Public speaking course
Public speaking fear can be a huge obstacle if you want to develop your career. Here are a few public speaking advices and a recommendation if you are searching for a public speaking book. Use Your Voice and Hands Effectively. Omit Nervous Gestures. Nonverbal communication carries most of the message. Good delivery does not call attention to itself, but instead conveys the speaker’s ideas clearly and without distraction. Grab Attention at the Beginning, and Close with a Dynamic End. Do you enjoy hearing a speech start with “Today I’m going to talk to you about X”? Most people don’t. Instead, use a startling statistic, an interesting anecdote, or concise quotation. Conclude your speech with a summary and a strong statement that your audience is sure to remember.
Channel your inner Patrick Stewart: The tone of your voice and how you talk will have a significant impact on the way your talk is received. To speak clearly and confidently you must become like a classically trained actor (e.g. Shakespearean actor and esteemed Star Trek captain Patrick Stewart). Use the 5 ‘P’s to improve the clarity of your speech: Projection – Make sure the back of the room can hear, but don’t deafen those at the front. Pace – Keep a steady pace. Your nerves may encourage you to speak faster to get the ordeal over, but that will make it difficult to understand and dampen your message. Try varying the pace to keep things interesting. Pitch – Vary your pitch, monotonous voices are boring and difficult to listen to but don’t be over the top. Also, try not to use an upward inflexion at the end of all sentences, it makes you sound like you’re unsure about the things you are saying. See more info How to manage better.
Make eye contact. This one is very important, and it doesn’t matter how big the audience is. Make eye contact with as many people as possible. It makes the audience members feel like you are speaking directly to them. And don’t just stick to people in the first couple rows. Look at the people in the back too. Know your material. If your goal is to become a thought leader or actually teach the audience something, only a truly authentic understanding of the material will get you there.
What people say ? I bought this book to help prepare for some upcoming speaking engagements. Public speaking has never been my thing , no matter how many times I have done it. I agreed with points the author makes: Prepare, prepare, prepare (and how to), show up early, smile. However he brings up other pointers that I was not aware of and will definitely incorporate in my routine (don’t want to give away too much). It’s an easy read and he shares his emotions and embarassing situations. What was really interesting to learn is, even with all his experience, he still uses these strategies for every speech! Thanks for writing such a practical book. The Amazon book can be acquired here: Public speaking coach ebook.
All you have to do is admit that you are a bit nervous speaking to your audience. When you do this, the audience will be more forgiving if your nervousness shows up later on. More importantly you will feel more relaxed now that they are not expecting a world-class presentation. Imagine their surprise when you gave them the best presentation ever despite your nervousness. The best way to do this is by joking about it. Here’s an example of a good one. “On the way here, only God and I knew what I will be presenting. (looking a bit nervous) Now, only God knows.”
When does the course start and finish? The course is designed to lead to you to give presentations you are proud of in only 3 months. However, this is about you and your pace. You can go faster or slower. You can re-watch as many times as you want. Ultimately, the course starts now and never ends! Source: https://thepublicspeaking.school/.
