The Importance Of Public Speaking Skills

Public speaking skills are often overlooked by people as being unimportant or they may think that they will never be called to speak in public, that's why they do not bother to get themselves acquainted with any public speaking skills. Truth is, more often then not, it is these people that often get tongue tied and being in a state of total meltdown when faced with the possibility that they will be asked to present a topic in public, even a topic they know inside out.

To some people, they do not put high importance or regards to the importance of having good public speaking skills because they have an impression that good public speaking skills are only for people in sales or marketing. This is untrue. Good public speaking skills are also a hallmark of good communication skills and having good communication skills is essential for any career, unless you are the only person in the entire office. For example, if you are signing up for a new job, any job at all, you will probably need to go for an interview. During the interview, the interviewer does not just judge you based on your qualifications, your ability to communicate, both spoken and unspoken, also constitutes a part of the decision making process of whether you will be accepted or not. If you are a student in college, your ability to deliver a good public speaking session will also be tested on regular basis. An example of this will be the various class presentations that you need to do over the course of the semester and the grading criteria will almost certainly have an element of "clarity of delivery" in it. By not knowing how to give a clear and effective presentation using good public speaking skills will only disadvantage yourself because if you cannot communicate clearly to your audience, it is as if you have never learnt the subject at all.

This is one of the reasons perhaps why a lot of ideas by some of the most intelligent people on the planet are only discovered many years after their death. One of the possible reasons is that although they are highly intelligent and have written very useful information, they just cannot seem to put through to people what they are thinking about due to their lack of ability to communicate to a large group of people using public speaking techniques.

Public speaking skills are not only used in situation where you have to address a large group of people. Communication skills and public speaking skills are inter-related, hence, if you improve your public speaking skills, you also invariably improve your interpersonal communication skills with your peers and family.

Therefore, if you are ever presented with an opportunity to practice public speaking or learn public speaking skills, don't shy away from it. Whether you are in class, in the office or in any kind of setting that requires you to deliver a message to an audience, pick up your courage and go for it. Public speaking is a skill and the more you use it and practice it, the better you will become. To improve your public speaking skills or even if you are a new beginner, there are a lot of public speaking audiobooks or guide books to learn from. By picking up a good public speaking skill, you will have an edge over others who don't.

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Trade Show Presentation Tips: Why Most Employee Trade Show Presenters Fail and How to Stop It

If you have to deliver presentations at trade shows, there are a few things you can do that will aid you in doing a better job. These tips will help you get "positively" noticed by your company and by others looking to hire someone with your expertise - who can also speak well. As a trade show magician, I have observed hundreds of employee trade show presenters and most fail miserably. One usually witnesses empty seats in theater areas, an ineffective communication of the message, and bored attendees, not to mention almost non-existent follow-up interest by attendees who heard the presentation.

Here are a few tips to help you do a better job and stand out as a skilled communicator:

1) Be Prepared - Write out what you are going to say and remember that trade show presentations should be no longer than 10 minutes. If you can't tell attendees what you offer in less than 10 minutes then you need to cut, cut, cut.

2) Call to Action - At the end of your presentation, make sure to include a "call to action," which is stating that you would be willing to further discuss what you've been speaking about and tell attendees where you are in the booth. This is more effective than asking if anyone has questions. Get those with questions over to your demo station where you can provide more detailed information.

3) Rehearse - So many employee presenters "wing it," and it shows - it embarrassingly shows. Rehearse your script with your power point and do the whole thing including the call to action. Make sure that everything moves smoothly and run through it, until you're sick of doing it.

4) Show Day - On the day of the show, get to the booth early. Get familiar with the microphone and do a microphone check. Run through your presentation again - complete with the power point - and imagine the seats filled with people. (Then do it again imagining the seats only semi-filled.) This is called "owning the room," and it gives you self-confidence and allows you to command the stage - which is what you want.

5) Check out Your Surroundings - What is going on in the other booths near you? Does the exhibit across from you have a trade show magician in it? Does another have a professional trade show presenter or other attraction? Be aware of your competition, because professional trade show presenters are trying to attract the same attendees you are with one major exception - they are getting paid to attract a crowd and therefore have more incentive to out draw you.

6) Show Time - Due to your following the previous steps, when it's your time to "hit the stage," you will deliver a well-thought out presentation with confidence and clarity. What is happening around you or how many seats are filled won't affect you and, due to your call to action, you will have a chance later to meet with attendees who are really interested in what you had to say.

7) Video Your Presentation - Watch it and see where you can make improvements. Also, when you have enough video, edit your work into a short 5 minute demo. Why? You never know when this "video calling card" may come in handy - should you look for another job. Doubt that comment? Please read Tip 8.

8) Bonus Time - According to a 2010 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the number one skill employers consider crucial for employment is effective communication skills. As someone who knows how to effectively communicate a message to a large amount of people, you will be noticed by your peers and executives from your company in a positive way. Additionally, other companies who regularly exhibit at industry shows and "power people" are always looking for those who know how to speak well. Therefore, the ability to do so to large groups is a skill worth cultivating.

I can't tell you how many times I have been offered a job to be a sales rep, due to my ability to speak to large groups. Can you imagine what could happen to you, should you combine your expertise in your field with effective communicative skills?

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5 Vital Public Speaking Tips

If you are a frequent visitor to my site, you have probably learnt that I was a two-time captain of the Debate Club in my university while I was undertaking my undergraduate study. Plus, I was also a Toastmasters Club member for around 3 years.

Personally, I don't consider myself an expert in the field of public speaking even though I have attended many local and international public speaking competitions and experienced public speaking to over 1,000 people in an event. Instead, I would like to call myself an experienced person in the world of presentation, public speaking and communication.

In this article, I would like to share with you guys what I think are the 5 most important Public Speaking Tips. You can take these tips to improve your Public Speaking ability. Trust me when I tell you that Public Speaking skills is crucially important and can actually lead you to the peak of your life especially if your goal is to become a leader in any of your life pursuit.

1. Positive Mental Attitude

Personally, I've never heard or seen anyone die of public speaking. So, there is nothing to be afraid of public speaking. It's easier said than done, right? It truly is, yet such fear can really be overcome.

Many people are afraid of public speaking because they don't like the feeling of nervousness when they have to stand on the stage and face with many eyes locked on them. In other words, nervousness keeps them stay away from speaking in public.

Personally, I have also undergone the feeling of nervousness in my pursuit of excellence in public speaking. Even though I have a number of experiences giving speech to a group of people, I still feel nervous whenever I am on the stage. I just know how to manage my nervousness well.

How to manage nervousness

If you have some time, please read this detailed article: How to kill your nervousness in public speaking.

But, if you don't, you should do as the follows:

a. Mentally remind yourself that public speaking can't kill you.

b. Learn to get accustomed in looking to people's eyes.

c. Start talking to people while standing whether in formal or informal settings.

2. Voice projection

Personally, I strongly believe that voice is the most important feature in public speaking. A speaker's ability to properly project their voice well is crucially important in speech delivery.

Great public speakers, in my experience, are people who speak loudly and clearly enough that can be distinctly heard by people listening to them. The voice should not be too loud as it annoys the audience and too low as it makes the audience sleep.

When it comes to voice projection, there are many things to consider such as the using of tone and etc. Usually, a speaker is recommended not to use one tone for the whole speech because it simply makes the speech boring and less emotional. If possible, the speaker should use different tones for different plots. If the plot is about something sad, the tone must be in accordance to the story; it'd better be soft and slow.

How to project voice properly

You can try the following tips:

a. Practice talking to people standing or sitting 2-5 meters away from you. Try to get them understand everything you say. This helps you to talk better with a big group of people.

b. Practice talking to people standing or sitting 0.5-1 meter away from you. Try to get them understand everything you say. This helps you to talk better with a small group of people.

c. Listen to expert story tellers and learn how they use their tone in different parts of the story. Practice narrating story using different tones.

3. Eye contact

Eye contact is usually used by professional public speakers to attract the audience attention. In general, an audience participant focuses on listening to the speaker only when they realize that the speaker speaks to them or that the speaker pays attention to them. How does the participant know that? My experience has taught me that eye contact is the means of such knowledge.

Maintaining a natural and good eye contact with audience is crucially important because it somehow determines the degree of attention the audience members give to us the speakers. Personally, I almost always maintain a close eye contact with the people who listen to me and those who seem not to be focusing on my speech. I don't have to say their name or point to them to listen to me because my eye contact says it all. Isn't that cool?

Initially, I was so scared at looking into people's eyes. I remember I took my glasses off during a classroom presentation because I was not able to undergo the overwhelming pressure of the 20-plus pairs of eyes looking at me. However, thanks to the countless speech delivery practices that I have done for years, I today don't feel the pressure anymore every time I am on the stage. I just feel at ease.

How to develop powerful eye contact

You can try the following tips:

a. Practice looking into your eyes in the mirror and maintaining the contact for some time (two or three minutes) every day.

b. Practice looking into people's eyes when you are in conversation in them. I know it's difficult especially if you come from any country like Cambodia whose societal culture doesn't promote people looking straight into other people's eyes. You can start with people that you know well before strangers.

4. Body language

Body language is also one of the most essential elements in speech delivery. Effective use of body language makes the speech lively and active while ineffective use of body language could pose great threat or embarrassment to the audience members. For example, the use of middle finger in North America is offensive. The showing of folding fist could mean either anger or power.

Body language is a bit complicated if one wants to be perfect in it. Yet, it's worthwhile to learn to use it effectively or perfectly if possible because it's generally believed that body language conveys much more message than words and tones in any communication scenario. For example, yawning means being sleepy or feeling bored even though the person who yawns tries to say that he is not sleepy or bored.

The use of body language could include such as winking the eyes, using facial expressions, using of hands or legs, posing or standing, and etc. Basically, any movement of the body can be considered as body language.

How to develop powerful body language

You can try the following tips:

a. Strongly believe that use of body language in speech delivery is not crazy or silly. It's what you are supposed to do and do well if possible.

b. Study the culture in which you are about to deliver your speech. There must be some gestures or body signs considered appropriate or inappropriate. Study them well so as not to offend your audience.

c. Practice using wide and clear body language. Use your hands widely. When you are on the stage, you shouldn't fold your hands together. Instead use them widely so that your audience can see what you are trying to convey to them.

5. Practice

"Best practices give best results," said Mr. Somboon Mongkol Sambath, one of the most experienced Toastmasters members with whom I associated during my time in Toastmasters Club. I heard the saying quite early in my pursuit of excellence in public speaking skills, and it has always become my only philosophy in speech delivery and public speaking.

There might be born great public speakers, but the number of these people is so few. Yet, there are so many great trained public speakers. The late Steve Jobs could be one of the examples. Before he passed away, he was considered one of the world's most powerful public speakers even though he was not born to be a public speaker. During his initial show-ups on the stage or via media, he was quoted as nervous and shaky delivering his speeches.

Like Steve Jobs, I am not a gifted or born public speaker. I spent around 6 years to get trainings on how to effectively deliver speeches. I joined IFL Debate Club and Toastmasters Club. Plus, I have rarely if not never rejected the opportunities to improve my public speaking ability. I even volunteer for the chance to talk in front of people on any topic.

So, if you want to become a powerful and successful public speaker too, you should have this practice mindset. Sharpen your public speaking skills with practices, as many as possible.

How to develop powerful practices

You can try the following tips:

a. Prepare what you are going to talk. Put it in writing in brainstorming or complete form.

b. Rehearse your speech as many as possible before you get on the stage. You can do it in front of pretending audience if you can find. This helps build up your confidence.

c. Practice with a partner that has similar mindset to you.

d. Get constructive feedback from people who listen to your speech after each of your practices.

e. Video-tape your speech. Believe me when I say that you will learn more if you witness your own strengths and/or weaknesses.

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Top Ten Reasons to Learn Communication Skills

Study after study shows that effective communicators have longer marriages, deeper friendships, better relationships, more successful college and career experiences, make more money and are generally happier than their less articulate counterparts. Most people know communication is important, but they don't fully understand to what degree. Eighty-seven percent of everything we do during the day is communication related; communication is far more than just making speeches or having good manners. While you may manage to live your entire life without making a speech, you will not get through one day without communicating something to someone! Here are the top 10 reasons you and your children should learn effective communication skills.

1. Your Marriage
"It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman." -Proverbs 21:19

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, over half of all marriages end in divorce and the number one reason cited is lack of effective communication! By the way, that number doesn't improve if you only consider the Christian community. No two people are going to get along ALL the time. The trick in a long relationship isn't avoiding conflict, it's the successful resolution thereof! In addition, men and women communicate in completely different ways and sometimes for very different reasons. I talk about this in my book Say What You Mean Every Day, in chapter one, "How to Talk to Your Spouse 'Cuz You Must!"

2. Your Kids
"Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged." -Colossians 3:21

Parents who communicate effectively with their children give them a clear sense of boundaries and security. They show them love and give them a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Children who learn to communicate effectively can articulate their wants and needs. Those who don't are led to violent behavior in order to have those misunderstood needs met.

3. Your Ministry
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1Peter 3:15

What harm does it do if you approach someone the wrong way about Jesus? The worst they can do is say no, right? Wrong! Someone who has been told repeatedly that they are going to hell may grow weary of people spiritually beating them up. It leaves them with a bad taste in their mouth about Jesus, Christianity or Christians in general. This can apply to other Christians who don't see things exactly as you do. "Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God-" 1 Cor 10:32

4. Your Education
"He who answers before listening-that is his folly and his shame." -Proverbs 18:13

"Students with ineffective listening skills fail to absorb much of the material to which they are exposed. Their problems are intensified when they respond incorrectly or inappropriately because of poor speaking skills." -National Communication Association study on Why Communication is Important

5. Your College Career
"From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied." -Proverbs 18:20

College applications require several essays these days. Not only do they evaluate your student's accomplishments, which are written into the essay, but they evaluate the ability of the student to convey this effectively. Admission officers are looking for articulate and accomplished candidates. If your student is accomplished but cannot convey that to a college admissions board, he will be passed over for one who can! Even the college entrance exams are communication skills-intensive these days.

6. Your Job Interview
"A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul." -Proverbs 18:7

These days, companies are looking for someone who is knowledgeable and confident without being arrogant. They ask interview questions designed to flush out your true desires and beliefs and they evaluate your appearance to help them judge which candidate is best. Not all of your interview is based on your resume; in fact, they will only grant an interview if you have a stellar resume! The resume is just the beginning of the job interview process. Interviewers will ask you things like, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Employers want a concise, but not negative reason why you left your previous employment. According to a study in 2000 done by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 1000 human resource managers ranked preferred skills for being hired as follows:
1) Oral Communication Skills,
2) Written Communication Skills and
3) Listening (which is a communication skill).

7. Climbing your Corporate Ladder
"He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend." -Proverbs 22:11

People with good communication skills are more likely to do a better job which would naturally result in promotions. Here are some of the results of various studies on the impact of communication skills on job success:

* Research done by the U.S. Department of Labor concluded that the skills most needed by employers in the 21st century that tomorrow's workers must master are "listening and speaking abilities."

* Persuasion skills and the ability to interact with others result in greater career advancement and higher salaries for graduates according to a 20 year-study of Stanford University MBA's.

8. Your Business
"Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." -Colossians 4:6

Business owners have to communicate on a variety of issues including
1) How to save time and money on your supplies,
2) Creating a communication package for your business,
3) How to present yourself as an expert in your field,
4) How to effectively handle customer service, complaints and returns,
5) How to make contacts,
6) Effective use of social networking groups,
7) Handling kids and business,
8) How/when to share your faith in business,
9) How to gain support from family and friends,
10) How to motivate your employees,
11) How to train your customer service staff, and
12) How to deal with customer relations and company image issues.

All of these issues involve mastering certain communication skills!

9. Your Friendships
"An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of the citadel." Proverbs 18:19

Good communicators enjoy
1) Self Confidence,
2) Leadership,
3) Personal Presence,
4) Credibility,
5) Ability to Explain and Persuade,
6) Understanding of Others, and
7) Interaction Enjoyment.

Every one of these qualities help us to make friends and maintain relationships!

10. Your Happiness
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." -Proverbs 25:11

Studies show that effective communicators are actually happier than their counterparts. This is precisely because they have happier marriages, better friendships and relationships, better careers, make more money and are fulfilled. They know how to get the things they want and need in life because they know how to communicate those wants and needs effectively.

In today's complicated and secular world, miscommunication and misunderstanding abounds and, because of this, it takes far more communication skill to get along in the world these days. Further, each aspect of communication requires different skills and techniques in order to master. For these reasons, the Lord mentions communication skills HUNDREDS of times in His Word. Communication skills are vital for all relationships, for career success, and most importantly, are imperative in order to fulfill The Great Commission. God talks about communication skills in His Word literally hundreds of times. Isn't it about time we heeded His warnings and studied them?

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Effective Communication Skills: How To Improve

Understanding how to improve communication skills is a difficult task for many people, and in most cases it is easy to see why. Many people find interacting with other uncomfortable, and often fear going outside of their communication comfort zone. In other cases, people do not realize that they indeed require improvement in their communication skills. Therefore the improvement process requires evaluating the individuals existing skills and determining where change would be beneficial, and then more importantly, the best way to approach that improvement.

Any strategy for correction should begin with an understanding of what communication skills are. They include the tactical tenets of communication including speaking, writing, reading, and listening, however they also include more dialed-down skills such empathetic and active listening, appropriate physical reaction and response, and context comprehension. We develop our communication skills over time after countless hours of interaction with other people. During this development we unfortunately learn and assimilate bad habits that are often difficult to break.

Understanding how to improve communication skills is beneficial because in some cases a persons communication abilities suffer an arrested development during their formative years, and they enter adulthood lacking effective interaction abilities. In many cases people would argue that their personality dictates their communication style and thus their interaction skill-set, however it could be argued that our communication development in many ways influences our personality. Our communication style and skills form our public image and concept of self-identity. Improving communication skills will improve how those around you perceive you and improve your connection with them.

While a how-to template will aid you in improving your communication skills, it is important to note that any template must be tailored and customized to suit the idiosyncrasies of the individual. The final goals and objectives will remain paramount and therefore inflexible, however, there is always room to mold your own how-to plan from the basic structure of a template. For instance, some self-improvement programs call for a certain volume and type of practice that may not be compatible with your time constraints or comfort level.

Self-improvement is an important phase in the personal development process, and there are many rewards for proactively seeking to correct personal shortcomings. It is important to consider why you want to invite change before you decide how to improve communication skills. Effective interpersonal communication is an important component of a healthy lifestyle, and any effort to improve is a positive endeavor. Consider for a moment how many hours a day you spend communicating and interacting with those around you? With a loved one when you woke up this morning? With the bus driver on the way to work? The sales clerk at the morning coffee shop? Your colleague in the cubicle next to you as you discuss your most recent assignment? As you receive direction on that assignment from your immediate manager.

How to Improve Communication Skills Template

1. Take some time and care to recognize and note how you communicate with those around you. Analyze your speaking style including tone, volume, and diction. Analyze your writing style including spelling and grammar, neatness, and vocabulary.

2. Identify problems, conflicts, or contradictions in how you communicate with the world around you. These trouble areas will become the focus of your improvement plan.

3. Identify the situations where you feel comfortable and don't feel comfortable implementing change.

4. Adjust your existing objectives to include newly discovered short-terms goals.

5. Identify opportunities to "practice" and look for avenues for feedback throughout the process. Self-monitoring and review is also helpful to grade your progress.

It is important to be patient throughout the process as self-improvement on any scale can take considerable time. For those individuals that feel they need a helping hand in any of the steps that were just listed, there are assistance programs and templates available. A number of academic institutions or professional counselors and tutors offer courses and seminars that provide communication skills training. Similarly, there are various online communication tests that allow the individual to assess their strengths and weaknesses.

After taking the leap and determining how to improve communication skills, there are a few simple recommendations to aid the individual through this enlightening process;

- When speaking remember to move at a steady and appropriate pace, use pauses when needed, and try to enunciate words to avoid slurring.

- Also when speaking, focus on using appropriate volume, including volume changes for effect where necessary, and appropriate tone.

- Prepare yourself for speaking engagements or parties. If you typically experience breakdowns or prolonged pauses in these situations take the time beforehand to brush up on names and backgrounds. Practice asking and then answering questions to yourself, for example, ask yourself 'How have you been? What have you been up-to?' and then answer yourself. Recognize the context of the engagement; a formal affair dictates a different communication style than an informal, and thus these skills may need to be used in a different manner.

- For written documents, make an effort to proof read final copies.

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The Art of Public Speaking 9th Edition - Helping You to Be on Top of Your Career

An individual can definitely become a public speaker, if he possess good communication skills and can easily relate to the public. Individuals can also be in public speaking careers and one of these is becoming an expert author. A profession in public speaking is not only limited to speaking to the crowd, it can also cover publications by writers. These professionals compile all their knowledge and understanding about effective public speaking and convert them into books so the public can use for reference. Speech writing is also a branch of public speaking, wherein the speech is drafted by the writer. The job needs a high level of proficiency in drafting speeches and also good communication skills.

A public speaking profession can be the ideal option for somebody who has passion in communicating and interacting with people. Aside from the fact these types of professions are one of the high-paying jobs; there is still a shortage of effective speaking to be a part of this line of work. These experts have made a high demand in various industries, particularly in the corporate world. In the said industry, people who are excellent in establishing rapport to the public as well as brilliant in conveying ideas to the crowd are badly needed. These things can only be made by gurus in the public speaking.

In some cases, professionals who have a firm possession of language and techniques of public communication can be alternates of expert public speakers. However, there are cases where corporate people fail to handle the responsibility and resort to hiring public speakers to do it for them. Public speakers are good in gathering their idea and concept conveyed to individuals without having any single doubt. They are hired by software companies, manufacturing organizations, educational institutions, financial companies and the like.

In a software development office, they use all the references, and collate details and knowledge which should be taught to their staffs. They have seminars and lectures to convey all the knowledge about the new proceedings. In manufacturing companies, they are taught about the new technology that is explained in a simple and informative manner. All of these organizations impart the learnings to their employees in such a way that they will be completely informed.

Public speakers are also hired on contract basis in the entertainment industry which they normally perform in award ceremonies and entertainment events. These people are very in demand in the corporate world, to serve as their lecturer in trainings, seminars and other orientation. In fact, they are offered skyrocketing professional fee because of their expertise.

In addition to that, a public speaker should be excellent in decision-making and smart to be able to answer promptly in all the questions that his listeners would ask. If you are aiming to become an expert of this type of profession go through some references so you will have more ideas on its nature and the whole concept of the matter. Books such as The Art of Public Speaking 9th Edition is one of the best references that can start to read on. This will help you fully understand the essence of public speaking and what it can do to your life. The Art of Public Speaking 9th Edition is one of the latest books that is out in the market. And most experts even recommend this to those aspiring public speakers.

Public speaking professions are definitely one of the brilliant jobs that will help you improve your life. If you are dreaming to become one, you simply have to master what you want to convey to your audience and get to know them well.

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Why People Really Fear Public Speaking

An entire industry has developed around the simple skill of public speaking. Studies have shown that public speaking is more feared than death by most Americans. Of course, the greatest fear must be of public speaking to death, that would combine the worst of all evils. Why are most Americans so afraid of public speaking?

My first memories of public speaking fear tie back to early memories of school, and more importantly public speaking at school. I think many of our fears of public speaking tie back to that scenario. I recall being required to stand before the class and recite, from memory, a poem by Chaucer. I was terrified that I would not remember it, and watched as classmate after classmate forgot the poem, and stood there besieged with laughter from his classmates. When I think of my classmates, I wonder how public speaking, given this memory, affects them later in life. Did this one horrible event make everyone fearful of public speaking?

I wish that this instance was unusual, but I hear it over and over again when I ask students when they developed their fear of speaking. It is my theory that a lot of public speaking fear is really fear of memorization. That's why, in my public speaking courses; I try to eliminate all memorization. I teach speakers that in real life, nobody memorizes anything. You speak from a prepared text or, at a minimum bulleted notes. I have found that once I remove memorization from the public speaking syllabus, speakers loosen up and focus their energy more on positive delivery than negative fear. To me, memorization is the cause of public speaking anxiety. That is why I completely remove it from speaker's lives to make them happier and more effective.

Do you look stiff reading from a prepared text? Not if you practice and learn good eye contact techniques. Sure, you look more natural without looking at your notes, but you sacrifice your health and happiness. Also, the tension will eliminate any off the cuff naturalness. In the end, you really are better off, and more successful, without making memorization a part of your public speaking job.

Think back on your first bad public speaking experience. Did it include memorization? I thought so.

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Learning Great Communication Skills

To be successful in life, you need to have great communication skills, involving not only talking, but also listening. Communication allows you to make a connection to another person while gaining an understanding of what that individual has to say. Many people do not realize that communication involves many different forms, each that must be mastered, which includes oral, written, and even visual. Once you become highly skilled with communication skills, you will find that life is easier, on a personal and business level.

However, poor communication skills result in all types of problems such as:
Inaccurate messages sent or received Important directions being misunderstood Confusion over questions asked Concern regarding level of performance Trust being damaged or broken

The truth is that communication skills on any level are critical. For instance, in the business world, being able to communicate with other employees, vendors, sales staff, managers, and of course customers, means better business overall. Communication on a personal level ensures misunderstandings between couples, parents, children, and friends are avoided. As mentioned, communication is not just talking but also listening, which includes:

Passive Listening

Passive listening involves hearing spoken words but not absorbing them or taking action, if necessary.

Active Listening

Active listening involves hearing and understanding words spoken, which means you then have the ability to take any appropriate action.

In addition, every person should learn ways to use open-ended questions when trying to get someone to make a commitment. Finally, learning ways to read body language is another form of communication that is quite powerful. Some people call this "silent communication", which is a great form that should not be overlooked. Remember though that good communication does not mean confrontation.

Good personal communication boils down to breaking out of the traditional mold by making a concerted effort to improve life. Yes, this requires discipline and time but knowing how to communicate the right way is worth the investment. Once you master skills for listening and hearing, you will find that life is much easier. For you to learn good communication skills, you must have all of the following:

Respect

Remember that just because you are respectful in a conversation does not mean you are in agreement with what the other person is saying. In fact, you might have vast differences but showing respect is what helps you hear the other person's point of view and perhaps, you might learn something.

Listen

One of the hardest communication skills people have to learn is being a good listener. This is not just listening, but hearing what the person is saying so you can analyze the information. With this, you would then know the next steps to take.

Willingness

Be willing to communicate and remember that communication is often challenging but by talking and listening, you actually grow personally by being in better control and showing patience.

No two people communicate the same way. Everyone uses different words, has different skills levels, and uses different methods for getting points across. All you need to do is worry about yourself, being patient and accepting the fact that good communication skills put you in better control.

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How To Master Basic Communication Skills

I have a problem with the term 'basic communication skills'; my problem is that this term implies that these skills are very simple and that you are somehow lacking and weak if you don't have them. Certain communication skills are certainly 'basic' to the extent that they are very necessary and that a lot of the success of communication has to be built upon these foundations.

But it is by no means true to say that everyone should somehow naturally possess these skills, which is a slur on those who find communication difficult. Communication skills can be earned.

In every situation and every occupation in adult life, it helps to have certain communication skills.

Verbal Communication:

1. You should be able to speak clearly and concisely to either report factual information or convey an opinion. This is quite a straightforward skill to practice and you can even start by practising on your friends; they will be glad to hear your opinions.

2. Practice speaking to groups as well as individuals; that is quite a different skill to ensure that everyone is included and that everyone gets your message.

3. When you are thinking of improving your verbal communication skills, is it your choice of language, your style of delivery or the way you speak which needs to be worked on? You could ask the advice of a friend or trusted colleague on that as it is sometimes difficult to judge for yourself.

4. You might want to consider taking an acting class or a course on diction to help you to improve your communication skills; local colleges often offer a variety of these courses. You may also find courses in specific areas of communications skills such as customer services, hospitality and conflict management.

Written Communication:

1. Written communication is a different skill to verbal communication; getting your ideas of paper is something that a lot of people find difficult, whether they are an aspiring novelist or someone who finds it difficult to write a concise, understandable e-mail.

2. Learning how to use grammar properly is often the key to clearer written communication. Most jobs and most purposes of writing will require you to have an adequate grasp of grammar. Grammar is definitely something in which you should easily be able to find a course offered at your local college. You could improve your grammar through a business writing course or one aimed at creative writing, whichever you would prefer.

Alternatively, you can find self-help books and workbooks to learn the skills of grammar at your own pace, in your own home. You can also find online writing courses to help you a lot in this area.

Listening:

1. The ability to listen well is the key to understanding communication; in order to do that, you need to fully focus your attention on the speaker to begin with.

2. You can develop your knowledge along with your listening skills by checking out audio tapes and video tapes, perhaps ones loaned from the local library, and practicing fully attending to what is being said on them. You will soon realize that we very often only listen with part of our attention in normal life, but once you have practiced your listening skills you will be able to discern much more from what is being said to you.

Practising these speaking and listening skills will enable you to much more effectively share your opinions with others and defend what you think against their opposing ideas.

Practise your writing and you can express what you want to whomever you wish. When you have practised communicating for a while you will be able to communicate clearly and concisely and be assertive without appearing rude.

A really fun way to become good at such a skill it to listen to radio phone-ins or chat show; you can do this easily, listening to the radio on your drive into work, for instance. Listen out for how people articulate their views and how others receive the messages, depending on how they are expressed.

You will find it fun and quite easy to develop your basic communication skills once you begin to look for opportunities like this.

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Communication Skills Training Primer

We all stand to benefit from ongoing communication skills training. This is because communication skills are one of the most vitally important sets of skills a person can ever hope to acquire, in both personal and business relationships. Also, with so many forms and styles of communication possible, and so many unique personality types in any cross section of people, having good communication skills is arguable a fairly broad, ambitious goal.  

The good news is, being a good communicator is a learned set of skills. We are all born with varying levels of natural talent at any given skill - but we all have the option of getting better at those skills, and that includes communication. 

Types Of Communication

As we all know, there are many, many forms of communication taking place in modern society on a daily basis. In fact, we are constantly bombarded with communication whether we like it or not. A large percentage are marketing messages in one form or another, and they are delivered by email, mobile phones, online ads, TV commercials, telemarketers, and the list goes on. 

But, what most of us think about when discussing communication skills is that of verbal communication, whether face-to-face, or in a group setting. Arguably, it is this realm of communication where peoples' relationships, careers, and lives to some extent, are truly impacted significantly by their communication skills.  

Along those lines, here is some very interesting data courtesy of Wikipedia, regarding interpersonal communication: 

55% of impact is determined by body language-postures, gestures, and eye contact, 38% by the tone of voice, and 7% by the content or the words used in the communication process.  So, I ask you - is there anything immediately noteworthy about the above statements? Anyone? 

Yes, you are correct: Only SEVEN percent (7%) of our interpersonal communication is impacted significantly by the, well to quote, the "content of the words used in the communication process." The rest of the influence over the communication process is defined by the body language primarily, and secondarily, our tone of voice.  

In other words, what you say is a lot LESS important than how you say it - and I would venture it is fair to say, a lot less important than most of us ever would have guessed - had we not taken time to be good students of communication skills by writing and reading articles like this one =) but I digress. 

When you think about it, this does make sense. Have you ever met a person that, for example, is an immigrant with limited command over the primary spoken language, and yet launches a thriving, successful business or has the highest sales quota in their organization? That is a testament to this principal in action. And, this provides a clue for where to begin in the process of improving our communication skills.

Communication Skills Training

Knowing how important our body language and tone of voice is provides a great basis for where to begin with communication skills training. We are talking about things like having a posture that is relaxed and open, rather than tense, closed, or aggressive. Things like choosing to use a personable, interesting, rhythmic voice while talking or presenting, rather than droning on in an endless, monotone voice. And then there is perhaps the most simple, yet arguably most powerful nonverbal communication tool any of us could ever have; putting a smile on your face, like this:  =)   See how good that works?

Whether you are interested in on the job advancement and success, or improving your relationship with your spouse, investing in solid communication skills training is an investment in yourself that pays very big dividends. The good news is, there is a ton of very simple, powerful techniques you can learn to vastly improve your communication skills. It's not rocket science, and it is not an inborn "talent". It just takes some practice, and optionally, the guidance of skilled communication coach.

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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