Responses to Anxiety of Public Speaking

Most of us have suffered from responses to anxiety of public speaking. And we may become so ill we may think we are actually coming down with something when in fact it is nothing more than anxiety triggered by the fear of public speaking.

There are many physical symptoms of anxiety. You may perspire or downright sweat t when you are standing on stage. If you are delivering your message to a large audience environment the lights in general may be intense and may make you perspire. I've seen people who are presenting who were so nervous and so drenched with perspiration that it looks as if their clothes just came out of the washer. One way to combat excessive sweating before and while presenting is to cool off before you go on stage. Use a cooling rag on your neck. Stay away from caffeine and chocolate and don't drink any hot drinks before you go on either. Wear light weight or layered clothing so you can adjust your body temperature with clothing removal.

Another one of the responses to anxiety of public speaking is a pounding headache. You start building up the headache hours before you're due to go on and by the time you deliver your presentation you can barely think. If you are medically cleared to take analgesics such as aspirin or acetaminophen, perhaps consider taking something one to two hours before you present so that if one of your responses to anxiety of public speaking is headache, you can ward off the pain before it hits.

I have seen people have such as stomach flutters that you could actually consider it being downright sick to the stomach before they have to present. I have a friend who literally becomes physically ill before she is about to present. Some advice I would give for those who become ill when they present is to think about eating something light because there's nothing worse than an empty stomach. Caffeine is not your friend if you are prone to stomach wobbles when public speaking and caffeine can give you the jitters and trigger other different responses. Also make sure that you're fully hydrated-but only use water or juice.

One of the last signs of having physical responses to anxiety of public speaking is dizziness. While some of the other signs can be embarrassing, dizziness can be dangerous. Passing out on stage could really compromise your safety so make sure if you're dizzy before the presentation don't go into an environment where you can hurt yourself and if you're prone to dizziness make sure you've eaten and had some juice before you go on. But again, stay away from caffeine because caffeine can trigger dizziness.

If you give presentations often, you are probably familiar with the physical responses to anxiety of public speaking. Pay attention to how your body reacts as public speaking is a natural stressor. With you in control of your body, you should be able to deliver a great presentation.

Helping people understand their physical responses to anxiety of public speaking is what this article is all about.

Having had to deliver speeches while in my various senior roles and while owning my own business I can attest to that terrible stage fright that people experience. The anxiety of public speaking is not limited to speeches to large groups. It can be debilitating when simply delivering a stand up message to a small group of colleagues. I was a fortunate sole as I was trained in grammar school,-remember the oral book report- to fashion my stand up ability.

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Bad Presentation Skills - How To Avoid Them

No one willingly gives a presentation when they don't believe in their presentation skills, but a lot of people are forced to in their every day lives. Sometimes these presentations are required through school or work or some other event but most people do have to give one sometime in their life. No one wants to have bad presentation skills either, but sometimes they just can't get it right and none of the instructions on what to do is working for them. Too often guides to becoming a good presenter focus only on what to do and what are good presentation skills and they don't even mention what bad presentation skills are. Sometimes the traditional style of learning doesn't work for people and knowing what not to do helps them more than anything else. Because of this need for information about bad presentation skills, below is a detailed explanation of everything done wrong in a presentation and why it's bad.

There are always two steps to giving a presentation, and because of that there are two steps in which poor choices are made. The first is always going to be the organizational phase. The organizational phase is when all the information for a presentation is gathered, sorted and processed into a presentation. The number one mistake here is that it is done too late. Procrastinating to the night before can be hard not to do, but even giving yourself an extra day can help improve the presentation drastically.

The next example of bad presentation skills is poor ordering. Simply throwing together all the information will create a hard to deliver and hard to understand presentation. Along with the technical aspects of the organization phase, it's often viewed in bad light when you don't write anything down at all. Some people can naturally organize things in their head, but all people will benefit from putting it down on paper, even if it takes a little more time. These are the bad presentation skills that you should avoid during the organizational phase.

The next phase, delivery, has just as many poor presentation skills. The first and most common is muttering or speaking softly. While many people are shy in front of crowds, muttering and speaking quietly will only draw more attention to you than if you were to speak in a reasonable manner in the first place; on top of that it makes your presentation impossible to understand. The next example of bad presentation skills is ignoring the audience. Without acknowledging they are there or making eye contact the audience usually loses interest in what you have to say fast, and that will make your entire presentation wasted. Finally, don't acknowledge mistakes during the presentation. It's fine to discuss and reflect on how you could have done better afterwards, but don't interrupt the flow of the presentation to dwell on a mispronounced word or mistake, simply correct yourself and move on; often times an audience won't even realize that you had made a mistake, so acknowledging it in this fashion only makes it more pronounced.
These are the bad presentation skills related to delivery.

There you have it, the worst and most prominent presentation skills. Often time's people won't realize they are doing any of these and while they're actively utilizing the good presentation skills, they are oblivious to the bad ones and are unable to fix them. Becoming a good presenter is a two step process, the first is to cease using the bad presentation skills and the second is to start using the good ones. Usually being aware of not to do will be just as useful as knowing what to do. Knowing this is half the struggle to become a great presenter.

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Spectacular Content Presentation Tips - Do Visual Presentations Work?

Do Visual Presentations Work?

Visual presentations can be effective if they are adapted to the limitations of the human brain. The typical presenter must modify their writing skills to blend whole brain thinking into the formula. By doing this you can create an effective visual presentation.

What Happens in the Human Brain During a Presentation?

Most business tools that are used to create visual presentations focus solely on left brain activities. They tend to be extremely complex, displaying many statistics and graphics, overloading the left brain capacity.

The human working memory operates on two channels, an auditory and visual channel. Most people would think that a visual presentation would utilize solely the visual channel. However, this is not true. Anytime text is displayed on the screen, both the auditory and visual channels are used. The visual channel sees the information, but the auditory channel sounds out the words.

The Executive Presentation

Over 99% of executives either prepare their own visual presentations or have an internal administrative assistant perform the preparation for them. Less than 1% actually enlists the external services of a visual presentation professional that understands how audiences receive, process, and stores the information that they take in. With these statistics in mind, it is understandable that many visual presentations are not ranked as excellent.

To transform writing skills into persuasive visual presentation skills, you must obtain a complete understanding of why audiences respond negatively to visuals. To be successful, you must develop a broad set of design techniques and sensory communication skills.

Education is Key

Those that are not educated in the way the human brain works do not target their presentations to work with these characteristics in a positive way. Working toward giving your audience what they need and expect from a presentation in a manner that allows whole brain communication to be engaged elicits much more positive and successful results.

Learning to incorporate both left brain and right brain characteristics into a presentation will make a world of difference in your results. Acquiring and implementing the knowledge of the brain's channels that are used and being cautious not to overload one channel will keep your audience engaged.

You Can Become an Excellent Presenter

While employing the services of an educated presentation professional can dramatically improve persuasive presentation results, learning the skills and employing them yourself will improve not only the prepared visuals but the overall delivery of the presentation. In this way you can avoid the pitfalls that cause audiences to respond negatively to visual presentations. You will engage the entire brain participation and appeal to both the analytical and sensory perception to produce an overall excellent presentation. This will be well received, processed, and retained by your audience members. It will also produce the kind of measurable results that you are hoping for, causing you to become a more efficient, effective, and confident presenter.

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Presentation Skills Training - Not Just For the Corporate

Presentation skills are an integral part of our daily lives. Every day, we end up speaking, or putting up some presentation for the people that we interact with. It is a misconception that such skills are needed only in the corporate world. Here are some other people who would require these skills, without even stepping into the corporate world.

Children in School

Children in school have to present something or the other in their school life. Be it in the classroom, or during some activity in the school. These presentations are very important in the broader scope of life, because these are one of the first times that the child interacts with an audience.

In some unfortunate cases, if the first few presentations and interactions do not go right, the child may have a stigma of not being able to present and have lesser social skills all their lives. Therefore, it is very important that the children have presentation skills or are trained in social interactions at an early age. The school is the best place and the child is at the perfect age to learn new things and understand new experiences.

Job Applicants

A job applicant is at a constant presentation, where he or she is presenting their skills so that they are hired by the company. Therefore, the job applicant would also require having some good presentation skills.

The world of looking for jobs is a vast world, and the employers have a lot of options for any one profile. Also, the interview takes place for a short time. Only the individuals who can show present their skills in the correct manner in this short time stand a chance of being hired by the company.

Therefore, a job applicant should have the basic skills to present himself or herself, which would allow them to present their professional skills, experience and ambitions within the limited timeframe.

Hobby Forums

We all have our hobbies. Hobbies haves support and interaction groups for people who pursue the same hobby. The hobby forums are normally headed by someone. This leader requires the basic presentation and speaking skills, so that he or she can make the hobby forum a success.

A hobby group can be anything from a small group of five to ten people or even something that has a global presence with thousands of people. Though everyone may be able to carry off heading a group of say five to ten people without any skills, one would require presentation skills if they have a lot of members and have several interactions now and then.

People in the Sales Business

A salesperson or a waiter/waitress requires such skills at every moment of their job. A salesperson requires these skills to pitch the product, while the waiter would require the skills at every point of their service to the customer, right from offering the menu to getting the dish.

These are just some of the individuals outside the corporate world who require such skills as a requisite in their everyday lives.

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10 Tips For Learning Presentation Skills Online

People have been learning presentation skills online without getting the full benefit. Discover the top 10 tips for how to change all that...and get the most out of learning new skills, virtually.

Sadly, many online training programs are passive. They rely on text-based classes that do not engage learners. There really isn't much for the learner to do.

It comes down to a few tasks. Reading. Watching. Scrolling. Listening. In an era of interaction, Web 2.0 technology, and video communication, this seems almost unfathomable.

Online training can be a highly energizing experience. It's a brand new world and there are highly interactive trainings now available. Here are 10 tips for choosing a presentation skills training program that is highly engaging.

1. Learning Is Fun
Pick a program, website and training approach that is fun. Naturally, the more fun you have, the faster you'll pick up career-boosting skills.

2. Learn The Way You Like
If you love watching video, find a training class built with video tutorials. If you enjoy reading, find one with illustrated, well-written manuals. The program should match the way you like to learn. You shouldn't have to twist yourself into a pretzel to learn new skills just because some instructional designer thought it had to be like that.

3. Makes Your Life Easier
Learning new skills is all about making your life easier. The presentation skills you learn should be simplifying what you need to do at work, home or in group activities.

For instance, in a recent training one participant told me: "I can prepare my presentations 50% faster than before." Now that's definitely saving time, saving headache...and helping your career.

4. Instantly Useful
Do you have to struggle for weeks before you experience a difference? Or can you use skills immediately? When evaluating a presentation skills course, look for one where you find tips, tactics and techniques that are useful right away.

5. Connects To What You Do
While many professionals attend online training from different professions, a program should have direct application to what you do. Often people are surprised that the rules and principles of presenting are so universal.

In fact, it is very much like a language. You can say a lot of things with one language-even if you are speaking about very different topics. When learning presentation skills, make sure to connect the dots to apply each skill to what you do.

6. Easy To Ask Questions
The best online presentation training programs have easy access to experts. This is very important because if something is unclear or fuzzy, you can send an email and get a personal answer. While studying at your own pace is fun, it's also good to know that help is just an email away.

7. Self-Scoring Tests
It's fun to test your skills. In an interactive skill such as presenting, scoring your skills is a quick way to improve. You'll see what you're using, and where you can get better. Plus, you can test your score whenever you want, as often as you wish.

8. Step-By-Step Blueprints
There's nothing like a roadmap when you need to go from idea to completed presentation. If you're checking out a presentation firm that calls everything a blueprint when it's really just a checklist, you should keep looking.

Look for a program structured with visual diagrams. Blueprints help you learn faster, and improve your presentation skills faster.

9. 24/7 Access
Unlike a seminar or workshop, online presentation training is available anytime and anywhere. This is a powerful benefit and one you should demand from your provider.

10. Challenges You To Learn
Are you testing and challenging yourself? Are you learning new skills and applying them to ever-increasing challenges? If you are, then you've found a powerful program that is built with your best interests in mind.

Use the 10 tips to find a powerful presentation skills training online. As you can imagine, there is no better way to improve your skills and boost your career.

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Public Speaking: 10 Tips to Improve Public Speaking Skills

When I ask my audiences their number one challenge with public speaking, they overwhelmingly say, "to overcome the fear of public speaking." It's okay to have "butterflies." The key is how to get them organized, focused and flying in formation. Here are 10 tips for delivering a more powerful, persuasive presentation. Practice these techniques consistently to improve public speaking skills.

1. 95% of your success is determined before the presentation. Your audience will know if you didn't rehearse. Rehearsing, or "rehearing" yourself minimizes 75% of your nervousness. Rehearse standing up, or better yet, ask someone to videotape you. The camera will be your most objective ally. The more comfortable you become with your material via rehearsing, the more comfortable you will be with your body language.

2. Either memorize or "know cold" your opener and close. Two minutes each for an opener and a close is enough. The most important thing your audience will remember is your closing. Second most important thing they'll remember is your opener. Start with something attention grabbing, like a quote or statistic, which relates to your topic. Never start with, "Good Morning." It is obvious and boring.

3. Public Speaking: 24 hours before your presentation:

A. Have a quiet dinner with a quiet friend. (This may or may not be your spouse!) You won't be as concerned about your public speaking skills if you can put your nervous system on glide.

B. The evening before, put your presentation on audiocassette as background noise one hour before retiring. Listen to your opener and close before bedtime as a review.

C. No massive changes 24 hours before. Nothing increases the fear of public speaking more than rewritting your material at the last minute. Impromptu speeches notwithstanding.

D. Visualize your presentation going smoothly and successfully. All Olympic athletes use this technique, and it works with public speaking as well.

E. Review your notes and visual aids the evening before. Your notes should only be "fast food for the eyes" in bullet form, and are NEVER read to the audience.

F. Eat a good high protein breakfast the morning of your presentation. Even if you're not speaking until that evening, feed your mind and body the proper fuel.

4. Before your presentation, check yourself in a full-length mirror. A dear friend of mine forgot to do this. During her keynote speech in front of hundreds, someone quietly pointed out that her skirt was tucked into her pantyhose!

5. Public speaking and purpose: When organizing your talk, define your purpose. Why are you there? Why are they there? Is this a sales presentation? A community watch group? If you present technical information, is this an information/knowledge transfer or a decision briefing? When presenting technical information make certain not to overload your audience with too much detail, or too much on each slide. Tailor your message. Define your objective.

6. Know your audience before designing your opener and close. It is imperative that you "speak the language" of your audience. What are their ages? Percentage of males/females? Are they highly technical or non-technical? Do they want to be there or is this mandatory? What are their expectations? If you are a scientist or engineer, speak to the "lowest common denominator." Technical presenters have a propensity to use a lot of technical jargon. Does the person in charge of funding understand the language?

7. Avoid using too many slides. Visual aids are wonderful tools as long as they're used to enhance the information. A common mistake is using the visual aids as the presentation. Look at the audience frequently to establish rapport and a connection. In almost every presentation, you are there to "sell" them not simply "tell" them. Do not look at your visual aids other than a quick glance, and never read them. Never turn your back on the audience to read slides. They will not look at your slides. Their minds will start to wander. Remember, you are your own best visual aid.

8. Good public speaking skills mean being prepared. As the saying goes, prior planning prevents predictably poor performance. Planning and preparation will reduce nervousness 75%. Again, your audience will know if you didn't rehearse. Consider hiring a public speaking coach. The dollars invested may well be worth their weight in gold.

9. The Q & A period and how to handle a hostile audience. The second most frequent comment I hear in my public speaking seminars is "What if they ask a question and I don't know the answer?" Or, "What if someone in the audience is a know-it-all and doesn't like me?" Avoid being argumentative. If you don't know the answer, ask if someone in the audience has the answer. Or, simply let them know when you will get back to them. Make certain you do. When you lie you die. It destroys your credibility.

10. Variety and venue. Variety serves as a "wake up call" to your audience. Examples of adding variety: humor, relevant stories, quotes, voice inflection, paired and group activities, pauses, audience participation in the question and answer period, and slides or other multimedia. As for your venue, are your visual aids appropriate to your size of audience? Will everyone be able to see them?

Lastly, make sure to confirm the time, date, and place with the appropriate contact person. If possible, arrange to see the room ahead of time so you can practice visualizing in the exact location of your presentation. At the minimum, arrive at least one hour ahead of time. To improve public speaking skills, and overcome nervousness, nothing works like being prepared.

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Overcome the fear of speaking in Public and anxiety

1. What is Public Speaking Fear?

And what are its causes?
­­Public Speaking Fear can be paralyzing... Standing in front of a crowd... You probably know the feeling. You can work weeks, learn the materials, prepare the presentation. You try to ignore the anxiety. And then it's the moment... You go to the stand... Your throat is dry, you begin to stutter... Your brain feels empty.

What is happening to you? This frustrating phenomenon is called Public Speaking Fear.

You are not the only one to suffer from this fear, or phobia. In fact, According to recent studies, about 40 percent of the population, were found to have a serious fear of public speaking. Almost everyone has some degree of fear regarding public speaking.

Whether it is in front of 10 people or a full auditorium, the fear of public speaking seems to affect nearly everyone at one point or another. Even the most professional public speakers can become nervous before an important speech.

This impacts of this anxiety vary from just 'not being your best' during the speech,,to not being able to even begin the speech, and in some cases even suffering from horrors and general feeling of incompetence.

Symptoms of this fear might be:

Rapid heartbeats Shaky hands Shortness of breath Blank mind Feel of freezing Sweaty hands Dizziness

Although you might hear and read about various reasons and factor that cause and affect Public Speaking Fear, I will divide the causes of this "fear" into 2 categories: Historically-based and Experience-based.

1.1 Historically-based factors

Imagine human beings in past times, when we used to live in small tribes. Those times encoded in us all kinds of fears, that helped humans survive. A human tribe would include between 30-100 members, usually with a single (male) leader. This leader was vital for the survival of the tribe and used to be the authority. Now imagine that one simple member of the tribe would arrange a speech in front of the tribe. The leader of the tribe would see this as an attempt to gain authority over the tribe. A common penalty for that could be death.

Public speaking used to be extremely dangerous in the past.

This historical reason is considered according to researches as the main reason why we are so afraid of public speaking.

There is a branch of psychology called "Evolutional Psychology", which discusses matters like this. The most important thing that you should remember is that a major cause for your fear is irrational. You can't explain it with the terms of our world. Only imagining the world as it was 10,000 years ago carries the real answer.

1.2 Experience-based factors

Now, in addition to the psychological reasons that cause this fear of public speaking, there are of course also factors from you own life that create it.

The way we use language in our life is called "conversation", because when we speak, we do it with someone else. Our neurological system is so used to having conversations, that we just don't pay attention to all the internal processes that happen when we're speaking. Because it's done automatically, we can focus our whole attention on the conversation itself.

Now, every new and unknown activity that we try to do, will seem intimidating, just because we are not experienced enough. We don't know how to use our voice. We don't know how to look at the people, how to stand, how to move our hands. We are even not used to the specific language patterns that we need to use during speech - and there is a different way to use language during a speech.

Another aspect of experience-based causes is a fear, caused by our past experiences. An embarrassing or painful experience while speaking to a group in the past can also create a fear.

So, let's summarize so far. Public Speaking fear is this negative feeling that causes us not to be at our best during public speaking. It might even prevent us from making the speech at first place. We've discussed 2 main reasons for this fear. The first is based on our past as human beings, and that is the reason why we are sometimes so terrified about public speaking. The second reason is based on our own experiences of the world, that also create fears and beliefs.

1.3 Rational and irrational fears

Before moving on to dealing with public speaking fear, we need to understand how to view our fear.

Rational fears are fears that we can explain rationally, and the fear is of something that could cause real harm (physically or emotionally).

In general, examples of rational fears include:

Dangerous people (a person holding a knife, murderer etc.) Dangerous situations (fire, earthquake, floods etc.) Dangerous activities (Skiing, walking on a rope etc.)

Now, we can see that fear of some activities is considered rational, because it consists of real danger. Some fears are good to have. The fear itself is something positive, it helps us survive.

Irrational fears, on the other side, are fears that don't help us survive, but on the contrary, prevent us of being our best.

For example, if we were bitten by a dog once, we might get the fear of dogs for our whole life. If someone frightened us during a dark night, we might get a fear of darkness.

As you can see, our mechanism of fear in not perfect, and we need to do some work to deal with our fears.

Rational fears should be kept and maybe even encouraged. Irrational fears, instead of preventing harm, in many cases can cause us harm. It's normal to try and overcome irrational fears.

1.4 Is fear of Public Speaking rational or not?

Can public speaking harm you? As we said above, in past times, public speaking could definitely cause you harm. It used to be extremely rational to be afraid. Because this fear was rational for hundreds of thousands of years, it was delivered to us during what we call "Evolutional Psychology".

Is Public Speaking fear today is still rational? Well, I could give you some hypothetical examples when public speaking could cause harm. If you speak in front of a hostile crowd, it might cause you emotional fear. If you're a gangster and you try to speak in front of your gang members, you might event have physical harm.

However, in most cases, public speaking is completely harmless. There is no rational reason to be afraid of speaking in front of your class members; and what about presenting your new product in front of your clients?

Therefore, in today's world, Public Speaking is completely irrational.

2. In short, How to overcome the fear?

In order to overcome the fear of public speaking, it's vital to understand, remember, and believe, that the fear is irrational.

In this manual, we will discuss 2 approaches to overcoming the fear:

Subconscious- working on the processes that happen in our brain that we are not aware of, our belief system, etc. Those methods are meant to reduce or even completely abolish the fear.

Techniques- Specific techniques and methods to help you with public speaking, even if you still have the fear.

To tell the truth, if you just use techniques, get more experience, try to find the confidence and so - you will get better. You will desensitize your fear. However, every time, before a speech, you will still feel the fear. It will be weaker, but it will be always there.

Imagine that your mind is a computer. A very complicated one, but yet a computer. It runs so many programs that we just can't count. Some of them are in our awareness - they are conscious processes. The rest, most of the processes, are out of our awareness - they are subconscious processes.

Now, when you go public speaking, there are 2 opposite processes in your head. The first one is positive, and tells you : "Go, give a speech", and the second one is negative, it tells you "No, you cant".

Working to eliminate the fear, can be done! It can be done using methods to eliminate fear. Because it's a subconscious process (unless you consciously choose to be afraid...), it involves dealing with your subconscious mind.

In the next chapter, I'll discuss the common methods. They include: Hypnosis, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic-Programming) and working on you belief system.

The other way, that will not eliminate the fear but will help you deal with it, is using learning techniques. It works on the positive side, I makes you better in public speaking, and therefore deal better with the fear. I will never eliminate the fear, but it will make it easier to do public speaking.

Personally, I recommend that you use it in addition to working on the subconscious side. Just learning the techniques will never make you speak at your best, and every speech will continue to be an effort.

3. Working on your subconscious mind

3.1 Using NLP Techniques

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a behavioral technology, a set of guiding principles, attitudes, and techniques about real-life behavior.

It allows you to change, adopt or eliminate behaviors, as you desire, and gives you the ability to choose your mental, emotional, and physical states of well-being.

I will not tell you here too much about NLP, because it's a complete theory. Personally, I prefer NLP to work on subconscious processes, mainly because unlike other methods that I will discuss in the book, NLP can be learned and used by almost everyone. There is no need to understand psychology or medicine.

According to NLP, our mind is in some way like a computer. It has all kinds of programs running. Although many of them are unconscious (fear, for example), it teaches us methods to eliminate or at least weaken those processes, if we want to.

What are these processes? Our mind works with 3 senses (we actualy have 5, but only 3 of them are really important) - visual (eyes), auditory (ears), or kinesthetic (feelings). Every person primarily uses just one of the 3 during processes.

Some people are visual - they see the world through their eyes. Others are auditory, they mainly use their ears to hear voices. And other people are mainly kinesthetic, they understand the world through feelings.

For example, if you are a visual person, this means that you see the world mainly through your eyes. Therefore, there is a visual process (or processes) that create the fear of public speaking inside you.

Now, I'll tell you a quick story about a friend of mine. He used to have a serious fear of public speaking. His hands would shake, his voice would change, his heart beat would skyrocket. When I tried to check with him what caused the fear, he told me that he would visualize himself giving a bad speech.

In those visual pictures, he saw people laughing at him, He saw himself standing without remembering what to say, etc. He couldn't control those pictures. He couldn't make them disappear.

What is happening? His mind is kind of "screening" a movie in his head. Do you remember a really scary movie that you saw? There were moments in that movie that you really felt afraid? Even though it was just a movie and you knew it was just a movie?

The same thing happened with my friend. What created the fear was the movie, the pictures. Our subconscious mind reacts the same way whether the movie is a reality or not.

Traditional psychology tries to find the "roots" of the fear. It tries to see what past effects created it. Instead, NLP provides an easy and short treatment. As we discussed in the first chapter, the reason might be even in our past as humans, so we can't eliminate the root.

So, let's see how we deal with our fear.

For visual people

If you're a visual person, you probably have a movie running in your head. Try to understand what exact movie you see:

- is it black and white? Or do you see colors?

- is it smooth or not?

- is it going in slow motion, or quickly?

- do you see it in details?

- do you see it from a first position or third position?

Let's go back to my friend's example:

He used to see himself making a speech, and he saw people in the crowd laughing. he saw himself embarrassed...

Now, I asked him to sit silently in front of me, and we began understanding together what exactly he saw.

When he saw himself standing and giving a speech, it was from his own eyes, what we call "1st position". He saw it black and white, and in great detail. He could see faces in the crowd; he could exactly understand what was happening.

When you see this movie running again and again in your head, your mind creates a great fear. Like a movie, even if you know it's just a movie, it still creates the same effect.

A great basis in NLP is that you can't fight your thought. You can't just say: "No! I'm not afraid". Your mind won't accept it and you will continue seeing the movie.

However, what you can do is to make changes in the movie, add effects, even change angles. It might sound fantasy to you, but it's possible.

So, what I did next is that I told him to change the movie into a 3rd position. I told him to see the movie as if he was standing near the scene, from the side.

That way, he was seeing himself there, and he saw the crowd. Now, I told him to make the movie a bit in a distance from him, As if he sees it on a television. I told him to begin moving the movie away from him, so that this "television" looks far away from him. Now, he saw himself somewhere in a great distance. He couldn't see details anymore, because the picture was so far...

Do you understand what we did here? We can't fight the movie, but we can do manipulations. Now, the movie was much less frightening. Almost like some pale thought...

The next time he was about to do a public speech, I told him this process again. After a few times, this movie didn't disturb him anymore. The fear was almost gone.

When he now goes to speak, he can concentrate on the words, on the message. The fear is gone.

For visual people, NLP gives us a quick solution, and that is to make the visual process less dominant and less clear. Make it something in the distance that doesn't bother you.

What if you are Auditory?

For auditory people

So, now that we understand how to deal with public speaking fear for visual people, you may ask the question - what if I'm an auditory person?

Well, for auditory people, we need to weaken the auditory process that creates the fear. What is that auditory process? It's usually a sound or a voice. For example, you might be telling yourself: "No, I can't do that..." or "Those people are going to laugh at me...", or you might hear the people laughing, or shouting at you.

We can't make the sound "smaller" as we did with the visual process, but we still can make it weaker. There are a few options. The one I will discuss here is making some differences in the voice: Instead of hearing it in its regular way, make it sound funny. Give it a childish voice, for example. I also like giving it a sex-flirting voice.

When you convert the voice to a different way, it doesn't sound frightening anymore. On the contrary, you might find yourself laughing and smiling instead! Try this now, make a serious, frightening voice inside you, sound funny, childish or sexy.

How can you learn more of NLP

We only discussed some examples of using NLP to overcome fear. There are of course some more ways - for example, you can add effects to your internal movies, you can add background music and whatever you find useful in overcoming those internal processes that create your fear.

However, NLP can be used in many other ways and techniques to really improve you skills. You can become a better communicator, better lover, increase you income, be more efficient. It's a set of techniques and methods to improve your life in general, and allow you to control your mind effectively.

If we are discussing Public Speaking, you can use NLP to make you message more clear, understood and acceptable by people.

NLP was created in the recent decades, and it's still under development. I personally suggest that you find time to learn more of it. You can check our page to discover how we suggest to learn NLP.

3.2 Belief Systems

In many cases, our fear is caused by our belief system. Belief is stronger than knowledge, and our perception of the world is actually created according to our belief system.

Belief is usually something we can't really prove. Belief in god is a good example, but almost all beliefs we have in life are not absolute.

There are certain beliefs that we can't prove they are true or not. However, we CAN tell if they benefit us or not - or whether they help you achieve your goals.

When regarding Public Speaking Fear, there are a few a beliefs that might cause the fear. According to studies, the most common belief that directly causes the fear is the following:

Limiting Belief- "It is normal to have a fear or anxiety of Public Speaking".

Think to yourself... Do you accept this? Do you believe that it's normal, that it's OK to have a fear of public speaking?

You probably do.

Why? Probably because of your own experience, because that is what society teaches.

However - are you sure it's "Normal" to be afraid? Why? It's just your belief. And that belief is actually causing the fear - because you kind of expect it.

It will be much more empowering to change this belief. Instead, you should understand that there is nothing "Normal" in public speaking fear. You know it's an irrational fear. Nothing is Normal here.

Empowering Belief- "Public speaking makes me feel relaxed and energetic".

Do you understand how changing your belief changes the way you respond and view life? Instead of believing that you are supposed to be afraid - you choose an empowering belief.

Is this empowering belief "True"? Many people around the world don't have any fear of public speaking. Instead - they enjoy it. You can choose what to believe. I personally recommend you to choose the empowering one.

Here are some more beliefs that you should consider loosing:

"It's good to be nervous"- What the hell? Why is that good? It's good to be relaxed. That's a totally limiting belief.

"Public Speaking is something you are born with, or not"- A terrible belief that unfortunately many people possess, not only regarding public speaking. Almost every skill can be learnt and improved. This belief only prevents you from improving. Nobody was born as a public speaker.

"Public speaking fear is something you can't overcome"-I can give you so many live examples (including me) of people who successfully overcame public speaking fear.

"Your audience wants you to fail"- On the contrary, because most of the people are afraid to death of public speaking and many of them have tried it before, they will only appreciate your "courage" to stand and speak. People came to hear you - they want you to succeed.

A great way to succeed in life is by building an empowering belief system. The secret is understanding that you can CHOOSE what to believe. If this makes you feel interested, I suggest that you read my articles regarding belief systems.

3.3 Hypnosis

Hypnosis is considered a powerful tool to help with overcoming fears. It works directly with the subconscious mind, making the right "changes" to teach your mind not to be afraid.

Hypnosis can be done either with a therapist, or as it becomes common today, using an audio or a video that makes a similar job.

Hypnosis can be a good tool, but the problem that I have with Hypnosis is the fact that you don't really know and can't control over what the treatment is about.

Unlike NLP, you can't do it alone and you can't choose and decide what exact treatment to make.

On the other hand, you can feel free and not really care about learning and mastering technique. You just get the treatment, never care what it really does. If it works - you don't have the fear anymore. For some people - this is the perfect solution.

If that sounds and feels good for you, you can check my review of available products (some of them are totally free).

4. External work - dealing with the fear effectively

In the previous chapter, discussed methods how to overcome and eliminate fear of public speaking.

Therefore, there is no use for this chapter, is there? Well, maybe there is...

Even If you use the techniques we discussed (As I said, I recommend NLP), you might still have some public speaking fear. Many people can't accept the fact that self-work can eliminate fear. I don't agree, but I can honor their belief. If you believe that the way to make achievements is via hard work, then I accept that and will show you ways to practice in order to deal with the fear.

In this chapter, I will give you tips to quickly help you dealing with the fear. I will divide them into 2 categories: What to do before the speech; and what to do during the speech.

Remember - Practice makes Perfect. As you implement what I tell you here, you'll improve, sometimes even rather rapidly. However - You Still Need Practice.

Unlike other guides, I will not give you a full list of tips. No one can't use so many. Just the best ones.

4.1 What to do before the speech

You don't have to be perfect

People are afraid of public speaking because they fear of mistakes during the speech. However, anxiety over mistakes only makes it more likely that mistakes will occur.

The best way to deal with mistakes is to accecpt the fact that youare not perfect, and mistakes are supposed to happen. Now, instead of being afraid, you can use mistakes to get feedback for future improvement.

Visualize the positive outcome

A good reason for which we are so anxious before the speech is because we visualize the speech, presuming that something terrible will happen. We may even do this subconsciously.

So, a good way to deal with our anxiety is to visualize the speech, this time in a positive way. Imagine the moments before the speech, how you feel secure and prepared. How you move slowly toward the podium. How you begin the speech. Try to hear your own words.

Visualizing will work on you internal fears and signal to your brain that everything is under control.

Put the past behind

Some people have speech anxiety because of past events. It could be even some humiliating event in the past. The way to deal with such incidents is the following:

If you can learn from it and improve - do it. If you can't, just forget about it and focus on the future.

Use mistakes to learn and improve, not to increase your fears.

Practice your voice and tonality

Speaking involves using your voice. If you use your voice and practice it before the speech, you will be used to speaking and will feel more confident about how your voice sounds.

Don't write a speech

One of the worst things you could do is to write a full speech. It will make you concentrated on the written words instead of on the speech.

Instead - only write highlights, know what your speech is about and what your main messages are.

This way, the page you are holding will only be a guidance, and you will be concentrated on the speech.

4.2 What to do during the speech
Remember to breath

Anxiety tightens the muscles in the chest and throat. With a restricted airway and without enough oxygen, your voice can come out as a squeak. Deep breathing, on the other hand, sends oxygen to the lungs and brain and expands the throat and chest, promoting relaxation. As you approach the platform, take a deep breath and relax. It will also improve your thinking processes. During the speech, whenever you feel anxious - remember to take a deep breath - It will immediately make you calmer.

Focus on friendly faces

During the speech, you might look at the crowd and see them as a large group of people. That may confuse you. Instead, focus on specific faces, you should prefer the friendly ones. This way your subconscious mind will feel as if you are having a conversation with a specific person. During the speech, move your eyes slowly and look at different people. It will also make the audience feel that you are talking with them instead of just giving a speech

Make Stops

Making a stop sounds something hard to do? You stop speaking, making a silent pause.

That is just great! It makes you look relaxed and confident, and gives you time to relax and remember exactly what you wanted to say.

Speak slowly

Speaking quickly and swallowing words is a mistake done by many speakers. It might be because you want to finish your words and have it all over fast. It might also be because you don't want to be interrupted by the crowed if there is a pause. Your quick heart bit is also a factor.

Anyway - speaking rapidly just makes you more anxious and gives you less time to think. Just speak S-L-O-W-L-Y. Relax, give yourself the time.

5. What to do next?
In this article, I gave you the reasons and factors that cause your Public Speaking Anxiety. I showed you the options available to deal with it.

We discussed methods to eliminate or at least weaken the fear and anxiety that are created in our subconscious mind.

To eliminate fear, I personally suggest that you learn NLP. That is a set of techniques and skills to work on your mind and develop excellence. It also gives you control and full understanding of what you are doing (Unlike psychological treatment or hypnosis).

I gave you the basics of how to use NLP to eliminate your fears. To be really perfect and find many more techniques - I suggest that you learn and master NLP.

In addition, we discussed belief systems and hypnosis.

For those of us who prefer the "hard work", I gave my tips on what to do before and during the speech to effectively deal with you anxiety.

If you want more guidance, I personally recommend you a book that was written by Benjamin van Spijck. It's called "Overcoming the fear of public speaking". It's written as a 21-days tutorial and will guide you step-by-step to eliminate the fear.

I wish you all the best, hope that you find the way to get rid of this frustrating feeling of fear and anxiety forever.

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Spectacular Content Presentation Tips - Top Three Downfalls of Presenters

What do presenters focus on? What are the mistakes that they most commonly make? There are so many areas that could be addressed as presenters' downfalls, but we will look at the top three.

#1 Wrong Focus

Those that present very rarely target the expectations and needs of the audience. No attention is usually given to what audience members give their attention to or how they handle, retain, or retrieve data. This seems to make little sense considering a presentation is usually prepared and delivered with the intent of obtaining something from the audience. It may be a sale, cooperation, or approval that is needed, but a presentation would not be given unless there was a purpose to get something from the audience.

The Executive Approach to Presentations

Most executives rely strictly on their written communication skills. Using these skills to build a presentation often causes them to attempt to condense a large amount of information down to a package that can be conveyed in a specific time frame.

Written reports are designed to provide information to its readers, but that is not the purpose of a presentation. The purpose of the presentation tool is to get the attention of an audience and convince them on a particular point. It is ideally to make an emotional connection and engage the audience members. The summarized written reports will not accomplish the goals of a presentation.

Can Written Report Skills be transformed to Persuasive Presentation Skills?

Existing writing skills can be transformed to produce persuasive presentations. You must incorporate whole brain thinking. This means that you must integrate characteristics of the detailed analytical concepts of the left brain with the big picture intuitiveness of the right brain.

#2 Presentation Support Tools

Business presentation tools are designed to be left brain intensive. Visual business presentations tend to be overly complex and lean heavily on bullet points. The fact is that 88% of executives create their own visuals for their presentations. The rest of them leave it up to an internal administrative assistant. Less than 1 % use professional help educated in the art of presentation from external sources.

#3 Last Second Rush

Many people put off preparing for their presentation as long as they possibly can. This only increases the problems associated with presentation preparation. It is very common for changes to be made to a presentation hours, or even minutes, before the presentation is to start. This adds to the already present fear and pressure of speaking before a group. Preparation procrastination and the last minute changes allow inadequate time for rehearsal. This again adds to the pressure.

Presenters must change their mindset and have a motivation to alter the way they present. Without properly focusing on what the audience needs and expects, modifying the way visual presentations are prepared and delivered, and preparing in advance and allowing rehearsal time, presenters will continue to fall prey to these pitfalls.

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Public Speaking Tips to Impress Your Audience

There will come a time when a person has to effectively deliver a speech in front of a group of people, so books that teach public speaking tips have become hot sellers. The rules of public speaking are as simple as A, B, C. Captivate your listeners by knowing the background and expectation of your audience before the speaking event. That's the most important public speaking tip you have to practice before doing anything else.

Here are other public speaking tips and strategies that will help anyone become an effective public speaker:

1) Making tiny mistakes is fine, as long as you learn from them and don't repeat them. However, it is highly recommendable to prepare well before your speech to avoid any embarrassing instances.

You are only human and you can recover from the errors you've made. Anyway, bouncing back from your mistakes makes your personality as a public speaker more trustworthy.

2) Bring out your sense of humor. You may tell jokes if the topic allows you to; but if you're not good at it, better leave the jokes from your agenda behind, for there is nothing more that can aggravate a speaking disaster than a bad punch line.

3) Master the art of telling stories. Own the stories you tell by using your real personal experience to bring life to the material you are delivering. These stories make you a real human, and animation can add color to them.

4) Use technology to sustain your momentum as a speaker but not vice versa. Your power point slides, if you are using one for your presentation, should contain visual graphics and not long sentences. Speak to your crowd and not your presentation.

5) Focus on bringing the positive thoughts to your words and not on how you are doing as a speaker. Enjoying your speech helps you deliver a compelling message.

You will enjoy speaking in front of a whole bunch of people if you always practice these effective public speaking tips.

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Business Leadership Training

Today's businesses operate in a uniquely competitive world. Not only is there cut-throat competition among companies, but there is also an acute shortage of people with the right business leadership training to take business outside the clutter of the competition. Most of the people who hold the top positions have gotten by hard work and by learning from their experiences. However, in a fast-paced business environment, learning by experience and mistakes is indeed a very slow and unsatisfying process for many. The best way then to acquire business leadership skills is by attending business leadership training programs that are now being offered by a lot of institutes and universities across the country.

Business leadership training is held in an organization in order to equip and develop successful executives and managers. These trainings help to redefine people's visions and broaden their horizons. In turn, those who have received the training are able to help boost the profits of the company. Such training has also proved to be quite successful in lowering people's stress levels and enable them to manage stress effectively and to avoid panic. There are many types of business leadership training programs available in the country. While the most obvious ones are classroom seminars on imparting skills, there are others that have gone beyond this age-old method and now offer books, tapes, audio newsletters, and even telephonic consultation and training.

The main idea of such a seminar is to provide information about the changing market scenario, what needs to be done individually and at the organizational level to keep pace with it, boost market share, compress sales cycles, and build dependable and successful leaders. Thus, these seminars motivate people to manage the company irrespective of the unfavorable factors and enable them to deal with crisis. The idea behind such business leadership training is to give concrete ideas and workable plans that individuals and organizations can implement.

Many people undergoing such business leadership training often express surprise and delight at the things that they have learned and how their new knowledge has enlightened them and helped them to see things with a new perspective. They are now more determined and optimistic than ever and carefully plan out their every move.

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Tips to Help You Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking

Believe it or not, having a fear of public speaking is a phobia that many individuals have. That's right, you are not alone in the fear of public speaking as this is a very common phobia. If you have fears of public speaking, then your mind starts to speed up and race at the mere mention of standing up and speaking in public. The truth is that speaking in public can make your heart race and your stomach sick.

If you have an speech that you have to do in public coming up soon, instead of giving up and trying to get out of it, we believe you should try to get over your fear of speaking in public. There are some simple techniques you will be able to use that will help you get over your phobia of speaking in public. These techniques can be much more helpful than imagining everyone in their underwear.

The first thing you will need to do in order to get over that fear is practice. We all know that practice makes perfect. If you are prepared for public speaking and know exactly what will be going on at the event and what you will be saying, then you will not have as much to be nervous about.

When it comes to practicing, you could take the time to practice in front of a mirror or practice in your car. Whatever you do, you should just keep practicing. When you have that speech memorized, then you will not be afraid that you are going to forget it in front of everyone.

The second thing you should do is get some support from a family member or a friend. The fact is that we are generally always harder on ourselves than other people are. A good friend or family member is going to help you see just how true this is. You should take the time to not only practice in front of a mirror, but in front of your friend as well.

After you are done speaking in front of your friend, you should insist that they give you feedback. If your friends have any suggestions then you should take them into consideration. If your friends tell you that you did really well, then you should listen to them. Getting encouragement from a family member or a friend can be one of the most helpful things. Tell your friend or family member just how scared you are and they will start to encourage you.

Lastly, whatever you do, you should not keep getting out of those public speaking events as continually doing this will not get you anywhere. Standing up in front of the public and speaking could really get you somewhere some day.

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Business Presentation Tips - Little Changes For Big Success

In business presentations, clients and prospects are listening, watching and sensing everything you say, show and do.

Skilled experts read non-verbal facial expression and body language. Perhaps you've seen the Fox television series: "Lie To Me." In this series, Dr. Cal Lightman is able to decode non-verbal facial expressions and body language. He uses this system to determine if someone is lying. 

This popular show is rooted in serious science.

Researcher Dr. Paul Ekman has studied facial expressions for 50 years. His blog offers a course on 'micro-expressions,' the telltale signs of whether someone is telling the truth or not. 

Ekman was named in 2009 as one of the Top 100 most influential people of 2009. Dr. Ekman's training is used by government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, educational and medical professionals to enhance their ability to better 'read' people and detect potential lies.

Whether or not you want to study the art of lying, your audience is watching your face. Your audience may not include people with the same trained expertise. However, every person has the instinctive ability to sense lies or truth. This is the root of expressions such as: "I just have a hunch he's not telling the whole story."

If you want to radically change your success in presenting, it pays to understand the power of facial expressions.

What can you do to improve your presentation delivery skills?

Here are a few tips to help you master the art of using expressing yourself with authentic presentation delivery:

Tip 1: Show Your Emotions

While presentation coaches and trainers spend a lot of time on the face, this is often the easiest way to show believability. Adults have a lot of practice showing emotion with our facial expressions.

In professional settings, the emphasis is: show appropriate emotion. When your face conveys an appropriate amount of happiness or sadness, your audience will read this as alignment.

Tip 2: Smile Like You Mean It

A genuine smile can dissolve barriers and warm up a crowd. You don't have to 'turn on the charm' or become an over-the-top performer. Simply smile with feeling as you would to a close colleague or friend.

Tip 3: Share What's Going On

No doubt you've heard about the power of self-disclosure. It's also called frank and honest expression. If something is going on, tell your audience.

This is a fast and easy way to let the audience into your personal experience. Perhaps you've just had a tough commute. Or you got lost on the way to the conference. Open up. It will help people to understand your expressions and emotions.

If you notice that you're making a strong facial expression, let the audience come inside of your reaction. "This story makes me frown...let me tell you why..."

If you are sharing data you feel passionately about, tell the audience about your feelings: " I get so worked up about this because I know there's a cure..."

With small transitions and changes, you are building a bridge of trust with your audience. Because you want to be a persuasive presenter, connecting to your audience and telling the truth are extremely important.

The good news is, when you pay attention to the little things, you can get big results. With a precise focus on your delivery skills, you can be the kind of charismatic presenter you've always dreamed of being.

Want to be an animated and persuasive presenter? Show your feelings, speak the truth and connect personally with your audience.

Top Ten Presentation Tips

When your career is on the line, your presentation skills must be at the same high level as your business skills. Following are some tips that will help you be perceived as a confident and effective presenter when it matters:

1. Relate to your AUDIENCE, not to your handouts or visuals.

· Maintain steady eye contact. It connects you to your audience and personalizes your presentation. Think of S-T-O-P or Single - Thought - One - Person (3-6 seconds per look)

· Don't turn your back and talk to the screen.

2. Control your BODY LANGUAGE

· Think of the three S's -- Use GESTURES that are:

o SEEN (above your waist)

o SUSTAINED (for longer than you would in one-on-one conversation)

o SPECIFIC to the message

· STAND centered with your weight evenly distributed on both feet.

· Don't fiddle with pen, change in your pocket, laser pointer or glasses.

3. Be CONVERSATIONAL

· Slow down. No machine gun delivery.

· In conversation we talk in word bursts and sentence fragments and then PAUSE to think of what to say next. It helps your audience, as well.

· Keep your eyes out of your notes or you will sound stilted.

4. Be vocally CRISP. This will help you sound dynamic, and will eliminate a droning
monotone.

· Shorten your sentence lengths to average 14-17 words.

· Intersperse short punchy sentences among your longer ones.

· Purge the connectors "and" and "so", which cause your sentences to go on and on.

5. Use POSITIVE LANGUAGE.

· Take a stand. "Here's what I think, and here's why." · Avoid:

o TENTATIVE language -- "I think this might work."

o APOLOGIES -- "Correct me if I'm wrong."

o REPEATED FILLERS -- "basically", "um", "okay?"

6. Organize a FOCUSED MESSAGE

· Think strategically about the big picture and the business impact of your presentation.

· Get to the point quickly.

· Focus on the relevance or benefit of a product or service, not on how it works.

· Don't talk too long or say too much.

7. Have a STRONG ENDING.

· Don't overrun the meter.

· Ask for action instead of the most common and least effective "well, that's it, I guess", close.

8. REHEARSE. Like golf, improving your skills takes real work, not repetition.

· Memorize your opening and your close.

· Transitions are the key to a smooth and polished presentation. Use one rehearsal to practice only your transitions from one point to the next.

9. LIGHTEN UP

· Take your job seriously, but not yourself.

· A light touch does not mean telling jokes. It means having a sense of humor.

10. Anticipate challenging QUESTIONS and practice your answers.

· Prepare succinct answers with examples

· Talk your answers into a tape recorder. Check to see whether they are too detailed / too defensive.

Perception often IS reality. These tips will ensure that when you give a presentation, the perception of you is positive and matches your ability.

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Presentation Tips for Leaders

As leaders, you are expected to be multifaceted and dynamic even innovative and flexible at certain times. At some point in your leadership career, you will be tasked to do certain jobs that you may not be ready yet, an example of which is becoming a trainer or facilitator. When you need to run a certain module, you have to equip yourself with proper techniques and skills so as not to ruin your credibility. As their boss, your people expect that you are good in everything that you do. So you need to be well prepared, the following tips can help you be the right person in front:

1. Posture - You want to stand up straight but not stiff. Your feet should be pointed at the audience with your weight evenly distributed. So not shift your weight from one foot to the other because this can distract the audience.

2. Movement - Typically, speakers tend to stand in one spot with their feet rooted to the ground like a tree. It is much more interesting if you take an occasional step to either side or move a little bit closer to the audience for emphasis. You do not want to pace, but some movement can enhance your presentation.

3. Look at your audience - Eye contact is very important. Look at your audience. This does not mean glancing at the group every once in a while; it means talk with them and look at them. Look directly at individuals in the audience. This will permit you to relate your information to them instead of at them.

4. Speak clearly - enunciate every necessary sound in every word. That way the audience will be able to follow you as you speak to them.

5. Use appropriate gestures - Gestures are used for emphasis in normal conversation without any thought. Learn to gesture in front of an audience exactly as you would if you were having an animated conversation with a friend. The importance of natural gestures cannot be overstated. It is an important part of communication.

6. Be knowledgeable and be prepared - your planning and preparation of the presentation should also include anticipating ideas or questions. This will prepare you to handle questions, objections and rebuttals with confidence.

7. Watch and listen for feedback - Regardless of how much you plan and practice the presentation, you should be prepared for the actual presentation to be somewhat different. The alert speaker is on the lookout for feedback. If the audience looks confused on a certain point, you can assist by adding a statement, or repeating the last point you made.

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Public Speaking Tips And Tricks - 3 Sure Fire Ways To Make More Money

There are many organizations that teach people how to speak.  These tested and proven companies are great when you want to get better for speaking at meetings or just want to be able to communicate information better.  Many of the largest companies across the globe spend millions annually sending their employees to get "trained" on public speaking to improve the communication across their organizations. 

When you just want to learn how to communicate a message better, then any training will do.  When you want to discover public speaking tips that will allow you to take command of an audience, engage people in your subject, and compel them to take action in 60 minutes or less then I invite you to read on below. 

Many people try to get better at public speaking the hard way.  They go through event after event getting nice "pats on the back" but they don't walk away with sales.  Getting people to enroll in your product or service after speaking doesn't require PowerPoint, fancy handouts or even a nice location.  I invite you to discover the following 3 public speaking tips and tricks to help you make more money from your next time in front of an audience. 

Your Core Story - Getting conversion from your speaking events means helping the audience to relate to you.  Sure you want them to see you as an "expert" but you also want them to know you understand what it is like to be in their shoes.  If you are selling something complicated (like technology solutions or Insurance products) share with them how you didn't understand it at one time as well.  Get your core story out in the first 8 minutes of your talk. Conversation - One of the public speaking tips that many people have a challenge with putting into practice is generating conversation with the audience.  When you ask powerful questions to specific audience members the rest of the crowd will take careful note and the people that you call on will feel even more engaged in the material. Don't Pitch - People fear the "pitch man".  They don't want to attend a 60, 90, or 120 minute event that is a total "pitch fest".  Give your audience value, share with them tips, but leave enough out so they want more.  When they want more help they will feel compelled to get out their wallets and sign up at the end.

Making more money from each speaking event doesn't mean you have to get a higher speaker fee.  You don't need to listen to public speaking tips that tell you how to hold your hands or walk in front of a crowd either!  Start making more money from each speaking event today by sharing your core story, generating conversation, and removing anything that sounds like a "pitch". 

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

The 3 Essential Public Speaking Tips to Achieving an Outstanding Speech

The following are 3 public speaking tips that I feel are essential and can when applied instantly make the most doubtful of speakers feel more secure.

Public Speaking Tip 1 - Tell yourself its OK to be nervous!

The first incorrect assumption many people make when when they know they have to give a presentation is that view their nerves or fear in a negative light. Convinced that the level of fear they have is bad, they try their hardest to eliminate it. Having told themselves or been told by others that they "shouldn't feel as they do" especially if they are normally seen as a confident individual or in a senior position, their fear becomes greater when they realise they cannot make it evaporate.

The greatest emotion the speaker then experiences is not a fear of the presentation, but it then is a fear of the fear itself.

The most rapid way to feel confident despite this fear is to say aloud and repeatedly: "My feelings are ok" "I acknowledge my fear or nerves and will not try to eliminate it." "It is OK to feel this way before a talk, it is completely OK and does not mean anything is not going to go to plan."

The effects of these few words are enormous as once we stop trying to suppress the fear, it naturally lessens as it was the trying to eliminate the fear that kept it alive. So the first public speaking tip is to remember it is OK to feel nervous!!!!

Public Speaking Tip 2 - Be yourself!

There is a well known phrase that "people buy people" and nothing could be more applicable than in the case of speaking in front of a crowd. Although we maybe do not know the exact reason, we all know when someone inspires us with a presentation or speech.

Unfortunately most people when asked to give a speech are not aware of this and feel that they are required to be anything other than themselves.

People who are normally funny and witty enter "public speaking mode" when asked to give a presentation and then become, downbeat. Many people become convinced that this "public speaking mask" is a better persona to show their audience than who they really are. Furthermore they put even more effort in ensuring the audience doesn't see the 'real' them in case they are unimpressed.

Trying to be someone else generally, is exhausting, but trying to be very different when putting on a presentation is doubly so. The best speakers in the world know that if they can someway display their 'essence' to the audience in an effective way the audience will be interested in them and then buy what they are saying.

So be yourself in front of your audience, don't think your regional accent needs to change, and your words need to suddenly become completely different

So Speaking Tip two is: Be yourself!

Public Speaking Tip 3 - State your topic detail clearly and concisely as soon as you begin your presentation.

There's nothing worse than attending a talk where you have no knowledge of the topic in hand- or maybe haven't been briefed on all the information and the speaker opens with a line such as "As I am sure you know" Lines like this that fail to explain any context of the presentation are a sure fire way to confuse the audience right from the start of the presentation. Even if you think that the audience should have some knowledge of the topic you are speaking about do not assume this!!!

In fact assume nothing from your audience.

The reality is, that if you are speaking in a business context for example your audience may have attended a number of different talks given by many people that day or during that week and may honestly be unaware what your talk is supposed to be about. Without a clear objective they might literally be confused as to the purpose of your talk.

So public speaking Tip 3 is: state your objectively clearly! Let them know what you will be speaking on.

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Executive Leadership Training Builds Leadership Skills 3 Ways

Executive leadership training can yield better returns on your investment than taking a few leadership skills training courses or buying 10 or 12 good business leadership books.

When conducted over long periods of time, a reasonably priced executive leadership program can be more effective than the popular 2-day, 3-day or one week formats used in many less expensive leadership training courses.

Educational experiences which segment, focus on and support the delivery of lessons in a modular format usually yield better results than reading tons of business leadership books.

An effective executive leadership training program contains skills development exercises and courses which are designed to energize your leadership performances. However, there is no secret to becoming a better leader, you simply need to employ your strengths, practice your skills and adjust your path towards progress.

You don't have to take my word for it but ask anyone in business or government services. The truth is this, long term, personalized, multi-modal executive leadership training programs are the very finest educational investments you can make.

Your leadership training program works best when it includes all of these elements:

The intensity, volume and focus of subject matter covered The level of coaching, mentoring and consulting support provided The variety of practical applications and relevant exercises specified The abundance of powerful tools and resources supplied The energy of interactivity involved between the student and training provider.

The more frequently organizational professionals, managers and entrepreneurs engage in and are held accountable for their executive leadership training experiences, the better their leadership skills and their organizations become.

Leaders in many of the world's prestigious companies, universities and professional firms, encourage their promising employees to:

Participate in executive leadership training, development and coaching programs; Read and study business leadership books and stories about effective leaders; Update their leadership skills with ad hoc, shorter-term, topical training courses.

If your executive leadership education helps you to deal with, work through and guide others in overcoming your real-life challenges, you will evolve into a truly excellent leader. Discovering ways to help you assess, improve and correct your performance, means you must:
Boost your awareness or understanding of and confidence in your strengths, natural talents and abilities; Invest time in applying, practicing and mastering the lessons learned in your leadership skills training courses; Ingest a steady, meaty diet of business leadership books describing methods, strategies and processes used by other successful leaders.

This article suggests you use these three strategies to quickly, competently and confidently improve your executive leadership training.

Your leadership training. development or coaching provider may suggest you employ a system to help you record, reflect upon and realize:
How much progress you are achieving, How far you've gone towards reaching your full potential What you need to do to keep your weaknesses from impacting your effectiveness

Best-in-class executive training programs include daily readings of classic and newly published business leadership books, articles and news stories to keep important leadership skills, various situations or challenges and enduring principles in front of the student's mind.

Effective leadership development programs offer modules of skills-based courses and application workshops featuring weekly lessons of not more than one to two hours. Breaking up the vast field of team or organizational leadership practice into sizable chunks gives the student time to absorb, try-out and perfect the fundamentals of leading.

Executive leadership training is a viable option for you if you are a knowledge professional, a manager or supervisor, an executive or director or if you are an entrepreneur or entrepreneurial professional.

When choosing your development program be sure it offers a large collection of skills training and exercise sessions on the crucial tasks and duties you'll need. Of course, you should be given access to a vast library of business leadership books, articles and similar resources.

Executive leadership training is a journey on the road less traveled. If you are willing to follow the many twists and turns found in your leadership skills training courses and business leadership books, you will succeed and find your bliss!

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Public Speaking Tips - 5 Ways to Speak Like a Professional

If you have been looking for public speaking tips, then this article will show you 5 things you can do to lift your public speaking to a professional standard.

1. Get rid of the 'ums' and 'ers'

These 'space fillers are annoying and distracting to an audience. A great public speaking tip is to listen to a good public speaker. You will soon notice that they will regularly pause for a moment or two to allow the audience time to savour what they are saying and to give themselves time to think, but they never um and er. Practice your own speeches in private and as soon as you find yourself about to use a space filler, stop and pause for a moment. In no time at all you will have eliminated ums and ers from your public speaking.

2. Don't lean on the lectern

If you lean on the lectern it sends out a body language message that you aren't comfortable and in control. Another useful public speaking tip is to stand up tall and don't touch the lectern unless you need to adjust your notes or the microphone.

3. Keep your hands out of your pockets

Once again, hands in pockets signals to the audience that you aren't in control. An easy-to-do public speaking tip is to keep your hands by your sides unless you need to make a gesture to emphasise something you have said, or for dramatic purposes.

4. Keep to the time limit

We've all been to talks or lectures where the speaker rambles on way past their allotted time. In a conference situation this can seriously inconvenience the next speaker or even throw the whole program into disarray. It also means the speaker runs the risk of being silenced by the Chairperson in 'mid flight'. Members of the audience can also be inconvenienced because they may have something scheduled right after the talk.

A professional speaker always keeps to their time limit - they know how to plan their talk to fit the time available. The only exception to this rule is when the Chair or audience specifically ask you to continue.

If you have been asked to give a speech and believe that your allotted time is insufficient, you should immediately discuss the situation with the event organiser and negotiate a solution.

5. Protect your reputation

As a final public speaking tip, if someone else in the speaking program has 'stolen' some of the time allotted to your speech, you need to seriously consider whether it is worthwhile giving your speech. You won't do yourself or the audience any favours by trying to squeeze a half hour speech into 10 minutes. Remember that with every speech your reputation is at stake and you owe it to yourself to protect that reputation, even if it means annoying a few people. Just make sure that the Chairperson or organiser has been forewarned so that you don't embarrass them, and if possible, work out a compromise solution.

In this article you have learnt the value of using pauses, being careful with your body language, and keeping to the time limit. By following these tips you will be able to deliver your speeches with the authority and poise of a professional public speaker.

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Work Place Communication Skills

Communication being the mother of all skills must be mastered by one and all for professional as well as personal success. Communication is an art which has to be mastered by the professionals irrespective of their position. The components of communication are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW). If you master these components, you will become good manager and able to get the things done to the satisfaction of your superiors.

Listening being the first component of Communication skill, one has to practice this skill with all the attentiveness required to reciprocate, react and to give constructive feedback.
Without listening one cannot be effective in discharging their duties in the workplace.
In a nutshell, listening is considered as the key skill in communicating with others. For example, if you do not listen attentively, you cannot discharge your duties effectively to the satisfaction of your boss. You may lose the edge over your competitors in the workplace. Your appraisal may not be up to the mark. If you are a Secretary or a Stenographer, you must be more attentive compared to others. One small mistake committed due to lack of attention may put the project in problem which you are handling. Proactive listening will help you to climb the ladder of success. Active listening is that wherein you are active only in listening, but proactive listening will motivate and prompts you to take action on the points which you have listened through your boss, peers or subordinates. This will help you to become a key member of the team. You have take the expression as it is while listening to the speaker but should not react immediately.

Speaking can be mastered only with practice. The ability to speak clearly will determine the effectiveness of the individual in the workplace. Your clarity of thought is reflected in your way of speaking and choosing the right words. Choosing the right words for the right occasion to express in the right place and with right people will help you to master the art of speaking. One has to practice this art of speaking by understanding the situation and the vocabulary of different industry segments with which you are associated. SIP in the field of education means Summer Internship program but the same SIP sounds different in the field of banking i.e. Systematic Investment Plan. Before globalization the jargon of recruitment is different from post globalization. Previously it was recommendation and now it was with reference you can find a placement of your choice. Now-a-days, many are spelling the word schedule as schedule due to the influence of American work culture in the Indian Work Place. Observation also will help you to become a good speaker. Positive expression while talking to your boss, peers, and subordinates will create positive vibes in the workplace. You should not go to your boss with the word 'complaint' in your expression; instead you must rearrange the sentence with the expression as 'I would like to bring to your kind notice'. This way, one can master speaking skills in the workplace and help in creating positive vibrations in the workplace.

Emotional intelligence/balance while speaking will give you edge over others. One must be Assertive communicator while talking to others. Aggressive communication or reaction will spoil the atmosphere and may not help in getting the things done. The communication must be apt to the situation and should not express in over tones.

Your perception will influence your way of communicating with others. One should not impose the perception or opinion on others through their way of expression. You must give choice and freedom to others to choose and express their view point. If you are precise and pin pointed with your communication, you can avoid politics in the work place. You can avoid grapevine in the workplace. You can avoid heart burns in the work place.

Reading maketh a complete man. This quote reflects the importance of reading in the life of a professional. Reading also includes studies, wherein you have to try to improve your qualifications and skills which would help move fast on the career path. Lack of reading skills or not concentrating much on reading the latest developments in your field will make you a novice in the workplace. Those who update knowledge of their field continuously will climb the ladder of success in the workplace without many hassles. Those who doesn't concentrate on improving their reading skills will not be in the race of promotion or any kind of other career developing appraisals happen from time to time in the continuous learning organizations.

Writing i.e. letter drafting and report writing forms part of the life of a professional wherein one has to possess these skills to become an effective manager. A professional has to master the art of writing which is useful in the workplace to communicate effectively and to assert his stand in every situation. Lack of writing skills will be an obstruction in the progress of one's career path and can mar the future prospects.

Barriers in communication can be overcome with concentration and observation. Focusing on the mode of communication and its effectiveness will help to reduce the effectiveness of barriers in communication. In an 'open cabin culture' in the work place, one cannot expect 'noiseless' atmosphere. Cell phones in the workplace also will become barriers for effective communication. To avoid barriers in communication in the workplace, one has to develop 'accommodating culture'.

Basics of Effective Communication

o It matters not so much what you say as it does how you say it.
o Your communication style is a SET of various behaviors and methods of relaying information that impact all facets of life.
o The goal should always be to understand - not to be right.
o Get the facts before you pass judgment. Some styles lend themselves better to this than others.
o Learning all communication styles is important in order to avoid communicating in less effective ways and in order to recognize those styles in others so as to be able to deal with them.
o People are not difficult. They only seem difficult to the extent that we do not have the skills to deal with what they bring to the table. It is our lack of knowledge that makes the situation difficult.

Which is the Best Style?

o All styles have their proper place and use.
o Assertive communication is the healthiest.
- Boundaries of all parties are respected.
- Easier to problem-solve; fewer emotional outbursts.
- It requires skills and a philosophy change, as well as lots of practice and hard work.
- When both parties do it, no one is hurt in any way and all parties win on some level.

Understanding Communication Styles - Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive Communication -

Passive Communication

o Allowing our own rights to be violated by failing to express our honest feelings.
o The goal of being a passive communicator is to avoid conflict no matter what.
o Little risk involved - very safe.
o Little eye contact, often defers to others' opinions, usually quiet tone, may suddenly explode after being passive too long.

Examples of Passive Communication

o "I don't know."
o "Whatever you think."
o "You have more experience than I. You decide."
o "I'll go with whatever the group decides."
o "I don't care. It doesn't matter to me."
o "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. . . NO!"

Aggressive Communication

o Protecting one's own rights at the expense of others' rights - no exceptions.
o The goal of the aggressor is to win at all costs; to be right.
o Does not consider actions a risk because this person thinks they will always get their way. It is risky in terms of relationships, however.
o Eye contact is angry and intimidating; lots of energy; loud and belittling; never defers to others, or at least does not admit to; manipulative and controlling. Often uses violence or verbal abuse.

Examples of Aggressive Communication

o "I don't know why you can't see that this is the right way to do it."
o "It's going to be my way or not at all."
o "You're just stupid if you think that will work."
o "That kind of logic will sink the company."
o "Who cares what you feel. We're talking about making things work here."

Passive-Aggressive Communication

o Forfeiting your own rights initially, followed by manipulation and vengeance later.
o The goal of this style is to avoid conflict and then make the other party wish they had seen it your way.
o Avoids risk initially, risks relationships later, then acts surprised when people are mad.
o Behaves passively to people's face, then aggressively when they are not around. Often uses sarcasm.

Examples of Passive-Aggressive Communication

o "Sure, doctor. I'd be happy to write that verbal order," but back on the unit the order is "forgotten."
o "I love your hair. Most people probably can't even tell it's a wig."
o "I hear what you're saying, and I wouldn't want to make waves, so I'll do what you say even though someone will probably get sued."

Assertive Communication

o Protecting your own rights without violating the rights of others.
o The goal of the assertive person is to communicate with respect and to understand each other; to find a solution to the problem.
o Takes a risk with others in the short run, but in the long run relationships are much stronger.
o Eye contact maintained; listens and validates others; confident and strong, yet also flexible; objective and unemotional; presents wishes clearly and respectfully.

Examples of Assertive Communication

o "So what you're saying is. . . ."
o "I can see that this is important to you, and it is also important to me. Perhaps we can talk more respectfully and try to solve the problem."
o "I think. . . I feel. . . I believe that. . . ."
o "I would appreciate it if you. . ."

Assertiveness Skills

I - Persistence

1. Stay focused on the issue - do not get distracted, defensive, or start justifying yourself.
2. Repeat the "bottom line" to keep the conversation on track and your issues on the table (e.g., "I understand that, however we are talking about. . .").
3. Alternative styles would withdraw or would escalate this to a battle of wills that would override compromise.

II - Objectivity

1. Focus on the problem, not on the emotions that often accompany and cloud problems. Postpone discussion if emotions cannot be contained.
2. Use the validation skill (next) to handle others' emotions so you can focus on objective issues.

III - Validation

o Allow people to have their experience, but try to move beyond it to a discussion about the problem.
o You do not necessarily have to disagree or agree - people's perspectives are important, but they are not the heart of the issue, so don't make a battle over them. Validate them and get to the issue.
o "If that's how you see it, that's fine."
o "I can see that this upsets you, and from your perspective, I can see why. Now, what can we do to make this better for both of us?"

IV - Owning

o Being assertive means you also must own what is yours to own. If the other person has a point about your behavior, own it (this is the ". . .without violating the rights of others" part). Bulldozing over that is aggressive.
o Accept someone's criticism as feedback rather than an attack. (e.g., "You could be right about that. . .", "That is entirely possible, knowing me. . .") Where is the value in fighting another's negative opinion about us? Perspective is hard to change when directly challenged. This shows that IF their perspective were true, you'd own it.

V - Challenging False Information

o When attacked with false and negative statements, do not fall prey to defensiveness. That only escalates emotions.
o Look for the grain of truth and validate it. This knocks barrier walls down and opens the door for discussion about the real problem.
o At times people are rigid and a more forceful stance is needed. E.g., "I'm sorry, I simply do not see it that way, but you are more than entitled to your opinion."
o Disagree, using factual information. E.g., "Actually, I was at work, so that could not have been me."

VI - Pumping the Negatives

o When criticized, ask for more negative feedback - do so assertively, as though you are trying to learn more about how to be better in that area (and in fact, that should be your goal). E.g., "Tell me more about what is bothering you about my report."
o Stay task oriented!!! If you slip into emotions and get offended, you lose. Pump practical negatives (not baseless criticisms) and how your actions can be improved to help solve the problems.

VII - Humor

o Humor breaks down negative emotions.
o Humor can put tense situations at ease.
o When grain of truth is found, joke about it while owning it.
o Be careful to use humor appropriately and professionally.

When Aggression is Appropriate

o In an emergency
o When there is not time to spend on a compromise.
o When your opinion is based on several facts, you therefore KNOW you are right, and there is not time to utilize assertiveness skills.

When Passivity is Appropriate

o When the results of pushing the issue would cause problems that outweigh the benefits.
o When issues are minor.
o When there is a power differential that is not in your favor and the other party is getting agitated by your assertiveness.
o When the other individual's position is impossible to change. (E.g., the law).

What is "Okay" in Assertive Behavior?

o It is okay to say "I don't know."
o It is okay to say "No," or "I cannot do that."
o It is okay to make mistakes as long as responsibility is taken for them.
o It is okay to disagree and to verbalize that.
o It is okay to challenge others' opinions or actions.
o It is okay to not accept another's opinion as factual or accurate (e.g., getting criticized).
o It is okay to ask for a change in behavior.

Cultivate the habit of communicating assertively, to enhance your effectiveness in the workplace. Measurable performance is always assessed by way of your positive communication skills. If you are not an effective communicator, you may not be in a position to sell yourself effectively in the workplace. Thus, effective communication plays vital role for your success in professional life as well as in your personal life.

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