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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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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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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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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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

Public Speaking Tips to Impress Your Audience

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Tips to Help You Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

The 3 Essential Public Speaking Tips to Achieving an Outstanding Speech

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

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

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

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

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

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

Public Speaking Tip 2 - Be yourself!

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

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

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

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

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

So Speaking Tip two is: Be yourself!

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

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

In fact assume nothing from your audience.

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

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

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Public Speaking Tips - 5 Ways to Speak Like a Professional

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

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

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

2. Don't lean on the lectern

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

3. Keep your hands out of your pockets

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

4. Keep to the time limit

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

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

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

5. Protect your reputation

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

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

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Fear of Public Speaking: How To Get Over It

A fear of public speaking is something that many people suffer through during their career. Some people try to avoid speaking in public at all costs but sometimes it's just not possible especially if it's part of your job.

Plus, there is no reason to want to avoid public speaking because it really doesn't have to be something that is scary. It can actually be quite fun.

And being good at it can help your career, too.

I can't think of a better way to climb the career ladder than by being someone who is able to stand up in front of your peers and managers and speak intelligently and confidently.

An employee who can do this will get noticed and for the right reasons.

Let's focus on the fear of public speaking in a work setting and specifically how you can become a confident and effective speaker.

Here's how I went from being someone who needed to read off cue cards word for word when speaking in public to someone who can speak comfortably in front of a group with little to no notes (and enjoys doing it!):

1. I stopped trying to memorize everything.

Instead, I learned the material I was covering and became less reliant on notes. I stopped writing out speeches and presentations word for word and trying to memorize it and started using short bulleted statements, only listing the main points and simply verbally expanding on each point when I glanced at my notes.

By not having to memorize everything, I eliminated the chance I was going to forget something.

2. I stopped worrying about speaking publicly.

I used to worry a lot about public speaking. When I was a kid I used to worry about the yearly poetry contest my school had where we each had to memorize a poem and recite it in front of our class. Here is an example of where I HAD to memorize my "presentation." I stopped pretending that reciting a poem in front of my class was the end of the world and decided to have fun with it. Twice I got to compete in front of the school after winning my class competition.

The moral of the story?

Don't create a stressful situation for no reason. It's normal to feel apprehension but don't turn it into a "do or die" situation when it isn't.

3. I let my personality come out.

Whenever possible I like to inject a bit of humor when I'm speaking publicly (within reason of course) and always try to sound enthusiastic. I just try to deliver my presentation as if I'm speaking with friends in a social setting.

In other words, I just try to act normally and convince myself that presenting isn't a big deal. Because it isn't.

4. I started to enjoy public speaking!

Once I started to feel more comfortable speaking publicly, I started enjoying it. I also noticed that when I was in school, the more I enjoyed presenting the better I did. My fear of public speaking disappeared.

Once in the work world, I looked forward to opportunities to speak publicly and got more and more opportunities to do so. If you decide that you hate it, of course you'll have a fear of public speaking.

Plus, I started getting opportunities from my manager to present in front of senior managers and pretty soon I found myself on a first name basis with these same managers who previously didn't know who I was.

In my experience, the first step in conquering a fear of public speaking is to loosen up and relax.

Then start to learn your material rather than memorizing it or feeling like you need to write out word for word scripts of everything you are going to say.

Look for opportunities to offer to speak publicly about things you enjoy so that when the time comes to present something out of necessity (ie. work-related presentations) you will already have some experience under your belt.

Public speaking is difficult but looking forward to it rather than dreading it goes a long way to becoming better at it.

Visit: www.StepupandSpeak.com

Secrets Of Public Speaking

Public Speaking is a vital key in this new competitive century. Public Speaking provides an edge to keep abreast with the fast pace of the times. Public speaking undoubtedly works towards this goal. There is a great diversity of opinion regarding Public Speaking, which is often controversial, and leads to misleading views. But all does not know the true concept of public speaking. People need to voice out their views to function well in society and voice out their own opinion. We all know that Public speaking has always been the key in building and keeping a democratic society. You can say the impact of Public Speaking is vast and it affects all aspects of life.

Many of us are driven by the stress of Public Speaking. Many of us fear to face this challenge as they find is hard to face. Public Speaking is necessary in each and every sphere of life. Whether we work for ourselves or an organization, eventually we will need to speak in public to get certain tasks accomplished. The most important thing is that if you want to be a leader or want to achieve anything meaningful in your life, then we will often need to speak to groups, large and small, to be successful.

The basic truth about public speaking is no matter how good a job you do, someone is going to disapprove of either you or your argument. Human beings are always prone to debate on each and everything in this world irrespective of the fact that whether it is good or bad. In a large group of people, there will always be a diversity of opinions, judgments, and reactions. Many will be positive, but on the other end negative comments will also be there.

Public speaking can be called an important constituent of your success. It somewhat reflects your personality. Public Speaking is a kind of art. So one needs to master this art. Anything that comes to your mouth is not communication. Communication without skills does create more harm than good. While speaking on stage or facing crowd of audiences, you need to be tactful. Make sure that your speech should not be monologue. The great public speaker is one who pulls the attention of audiences throughout his speech.

A speech that impresses the audience and leaves them thinking long after the speech is over will also leave the audience remembering the speaker for a long time.

To be a public speaker you need to know your audience and try to match your contents to their needs. Do your homework before you make a speech. Put everything in a in a logical sequence. Always ensure that your speech must captivate your audience and give a full value of their time. They should not feel uncomfortable to listen to your speech. Their eagerness to hear from you more should increase. Practice and rehearse your speech before delivering. Try to be at ease and comfortable in front of your audience. Know what your strong and weak points are. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.

When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How your audience perceive you is important. Always look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Get hold of your nervousness and be relaxed. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. Establish rapport with your audience.

Public speaking must have excellent persuasion abilities in today's fast-paced world. As we need the support and cooperation of other people to help us in reaching our goals. The saying "No man is an island" is an undeniable truth. You can persuade people only if you are a good communicator. The more effective your communication skill will pull the things in your favor. As a weapon Public Speaking can persuade masses not just an individual.

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Surefire Tips To Overcome Fear of Public Speaking

For millions of people, public speaking is a fear that they cannot overcome. Some experts believe that it is because it is the fear of speaking to peers or people who the speaker perceives to know more about whatever subject they are speak about. This occurs even though to become a public speaker, one needs to be proficient in the subject.

Even the most seasoned public speaker will get butterflies in their stomach just before their appearance. No one is immune to this. It does not matter if you are speaking to a group of a thousand or a group of ten that little knot in your stomach is the fear that you will freeze at the podium or worse.

Studies have shown that the fear of public speaking is not an isolated event. One study showed that forty percent of people were so afraid to speak in public, that they could safely say that they would never consider a position where it was necessary.

There are many studies on this subject. One such study done was a study of fear. When the group in the study were asked question related to public speaking, seventy percent of them agreed that they would only speak in public in a panic situation.

In still another study, eighty percent of those asked responded that they would rather face eminent death before speaking in front of large crowds of people.

It takes a special kind of person to become a public speaker. It not only requires you to have knowledge on a specific subject, you also need to be strong and confident as well as skilled at the art of public speaking.

There are several things that you can do to perfect your public speaking skills if you choose to add this to your career. A good public speaker will create a lasting impression when they speak in front of a large crowd.

When you are a public speaker, you need to be confident enough to deliver a speech that is compelling and convincing whether the audience is large or small. A well-delivered speech does not only make the audience respond favorably, it also make the person delivering the speech feel like they are on top of the world.

Fear is a normal part of life. It is our defense mechanism that warns us upon impending danger. While in most cases of public speaking the danger does not apply, fear of looking foolish in front of great crowds is a normal reaction. Nobody is perfect, and a fear of making mistakes is what keeps millions of people from becoming public speakers.

No one who is a successful public speaker was born that way. Even the most seasoned speaker has had years of practice. There are many places where you can practice speaking; you can practice in front of a mirror, in your car on your way to work, or even in the shower. When you are ready to try your hand at speaking in front of people, use your family as the audience. Practice is the most powerful tool that can use to improve your public speaking skills.

In order to be a successful public speaker, you have to have confidence. This is something that is gained over time. When you practice, you are also building confidence. It is important that you overcome any fear of public speaking. If you give in to fear, it will take away any chance you have of becoming a public speaker. When you overcome your fear, you are effectively eliminating any limitations you may have.

Nobody in this world is perfect. The majority of people who have a fear of public speaking have that fear because they see flaws within themselves. They are afraid that they will fail; therefore they do not even try.

The power of the mind is an incredible thing. If you can convince yourself that you can succeed at public speaking, you are taking the necessary steps to improve your life. Having a positive attitude will only aid in your quest for a successful public speaking career.

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8 Powerful Public Speaking Tips

When it's your turn to stand up and speak to an audience, whether it is a room of five or an auditorium of hundreds, you can speak confidently and effectively when you use these eight powerful public speaking tips.

Don't be discouraged by the fear of public speaking or past presentation challenges. Remember that successful public speaking is a skill-set based on learning and practicing the fundamental techniques of public speaking.

Engaging Opening
The opening to your presentation must grab the attention of your audience and establish rapport. You could reveal an amazing statistic; ask a question; state a quotation from a famous person; create a visual image or tell a story. Don't start your presentation with "Today I'm going to talk about...' That's boring.

Direct Eye Contact
Don't speak at the audience - instead speak directly to each individual in the audience by making eye contact with each one in the audience. Deliver a few words as you look at one person - then move your glance to another. Too long a glance is intrusive - too short can appear shifty-eyed. Talk with everyone in your audience - one person at a time.

Smile More Often
Smile when you start your presentation. Smile when you have stated an important fact. Smile when you want them to laugh. Smile just after you said your name. Smile when asking for the order. Smile when you close. There are many occasions to smile. Use them. Smiling is contagious.

Laugh
Help your audience laugh. Use exaggeration or surprise. Tell a funny story about something silly you once did. Humor is tragedy or embarrassment removed by time. Don't tell jokes that put anyone else down. Instead make fun of yourself. Humor must be inclusive not exclusive. Everyone wants to laugh.

Look More Confident
Be prepared - but don't be so slick that your audience disbelieves you. People accept your errors. It makes you look human and imperfect like they are. Don't fret about small mistakes - just carry on. And don't apologize about every mistake - it over-emphasizes the mistakes.

Use Words they Understand
Speak in the language of your listeners. Engineers need how to's and facts - tolerances, specifications & blueprints. Accountants want numbers - balance sheets, debits & ROI. Sales people are interested in - commissions, customer benefits & price. Find out what the organization calls their people - members, staff, associates, investors or true believers.

Use Your Voice
Play with your voice to keep interest and emphasize key points. Lower your voice to make an important point. Speed up when you are describing a process. Ask rhetorical questions which allow you to inflect your voice. Put feeling in words that naturally lend themselves to emotion, e.g. family, Christmas, grandma, home, first prize, baby, vacation...

Powerful Close
Make your close memorable and effective. Conclude with a call to action; end with a quotation; sum up your key points; repeat your opening line; end with a story. Avoid ending with 'thank you'. That is a very weak close and not memorable. Finish strong and then say 'thank you' after they applaud.

If you want to be a more powerful public speaker study and use these eight public speaking tips. You will feel more confident as a speaker and your audience will be amazed by your presentation.

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The Art of Public Speaking - An Introduction

Public speaking can be referred to as an act of speaking to a group of people or a crowd. This act of speaking is done in order to convince and entertain the people in a formal and polite manner. In North America, the art and science of speaking to a group of people is referred to as forensics which literally gives the meaning 'public argument or debate'.

The real intention of public speaking may be to entertain a crowd or to motivate them for a certain cause or transmitting information. It can also be like telling a simple story.

History of public speaking

The early known framed rules for public speaking dates back to 500 B.C. The principles of public speaking were practiced in Greece. However, there have been certain modifications in the rules and principles of this type of presentation due to the fact that societies and cultures have been changed from the olden days as the technology and other things developed.

Nowadays there are several advanced medium through which we can speak fluently to a group of people. Internet plays a vital part in this sophisticated way of public speaking. Another feature is the video conferencing through which you can see and address the entire crowd even from one end to the other end of the world.

Training for public speaking

There are many clubs that are spread worldwide, which effectively teaches and trains with the art of public speaking. Some of the clubs are Toastmasters, Rostrum, the ASC or Association of Speakers Club and International Training in Communication or ITC. These organizations provide a strategic training for speaking to groups of people.

More often, the training program involves the following structure. The sequence starts with the training to oratory skills followed by the use of gestures, control of voice, vocabulary, speaking notes and the use of humor in between the speech. The training also teaches how to develop a relation with the audience.

Using the platforms that are mentioned above can yield great results. It is possible to develop the speaking skill in a very effective manner. Great leaders such as Hitler, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King are some of the finest examples of good orators or public speakers who had a great impact on the society and had some influence over the people.

International Organizations

As mentioned above there are numerous organizations that offer development program for public speaking. The Toastmasters international is an organization that has many branches or clubs worldwide assisting their members to develop their speaking skills and leadership skills.

Apart from the international organizations, there are also other national organizations that provide guidance program for their country people. For instance, The National Forensics Association is a national non-profitable organization that provides many training sessions that help in improving the speaking and leadership qualities of a person.

The American Forensics Organization is another educational organization that features many new guidance programs that help their country people in improving their public speaking skills. Various countries also have these sorts of national organizations for providing their country people with good speaking skills.

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Effective Public Speaking Tips - How To Relax Enough To Communicate In A Powerful Way

To deliver a great speech, you need to find your zone. If you're too anxious, you might be jittery, suffer from dry mouth, or forget something important you wanted to say. But if you're too mellow, your presentation could be uninspiring and flat. You don't want to be on edge and you certainly don't want to lull your audience to sleep. Here are some effective public speaking tips to help.

To deliver a great speech every time, you need to get yourself to relax, so you can function at your best. Relaxation is important so you remain in control and organized. If you're nervous or worried and you can't control the nervous energy, you cannot perform at your best.

A little nervousness is a good thing. You want to get the adrenaline flowing and then use this energy to infuse your speech with vitality and enthusiasm. But when it's time to deliver, you've got to be able to perform and knowing how to relax on demand is crucial. If you're not the least bit on edge about your presentation, find something in your message to get passionate about. Passion turns audiences on... 'boring' turns them off.

You can use all the effective public speaking tips, techniques, methods, and strategies taught by the pros and still perform far below your potential, if you can't get yourself to calm down. Everyone tells you to relax. But can you relax when you're about to take the stage?

The real secret to making an outstanding presentation to any size of crowd is to be able to trigger an internal state of relaxation before and throughout your speech.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up and be human. Audiences respect that and they don't expect perfection. What they do want is to hear your story... learn from your experience... and discover new insights on the topic you're about to discuss.

Don't make it a 'do or die' situation. It's just a presentation. It's an opportunity to leave people with something that can make them better off than they were before. It's not going to cost you your job if your performance doesn't qualify you as International Toastmaster of the Year. Don't put such unnecessary pressure on yourself. Prepare and practice. Do the best you can and be yourself.

You want to make an impact. But don't put pressure on yourself by looking at as your one big chance to end world hunger or create peace on earth.

Prepare your speech in advance. Review it. Rehearse it. And then forget about it. There you have it -- 4 effective public speaking tips the pros use -- in just one line. Professional speakers prepare their speech, and then tuck it away until the time comes to deliver.

One effective technique is to visualize your performance and mentally rehearse your presentation the night before. Just see it through in your mind's eye and make it a great performance.

On the big day, stay light and relaxed. Go for a workout or a swim before your speech. Exercise is great for the body and soul. Practice breathing exercises.

You can do these at any time, but I find they're most beneficial just before you speak. Deep breathing gets the oxygen flowing to the brain and every cell of your body. It's invigorating and relaxing at the same time. And it helps you gain clarity so you can perform at your best. There you have it; effective public speaking tips you can use immediately.

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Public Speaking Tips - Overcome Your Fear

 Many people worldwide suffer from a terrible fear of speaking in public. I am going to show you a few public speaking tips here in this very article, that will help you become a better speaker right off the bat.

Don't be overwhelmed by your fear of speaking in public when all it takes is a little bit of training and self realization of a few things. You would be surprised at how much better you can become at speaking in front of large groups of people after learning just a few simple public speaking tips.

 A very helpful public speaking tip that you should think about before you give a speech is, "Everybody feels the same way about themselves as you do. And they feel the same way about you, as you do about them!"

What I mean by this is, everybody is nervous about their own speaking skills and they are more than likely just as self-conscious as you.

Also, you might look at another speaker and think, "I bet that person is not scared at all... He is probably a great speaker." Meanwhile, they are thinking the exact same thing about you and are scared out of their minds.

Another one of my favorite public speaking tips is, "Make your argument rational and reasonable."

Make sure you use due diligence and research your topic thoroughly. Your speech must be backed up by clear, reliable data that is easily understood and not offensive. Put your ideas in an organized fashion so that your audience will not have a difficult time understanding you or your message. You must take into account the occasion at hand, speak appropriately according to it and use language that everyone will feel comfortable with.

These public speaking tips should help you see what "getting off on the right foot" in public speaking is all about. Good Luck!

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Public Speaking Tips - Master Your Public Speaking Skills by Knowing Your Audience

One of the most critical public speaking tips is to understand your audience. Do your homework by asking the organizers of the events for a breakdown of the audience in terms of gender, age, interest and knowledge levels.

Even if you have spoken at similar events before, do not take a chance on being able to presume who your audience may be.

A recent Flash Developer conference held in Minneapolis made huge waves in the computer community in the USA, spilling over into the rest of the world. This particular conference is called Flashbelt. The name of the event provides a clue as to the type of person who might be attending, as it is held in the bible belt of the USA.

Taking this into account, a speaker from England got it wrong when he didn't follow one of the most important public speaking tips. He spent his hour discussing rather sexist and lewd content under the topic of graphic design, which did not go down well at all with the audience, sponsors of the event, other speakers and the broader public.

Under normal circumstances, this particular speaker is extremely popular at other Flash conferences and has been able to get away with his sexually explicit images and other bizarre stage activities. The audience has perceived this to be entertaining rather than below the belt.

Except for the audience in Minneapolis. Here there were people from the same field, same computer community, same interest group and discipline. However, the event is being held in a religious area and the normal audience members coming from the immediate area took objection. To the embarrassment of the event organizers, the objections were very intense.

This is a prime example of how important it is to ensure that you're aware of this public speaking tip - knowing who your audience is. You may imagine that you are speaking to the same kind of people that you have spoken to before.

In this instance, one would imagine the event organizers should have sent out a warning that speakers should show some sensitivity towards their audience. As penalty for this blunder, this particular speaker is not on the lineup of the next big Flash conference in the UK.

Do not presume you know your audience. Make sure you find out as much as possible about your audience, their likes and dislikes, their beliefs and their cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It is well worth doing this kind of research.

Once you have established the profile of your audience in your mind, you will find it easier to prepare your content to be appropriate to these listeners. It is up to you as speaker to ensure that you do not offend or alienate your audience.

This does not mean that you should not challenge your audience to new thinking, if the situation requires it. What it does mean is that you present your material in a way that still makes people think without offending them. This is one of the public speaking tips that must be followed at all times.

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