St. Louis (KSDK) - It could be a wedding toast or a class assignment in high school or college. Most of us get anxious when we’re asked to talk to an audience.

It’s the number one phobia, called glossophobia. When it comes to talking the talk, many people would rather get a root canal or an IRS audit than make a speech.

Click the video player above to watch the report.

Fred Miller’s book is No Sweat Public Speaking!, and among his tips: people remember the first and last thing you tell them, so Have a strong opening and a strong close to your speech, have confident body language, remember that the audience is on your side and they want you to succeed.

KSDK

Transcript of Interview

Kay Quinn: …or it could be a wedding toast, or a class assignment in high school or college.  Most of us get anxious when we’re asked to talk to an audience, and Art Holliday here has a story about the fear of speaking in public.  75 percent of us are afraid to talk in public.  You and I aren’t — aren’t among those people.

Art Holliday:  The number two phobia is fear of death; but the number one phobia is fear of speaking in public, okay.

Kay Quinn:  Wow.  Can you imagine?

Art Holliday:  It’s called glossophobia. And when it comes to talking the talk, many people would rather get a root canal or an IRS audit than make a speech.

It’s time to talk about talking.

Fred Miller:  Yikes.  Me, speak in front of a group?  Oh, my gosh.

Art Holliday:  Welcome to Cave Springs Toastmasters where an author and a teenage film maker face their fear.

Male1: Very afraid.  I have a big fear in public speaking.

Female1:  You know, I did have a little bit of a fear in public speaking.  But, like, Fred said today, practice, practice, practice.

Art Holliday:  Fred Miller is an author who coaches people how to speak in public.

Fred Miller:  If your reaction to a speaking opportunity is more Yikes than Yes, you’re not alone.  Lots of people have a fear of public speaking.

Art Holliday:  Miller says he is used to calming nervous narrators.

Fred Miller:  I’ve coached lawyers, and doctors, and CEOs; coached a bride — father of the bride to be.  I think he started having panic attacks the day his daughter got engaged, thinking about giving that toast to the bride.

Art Holliday:  Even presidential candidates can experience tongue turmoil.

Governor Perry:  I would do away with the education, the commerce, and let’s see.  I can’t.  The third one, I can’t.  I’m sorry.  Oops.

Art Holliday:  Fred Miller’s goal is oops for your confidence when you work the crowd.

Fred Miller:  Kind of feel like your naked all alone, vulnerable?  That’s just it.  You’ve got to get used to it.

Female2:  The first speech, oh my gosh, my legs were shaking; and now I ‘m on speech seven and-

Male4:  I’m not very good at public speaking and, plus, I’m very shy.  I just realized well, this is the best opportunity to come here and learn.

Male5:  Thank you Mayor, and fellow Reglinians.

Art Holliday:  Fred Miller says you can go from knee-knocking nervousness to a knock-your-socks-off presentation.  All you have to do is–

Fred Miller:  Speak, speak, speak.  If you want to be a swimmer, swim.  If you want to be a baker, bake.  The learning is in the doing.   So, if you want to be a speaker, just get up and speak.

Art Holliday:  Just make sure you hold onto your script.

Now, Fred Miller’s book is “No Sweat Public Speaking!”

Among his tips:

• People remember the first and last thing you tell them, so have a strong opening and a strong close to your speech.
• Have confident body language.  Remember that the audience is on your side and they want you to succeed.
• And Miller is a big fan of Toastmasters International, which helps improve public speaking and leadership skills.  There are 77 Toastmaster organizations in Missouri and Illinois within 25 miles of downtown St. Louis.  So, a lot of people are aware of their fears and they’re trying to do something about it.

Kay Quinn:  Yeah, you’ve go to remember we’re all just human, right.  So, you’re going to make mistakes from time to time, or slip up, and I love the Don Knotts’ thing.  Oh, that is so funny.  That’s classic.  It’s priceless.  Thank you so much, Art.

Art Holliday:  Thank you.

[00:03:20]

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.

They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com
Connect/Follow me:
FaceBook
LinkedIn
Twitter
314-517-8772

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2. Speakers: Brand Yourself with – “No Sweat!” I've worked very hard on my "No Sweat!" Brand: ”No...
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always seems to be lurking around the corner, waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting victim.  That casualty could be you!

Always be prepared for anything and everything you can control.

If the computer crashes, projector dies, or sound system goes silent, you must still present your material!  There are people in the audience who came to learn something.  It’s your presentation and your responsibility they don’t leave disappointed.

Be sure your “trunk” is well equipped for all contingencies.
If I’m using slides, I backup my presentation on a USB flash drive.  Because I use a mac, my slideshows are made with iWork Keynote software.  I export copies to PowerPoint and convert, also, to PDFs.  The PDF conversion is done because they work when versions of PowerPoint and Keynote are not the versions on a backup computer.

I also print a copy of my slideshow in Light Table view, which allows me to see a large number of my slides on one piece of paper.  More about this in a moment!

If you use slides, I recommend you do the same.  If those slides contain bullet points with text, print out a copy with the text large enough you’ll be able to read it.  In stressful moments, that text can get very fuzzy!

Having a spare tire is not enough!  You must know if the tire is inflated, have a working car jack, and a lug wrench.  Even if you have “all that in your trunk” it doesn’t mean you know how to use it and change a tire.

Here’s my real life example:
I was presenting to a local Chamber at their monthly luncheon meeting and was on slide number eight of a thirty-six slide presentation.  Suddenly the screen went BLANK!  My computer was working fine, as, it seemed, was the projector.  Because the schedule was tight, there was no time to reboot and see if that would fix the problem.

As a “Plan B” I always print out my slides in Light Table View.  This allows me to place thirty-plus, very small images of my slides, on one sheet of paper.  Thankfully, I use mostly images in slides rather than text.  (This is something you’ll definitely want to investigate in my book and website!)  I’m able to look at the image, and know my material well enough, that I can continue the presentation.

However, having the “Spare Tire” and needing to switch to it instantly is not always easy.  Luckily, I was able to grab my paper, present the remainder of my presentation, and finish to a thankful round of applause.  (It was almost Big Sweat instead of No Sweat!)

My Lesson Learned is obvious.  Before going into the desert, practice, just in case of a blowout, changing that tire!

I now practice, not only my presentation, but the “Backup Plan.”  Knowing what can happen, and confident I can handle things if Murphy pounces, is a great stress reliever.  Follow my lead, and Practice “Plan B,” also!

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.

They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com
Connect/Follow me:
FaceBook
LinkedIn
Twitter
314-517-8772

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2. Fox News interviews Speaker/Author, Fred E. Miller Audio John Pertzborn, co-anchor of Fox News AM Show in...
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AP You Gotta Do It Yourself!. . .and 

There’s NO App to download that will make you a Great Speaker and lessen the Fear of Public Speaking.

Because of the Fear of Public Speaking, many in leadership positions pass on taking and making Speaking Opportunities and delegate the task to others.  That’s Nuts!

You should not hand a Speaking Opportunity off to someone else. Steve Jobs never did, and it’s one of the reasons Apple grew to be one of the most successful and innovative companies ever.

What would you think of a President, Prime Minister, or any leader of a country handing
off their annual “State of the Union Address’ to others?  It would not be seen as a positive move, would it?

Leadership is executed through superb communications!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know My Mantra:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities!
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities!
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities!

Those who present well are perceived as Experts. Perception is reality, and we like to work with Experts.  (Experts can command higher prices for their products and services, also.)

People who take and make Speaking Opportunities grow the perception they are Experts. They grow their Businesses, advance their Careers, and increase their Leadership Roles.

We expect leaders to be good presenters.  Some are; many are not. If the leader is not comfortable delivering presentations, make it a goal to learn how!

Public Speaking/Giving a Presentation is a skill that is learned.  Just as no one is born knowing how to ride a bike, work with a computer, or drive a car, no one is born a public speaker.

There are many things a person can do to learn these skills:

• Take Public Speaking Courses.
• Join Toastmasters
• Read blogs and books on Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
• Observe professional speakers.
• Listen to great speeches.
• Watch videos on Presentation Skills.
• Hire a personal coach.
• PRACTICE delivering presentations.
• SPEAK!

Two activities stand above the others:

• Practice! – Practice! – Practice!

• Would any serious athlete just “Show Up”
  for the big game, match or meet? – NO!
• Spring Training, Summer Camp, Winter Camp,
  Workout – Workout – Workout!
• Would any serious musician, singer or actress just “Show Up”
  for the big concert, show, or play? – NO!
• Rehearsal – Practice – Rehearsal!
• Why would someone think they can just “Show Up” for a presentation and “wing it?” – NO!
• Practice! – Practice! – Practice!
• Steve Jobs was the consumate presenter.
  If he had a 90 minute Keynote Presentation scheduled to introduce a new Apple product
  or service he would practice for weeks!
• That’s the amount of time someone who was the best-of the-best would spend on preparing for a speech. How much prep time should you and I spend developing and practicing a presentation?

• Do it!  Present!
• “The Learning is in the Doing!”
• You can do all the intellectualizing you want about being a Public Speaker, but the real Learning is in the Doing!
• There’s no other way!
  Jump into the deep end of the pool (get in front of an audience) and start swimming (presenting).
• What’s the worse that could happen?
• You bomb!
• BIG DEAL!  Who Cares?
• It’s a drop in the ocean of your life.  It’s nothing!
• You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
• Jump in and Do It!  
• I GUARANTEE:
  “The worst speech you’ll ever give -
  will be far better than the one you never give!”
• Let me know how it works out!

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2. Fox News interviews Speaker/Author, Fred E. Miller Audio John Pertzborn, co-anchor of Fox News AM Show in...
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Laws To be successful in anything, there are Very Specific Laws that apply.  These are not suggestions!  The Public Speaking / Presentation World is no exception.

The following Five Laws of Presentation  are essential if a high quality presentation is the goal.

Read them – Study them – Apply them!

1. Know your “Stuff!”
1. Really know your material.
2. Continually study and keep abreast of the latest information.
1. Read books and blogs on the subject.
2. Set up google alerts for specifics that will help you stay up to date.
3. Strive to be the expert on the subject.
2. Know how to Present.
1. Be proficient with all the Components, Parts and Elements of a great presentation.
2. Have great content and use all the verbal and nonverbal communication skills available to deliver your presentation.
1. Remember: Delivery trumps Content – NonVerbal Communication trumps Verbal Communication and Everything must be in sync!
3. If you use slides, use high quality, universally understood images. Use very little text and make frequent use of the “B – Blank Screen” button.
3. Be Audience Centered.
1. It’s all about the Audience.  The presentation is not about the speaker!
1. If you take your focus off the audience and place it on you, things can go bad, really bad.
2. This is one of the Key Laws for presenters.  Doing it results in better presentations and lessens the Fear of Public Speaking.
4. Practice – Practice – Practice
1. Practice makes perfect – No!
2. Perfect practice makes perfect – No such thing!
3. “The Road to Perfection never ends!” – This should be your mantra!
1. A good rule of thumb for practicing is one hour for each minute of presentation.  That’s the minimum amount of time that should be invested!
2. Steve Jobs, who was the consummate presenter, would practice weeks on a 90 minute keynote presentation.
5. Speak! – Speak! – Speak!
1. The “Learning is in the Doing!”
1. Watching others, studying, meditating, listening and practicing are all good, but, the only way to really become a great speaker is to SPEAK!
2. Speak as often as you can and wherever you can.  Every presentation is an opportunity to learn something and improve.
2. Don’t wait for speaking opportunities to come to you; seek them out!

If your goal is to be a great presenter:
•  Follow these laws.
•  Don’t deviate from them.

Do that, and my prediction is this:
“Your next presentation will be absolutely, positively – No Sweat!”

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com

Related posts:

1. Fox News interviews Speaker/Author, Fred E. Miller Audio John Pertzborn, co-anchor of Fox News AM Show in...
2. The Magic Pill that Makes You a Great Presenter! There's no easy way to get rid of the Fear...
3. Attention, Audience! Be SPEAKER CENTERED – Please! In most cases, the audience came to learn something, not...

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In most cases, the audience came to learn something, not to see or hear the speaker.

We speakers are the messengers.  It’s incumbent upon us to deliver information in a manner that educates, entertains and simply explains it.

However, it’s a Two-Way Street.  We speakers need things from the audience to do our job to the best of our ability.  We need the Audience to be Speaker Centered.  They should be focusing on the Speaker!

Here are some of those things that will help us Deliver Better to You:

• Give us your undivided attention – Please!
• It’s discourteous to the speaker and others in the audience not to.
• Turn OFF! your cell phones and beepers.
• Don’t talk to your neighbor.
• Don’t read anything.
• Unless it’s an address delivered during a meal, Don’t eat anything.
• Do look at us, our slides and props.
• This is how we measure if we’re getting our message across – or not.
• We may be doing all the talking, but the best of us constantly “take your temperature.”
• We look for eye contact because if you’re looking at us, you’re probably paying attention.
• We look at your facial expressions and body language.
• Those voluntary and involuntary movements let us know if your’e GETTING IT!  If not, shame on us.  But it’s only by knowing we’re missing the mark that we can restate, repeat or make more clear our message.
• If we’re making our points, we’ll know it via those signs.  That knowledge energizes us! We thrive on knowing we’re communicating well and that improves our delivery.
• Positive feedback from you also lessens our Fear of Public Speaking.  (Yes, many of us do have that fear.)
• Be an active listener and learn something!
• Even if you’re not in the audience by choice, as long as you’re there you can learn something.  Open up your mind to that and you’ll benefit.
• Acknowledge our efforts.
• Sure, not all of us are very good at this.  Many speakers are terrible communicators.  Some didn’t want the role, but were either assigned the job or “stepped up” when no one else volunteered.
• Remember, please, that public speaking is a very real fear to lots and lots of people.  Give those at the lectern credit for “just being up there.”  (Most of the audience would not trade places with them.)
• Applaud when the speaker closes their presentation.
• It’s polite and acknowledges the time and effort put into the presentation.  Even if you disagree with the speaker – applaud.
• Thank them personally!
• It’s not always possible, but it will mean a lot to the speaker.
• Stick around after the presentation, shake their hand, and thank them for their message, even if you didn’t agree with it.  (Put yourself in their shoes.  Don’t you like to be appreciated?)
• If you learned something, tell them!
• In person is best, but an email or sending a hand written note would be great, also.
• Too many people, even if they enjoyed the speaker and benefited from their message, just pick themselves up and leave when the presentation closes.  Many speakers are not getting paid for their presentation.  Even if they are compensated, the renumeration is not consistent with the time and effort the presenter spent prior to speaking.
• Often, their only payback is knowing they made a difference to someone.  They won’t know if you don’t tell them!
• Even if the talk was less than stellar, acknowledge the effort.  (Remember Teddy Roosevelt’s famous “The Man in the Arena Speech.”  The point he made was that credit goes to the person in the arena, even if you’re “getting your butt kicked” rather than ‘those poor timid souls who know neither the thrill of victory nor the agony of defeat!’“)
• If you have suggestions for improving our presentation, let us know – please!
• Perhaps you believe we have a fact wrong, could have added information or done something that would have made the presentation better and helped the audience GET IT!
• I want to know, and people have told me.
• I once finished a presentation and was given a better way to ask for questions from the audience.  It works much better than what I’d been doing, and I have always appreciated that person taking time to advise me.
• Some of you make our day, and we’re thrilled you are in the audience!
• I’ll usually thank several participants for the attention and great feedback they provided during my presentation.  I kiddingly ask them to “sit in the first, second, and third rows” the next time I speak!
• We speakers love these folks!  They really help us do a better job. – Thank you!

The next time you’re in the audience, please take the above advice, pass it on to others, and be Speaker Centered!

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com

PHoto Credit: Phillip Stearns

Related posts:

1. Fox News interviews Speaker/Author, Fred E. Miller Audio John Pertzborn, co-anchor of Fox News AM Show in...
2. Have a ‘Plan B’ Because When the Screen Goes. . . There are several lessons here: Murphy’s Law rules! It’s not...
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MDo you have a spare tire in your trunk?  If you do, and I hope so, do you know if it’s properly inflated?  Do you have a jack to lift the car so the tire can be changed?  How about a lug wrench to remove the bad wheel and install the good one?

Have you ever changed a tire? (I don’t mean calling the Auto Club and waiting for the service truck to arrive!)  I know many of you haven’t.  So if you had the misfortune of getting a flat in the middle of nowhere and had a properly inflated tire in your trunk, and all the tools to make that change, you might have to grab your manual and figure how to change that tire – correct?

Having a ‘Plan B’ doesn’t mean implementing it is going to be easy!

Murphy’s Law, if something can go wrong it will go wrong, applies to the world of Public Speaking and Presentations, also.

I always have a ‘Plan B’, and often a ‘Plan C’.  But, like having that spare tire, I never really expect to need it.

I often use Apple’s Keynote software to develop and present slides in my presentations.  My backup plans (spare tire and tools) include:

• Copying the presentation to the ‘Cloud’.
• Copying the presentation to a thumb drive.
• Converting the presentation to PowerPoint in case there is not another mac available should mine not work and copying that file to the ‘Cloud’ and a thumb drive.
• Checking that someone will have a PC or mac available as a backup should mine fail.
• Checking that they have either PowerPoint or Keynote on that backup computer.
• Hopefully, checking that my version of those programs will work on their version.
• As I write this, I probably should have the software program on a backup drive, also, and hope their operating system will be able to load and run my software version.
• Printed copies (yes, plural) of the Light Table View of the slideshow.
• Light Table View allows the printing of several sizes of thumbnails of all slides.  I’m able to place up to 35 slides on one piece of paper.  Because my slides are mostly images, with very little text, I can look at the slide and know what words I should be speaking.  If you use lots of text, and you should not, those thumbnails would have to be larger than ones with just images on them.
• Navigator View can also be printed.
• This shows the slides and any relevant notes.

Bottom Line:
Are you prepared for something that usually doesn’t, but could go wrong, in an instant? As I stated, I’ve always had that ‘spare tire’ but never expected to use it.

I’ve got a presentation this week and, if you’ll forgive me, I need to print out that ‘Plan B’ Light Table View and put it in my ‘trunk!’

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com

Related posts:

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2. The Magic Pill that Makes You a Great Presenter! There's no easy way to get rid of the Fear...
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AudienceThe AUDIENCE!

Speakers: It’s not about you!

It’s all about your Audience!

Successful Companies are Customer Centered. 

• They focus on the Customer; the needs and challenges their customers have.

They focus on meeting those needs and solving those challenges.

That means:

• The Medical Community is Patient Centered.
• The Educational System is Student Centered.
• The Hospitality Industry is Guest Centered.

To be successful in the Public Speaking / Presentation World we need to be
Audience Centered!

The audience didn’t come to see and hear you.  They did come to learn!  They came to learn about the subject you are speaking on.

If you switch your focus from the audience to you, you’re in trouble -
You’re in Big Trouble!

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com

Photo Credit: Marcel Acosta

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That’s worth repeating:
“The worst speech you’ll ever give,
will be far better than the one you never give!”

Many are held back from speaking because of the
Fear of Public Speaking.
They mistakenly think:

• They have to be perfect.
• They’ll make a fool of themselves.
• The audience won’t like them.
• They’ll forget something.
• The previous speaker was so much better!
• The audience knows more than they do about the subject.
• They have nothing worthwhile to say.

FYI: Deputation | noun
a group of people appointed to undertake a mission or take part in a formal
process on behalf of a larger group

A Big Thank You! to fellow speaker and blogger, John Zimmer, Manner of Speaking,
for bringing this great video to my attention.

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com

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2. The Magic Pill that Makes You a Great Presenter! There's no easy way to get rid of the Fear...
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SlideThere are three styles of learning.

1. Auditory – Learn by hearing.
2. Visual – Learn by seeing.
3. Kinesthetic - Learn by doing.

For speakers, if more than one of these styles can be addressed to convey your message, the odds they’ll GET IT are dramatically increased.  Combining high quality, universally understood images on a screen with you, the speaker providing the “text” is an excellent way to do this.

Unfortunately, the majority of slide shows are designed with lots of text, bullet points, corporate templates and logos.  If they include any images, they are often cheap clip art or graphics that have the audience scratching their heads wondering what they are.

Sometimes you wonder why the presenter even showed up!  They are standing at the lectern, with their back to the audience, and are reading each and every bit of text to the attendees.  Yech!  They could just have well emailed their powerpoint presentation to everyone!

So your audience GETS IT! here are better ways to use slides in your presentation:

Use very little text and as few bullet points as possible.

Here’s why:
Text and bullet points do not reinforce the presenter’s message.
They confuse, compete and complicate it.  The audience will be reading at a different speed than the presenter is speaking the words.  They will be ahead or behind the point the speaker is making so the words they “hear” will not coincide with the sentences they are “seeing.”  The result is a lesser understanding than the speaker desires.

Use high quality graphics, eliminate the clutter, and deliver your message in a conversational manner.
Your slides, like the words you use, should be clean and simple.
Here’s why:
Our minds work by associations and we think in terms of pictures.
Example: If I say, “Apple.” you probably don’t see the letters a-p-p-l-e. My experience tells me you see something round, probably red, and there is a stem coming out of the top – Correct?

The images on a slide are used to supplement your words and help the visual learners (65% of the population) GET IT!  The slideshow is not the presentation!

When using a slide, as your talk goes forward and before the next slide, many times it is helpful for your delivery to press the “B” Button on your keyboard or remote control.  This will blank the slide.  The eyes of the audience will immediately move from the screen to you, the presenter – where they should be!

Allowing a slide to stay “on” for an extended period makes it a distraction.  Because our eyes are drawn to the light and the image(s) you’re projecting, while you are speaking, the audience is looking at the screen .  Since our nonverbal communication (gestures, facial expressions, posture, and body movement) is 55% of our communication pyramid (tonality being 38% and the words we speak only 7% ), the audience could potentially miss a great part of your message!

Do not use fancy transitions, build-ins, build-outs, special effects, fancy templates or any of the other “cool” things available to PowerPoint and Keynote users.
Here’s why:
It’s clutter!  All those things distract from your message.  Keep things Zen-like: Clean and Simple – Less is More!

Follow this suggestion the next time you use slides in your presentation.
Do that, and my prediction is this:
That speech will be absolutely, positively – No Sweat!

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com

Related posts:

1. Your Master Slide Deck: “Know when to
   Show Them and when to Fold Them! All presentations don't need PowerPoint or Keynote. However, there are...
2. Fox News interviews Speaker/Author, Fred E. Miller Audio John Pertzborn, co-anchor of Fox News AM Show in...
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Nonsense!  Nonsense

One of the main reasons people have a Fear of Public Speaking is they think they have nothing to say.  They believe anything and everything that could ever be said on a subject has already been said - and probably, many many times!

They imagine the audience will know more than they do about the subject and will consider their valuable time is being wasted.  They’ll be bored to death, give them a hard time during the Q&A, and perhaps leave before the presentation is completed.

Nonsense!

I came to this realization after a friend emailed me a question.  I don’t recall what it was about, but I knew the answer and shot it back to him immediately.

Shortly, I received a return email that said, “Wow!”

I responded, “What’s so Wow!”

His reply: “Sometimes, your knowledge base is so wide and deep,
You don’t know what you know!”

That statement had a huge impact on me, and I’ll bet it just did on you, too, correct?

The research shows that sometimes:
Your everyday is someone else’s payday!
Your everyday is someone else’s Ah Hah Moment!

Something you’re very aware of, do naturally, and don’t even think about could be an real eye-opener for others!

Almost everyone does have something of value to present to an audience.  One of the problems is we are too close to our own wisdom and often it takes an experience like my “What’s so Wow?” to realize it.

For instance, I write, speak and coach on the subject of Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.  People have been talking and presenting for thousands or years.

What, except for some recent  technology issues, could I possibly speak to an audience about?  

Lots of things!

One of the reasons I know this is that although I’ve been studying Public Speaking and Presentation Skills for many years, I am continually learning new things!

Here are more reasons you Have something to say:

• Individuals are at different stages in their learning of a subject.
• Sure, some may know what you know, and possibly more, but many in the audience are newbies.
• You’ll be giving them far more information then they’ll be able to absorb the first time it’s introduced.
• Reinforcement.
• This is one of the best ways we learn.  Repeat – Repeat – Repeat
• Are you upset when you hear something you already know?  I’m not.  It might make it top of mind and something I can use now.
• Said differently.
• Often, we don’t GET something the first time we hear/see it.
• Sometimes, we don’t GET IT until we hear/see it presented in a manner different then we were exposed to it before.
• Example: I read a Post a few months ago saying “a lectern is a physical and emotional barrier between the audience and presenter.”  That was a “flash of the obvious” for me.  I know that!  However, I don’t have that information in my book (I will!) and didn’t have a slide for it in my slide deck (I do now!).
• Things do change!
• What the audience once learned may no longer be true.
• Some things, like technology, are changing exponentially.
• Example: Most of us have a computer, or a cell phone, more powerful than the computer the Apollo 13 crew had!
• If you’re continually updating the knowledge of your subject, the odds are you’ll be learning, and able to present, new information to your audience.

For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: http://www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!

About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book, “No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know: Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
He shows them how to Develop, Practice and Deliver Knock Your Socks Off Presentations! with -
No Sweat!

Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com

Related posts:

1. Fox News interviews Speaker/Author, Fred E. Miller Audio John Pertzborn, co-anchor of Fox News AM Show in...
2. The Magic Pill that Makes You a Great Presenter! There's no easy way to get rid of the Fear...
3. Nonverbal Communication Trumps. . . Nonverbal Communication trumps Verbal Communication. Having your total presentation in...

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