Art Of Great Speaking

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Ask anyone… It just makes sense that each time you prepare to deliver a presentation, you need to pay attention to who will be in your audience. But, how often have you really considered what impact the individual personalities of members or your audience will have on the outcome of your speech?

Psychologists tell us that our individual personalities are revealed in the characteristic patterns of our thinking, feeling and acting; that our personalities shape how we develop, perceive, learn, remember, think and feel. You display your own characteristics (personality) as you deliver your presentations. And, the members of your audience will display their personality (in terms of their individual wants and needs from your speech), though perhaps less notably, while you speak. Identifying and addressing the specific needs of your audience is one of the keys to success as a public speaker.

There have been a number of psychological testing methods developed to assess personality traits; our characteristic patterns of behavior and conscious motives. One popular approach to describing and classifying personalities, frequently used in business and career counseling, was developed by Isabel Briggs-Meyers and her mother Kathleen Briggs. They developed the “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator” which is a 126 question survey designed to identify preferences in management style and decision making. To get an accurate perspective of decision making preferences, in addition to completing your own survey, similar surveys are confidentially submitted by your superiors, peers and subordinates and are analyzed collectively and comparatively. Participants choose between characteristic responses such as: “Do you usually value sentiment more than logic, or do you value logic more than sentiment?” The process then calls for counting your preferences and labeling them as “feeling” or “thinking” types. Feeling types tend to be sensitive to values and are sympathetic, appreciative, and tactful. Thinking types tend to prefer an objective standard of truth and rely on analysis of available information before making a decision. The result of the analysis is to determine your preferences (personality) as primarily tending to be revealed as one of four personality types: Expressive, Driver, Analytical or Amiable.

Another method of factor analysis, developed by Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck involves comparative rating of your preferences of extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability. In this method participants are rated (personally and by others) according to where they rank on a horizontal scale between being introverted on the left and extraverted on the right. The participant is then also rated on a vertical scale between unstable at the top and stable at the bottom. The results are shown in a two dimensional chart that provides insights into the participant’s behavioral characteristics: • Introverted/Unstable – moody, reserved, anxious, sober, quiet, pessimistic • Extroverted/Unstable – touchy, restless, aggressive, excitable, changeable, impulsive, active • Introverted/Stable – passive, careful, thoughtful, peaceful, controlled, reliable, calm • Extroverted/Stable – sociable, outgoing, talkative, responsive, easygoing, lively, carefree

In 1986, McCrae & Costa, in American Psychologist, 41, p.1002, offered what they believe tells a more rounded story about someone’s personality. They identified a set of factors called the “Big Five”. Their premise was that by asking five questions about someone you can reveal a lot about that person. These questions focus on emotional stability, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The results plot a person’s preferences such as: calm vs. anxious; secure vs. insecure; self-satisfied vs. self pittying; sociable vs. retiring; fun-loving vs. sober; affectionate vs. reserved; imaginative vs. practical; preference for variety vs. for routine; independent vs. conforming; soft-hearted vs. ruthless; trusting vs. suspicious; helpful vs. cooperative; organized vs. disorganized; careful vs. careless; and disciplined vs. impulsive.

All of these assessment techniques and the focus on traits are simply intended to profile a person’s behavior patterns, not to reveal extensive personality dynamics. These techniques can provide quick assessments of a single trait such as (referring back to Myers-Briggs) the tendencies of • “Expressive” to be bold, visionary, confident, energetic, enthusiastic, and just plain fun! Many marketing and sales people exhibit these behaviors. • The analysis, even at a cursory level, shows how “Drivers” tend to be direct, bold, goal oriented, decisive, strong-willed, and confident. • An “Analytical” will display traits of being steady, dependable, high integrity, detail oriented, orderly and potentially a bit of a perfectionist. • And, of course, the “Amiable” will also tend towards being steady, dependable, consistent, empathetic, high integrity, and trusting, Expressive people help gain cooperation – they are the cheerleaders in an organization. Drivers” focus on achieving the bottom line and provide leadership. Analytical people are very effective at resolving ambiguity and conflicts. Amiable people are great at building trust.

As we point out in our public speaking classes, we have found that a person’s dominant personality type (we use the Myers-Briggs categories) usually determines what strengths and weaknesses a speaker has during presentations and which of the four sets of leadership principles we share with them will be most helpful and more natural for that person. When you determine which temperament you feel is your most dominant, and you couple that with an assessment of the probable temperaments of members of your intended audience, you are much better prepared to deliver your speech in a manner that they will find to be relevant and interesting. You will be answering a very important question that every person in your audience is ALWAYS asking themselves: “What’s in this for me and why should I pay attention?”

Some closing thoughts: For a characteristic to be a genuine personality trait it must persist over time and across situations. People don’t always act with predictable consistency. Your average creativity in helping others to think “outside the box”, your usual focus on building trust and rapport, or your typical focus on the “bottom-line”, over many situations is predictable. It’s the same for your audience. At any given moment, the immediate situation (internal and external factors) can be powerful influences of a person’s behavior, especially when the situation makes clear demands. It’s easier to predict what a person driving a car will do at a traffic light based on the color of traffic lights than from knowing their personality. But, individual differences in some traits, e.g., amiable vs. analytical, can usually be fairly quickly perceived. I repeatedly state to my “Fearless Presentations” students that “It is not about me and what I think I need to say; it’s about the members of my audience and what they need to hear!” Al Pillarelli, LLC, is an instructor and personal coach for The Leader’s Institute®, Management and Supervisor Training. His classes focus on overcoming the fear of public speaking, building confident and autonomous leaders, and improving employee morale. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

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Public speaking or speech-making is one of the many things that is most commonly feared tasks as it requires to stand up in front of strange people trying to convince them to make a purchase if you are in the marketing arena, or simply adding something to their knowledge in a given area.Actually, there are many factors involved in determining the amount of success you receive out of performing such task. Looking comfortable, confident and relaxed are among these factors, though it’s a bit hard to achieve theses characteristics at the podium, but it’s always possible with an on-going rehearsal. The following are down-to-earth and easy-to-implement techniques that can maximize your potential to an incredibly public speaking performance:

1)Devote some time to understand the nature of your audience. what make them want to attend and listen to whatever you have to say, what are their expectations, hopes and the result that they reap out of their attendance. It should not escape your notice the importance of learning about their background about the subject matter so as to eliminate all what they know for time’s sake.

2)When you first stand be sure that you are projecting high self-confidence and relaxation. Connect with the audience with strong eye contact and a genuine smile, now start talk in a strong manner.

3)I cannot stress enough the importance of eye contact and its magical influence upon the audience and the way they respond and listen to you as well as their feeling of being a part of the performance and the success you are building.

4)Make certain that the listeners are attentive that the speech is coming to an end, this could be achieved through changing your voice to a minimal level, this will enable the audience to notice that you are making your last statement. this is of course very important unless you wish to be faced by a period of silence once you finish your speech.

5)And don’t forget to add the miraculous word at the end of the speech “Thank you” SIMON GARMAH is an executive Communications Consultant and Coach. He is president of Lifestyles Communications, Inc. which helps individuals communicate in the new global and virtual world. His fear public speaking blog.So take the first step toward conquering your fear of public speaking

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This past week marked the 145th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, almost an afterthought following a 2-hour speech by Edward Everett, a nationally-renowned 19th century orator. Can you imagine not only keeping your audience’ attention during two hours of speech, but keeping them enrapt as well? And, they didn’t have Power Point or an overhead projector to aid them in the process!

As a people we are not as good at listening as we used to be. After 20 minutes of sermon, the coughing, sniffling and sleeping become much more apparent during church services today, while in days past, congregants were treated to preaching lasting more than an hour with services often running for 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Our ancestors certainly had occasion to attend plays, musical theater, speeches and parties; but, for the most part, they had to amuse themselves. Unable to turn on the TV or sit at a computer for hours on end, they managed to entertain themselves and they enjoyed listening.

Those of us who teach public speaking emphasize the importance of a strong opening in order to grab your listeners’ attention right from the start. But what happens during the development of your speech or presentation? How do you keep their focus throughout the rest of your delivery whether you are talking for 10 minutes or 45?

●Limit your main points. Books and courses on public speaking stress the importance of creating your speech or presentation with only 2-5 main points. You will be stretching your listeners’ attention span when you start listing your main points, having reached number 14 and you still have 8 more to go!

●Use anecdotes to further clarify or explain your talking points. Listeners value stories that are relevant to your topic because they lend credibility to you as a speaker

●Add humor (when possible). Audiences can always use a laugh. While your function as a presenter is to either inform or persuade, doing so in an entertaining manner can be much more effective than droning on and on.

●In using visual aids, treat them just as that – an aid. They can have a strong impact on your presentation; however, putting your entire speech on Power Point defeats your purpose in presenting.

●Be engaging. Talk to your audience as if you were having a conversation in your living room. Scan the room when you speak, making eye contact with your listeners and acknowledging their presence.

In the ever fast world of today, we want an answer and we want it quickly. We don’t even have to go libraries or open encyclopedias anymore because the information is at our fingertips; therefore, presenting material to an audience requires your ability to keep them focused on you, not on their watches or their smartphones. Captivate your audience and I guarantee they will forget to check the time or their messages.

The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels is a voice specialist and president of Voice Dynamic. Offering corporate and 2-day workshops throughout the US and Canada, Daniels launched Voicing It! in April of 2006, the only video training course on voice improvement. For more information go to: http://www.voicedynamic.com

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Recently I gave a presentation at a Summit Conference in New York City and was confronted with a very tame audience. I was blessed, however, to have two women in the large ballroom who smiled throughout, nodding their heads in agreement with everything I said. The second blessing was that these two women were sitting on opposite sides of the room; thus, in acknowledging my two ’smilers’,I had to scan the room from one side to the other.

In teaching presentation skills, I advocate zeroing in your smilers because they bolster your confidence. Some people smile because they agree with you and some people smile just because they smile. Some people listen with their eyes closed; some people indeed are sleepers.

In a room filled with over 100 attendees, however, I was surprised that I had only two smilers. Without a doubt, this particular group was one of the hardest audiences I have ever faced. In fact, throughout my 40-minute presentation, I questioned their lack of enthusiasm.

Admittedly, the microphone I was handed left much to be desired because it unfortunately was not of the same quality as the stationary mic on the lectern. [And that definitely was my fault for not getting a sound check before speaking. I assumed that because the gentleman speaking prior to me was getting great sound with the stationary mic, so too would I with a hand-held version. Very bad assumption; however, great fodder for the book and audio series I am presently working on for public speaking!]

One attendee, sitting smack dab in the middle of the room and not 10 feet from me, kept nodding off. Of course every audience has a sleeper; and, because the rest of the room was awake, I was not concerned. Interestingly though, while watching the ‘before’ and ‘after’ video clips of my clients, the gentleman whose eyes were half closed, reacted with such sudden force upon seeing Craig, that it took everything in my power not to laugh out loud. (Craig is undoubtedly the best change in a male voice that I have ever encountered.) With his eyes bulging, this sleeper reminded me of a cartoon character who suddenly becomes bug-eyed upon viewing a beautiful woman.

While the time I spent talking about voice and telephone techniques certainly had its challenges, the applause from the audience upon closing was thunderous. Indeed that was unexpected. Aside from the two smiling women, here was a crowd who showed little expression in what I was saying by their most reserved and noncommittal reaction to me. What usually gets a laugh did not. What always gets verbal response did not. And yet they enjoyed my presentation.

What did I learn from this particular audience? That once again, you can never prejudge how you will be received. During your speech or presentation, the reaction of your audience may not be what you expected. It may be better or it could be worse.

My advice is to ignore your sleepers; zero in your smilers; and talk to your audience just as if you were having a conversation in your living room.

The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels is a voice specialist and president of Voice Dynamic. Offering corporate and 2-day workshops throughout the US and Canada, Daniels launched Voicing It! in April of 2006, the only video training course on voice improvement. For more information go to: http://www.voicedynamic.com

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You’ve practiced your script; you know your material; you’re excited about your upcoming speaking engagement; all is right with the world; but your audience’s reaction to you is less than stellar. What went wrong? Why didn’t they enjoy your presentation?

There are many reasons why your speech or presentation may not affect your audience the way you expected but for purposes of brevity I will discuss this idea primarily from the point of view that indeed you did a very good job: they could hear you; you spoke with enthusiasm; your points were valid; your presentation was well-timed. Had you done this for a public speaking course, you would have received an A.

So what was missing with your audience? The answer is your audience. Every audience is different and you can never prejudge how they will accept you as the speaker. Were you to give a great performance at a Mark Victor Hansen Mega Conference, your audience would be incredibly receptive. Give the same performance to a group of CPAs or realtors as the final speaker at a 3-day conference and your audience could very well be unenthusiastic.

This is where timing is so very important in your placement as a speaker. If you are to speak at noon and your group is scheduled for a 1:00 pm lunch or you are to speak at 5:00 pm and the group is scheduled for a 6:00 pm dinner, you will not be as well-received as you would have had you been placed in a better spot on the roster. While people may love to hear a great speaker, the growl of the stomach often precludes one’s ability to pay close attention.

Without a doubt, the timing of your presentation can affect your audience but so too can the type of audience to whom you are addressing. Mixed crowds will be different than an all-male group or an all-female group. Addressing a Lions or Rotary Club at their monthly meeting will be different than speaking to those same people were you holding a presentation at their place of business. People who come to hear you of their own accord can receive you differently than those people who are ‘volunteered’ to listen to you because of their jobs or organizations to which they are affiliated.

While I have been giving presentations for most of my adult life, it was in my early public speaking career that I discovered how your audience can influence your delivery. When I speak on voice training, I always discuss the role of the diaphragm in breathing with the comment (not meant to be funny) that, “We all have a diaphragm, we just don’t use it.” In those early years saying those words, I had never gotten a noticeable reaction from my audiences, nor did I expect one; however, when I said those exact same words to a large group of teachers, they thought it was hysterical and laughed for some time. [From my experience I have found that teachers are one of the best audiences to have. They enjoy listening because they enjoy learning.]

Occasionally I have given a presentation and not been pleased with my delivery and yet my audience loved it; I have sometimes given a presentation in which I felt my delivery was quite strong and yet my audience did not respond as well. One time I was scheduled to speak at 8:00 pm directly following a 6:00 pm return session with one of my former workshop groups. I didn’t know how I was going to pull it off because I was very, very tired and admittedly, not very excited to give that presentation. I remember this audience vividly however. They were so receptive, laughing throughout my presentation, that their enthusiasm was contagious. There is no doubt that their reception of me gave me the energy I needed to deliver. It was one of the best presentations I have ever given and undoubtedly one of the funniest.

Audiences can be a blessing in disguise or a bit of a nightmare. The best advice I can give you is to be prepared for anything because you never know what will happen when you get up to speak. That is the adventure of public speaking; and, personally, I find that to be one of the joys of addressing an audience.

The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels is a voice specialist and president of Voice Dynamic. Offering corporate and 2-day workshops throughout the US and Canada, Daniels launched Voicing It! in April of 2006, the only video training course on voice improvement. For more information go to: http://www.voicedynamic.com

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Denise had just won a big promotion. She was not someone who typically sought the limelight or ask for help. So Denise spent the first weeks working alone, avoiding presentations and even speaking up in meetings (unless directly spoken to). When asked to make a PowerPoint presentation, she panicked.

A crisis is not a good time to learn how to make an effective presentation. Denise quickly put together 20 slides, prepared some points, and practiced answering potential questions. After pulling an all-nighter Denise delivered an adequate speech while learning an invaluable lesson: You don’t have to be a perfect speaker to be successful, but you must be prepared.

This is the true distinction between success and failure in public speaking. To ensure that lack of preparation won’t be your downfall when you take to the podium, consider these most common mistakes budding public speakers often make.

Mistake #1: Underestimating the importance of public speaking to your career

A retail executive with a strong financial background and track record was promoted to CFO. In the first weeks, she uncovered problems in her operation and quietly went to work, never seeking the limelight nor help. While that approach may have worked in the past, it was about to backfire. Senior leaders expected to help each other by sharing information. Emails leaked out about her problematic situation and the senior team confronted her. The CEO scheduled a meeting and she was asked to make a PowerPoint presentation.

The new executive not only had to put together her slides and prepare her talk; she knew she had to get ready to face some tough questions. Fortunately she pulled a lot of people in to help. She practiced, prepared and delivered a decent presentation.

If you want to lead the company, you should never underestimate the importance of public speaking. You will be judged by the way you handle the hot seat. Judgment Day isn’t six months before they decide to make you CEO. Judgment days are all along the way. You have to be ready long before you have to be ready.

Mistake 2: “Winging” important speeches

Eric, a vice-president regarded as the candidate to succeed the CEO, was asked to deliver a presentation to the company’s leadership group. Buried under several other projects, Eric figured he could probably wing it. Bad idea!

What made matters worse was that the same day Eric was to speak, a colleague named Fred gave a great presentation. Fred had done his homework, organizing his thinking, and practicing the night before. In contrast to Eric, Fred appeared cool, well organized, polished and he answered questions with ease.

Even if you feel generally comfortable in front of an audience, winging your presentation will usually prove to be a huge mistake. Your talk must be organized and your points delivered crisply. Otherwise, the effect could be less than your audience expects, harming your competent, professional image.

Mistake 3: Leaving it all to a speechwriter

If you can hire a good speechwriter, you should. Every speaker can use someone to sketch out ideas, brainstorm and find ways to improve on what you have to say. But don’t let your speechwriter do it all.

In the end, you must be comfortable and familiar with what you’re going to say. Your speechwriter won’t be behind that podium when the big day comes… you will. Let your speechwriter give you some help but the presentation will be yours, so make it yours.

Mistake 4: Not answering the question

Be ready and willing to honestly answer the toughest questions head on. If you don’t know the answer, say so: “I’m sorry but I just do not know” or “I’ll have to look into that.” It may not be the ideal spot to be in, but getting caught later in a lie is much worse for your reputation. Your audience will appreciate the truth.

Mistake 5: Forgetting your audience

Those who attend your presentation are often leaving piles of work on their desks to come and hear you talk. You cannot give them that time back, you can only thank them for giving it to you and then do your best to make it worth their while.

Whether speaking to executive officers, your staff, or even job candidates, think first about who they are and what they want to know, even before you write down the opening words of your speech. If you’re not sure, interview a handful of people who will be in your audience. Find out what they need to learn. Remember your audience, and chances are they’ll remember you.

Mistake 6: Blowing the easy questions

In their frenzy to study up on the difficult questions, many speakers end up unprepared for the slam-dunk ones. Yet if they fumble these, they’ll look as unprepared as ever. Rather than seeming knowledgeable, they’ll convey the reverse. “How can he not know THAT?!” So don’t forget the potential softball questions as well as the hard.

Mistake 7: Not knowing when to fold ‘em

Ever had to sit through a wedding toast that just kept going and going and going? That’s because time flies when you are in the spotlight and what seems like only a few moments to a novice speaker is actually many minutes.

To be sure you don’t make this mistake, time your speech by standing up as you mock-deliver it. Do not time it by sitting and reading it because this takes less time. Speak out loud.

And be ready to improvise by tuning into your crowd. Sometimes things are running behind schedule and an audience may be getting restless for a break, signaling you to cut your talk even shorter. Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was less than two minutes long. Remember, few are ever criticized for giving a speech that was too brief.

Mistake 8: Not having fun

Humor helps connect you to your audience. You don’t have to be David Letterman. Just try to have a little fun. Tell a quick story that’s amusing, make a light-hearted remark about the commute in or the weather. Humor will warm up your audience.

Everyone makes mistakes in public speaking. The key is to identify a lesson learned and try to correct it your next time out. If these eight common mistakes help you better avoid such gaffes, all the better. Keep speaking, keep practicing, keep preparing and before long, mistakes like these will be a thing of the past.

Suzanne Bates is an award-winning television news anchor, reporter and president of Bates Communication, a presentation skills consulting firm that helps business leaders and executives project an authentic voice of leadership, and get a competitive edge in business. This article is adapted from Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results (McGraw-Hill) which has been translated into Russian and Chinese. Suza

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Imagine yourself as an audience member. You’ve paid big money to learn the secrets of your favorite guru. You’ve read the guru’s books, subscribed to his newsletter, and you read his blog daily. Now you have the opportunity to learn from him in person at his highly-publicized weekend seminar.

The guru comes onto the stage and starts speaking. You listen expectantly, anticipating an educational and entertaining presentation. Instead, you find yourself feeling more and more uncomfortable, as the guru seems to talk endlessly about his personal success, all the famous people he knows (many of whom you’ve never heard of), and how you’ll never be successful unless you do x, y, and z. At the end of the seminar you leave, feeling deflated, disappointed and resentful.

Now put yourself back in the driver’s seat. As the speaker, it’s your job to learn about your audience, discover their needs and wants, and figure out how best to serve those needs. How can you serve your audience if you’re badgering and intimidating them? Some speakers aren’t aware of these behaviors or the negative way they’re being perceived, but by following the tips below, you can ensure that your audience will never walk away feeling defeated.

Pointer 1: Name-dropping makes you look insecure

You’ve already been invited to speak. The organizers are aware of your credentials. The audience has already paid to attend your presentation. There’s no need to keep trying to impress them with your long list of credentials and famous cohorts.

One result of dropping names of famous clients or colleagues is that audience members who haven’t heard of these people are immediately at a disadvantage. They become distracted, wondering who you’re talking about and whether it’s important to know. They don’t want to raise their hands to ask for clarification, because they’re insecure, too, and they fear looking stupid. They feel left out, and that’s the first step to disconnecting from you and your message.

If you must name names, clarify for your audience who you’re talking about. Mention the title of the book she wrote, the TV show he starred in, the restaurants he owns. And only name names if it furthers the objective of your presentation. Your audience wants to be included; help them feel like they’re “in the loop.”

Pointer 2: Badgering gets old

You want participation from the audience. You want to ask them questions and get answers. You want them to laugh and have a good time. Sometimes you push too hard, and this can cause some audience members to become sullen and defiant, resisting your authoritative manner. Do you want them working with you or against you?

When you ask a question of the audience, permit them to answer if they want to. Don’t badger them by saying, “Right? Right?” or “Yes or no? Yes or no?” until they respond. Instead of asking yes or no questions, ask open-ended questions that allow them to share their own experiences and knowledge.

Offer discussion questions and ask them to share with a neighbor, or hand out cards with questions or ideas on them and ask willing participants to share. Instead of ordering them to “write this down,” let them decide what notes they want to take.

Intimidating the audience into responding only makes them feel small and embarrassed, like chastised children. Treat them like the wise, experienced adults they are.

Pointer 3: Connection is more important than perfection

Speakers often fear making mistakes, forgetting their words or being judged incompetent by the audience. In order to cover all their bases, they rehearse and practice until their words and mannerisms are completely memorized, down to every gesture and pause. How does the audience respond to this speaker? With glazed eyes and detachment. It’s hard to relate to a robot.

The audience wants to connect with, relate to, and be emotionally involved with the speaker. An overly slick and polished exterior creates an emotional barrier between you and the audience, and interferes with the absorption of your message.

How do you practice your presentation enough that you’re comfortable, but not mechanical? Always make sure your opening and closing are strong and focused and that you are comfortable with the first and last five minutes of your talk.

Put the body of your presentation into simple notes or bullet format so that you can practice your main points but not have them so memorized that you’ll be thrown off if someone asks a question in the middle of it. This is the part where you’re going to want to interact with the audience, and that interaction can sometimes change the direction or tone of the presentation if you’re flexible and willing to go where the audience wants to go.

Know your topic inside out and prepare for questions by anticipating what the audience might want to know. Beyond that, you can’t plan for all circumstances, so allow yourself to be human. If you do make a mistake or forget your words briefly, have a chuckle at yourself and move on. This will win you more points with the audience than having a perfectly memorized speech, guaranteed.

Constantly read your audience throughout the presentation. Stay connected with them and be aware of how they’re responding to you. Treat them with respect, kindness and good humor, and instead of feeling defeated at the end of your talk, they’ll feel like winners.

Lisa Braithwaite works with individuals to uncover their challenges and build their strengths in presenting themselves confidently as speakers. Find your voice with public speaking coaching! Sign up for my newsletter and find out about my e-course and free consultation by visiting http://www.coachlisab.com.

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One of the secrets for becoming a dynamic public speaker is to make eye contact with your audience. While there are some courses on presentation skills or public speaking that teach you to stare at an object on the wall in order to eliminate your nervousness, I couldn’t disagree more.

Forget trying to eliminate your nervousness. However, nervousness affects you – be it that extra spurt of adrenaline (also known as the rush), your heart beating faster, those knots in your stomach – let it work for you, not against you. All great performers, great actors, great athletes, and great public speakers experience nervousness. If you think they don’t, then you are wrong. Their nervousness is one of the characteristics which helps make them great. The answer lies in learning how to control the nervousness, not eliminate it.

I teach what I refer to as the 5 characteristics of a dynamic public speaker and each one of those characteristics helps you control your nervousness as well. Making eye contact with your audience is one of those characteristics and it is invaluable because once you are able to look into the eyes of your listeners, you are then taking the first step in being conversational with your audience. Many people are under the mistaken belief that when they stand at the lectern, on the podium or at the boardroom table, they should be someone other than who they are. That is wrong. The person you are in your office or in your home, in a social situation or a business setting, is the person that should be giving that speech or that presentation. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. First and foremost, be yourself

What you will also discover when you make eye contact is that you have smilers. Every audience has its smilers. So the next step is to focus on those smilers: they make you feel good, they bolster your confidence. And, because they are smiling, you will think they are in agreement with you, again, bolstering your confidence, another means for you to take control of that nervousness. The smilers will be located throughout your audience so when you zero in on the person smiling on your left for example, everyone in that area will think you are looking them.

Remember too, that if you will have people on your left, in the center, and to your right. Do not focus just on one section. Move your gaze from the left to the center and to the right. Recently I heard a speaker who did move his head from one side to the other; however, his gaze was so very brief that I realized he wasn’t making eye contact with anyone. It was quite disconcerting because I knew that he was just spitting out words – he was not communicating.

Next you must prepare for your sleepers. Just as every audience has its smilers, so too, every audience has a sleeper or two. Sleepers may tell you that they listen with their eyes closed. That is fine. But truly you may have someone sound asleep. My very first paid speaking engagement was to a group of professional secretaries. A woman in the front row, a retired secretary who probably got out once a month for this meeting, fell soundly asleep within the first 10 minutes of my presentation. I was aghast, thinking I must have been terribly boring. (She was snoring to boot!) The moment I finished, however, a woman in the back of the room stood and asked me if I would agree to be their guest speaker at their yearly conference. That’s when I realized an occasional sleeper is okay! If, on the other hand, your entire audience is asleep, I suggest you change jobs!

Public speaking is a marvelous means of communicating with others. You may be giving a persuasive presentation, you may be talking about a harrowing experience, you may be there as the after-dinner entertainment. Whatever your reason to stand and speak in front of others, remember that when you learn to talk TO your audience and not AT them, you are then acknowledging that audience. By acknowledging them, you become more personal, more intimate, treating them just as if you were having a conversation in your living room. That is one of the secrets to become a dynamic public speaker.

Nancy Daniels is a voice specialist, public speaking expert, and president of Voice Dynamic. Working privately and corporately, she launched Voicing It! in April of 2006, the first video training course on voice improvement. You can watch a clip from her DVD on her website, ‘before’ & ‘after’ takes of her clients, and a 16-minute video in which Nancy describes what voice training can do for you at http://www.voicedynamic.com/products.htm

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If you want to improve your public speaking skills, you must avoid the top speaking mistakes that cause audiences to consistently complain. These are the top 4 audience complaints when listening to a speaker or presenter:

1. Boring, Monotone Voice

Nothing is worse than being trapped in your seat listening to a monotone speaker drone on and on. Even if you have great information to share with your audience, they will tune you out if you have a boring voice.

How do you combat a boring voice? The best way to avoid a monotone voice is to be passionate about your topic. Passionate presenters are never monotone or boring. You should also experiment with changing your volume and your pitch while you speak. Throw in dramatic pauses at key points in your speech to heighten the audience’s interest.

2. Can’t Hear/Understand The Speaker

Another frequent audience complaint is not being able to hear or understand the speaker. The simple solution to this complaint is to test your sound system before your speech and to project your voice louder than what you think is necessary.

While talking loudly is necessary, it is not enough. When people get nervous (as most people do before delivering a speech), they have a tendency to talk faster. Many audiences can hear a speaker just fine, but can’t understand him because he’s zipping through his speech at a blistering pace! In your own speeches, be sure to talk slowly and enunciate your words fully.

3. Not Enough Eye Contact

Audiences want to feel a connection to the speaker while listening to a presentation. The easiest way to connect with your audience is to make eye contact with them. When you lock eyes with a member of the audience, that audience member will instantly pay more attention to your speech and feel a greater connection with you.

When shifting your gaze around the room, a good rule of thumb I tell my clients is to pretend you’re making eye contact with a stranger walking down the street. Making eye contact for a few seconds is friendly, but making eye contact for a few minutes is creepy. Make eye contact with a member of the audience for a few seconds, and then shift your gaze to someone else and repeat the process again.

Although these mistakes are easy to correct, it is shocking how many speakers make them again and again. If you want to improve your speaking skills, the first step is to avoid having your audience complain about you!

And now I would like to offer you my free report on how to overcome your fear of public speaking, “The 5 Secrets Of Fearless Speakers.” You can download it by going to http://www.SuccessfulCommunication.com

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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.

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