits you from giving constructive feedback, seek professional help. Advice from consultants is more likely to be accepted because it is seen to be given objectively.

2. Speaking too fast. Nervous and inexperienced speakers always remind me of the 100 metres sprint. They hear the gun, they’re out of the blocks fast and they can’t wait to get it over with. This is not unusual – it is the normal reaction to any potentially stressful situation. Let’s close our eyes, do it, and get it over with. It’s a bit like going to the dentist. However, some speakers do not even devote themselves to such minimal preparation. Tip – for each minute of your speech, spend ten minutes of preparation on it. Watch yourself on video and ask yourself if you’re delivering too fast. 3 Keep it short and simple and always leave them wanting more. The best way to maintain the attention of an audience is to start with a gripping opening, develop a maximum of three themes or key messages, and conclude with a message that pulls the introduction and key messages together with impact. An experienced speaker can make this look simple and seamless, but we’re looking at perhaps 0.001% of the population. We all need help developing this skill. If you speak for over 10 minutes it’s almost inevitable that the structure will suffer and you will lose your audience because you haven’t signposted your structure well enough. Tell them what you’ll tell them, tell them, and tell them what you’ve told them. Tip – keep it short and simple and use your best material at the beginning and the end of your speech. Start and end with impact. 4. Maintaining eye-contact with your audience. For the new or inexperienced speaker, eye-contact is one of the hardest aspects of speaking. Looking into the eyes of strangers does not come naturally to most of us. Indeed, in some cultures young people looking directly into the eyes of their elders is seen as a mark of disrespect. However, as a speaker, your audience is your primary concern. Remember that without audiences, we do not need speakers. Making eye-contact and engaging your audience is critical to success. It shows respect and demonstrates confidence. We listen and learn most from confident speakers. Life is a busy place, and when we invest time in a speaker, nobody likes to feel they have wasted their time. Tip – if you find eye-contact difficult, try it out with friends and family in regular conversations. You will have a major impact on those with whom you are conversing. It’ very difficult (almost rude) to disengage eye-contact with somebody when you’re having a pleasant chat. Bear that in mind when you’re making a speech and you’ll do very well. 5. Speaking in a dull and monotonous voice. Throughout our professional careers, how many times have we endured the monotonous speaker?

In my case rather too often. Tonal variety is what adds massive impact to your speech or presentation. We need some highs and lows allied to seamless changes in pitch and pace. These effective techniques help to keep your audience engaged and participating in your presentation. Mehrebian’s research demonstrated that 38% of what an audience remember is down to the effective use of tonal variety. A massive 55% relates T your body language. If you send a mixed message, don’ be surprised if the message is dropped. A key factor in any speech or presentation is simply this: Tip – It’s not what you say. It’s the way that you say it. Scenario 1: You’re trying to find the channel with the live football. Suddenly, your wife sitting in the opposite armchair says, ‘Do you love me?’ You continue flicking through the channels, you don’t look back at her and you eventually say the words, ‘Of course, I love you.’ Scenario 2: You’re trying to find the channel with the live football. Suddenly, your wife sitting in the opposite armchair says, ‘Do you love me?’ You stop flicking through the channels with the remote and put it down. You walk across the room and take your wife by the hand, gently and sincerely you look her in the eyes, caress her cheek and say, ‘Of course, I love you.’ Notice that the same words are used, but which do you think conveys the stronger message?

Vince Stevenson is one of England’s greatest speaking enthusiasts, having competed for and won many prestigious competitions. Vince is a founder of the College of Public Speaking, a business dedicated to improving effective communication skills in industry.