Archive for February, 2012
The Fear of Public Speaking! – The What Ifs?
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The Fear of Public Speaking holds many people back, personally and professionally.
My last Post discussed the Whys? of the Fear of Public Speaking.
The other big reason we have that Fear is because of the What Ifs?
What If?
- What If The audience doesn’t like me?
- What If I was talking too quickly?
- What If I was talking too slowly?
- What If I forgot something?
- What If their last speaker was outstanding and compared to them, I suck!
The Biggest What If is:
What If I’ve got nothing to say that anyone would ever have an interest in hearing?
Lots of people have that What If?
They shouldn’t! Each and every one of us have life experiences and knowledge others would benefit from having presented to them. Often, we can’t see that in ourselves.
That point was driven home to me when a friend emailed a question. I can’t remember the question, but I knew the answer. I was at my computer and typed it in the Reply Section and hit the Send Button. A few minutes passed and I received a one word response to my answer – WOW!
I stared at it for a few moments, thinking, “What’s WOW?” I then Read More→
The Fear of Public Speaking! – WHY?
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Why Not?
Think about it for a moment.
Most of our conversations are one-on-one. Many of those are on the phone where we don’t even have a face to look at while we’re talking. Much of our communication these days is via email and texting.
It’s natural then to feel Uncomfortable when standing in front of a group with ten, twenty, or fifty sets of eyeballs staring at you. You feel naked, all alone, and with nowhere to hide! In that situation, we’re out of our comfort zone. YIKES! Who wants to be Uncomfortable – not me!
We naturally avoid getting out of our comfort zone. That’s too bad, because we know when we get out of our comfort zone – we make it larger! For many, learning begins at the edge of our comfort zone.
The Uncomfortableness of standing in front of an audience will lessen over time with each presentation. It was uncomfortable falling off your bike the first time you rode it, wasn’t it? You picked yourself up, got back on, and tried, again, correct? The same will occur with speaking to an audience. The more times it’s done, the easier it will become.
Less time between those speaking engagements will help, also. Too much time between speaking events will almost feel like starting over. That’s why, if better speaking is your goal, take and make as many speaking opportunities as you can.
There are legitimate reasons to have a
Fear of Public Speaking.
- If you don’t know what you’re talking about.
- You must know Read More→
Speakers: A Great Tool for Presenting is. . .
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Keynote’s Presenter Display View!
If slides are included in your presentations, (there are good reasons to use them!) definitely familiarize yourself with Keynote’s Presenter Display View. (Presenter Tools in PowerPoint.) The features it offers can help make you a better presenter.
You’re probably familiar with the “Mirror Displays” function that allows the presenter to see what the projector is showing the audience. This is good because the speaker doesn’t have to turn their back to the audience to check the image on the screen. The slide the speaker sees on their computer is the same the audience sees.
Presenter’s Mode is a Big Step Up from Mirror Display.
It allows the speaker to see:
- The Slide the Audience is Seeing.
- Build markers for slides that have build-ins, build-outs, and actions.
Speakers: Instructions For Your Audience Are. . .
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Wouldn’t It Be Nice If. . .
Before your presentation, your Audience had specific instructions and training on how to be a Good Audience?
An audience can make or break a presentation.
A good, enthusiastic group gives the speaker responses and energy that lead to a better presentation.
Audiences with individuals who have their own agendas and don’t respect the speaker’s efforts, can disrupt an otherwise, good presentation. This can lead to, frustration for the presenter, a less than stellar performance, and the audience not GETTING the speaker’s message.
If the speaker has developed and practiced a speech, the audience should follow certain “Guidelines” that give the presenter an opportunity to deliver their message so the audience GETS IT! They don’t have to agree with all of it. They don’t have to agree with any of it. However, unless they GET IT! there can’t be a significant discussion going forward.
To help the speaker, and the audience, I’ve compiled a set of:
Audience Instructions
- Arrive well before the scheduled event.
- Arriving after an event has started and finding a seat is disruptive to everyone.
- If you can meet the presenter before their presentation, be Read More→
