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Public Speaking Skills Training: Focus on These Public Speaking Seminar Fundamentals
He fumbled with his overhead slides, stammered through some rehearsed sentences, and did his best to hide the sweat rings forming under his arms. I didn't hear a word he said because I was up next. My knees were knocking together. I fidgeted endlessly and glanced down at my own pathetic slides. I quickly decided that there were thousands of other places I'd have rather been, including a dentist chair or a funeral.
Fast-forward twenty-one years.
Today I might be answering a question, giving preferences to a sound specialist, or telling a joke the instant before being introduced for public speaking. In fact, many has been the time when I don't hear the introduction at all for the other things I am doing in those we moments just before, in which I hear the applause and scurry to the podium. I can honestly say that the nervousness and jitters I used to feel have not only disappeared completely, but even faded from my memory until someone recently asked me about this topic. And it's not that I have replaced nerves with channeled-adrenaline or any other "technique." I'm convinced that if you placed a monitor on my vitals it would be impossible to tell when I was back stage and when I made my way on stage: there is no change in my bio-rhythms.
Now, before you conclude that I'm one of those arrogant fellows who teach you how to get good at something by examining my own example, let me explain! I am not the best speaker in the world. Nor have I learned everything about moving an audience and communicating effectively. However, I HAVE come a long way from my first days of public speaking, when I was absolutely a pathetic embarrassment. It's the distance traveled, not the height attained, that qualifies me to give at least a little advice. I hope you deem me worthy the attempt, and further hope that you take the following suggestions to heart. I am sure that anyone can become an effective public speaker if given the correct fundamentals and steered clear of most of the "conventional" wisdom about how to do it. You see, the secret to getting rid of the nerves natural to most people when they appear in front of others is the same as what it takes to become a great public speaker. It occurs at the fundamental level and not at the level of "techniques."
What is that secret?
Being natural.
Wow! You might be saying. That's stupid! I read this far in this article to learn something so obvious but yet unattainable? Stay with me. There are proven ways to develop yourself so that this feeling of naturalness becomes automatic and not "stilted" or "practiced." It's just that most of it isn't technique but rather a correct understanding of some fundamental truths.
1. The first thing to understand is that the audience WANTS you to be good. Most of us have sat in a crowd feeling absolutely miserable for the poor slob on stage who can't get his mind off himself and onto his subject. We silently pray for him to get through and get it over with. Conversely, we are thrilled when someone communicates naturally and effectively, using the power of his or her authenticity to connect.
2. The second thing to understand is that communication becomes more effective the more real you are in doing it. This means that the audience wants most to know who you are and what you are like. They instinctively are looking to see if they can know, like and trust you. Are you being yourself or putting on an act? Are you doing your public speaking from the heart or saying what you think they want to hear? Do you have a soul too, like them, or are you a wooden teleprompter reader? The more of you and the less of anything artificial that you deliver, the better the connection.
3. The audience wants to know about your character, too. Whether they know it or not, the moment you take center stage, they are evaluating you in a sort of economical way. If you are there to truly impart something of value to them, they will immediately sense it. If you are there to serve yourself, that will be apparent, too. Make sure your heart is in adding value TO THEM, and not impressing them with how great or knowledgeable you are.
4. Are you convicted? That's the next question. Most people and audiences have a very effectiveness BS detector. They can immediately sense if you are fully committed or not to what you are saying. For this reason, make sure you can naturally speak with passion about your subject or don't do it at all.
5. Are you knowledgeable? Only now, at this point, is the audience unconsciously asking about your competence. This is where it is imperative that you know your subject inside out, that you have not only prepared your material for this particular talk, but that you are "walking the talk" on a regular basis in your life and/or career. After all, if you don't know more about the subject than them, why should they listen? The real reason you are public speaking is to give them something they don't already have, be it information, perspective, motivation, insight, background, entertainment, or whatever. Have something real to impart.
6. Build the drama and tell stories. Great preachers call it giving illustrations. For every main point you want to impart, make sure and tell a story or anecdote to drive it home. I realize this is the first of these tips that smacks of techniques, but this is extremely important. Boring speakers are usually boring because they don't understand how to illustrate and dramatize their main points.
7. Flirt with the audience. I mean it. Find a way to smile at them, toy with them, hold them on the edge of a conclusion, trick them a little there and there, and take them in directions they didn't entirely suspect. This will thrill them. They will feel a true connection to you and will relax, knowing that they are in the hands of a confident professional.
8. Speak in front of others all the time and without prodding. Look for every chance to report out to a group and take on responsibility where you will get the chance to practice. The more you do it the better you become and the more natural it all feels. Excellence is rarely attained without vigorous practice.
These eight points are given in order of priority. Make sure you understand the first one before worrying too much about the second, and likewise through the list. Don't worry, these are not as daunting as they may at first seem. Mastering these fundamental concepts will do more toward advancing your effectiveness at public speaking than any of the two-bit techniques that dominate most of the literature on this subject.
In the final analysis, it is important for you to understand how important it is to get good at public speaking. There are very few professions or career choices that are not massively enhanced by effective public speaking. The better you get at being up in front of a group, the more you build respect and enhance your own credibility. People naturally follow a good communicator. And so do opportunities.
Remember: If I could do it, so can you! Oh, if only someone would have captured one of my earliest speeches on video! That would convince anyone that massive improvement is possible. May you prosper in your public speaking abilities, and grow yourself into the life for which you've always dreamed!
Chris Brady: link
Subject: Public Speaking Skills Training