If a fast or rushed speed of delivery in public speaking can tire an audience. (see my last post)

In contrast a very sluggish, dragging type of delivery will certainly motivate a listeners’ focus to go elsewhere, or the audience may say mentally, “Seriously, speaker, let’s go! I’m way ahead of you.” There is a reasonable medium pace of speaking in keeping with a speaker’s personality and the character of his speech.
A sing-song rhythmical delivery, beginning or closing all sentences on the very same pitch level, or raising the voice at the finish of statements may become monotonous habits. These tendencies can be avoided when a speaker talks as though he were having a lively, interesting chat with his audience.
Recording a lengthy speech and listening thoroughly to the recording will reveal any tedious speaking patterns. A speaker should invite other listeners to discover the monotony, as well. Then he should get active and put more vocal shades into his tone of voice, making certain he speaks in a conversational tone.
Speech that is far too precise or too exacting will destroy the purpose of effective oral communication because this practice calls attention to words and sounds instead of ideas. Such speaking may weary or disgust an audience. A speech trainer, or anyone else, who holds final consonants like he owns them, or who makes an apparent conscious effort to speak carefully may actually cause listeners to desire he’ll trip his tongue sometime.
However, loose, careless talk, or perhaps the use of inappropriate slang in his speech may draw attention to his manner of speaking instead of to the ideas he expresses. This careless speaking habit could also label him as being a lazy individual who would not use very much energy to find fascinating speech material for any audience.
We can have an informal, folksy speaking style, if we wish, without using lazy diction. Or we are able to be formal and “businesslike” without being starchy or “nasty nice.” Either way time invested studying the meaning of words and how to articulate them is worthwhile.

To sound more interesting in public speaking it is about reviewing how you sound and then taking action to improve any areas that may need some attention . It is in this way that we get better. An important element of this is having the information to know what to do. By signing up to my blog on the right you can receive tip information on better public speaking direct to your in-box.

Effective public speaking is about keeping your audience’s attention.

Do you paint pictures with your words or do you leave your listeners in a verbal fog?

An effective speaker puts interesting, picture-making details into his stories. He uses specific, concrete words that create vivid images rather than a blur of mental fog.
Some speakers err by talking about what happened rather than picturing it happening.
A speaker could say, “He was emotionally disturbed when he heard that his mother had passed away.” Or this event could be pictured: “The smile faded from young Bill Day’s face as lie held the telephone receiver to his ear and heard the broken voice of his father calling long distance. His fingers tightened vice-like on the receiver, and blood rushed to his head as he listened breathlessly to the saddest news he had ever heard — a head-on collision on the highway. Now the receiver felt like lead in his limp hand. It seemed all the strength had been suddenly drained from his body. With his free hand he grasped the telephone to keep from sinking to the floor. Tears coursed down the youthful lines of his face because his mother had been driving one of the automobiles in that fatal crash.”
Consider this statement, “An animal crossed the road for a serious purpose.” What kind of mental picture do these words paint? Does the listener see a dog, cat, elephant, horse, or any one of a hundred other animals? How did the animal cross the road, quickly, slowly, cautiously? Was the road a wide highway, a dirt road, a narrow trail? And what really was the serious purpose?
Such speaking blurs the mental film. It is like trying to see a drive-in movie at Hoboken through, a London fog. But when the speaker says what he really means, “A wildcat leaped across the mountain path to pounce upon a lazy jackrabbit,” he paints a verbal masterpiece.

I’ll post more about this in coming weeks about using words for effective pulbic speaking.

Can you can become an exceptional presenter? I believe anyone can that is truly serious can become one.  So does Timothy Koegel author of The Exceptional Presenter.

Timothy takes a wider view of presenting than just those situations where you are presenting in a formal occasion such as a keynote speech. His view is that we are always presenting whether we are one to one, small groups, leaving a voice mail. The book is for the average person.

Being able to an effective communicator is one of the skills that organizations are looking for and is the number one skill needed for career advancement in any field.

Below is a video that discusses the first 3 chapters of the book and gives a brief insight to how practical the book is to use.

The book is more than just a good read, it is like a workshop that gives you the information and exercises you can use to implement in becoming an exceptional presenter.

Exceptional Presenter Characteristics

To help Timothy Koegel uses an acronym – OPEN UP to provide the 6 steps to be an exceptional presenter

O – Organized,

P – Passionate,

E – Engaging

N- Natural

U – Understand

P – Practice

In summary, I think this is a book for anyone who is anxious when presenting and wants to calm those fears and improve their communications skills so they can give winning presentations whatever the occasion from public speaking to one to one situations such as asking for a pay rise.

You can get the book here – The Exceptional Presenter by Timothy Koegel

One of the best tools for improving your presentation skills is to video-record yourself as a means of practice. While you may think this is a bit extreme, it really isn’t: you will learn so much by watching yourself on video. A lot of people are recorded during their presentation, but imagine the advantage if you record yourself beforehand so that you can correct your mistakes as well as the ‘tics’, the ums, ahs & uhs, and any other mannerisms you may not like.

The first step, however, is to practice your material out loud. I tell this to my clients and my students over and over; and still, I have people that don’t practice their material. My question is why?

If you were to give a piano recital, you would practice; if you were to enter a golf tournament, you would practice; if you were to take a driver’s test, you would practice. What makes you think you can give a presentation or deliver a speech without practicing? Going over it in your mind is not practice…saying it OUT LOUD is!

After practicing your material, do it again with your camcorder on. [As an aid for my clients, I place a huge stuffed gorilla on the sofa and 'Goofy' on an adjacent chair so that my presenters feel like they are talking to an audience. Dolls and mannequins will also work.] Go through your entire presentation and then play it back and study it. Decide what you like and what you don’t like.

Then ask yourself an important question. Overall, did you enjoy your presentation? Forget the mistakes, just look at the entire piece and judge it in its entirety. Mistakes are not important at this particular time. Was your delivery good? Did you convey what you wanted to say in an entertaining, enjoyable, interesting manner? Feeling good about your presentation skills is an important acknowledgement because if you enjoyed it, so too will your audience.

If, on the other hand, you didn’t like it, ask yourself why.

Did you acknowledge your ‘audience’ or were your eyes glued to your notes or your script? Did you show any emotion in speaking or was your face frozen in fear? Did you move during your delivery or were you standing perfectly still? Did you read to your audience or were you able to sound conversational? (Remember: this is not a reading at the library or Barnes & Noble!) Were there a lot of ums and ahs or was your speech smooth flowing?

These are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself about your style of delivery; but, more importantly, ask yourself if you are able to correct these faults on your own or could use some training.

Just as all musicians and athletes have had training so too should those involved in public speaking. Most people are not born natural speakers; it takes practice; it takes constructive criticism; and, it all begins by recording yourself on a camcorder first.

The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. Visit Voice DynamicYour Least Developed Tool! and watch Nancy as she describes

It’s not surprising that if you’ve ever attended a presentation held by a brilliant presenter to feel a kind of charm and magnetism in the conference room. This is not magic at all, but a set of techniques used by the presenter to impact his audience. These skills are not hidden or whatsoever, but rarely used by people. The reason why I’m writing this is to share some of these skills and how you can use them to a maximum impact.

-The first thing to focus on is your entrance. This is the most important stage within your presentation and the most remembered one as you give them a first impression about you, so it should be very strong and impressive one.

-Your stance is the second most important one. Stand tall with a straight back; keep your shoulders level and relaxed.

-Keeping an eye contact with the audience can certainly create a great rapport between you and them, so make sure to give them a strong and impressive eye contact so that they feel that you are talking to them personally, and this reinforces your messages to be easily understood and believed.

-The speed also plays a vital role. Make it easy for them to follow what you say by making your voice and pitch go in a consistent manner with the arguments that you convey. Let your voice flow smoothly to support your speech.

-Don’t make it escape your notice the importance of appearing very comfortable and relaxed by taking as much space as you can. Show them that you are not afraid to stand up there and speak. Don’t keep your arms close by your sides.Instead, make the gesture wide, upward and outward.Such appearance will give you much credibility.

You need to keep your enthusiasm and energy high throughout the presentation. Don’t be hasty to start or to finish, rather, take your entire time. If you stick to the above advices, be sure that you are having the charisma formula. Do it in your next presentation and enjoy your applause. 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

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leon_Van_Der_Walt

Perhaps the most difficult thing for speaker to learn is knowing when and where to stop speaking.

When you pause, you establish the pace from the beginning of your talk. You let the audience know that the information is going to be coming at them at a pace that they can handle. You let them know right up front that you will be delivering your story in the form of a newspaper – not a textbook.

So to put the process all together, speaking properly is about is finding one person, giving one thought, and then taking one pause. One pause long enough for them to ingest the last thing you said, reference it and catalog it, before you ask them to open up to new information.

When you engage these behaviors, you will find that your relationship with the audience changes in many ways. Not only does the group dynamic change, but also the types of feedback you get from the group, because in many cases, you’ll find people in the audience who’ve been through lifetimes of presentations and never felt engaged at that same level.

When you master Lock, Talk, & (especially) Pause, what you find is that people actually come up to you at the end of the meeting say things like, “You know, Jane, I’ve heard this information before, but nobody’s ever explained it in quite the same way. Somehow, you made it all understandable”. Or, “Somehow, I felt that you really cared about my understanding what you had to say. This was a great presentation”. That “somehow” was your giving them the ability to actually hear what you said.

The positive feedback is a good thing, too, because the more of it you get, the more it will reinforce your desire to hone The Skills every time you speak. And you will get a little bit better every time you do. In fact, speaking well is a lifelong process – but one that just keeps on getting better as long as you do it.

Mark Twain gets a lot of quotes attributed to him that he never said, but one of the things he did say was:

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause”.

Way back then, Mark Twain knew good old Rule #3, that people only START listening when you STOP talking.

Master of the Pause

When we ask our on-site participants to name the person they consider to be the most effective speaker in public life today, Bill Clinton is the name that most often rises to the top. People think of Bill Clinton, regardless of his politics (which we won’t discuss here) as a great public speaker. And the reality is Bill Clinton was some poor kid from Arkansas who made it to a pretty high office because one thing he figured out how to do is speak.

Bill Clinton is thought of as a great speaker for good reason. Bill Clinton is the Master of the Pause. There’s no speaker today who knows more about how to get a message across by saying a few words and then pausing to let it sink in. In fact, Bill Clinton probably says fewer words between pauses than any other politician. [Editor's note: Barack Obama is fast on his heals, but still has a ways to go before he can steal the mantle. We suspect history will weigh in on this in time.]

When you listen to Clinton speak, you find yourself not just hearing what he just said, but also waiting in anticipation for his next words. And that is the second reason that the pause is so vital. When you don’t give the audience frequent breaks in the stream of your words, foremost on their minds is when you are going to stop talking so their brains can have a rest.

But when you fill your stream of thoughts with opportunities for them to rest between each one, you will find your audience actually waiting to hear your next words. They are primed to listen, so the impact of the words when they do arrive is much, much greater.

Bill Clinton learned The Skills, and learned how to be a master, by listening to his hero in life – John F. Kennedy. Coming up, you will hear for yourself how each of these masters deliver their words not to hear themselves speak, but with their audience’s ability to hear and comprehend foremost in mind.

Bill Clinton is an effective speaker because he gives everyone in the audience all the time each needs to absorb what he said before he asks them to pick up on the next thing he’s going to say. He gives them the time to absorb it, process it, and form a clear picture of the words before he asks them to take in new information.

Bill Clinton, and Jack Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King and just about anybody that has ever really moved you by their style of speaking all know one thing: the most effective thing you can do when you speak is to NOT.

About the Author

J. Douglas Jefferys is a principal at PublicSpeakingSkills.com, an international consulting firm specializing in training businesses of all sizes to communicate for maximum efficiency. The firm spreads its unique knowledge through on-site classes, public seminars, and high-impact videos, and can be reached through the Internet or at 888-663-7711.

eing confident speaking in public, whether in front of a few close friends and colleagues, at a formal assessment, or giving a formal presentation, can greatly influence your everyday life. Your career, relationships, and much more often depend on your ability to speak confidently and deliver your message clearly.

Here are the top seven ways you can use your public speaking skills to boost tour personal life and your career.

1. Communicate with others clearly and concisely. Many mistakes or misinterpretations are the result of failing to communicate your ideas properly. Good public speaking skills help you articulate your ideas well and make them come alive for the listener. This was one of the most critical skills an engineer or scientist needs to develop as they often have to speak to audiences that don’t know the first thing about their area of expertise. If they are ineffective in conveying why the investors should invest more money to fund the next project they might well be out of a job.

2. Build overall confidence. As you become better at organizing and communicating your ideas more effectively you will start to exhibit more confidence. People with this ability have a “glow” of confidence about them when they speak in public. Unlike the red glow of terror on the face of the man who is scared to death.

3. Increase your comfort level in social situations. How many of you have ever been afraid to strike up a conversation ata party? (Don’t be shy most of the other guests are just as nervous.) Any social situation is, in fact, the perfect opportunity for you to practice your public speaking skills. Here’s a great bonus: It is a well known fact that people who speak well are perceived as more attractive. Practice a little and it won’t just be your cute smile that makes you popular with the girls.

4. Establish trust and respect from others with greater ease. Your success in dealing with clients, or even your own family. depends a great deal on your speaking skills. The ability to convince people with words is the key to establishing trust and respect. This includes not only what you say, but also the way you say it.

5. Speak more confidently on the telephone. Whether requesting information, making a cold call at work, talking to a client, or just leaving a phone message, others can judge your confidence level in the tone of your voice. Did you know that nearly 90 percent of your telephone message is communicated through the tone of your voice?

6. Run meetings or present new ideas more effectively. Having the ability to conduct a Scout meeting or coach junior soccerwith eight to twelve screaming, energetic boys definitely challenges your public speaking skills. Organizing and running a meeting with adults is probably more difficult because you can’t bribe them with candy.

7. Become an effective member or volunteer. At some point in your life you may volunteer or even be gently coerced into leading or joining a professional or social organization. Your success within the organization will depend significantly on your ability to speak to the group and keep their attention engaged in order to achieve your common goals and objectives.

About the Author

Discover the proven way to Conquer your public speaking fears in just one day. www.vpubl.com/speaking

It takes a certain personality to identify a need and correct it. If you’ve landed on this page then you have that personality and you are one giant step closer to becoming a better public speaker.

I know what you’re saying…”All I did was search the internet and find your site. How does that translate into improvement?”

Simple. You’ve taken the first step and fed your curiosity. You’re using your fingers to find good information instead of twisting them together in your lap.

What steps do you need to take to get better? I’m so glad you asked.

Study the Craft

The top performers are the most knowledgeable. Consistently feeding your brain will keep you sharp and ready for action.

Look at the NFL. The best quarterback of our day is Peyton Manning. He’s obsessed with studying film. He’s studying film before everyone else arrives. He’s studying film when everyone else leaves. That hard work has opened the door for him to set a single season record for passing touchdowns (49), win Super Bowl XLII, and be an unstoppable force on the field.

Look at the investing field. Warren Buffett studies companies and their leaders. He doesn’t casually read about them or ask other people how they feel about it. Warren Buffett himself studies the company. He won’t invest until he is completely satisfied. When he’s comfortable with his evaluation he takes the plunge. So far its worked out to the tune of $62 billion.

By coming to this site you’ve placed yourself in elite company. Pat yourself on the back.

Use the Information You Find

There’s nothing worse than wasting good information. When you read an article of mine feel free to use the information. You have better things to do than sit around reading articles you won’t use. It’s fine to scribble furiously in your notepad. Feel free to put circles, large arrows, and things to remember in your tablet of paper. Highlight the good stuff in BOLD ITALIC all you want. Toss it up on a white board in bright red if that helps.

Absorb the information and use it. All that scribbling, circling, arrow drawing, and BOLD ITALIC means nothing if you never apply what you’ve learned.

By now you’ve heard the phrase “Practice makes perfect”. It’s contrived, it’s cliche, and I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it. Think about this for one second. Anything that happens to be contrived, cliche, and stated to the point where you hear it every single day has a strong possibility of being true.

The only way to truly measure yourself is to test what you’ve learned. When you test yourself you experience all the emotions of live action. You feel those hairs stand at attention on the back of your neck. Your knees turn into jell-o. Your mouth turns into a desert. Your heart beats through your chest.

You experience it all and yet you live to fight another day. That’s when you really start to get better.

Conclusion

It’s easy to get better in public speaking. Use the 2 tips I’ve outlined here and you’ll be light years ahead of the general populace:

1. Study the Craft

2. Apply the information

Until we meet again.

About the Author

Marcus Smith is a creative force in the public speaking world who strives to meet the needs of each and every client. His experience as the Toastmasters President at a fortune 15 company will prove invaluable to you.

**Attn Ezine editors/Site Owners** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site as long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include the resource box as listed above.

The Pause

In our classes we have participants work through a number of exercises, and people quickly learn that indeed, it’s much more comforting when you can give your presentation to one person at a time. When you get to the point where instead of trying to crank your whole system up, you actually look at one person at a time, letting everything else go, you start a process in which you can settle down and feel much more comfortable. And again, the more comfortable you feel, the more comfortable the audience is going to feel, because they’re empathizing with you. And the more comfortable they are, the more likely they are to uptake your message.

Though most of our on-site participants pick up on the “Lock, Talk” aspects of the program quite easily, the hardest part for most people to implement is always the “& Pause” part. Yet as we’ll examine in this article, the pause is probably the most important component to the process of speaking well. As we’ve mentioned many times before, all great speakers, all people who have The Skills, have learned to embrace the pause.

This lesson will contain less reading than the first two because we really want you to study the upcoming videos, and replay them repeatedly, so that you get to the point where when you next get up to speak, you can “hear” the speakers in your mind and let them guide you through your delivery.

What we want you to thoroughly appreciate is how these masters of The Skills use the pause to such advantage. But why is the pause so important?

The pause is important for three reasons. The first is about allowing your audience to hear what you just said, and the second is about getting them to hear what you’re about to say next. The third purpose of the pause, which is crucial to forming the actual verbiage of your presentation, will form the basis for our next article.

It’s important to recognize that the pause in speech is equivalent to the paragraph in the written word. Think about this. When do you end one paragraph and begin a new one? With the movement to a new thought, a new concept, right? It works the same way in speech.

Too much information!

Can relate to the structure of older textbooks, especially science textbooks (organic chemistry, anyone?) that you’d open up and see page after page after page of text without a single break? Many of us didn’t make it through chemistry in college, because when we opened up the textbook, we flipped through a few pages and just said, “No way!”. You saw an unending stream of words for page after page and decided that your brain was simply not equipped to take in all that stuff.

That’s exactly how your listeners feel when you speak without pausing. You don’t see them slam the book shut on you, but they do silently decide to shut out much of what you say, choosing to wait for the handout. They still smile and nod when you look at them, but they’re not hearing you. They can’t hear you, because as we know from Rule #3, people only start listening when you stop talking.

Now compare the chemistry textbook to a newspaper. Until you pick one up and count, many people aren’t aware that the average newspaper paragraph contains only two sentences. (In USA Today, sometimes less than one). Why? Well, when you think about it, newspapers are in the same business you are when delivering a presentation.

Newspapers are there to deliver new information to people quickly, and then move on. Newspapers know they have one shot to give it to you, because most people don’t hold on to newspapers. They’re not used as reference material. You read them one time through, and then you toss them in the trash on your way off the train.

So the process of getting a lot of new information to people quickly involves being able to parcel it out into nice little bite-size morsels that the brain can ingest. The paragraph is a big key to that. Think about the physical structure of a paragraph. You read across the column: one sentence, two sentences, and then what do you get? You get a nice little piece of white space. That white space is brain rest.

And then even before you’re asked you to take in more information, you’re given a little indent – a bit more white space. A little more brain rest. That’s what a paragraph’s all about.

Speaking in paragraphs

The pause in speech works exactly the same way. In order to get your audience to really take in what you have to say, you’ve got to learn to stop talking and give their brains a little rest. Frequently. You’ve got to stop talking long enough for them to ingest that last thing you said, get a picture of it, and try to put it into a context that they know before moving on to the next thing you’re going to say.

The pause is absolutely the most important thing you can do when you speak. People have a hard time appreciating that, because they think that speaking is about talking. As we’ve said before: time can go on quite nicely even when not filled with your words! But as you listen to the speakers in the videos, you will begin to appreciate why those with The Skills not only embrace they pause, they strive to be masters of it.

About the Author

J. Douglas Jefferys is a principal at PublicSpeakingSkills.com, an international consulting firm specializing in training businesses of all sizes to communicate for maximum efficiency. The firm spreads its unique knowledge through on-site classes, public seminars, and high-impact videos, and can be reached through the Internet or at 888-663-7711.

These are two of the most critical techniques to learn when speaking in public. Relaxation and Confidence can make all the difference in a good speech to a great speech.

Follow these tips to improve your public speaking skills:

Relax…

You can use all the tips and techniques outlined in any speech guide and still make a lousy speech if you don’t relax. All speech books TELL you to relax. But will you really relax? The true test of whether you can advance in your public speaking abilities is the level of relaxation you can induce before, during and after a public speaking event. Ask yourself, “How can I relax? Will I relax?”

You will, you have to if you want to succeed. So what do you relax about, and how? First, you have to dispel any notion you have about the importance of your speech. In truth, during the course of your life, speakers will deliver more than one billion speeches.

It is very unlikely your speech will have such a great impact that it will change the world forever. And, if your speech did have that kind of impact, chances are you already know how to relax.

Now, various books will offer you suggestions about how to relax. They may say, “Pretend the audience is naked.” I don’t know about you, but that is likely to make me MORE nervous. You may find you are now too distracted to relax. What if your mother were in the audience? So how DO you relax?

Forget about your speech. Do your homework, practice and then tuck it away. People who relax do what they have to do to prepare a speech, and then forget about it until the time comes to speak. You should do the same.

Do something fun. Go for a bike ride. Sing a goofy song. Jump on a trampoline. Think of what you plan to do AFTER your speech. In fact, you should plan something extravagant and rewarding, something you will look forward to following your grand delivery.

And remember, in the grand scheme of things, your speech will not likely shatter the earth. Some people find simply speaking out, saying, “Boy am I nervous,” helps them relax. If you do that, write it down, say it out loud, then say, “I am glad I got that over with. I feel great now.”

Good chance you WILL feel better. Don’t focus on what will go wrong, focus on what you know will go right, and what you plan to have for dinner later that night. In the end your speech making ability will improve tenfold.

Feel Confident…

Do you smell that? It smells funky. What is it? You can’t quite place it, but you know that smell. It is familiar, you’ve smelt it before. What is it? Oh yes, it is fear… You can smell fear a mile away. If you walk up to the center stage and lack confidence, before you utter a single word your entire audience will feel your fear.

This will resonate throughout the auditorium like a clap of thunder. What happens next is like a chain reaction. Your audience begins to squirm. They feel uncomfortable. They worry about what you plan to say. They fidget even more. This may cause you to fidget. All of this will detract from the moment at hand, and likely impact your speech in a negative way.

What do you do about it? Pretend you are confident. Strut your stuff, put a little hop in your walk, and a little kick in your stance. Make sure when you approach your audience, you stand up tall and SMILE. The very act of smiling will undoubtedly cause a chain reaction in your audience.

As you smile, others will soon follow. This will fill the room with positive energy, energy you can absorb, energy that will allow you to feel more powerful and more confident.

You also have to remember that YOU are the one delivering the speech. So, no matter what you talk about, you are in charge. You are the expert. You have the power. People are looking to you for information or advice, or possibly just a good joke. Live in the moment.

As long as you have the power, you should feel confident. Remember that. And when in doubt, fake it. It always works.

Bradney Davis is a entrepreneur and frequent public speaker. Sharpen Your Public Speaking Skills Even Further http://www.speakingpowersecrets.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

It is True… for some, it is spiders; for many, ghosts; and others would say heights, but there are those who actually admit that public speaking is their greatest fear.

It is actually commonplace. Come to think of it, there can sometimes be nothing more frightening than having to stand up and speak in front of a group of people who could very likely shout at you, laugh at you, or leave while you are in the middle of talking. Even actress Debra Messing of the hit show Will and Grace surprisingly had this fear all her life. And she is a professional actress! Imagine how much worse this could be for those who have not even had the chance to go up on a stage at all in their lives.

Thankfully, public speaking is a fear that can easily be overcome. If you are not exactly paralyzed by fear, but you think you still have room for improvement on it, then you are realizing the fundamental truth that is facing us all. You can improve your public speaking skills quite easily by following the beginning tips mentioned below.

Remember to be prepared and get your practice. The value of preparation can never be overemphasized. It adds confidence and substance to your speeches and presentations. Research the topic you will talk about and try to find the best way to present it (angle-wise). Outline your major points and use cue cards if necessary/available. Practice your speech-delivery to make sure that your talk will not exceed the time allotted for you, and so that you could also asses your delivery from your own perspective. If you are to be the lead-speaker in a very important engagement, try to practice your speech in front of someone who could properly assess how you have done… and is able to provide honest feedback to you.

Also, Know your audience… technically, this is still part of being prepared. However, it is just so important that it calls for a separate mention. Knowing your audience provides you with valuable insight on the angle and perspective of presentation that would appeal best to them. It guides whether you can be casual and funny or whether you would be better served to be serious and analytical. It also gives you great input in streamlining your speech by suggesting what you need to include and what you can do without.

Also critical is to dress the part. As much as we refuse to admit it, image can sometimes be everything. How the audience responds to you can highly depend upon how they perceptually perceive you. Generally, you would appear as a more convincing speaker if you are dressed as business casual or business formal. Also, since the audience will have to look at you anyway, you might as well make your appearance a pleasant one for them.

Keeping the KISS in mind. Keep It Short and Simple. Even geniuses have limited attention spans… no special talent for the A.D.D. afflicted needed at all. Do not bore your audience to death with a speech that is too long. The faster you can get your message across, the better. A short and simple message also appears smarter while preventing you from being perceived as someone who came unprepared and is fumbling through their presentation. It also allows your listeners to retain what you have said easily. Including the opportunity for you to perform valauble rephrasing of your concepts – for added comprehension by your audience.

In addition to these quick tips, your public speaking skills will also be improved if you practice establishing periodic or constant eye contact with your audience. Also, if the occasion and your resources will permit, you can use visual aids such as slide presentations, handouts, product samples, etc to stimulate your audiences attention. To finish off your presentation, you should plan to answer the audiences question confidently and with a caring and informative attitude.

Remember that there will really come a time when you will have no other meaningful choice but to speak in public. So you might as well be ready for when that time comes. It could be either a disastrous or a pleasant experience for you; and you have all the power and abilities to make the most out of it. Follow the tips above and you will surely be on your way to becoming a natural at public speaking.

Dedicated to Your Public Speaking Success – http://www.EZPublicSpeaking.com