Archive for the ‘Speak With Confidence’ Category
Speak With Confidence – A Complete Turnaround
Talking enthusiastically upon a subject which a person knows well and is deeply interested in sharing will help overcome timidity to speak with confidence and persuasively.
For example, at a large university a physical education major, built like an All-American fullback, enrolled in a speech course. One wouldn’t think a big he-man like him would, tremble in his socks when he stood before a speech class. But he did.
His face took turns being pink and white as he grasped his notes in trembling vice-like fingers, and stumbled through a speech which he didn’t really want to deliver in the first place.
Wanting to help him control that demon, fear, his teacher suggested that next time, instead of talking from notes he talk on some subject which he knew by “heart.” Not a memorized talk, but one which would bubble right out of his nature.
Would he talk about something he really knew, and knew he knew?
He could, and did. Next time he talked about tumbling. . And could he tumble? All over the place, and talking all the while.
Now there were no trembling hands, no shaking in his socks, no dry bones rattling or thick tongue because the speaker was too busy communicating vital ideas to be afraid. What a vic¬tory over fear!
When getting started choose a topic you know well and interested in and it is much easier to speak with confidence. When you do not believe in what you are speaking about it is difficult to speak with conviction and you are more likely to be timid than confident.
Please visit http://www.selfconfidentspeaking.com for more information on how to speak with confidence and a free preview of The Art of Great Conversation.
Speak With Confidence – How Do You Open Your Speech?
When you lack confidence in your ability to speak with confidence it is too easy to start with an apology or with “Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking…” Don’t, they get you off on the wrong foot with the audience. The audience will wonder why they bothered turn up and there are plenty of intereting way to start and get your audience’s attention.
Here are 5 interesting ways to get your audience’s attention:
1. A question which causes an audience to think. People become alert when they are asked to alert. Even a sleep member of the audience will sit up and pay attention when they are asked a question.
2. Start with a quotation. A relevant quotation gets you off to a good start. It is an effective beginning because people will think you are knowledgeable in your topic.
3. A topical opening. You begin by referencing that has happened in the recent past.
4. Start with a story. Everyone likes a good story – it does not neccessarily have to be a funny one but it does have to be an interesting one.
5. Start with a fact stated in an interesting way. This gets you started straightaway into your speech. For example, for a speech to a bird protection society “Oil is a killer and a very painful death it brings. It is estimated that twenty-six thousand birds at least died in agony along this part of the coast last year because of it, and we know that this can be avoided.”
The way you choose to open your speech will depend on the circumstances and your own style. Try a variety of openings to build up your repertoire and experience.It is this way that will give you the ability to speak with confidence.
To find more information ongetting your peech started and speak with confidence please vist http://www.selfconfidentspeaking.com to get a free preview of The Art of Great Conversation.
Speak With Confidence – Tips On Using Stories
People have grown up listening, reading and watching stories – at bedtime as a child, on TV, in books, on film and now the internet. People like stories.A person that can speak with confidence when telling a story will quickly win over their audience’s interest and maintain it. If they do it right.
But stories can sometimes fall flat. Here are some great tips to avoid that:-
1. Be relevant – to truly hold the audience attention it needs to support or illustrate a point that is being made, otherwise it may leave them confused.
2. The best story-starters implant anticipation, participation, curiosity, or an “I’ll let you in on the dirt” feeling.
3. Don’t drag out your story; reduce your words to bare essentials.
4. Put interesting, picture-making details into his stories. He uses specific, concrete words that create vivid images rather than a blur of mental fog e.g. Listeners can see a fat man waddle or wobble easier than they can see him go to the front door of his cabin.
5. The primary source of your material is your own experience. Observe what is going on around you find plenty of material for your speech. A person who takes a keen interest in life can find more and better material than the jaded bored world traveler who takes no interest in what is happening around them.
6. Keep a pen and notebook handy to note down the happenings, don’t rely on your memory. In this way you will soon have a storehouse of stories that you can call on to use in your speeches and presenter.
A person who can speak with confidence takes the time to find interesting stories and ensures they are relevant to their speech. It doestake more time to include interesting stories into a speech but the results are worth it.
Speak With Confidence – Actions To Take Before You Speak
Before preparing your speech, bear in mind the organization and the type of audience to be addressed. There are many different types of audiences within every community. A group of girl scouts will probably not be interested in the same things as a sales conference. Without completing your speech preliminaries you may undermine your ability to speak with confidence because of your lack of research and preparation.
A popular speaker addresses highly intelligent gatherings of professional people, literary groups, etc., one day; the next, a football banquet, Scout Rally, or a convention of salesmen. In each instance the audience must be taken into consideration both in the speech to be delivered and the manner in which it is to be presented.
It is important to decide whether your remarks should be light or heavy, moderately serious or hilariously funny. Ask yourself: Why did they invite me? What do they want to hear from me? What do I know of their organization? Which anecdotes will please them most?
If this is a return engagement—did something interesting occur at the earlier meeting? Would some personal experience especially appeal to this gathering? Did they suggest a topic? And what is their particular interest in it?
Find out who is to introduce you and what would serve best as an “ad lib” opener. Well in advance, send publicity material to the organization concerning you and your speech.
In this way you will know what your audience in interested in and you can craft a speech that will be worthwhile to them. And the audience will be properly primed as to who you are. This provides you with a good reason to speak with confidence to your audience.
Speak With Confidence – Short And Often Does It
To influence, a speaker must speak with confidence, fluently and with courage. When anxiety or fear becomes evident, an audience loses confidence in a speaker’s knowledge of their subject. Of course, if they do not have confidence in themselves how can they hope to convince others?
Often the cause for stage fright is the fact that a speaker who feels it simply has not spoken to audiences often enough. New situations may be frightening. Remember the first time you asked for a date, or when you were asked for one? Were you nervous or unduly tense about the situation?
Notice the concern of a new driver. Although they want to drive and like it, they breathe easier when the traffic is not so heavy or when they get out of the car. That first time, or maybe the first few times you rode in a plane, you would have liked to have dragged your big toe on the ground a bit longer before taking off. But after several flights getting into an airplane is as easy as walking into the kitchen.
Emerson’s statement, “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain,” is true. Appearing before an audience once or twice may not enable a speaker to overcome fear. But if they will continue speaking on various occasions they cannot fail to defeat stage fright. George Bernard Shaw, for instance, was afraid to face audiences but over a period of several years he forced himself to speak at every opportunity. He conquered fear. But his method was haphazard.
Making many short speeches is far more helpful in; overcoming fear than delivering only a few long ones. Much oral work is needed. A person can no more learn to face audiences without actually appearing before them often than he can learn to swim without getting into water.
So, to speak with confidence, speak often even though you may have to kick yourself a few times to keep at it.
For more tips and advice on how to speak with confidence visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com to claim a free preview of The Art Of Great Conversation
Speaking With Confidence – Commanding Respect And Attention
If a person is not interested in their topic or are not convinced themselves that it is important they will find it difficult to speak with confidence and make it interesting for the audience. They will not be able to command the respect of their audience if they do not take it seriously.
For a topic to be interesting and gain the audience’s attention it does not have to be experienced by only a few people.
A person does not have to be struck by lightning (not many can speak on this with any intimate knowledge) or be swallowed by a whale (only 2 recorded instances – Jonah and James Bartly- can speak with knowledge) in order to have a suitable theme for a speech. By taking inventory of his experiences almost any¬one can find at least a few subjects upon which he has earned the right to speak. Hobbies, special interests, likes, dislikes, pet peeves, ambitions, fascinating places, or admirable people often suggest suitable topics.
Although a speaker need not know everything about his subject he should know as much as possible. At least he should know more than the average person in his audience will know about it. Knowing his subject well, let him then give his entire self to expressing it with conviction and feeling.
William Jennings Bryan frequently told his daughter to think what she was going to say, then to “say it with feeling!” -Quintilian, a master teacher of speaking said, “It is the heart and energy of soul which makes speakers eloquent.” Effective •speaking is not a namby-pamby, mumble-jumble, lukewarm af¬fair. It is a sincere sharing of a portion of life with other think¬ing and feeling people.
To have this earnest attitude toward sharing ideas a speaker must truly feel that everything he says is really worth sharing. “”Impress yourself with the truth and importance of what you expect to say,” said William Norwood Brigance, a moden author¬ity on public speaking.
Realizing that when people listen to a speech they are con¬tributing a portion of their lives should motivate a speaker to say something really worthwhile.
One student speaker said, “When I step onto a platform to make a speech I imagine I am a fighter in the ring and that I must make every second count.” Another serious student said, “I speak as though I had only one minute to live.”
When a speaker sincerely feels he has serious, but pleasant and congenial business with an audience, his manner commands respect and attention from that audience. As he continues eager¬ly sharing his entire self, this respect and attention becomes deep¬er. Audiences are strongly inclined to think and feel with him. Persuasion is at work.
By choosing a subject that a speaker is interested it is easier for them to speak with confidence and he gains the audience attention because of their knowledge and interest in the subject.
For more information on how to speak with confidence, visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com to claim a free preview of The Art Of Great Conversatio
Speak With Confidence – Arresting Attention
When you have been speaking in public for awhile and you are beginning to speak with confidence you will notice that your audience’s attention may wander.An audience rarely pays attention automatically, their interest must be sparked and maintained by the speaker.
Many factors may cause an audience to become inattentive. One offender is monotony. When the listeners’ interest is obviously lagging, audience attention may be restored by attention arrestors.
Rhetorical Questions:
These are rhetorical questions the speaker puts out. He may ask, dramatically, “What are you going to do about it?” While he intends to answer that question himself, his technique arouses curiosity.
The speaker should of course be prepared for an un¬expected answer from the audience, and if the answer is right, he should express his thanks. If it’s wrong, he should use that as an excuse to repeat the high points of his argument.
Take a Pause
The oratorical pause has a place in your delivery. In private conversation we frequently ask “Do you see what I mean?” or “Do you get the point?” During the oratorical pause, the speaker in effect is asking the audience, “Do you get what I say?”
Good speakers employ punch lines but sometimes the listeners are unprepared for them. The oratorical pause permits the audience to digest one point before you go on to the next.
The audience neither likes to lose out on a chance to laugh, nor to laugh and lose out on a good line. This is the place to pause.
His mastery of the oratorical pause makes Bob Hope’s appearances hilarious. He makes his point, then waits for it to sink in. If the praise is plentiful, he starts in again but adds another pause and so creates the impression that his comment was far funnier than he expected the audience to think it was. These might be called pluperfect pauses. There is no objection to a speaker using long pauses during delivery providing they mean something; but if the pause is a cover-up for a memory lapse that’s as bad as rattling through lines that are word-perfect but are delivered without change of pace or emotion. (The mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working the minute you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak!)
To be able to speak with confidence you need to be prepared so that you can use the “pause” to hold attention and not because you have forgotten the words. Also the rhetorical question is great to gain the audience’s attention and get feedback from the audience to modify your speech if necessary.
Speak with Confidence – Beware Of Stilted Speech
When starting out in public speaking it is advisable to write out your speech so it is fully thought through. There is something that happens when you write your thoughts out on paper. It will help in being able to speak with confidence.
However, it’s human nature to “put stilts on” when you take pen in hand and thus to write artificially. For this reason it’s wise, after you’ve written your speech out, to translate it into a simple conversational style. Something that starts out, “It is contended by a considerable number of persons” looks real good on paper but it would certainly sound silly in front of an audience. How much more natural to stand up and say, “Now a great many people will tell you”
Review your work in that vein. Seek to make it conversational; make it sound natural, just the way you’d talk. Then you’ll be more comfortable and your audience will be more appreciative.
This doesn’t mean that all big words and unusual expressions should be eliminated. Just remember not to refer to “extinguishing the blaze” when you mean “putting out the fire,” because that’s affected and it sounds asinine. But if your vocabulary naturally includes unusual words as a matter of course, use them lest you create an impression of “talking down” to your audience.
Unusual words when properly and naturally used lend color and charm. It’s wise to keep them soft and sweet because you never know when you may have to eat them!
Written language is different to spoken language. The most effective style for public speaking is the conversational style. A conversational style is more natural and is easier for the audience to follow your speech. It also helps you to speak with confidence as the message is most important rather than fine sounding words for effective public speaking.
Speak With Confidence – How To Use Humor The Right Way
The use of humor is a great tool for a speaker to be able to speak with confidence. It adds interest and fun to a speech. It can give an audience time for a breather and bring them together.
A humorous speaker gains quick control of his audience, but there are things to remember about humor.
First, an interesting and informative speech may be highly entertaining without being humorous. Most speakers are invited because they are well informed on a specific subject and when it is of interest to the listeners, they do not expect entertainment as such. For entertainment they can call on an entertainer.
Amateurs should plan how to spice their speeches. Radio and television performers with a few exceptions follow their scripts so closely they seldom so much as ad lib a sneeze. Sound tracks left hot ad-libs back with the flicker film.
Just telling jokes doesn’t make a man a wit; more often it makes him a half-wit. Humor means fitting your fun to the matter at hand, and when you personalize it, it sounds yet more realistic. The best humor deals with humans. Mark Twain endeared himself by letting the hot air out of do-gooders, political humbugs, and hokum peddlers. Will Rogers became the czar of sarcasm by criticizing Congress. By digging at its members’ delusions of grandeur, he made them sound more human.
Recently—have you heard any good ones panning Con¬gressional nonsense? We seem to have let television set the pace, a medium in which commercial competition is so keen that everything’s turned sacred. Sass and satire have been censored lest they offend a sponsor or the Federal Communications Commission. Sponsors shy from a dental patient depicted as saying one small “Ouch!”—lest all the D.D.S. within hearing ply the network with complaints that the commercial will create dental chair cavities.
A public speaker is pretty much his own boss—free from sponsor responsibilities and never has he had a better op¬portunity to return us to the lusty ways of self-expression. There are of course taboos that even seasoned satirists respect: Will Rogers abided by these good rules:
It’s a poor story if some woman blushes with embarrass¬ment; some heart carries away an ache; something sacred is made to sound common; a man’s weakness provides the cause for laughter; profanity is required to make it funny; a little child is brought to tears; or everyone can’t join in the laughter.
To speak with confidence when using humor the speaker should plan and rehearse the humor, be personalized and it can be satirical but not be so offensive that causes too much angst or offence.
Speak With Confidence – Does Your Voice Convey Confidence?
Crucial to being able to speak with confidence is how you use your voice. A voice is wonderful expressive instrument and will reflect your emotional state. If you feel confident it will reflect this and unfortunately it does also reflect any nerves or anxiety. When a person feels anxious there are number of things that may happen to your voice – you may speak too quickly, too softly or mumble. The good news is that your audience will usually have the perception that you are less nervous than you think you sound. And there are also actions you can take to settle your nerves and help your voice sound calm.
Breathing – Taking a few deep breaths before you start helps to relax you and reduce nerves.
Humming – This helps with your tone. By humming a few lines of your favorite song, it helps your voice find its natural speaking pitch and should prevent speaking in a high pitch that nerves can cause.
Smiling – Genuine smile helps you feel more confident and improves your mood. Also a genuine smile it contagious and will help relax the audience and help them accept you more easily. And you might even see some of the audience smile back.
Start Off Slow – When you start off your speech it is best to start off slow but not so slow that it becomes a monotonous drone. Adopt a conersational tone as talking to a friend in private conversation.
Volume – It is possible to increase the volume of your voice without sounding un-natural. Ask whether the audience can hear you clearly, and adjust accordingly.
These simple remedies can improve your voice so that you speak with confidence.
For more information on how to speak with confidence visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com to claim a free preview of The Art Of Great Conversation.