Public Speaking
I used to be terrified of
Public
Speaking - now it's natural and
fun.
Dry mouth, fast heart, sweaty palms, blank mind -
yeah I've been there! It's easy to fear public speaking. But I was
never just content with overcoming fear. I wanted to be a great at
public speaking. What I needed was a way of calming down and
applying simple public speaking techniques and strategies to talk
like a pro.
When I'd learned to relax (more of that later) I
learned and applied the following four public speaking steps. -
Reassure your audience - they need to know you know
your stuff and you are human! -
Hook them by being interesting and relevant. Tell
them why what you are saying is relevant to them. -
Inspire them by giving them information and ways of
seeing that are new and applicable. -
Leave them on a high by telling a story them
encapsulates your central message.
How do you become confident enough to apply the
four public speaking steps?
Here's some tips some of which are practical some of
which are to do with the way you think about your public speaking
presentations and also how you can start to change the way you feel
about
public speaking.
Tip One
Breath your way to calm. When you breath out you
relax that's why people sigh when they're stressed.
Breathing in without breathing out causes
hyperventilation and worsens anxiety. Just before your public
speaking speech take five minutes breathing in to the count of seven
and out to the count of eleven (quick count-not seconds!). On the
out breath hold it a second before breathing in again. This will
produce quick and lasting calm. Remember extending the out breath
calms you down.
Tip Two
You have a responsibility as the public speaking
presenter but relax you don't carry all the responsibility.
Presenting is a team effort. Audiences are responsible for
politeness, extending their attention and attempting to learn. It's
not all you-it's a meeting of two halves. Never mind how they judge
you. How do you judge them?
Tip Three
Use metaphor and stories. We all experience life
metaphorically. The most technical logical person spends at least
two hours a night dreaming! Talk detail if necessary but present
patterns with metaphors. Folk from 4 to 104 love stories. Use them.
Secrets of Self-Hypnosis Harnessing Power of Unconscious Mind.
Tip four
Captivate attention by using words that evoke all the
senses. Describe how things look, sound, feel, smell and taste.
Paint pictures and sensations in their minds with your public
speaking.
Tip Five
Vary your public speaking voice tonality and speed of
delivery. Keep them alert and engaged. Convey energy when need be
and slow down when you need to 'draw them in close.' You are the
conductor to their orchestra. And pepper your talk with humour. Your
willingness to be funny shows personal confidence and confidence is
contagious.
Tip Six
Tell them what they are going to get. What they are
currently getting and then what they have got from you. Sell your
public speaking!
Tip Seven
Watch and learn from other great speakers until
compelling, relaxed public speaking is a part of you.
Rehearse positively. You need to rehearse how your
going to feel as well as what you are going to present. Don't think
about your forthcoming public speaking presentation whilst feeling
nervous as this creates an instinctive association between fear and
public speaking. This natural negative self-hypnosis is very common
with nervous speakers.
Hypnotically rehearse your speech whilst feeling
relaxed. This produces the right 'public speaking blueprint' in your
mind. In fact when you do this enough times it actually becomes hard
to be nervous!
All great speakers know how to use great
self-hypnotic rehearsal. Hypnosis changes attitudes and can bring
emotion under control. I used hypnosis, to change my instincts
around public speaking. Now I just can't get nervous whether it's 50
or 500 people. The world needs great public speaking communicators.
Go for it!
Cure your fear of public speaking
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