Archive for St. Louis
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: 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→
The “F” Word – Speakers Should. . .
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Embrace It!
I’m going to use the “F” Word today.
I know I’ve already made some of you uncomfortable.
You don’t like that word directed at you.
If you direct it to others, it’s not well received.
The Truth: Failure Gets a Bad Rap!
We learn far more from our failures than things we do correctly the first time. This certainly applies to Public Speaking and Presenting.
One of my mantras is:
“Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.”
No one has everchallenged me on it. Many agree they should take and make as many Speaking Opportunities as possible. If they do, they will grow their businesses, advance their careers, and increase their leadership roles.
Speaking Opportunities are also Learning Opportunities.
Things we learn from public speaking are often not from
presentations going smoothly and without any flaws or snafus. Sometimes, it’s quite the opposite!
Many of the public speaking skills I have came about because I forgot, messed up, or didn’t even know about using them in presentations. Read More→
The Fear of Public Speaking – KSDK Interviews. . .
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Me!
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 Read More→
Have a Spare Tire in Case Murphy Shows Up!
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Murphy, of Murphy’s Law,
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 Read More→
The Elevator Speech Booklet – CLICK to Open!
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Your Elevator Speech is a Mini-Presentation
CLICK to Open Booklet
Use this as a Template for Your Elevator Speech!
The term, Elevator Speech, implies it’s something that won’t take very long to deliver. If someone’s only going to be in an elevator with you till the next floor, it may be less than a minute. It’s not an exercise to take casually.
Just as an Elevator goes up one floor at a time, the Elevator Speech should be delivered “by the floor.”
At each stop, the verbal and/or nonverbal signal to look for is, “Tell me more.”
Everyone doesn’t want to go to the Top Floor with you. Some don’t want to leave the lobby! There is no need to waste time and energy taking them all the way up.
The Elevator Speech can be a good tool for Qualifying and DisQualifying prospects.
The Elevator Speech starts simple. As interest and time permit, it is expanded.
Again, not everyone wants to go with you to the Top Floor and you don’t want to take everyone there.
Let’s get in the Elevator and start going up!
1st Floor - Describes Who You Are
Hello! My Name is Fred Miller.
That may be all someone wants to know about you – Your Name.
2nd Floor - Describes What You Do
I’m a Speaker, a Coach and an Author.
That’s what I do.
Hopefully, they want to know: Read More→
Speakers, My 2012 New Year’s Resolutions are. . .
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It’s That Time of the Year!
Here are My 2012 Resolutions.
What are Yours?
#1. Prepare and Practice for each Presentation
even if I’ve given it 100+ times.
- It might be the umpteenth time I’ve delivered it, but it’s the first time most of the audience have heard it.
- The size of the audience doesn’t matter. I should always give my best.
- “Practice makes perfect.” No!
- “Perfect Practice makes Perfect.” – No such thing!
- The one I subscribe to is: “The road to perfection never ends!”
#2. Regularly Refresh and Update my Content and Delivery.
- The only constant is Change. I’ll continue to practice Kaizen, the Japanese word that means continuous improvement.
#3. Get Out of my Comfort Zone with Content and Delivery.
- When we Get Out of our Comfort Zone – our Comfort Zone becomes Larger!
#4. Study, Study, and Study more about my subject of Expertise,
the Art & Science of Public Speaking/Presenting.
- I always learn new things from the blogs, articles, books and videos I seek out on public speaking/presentations.
#5. Continue to regularly Write a New Post with great Content
and to place the Audio in each Post.
- The combination of Written Post + Audio Post has made me a better writer and a better speaker.
#6. Take just about every opportunity I can to Speak. Paid and Fee Waived. Read More→
Speakers, There’s NO App for That!
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You Gotta Do It Yourself!. . .and
You Should Want To!
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 Read More→
Remember: NonVerbal Communication Trumps. . .
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Verbal Communication
Have you ever watched a Professional Mime? They speak no words, but communicate very well, don’t they!
If they were to use their voice, their NonVerbal Communication: eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and body movements, would outweigh their spoken words.
Our NonVerbal Communication carries more weight than the words we say and how we say them.
Example: The speaker on the podium says, “I’m very excited to be speaking to this group today.” At the same time, he is yawning, not giving eye contact to anyone in the audience, and continually looking at his watch. What’s the message he’s sending?
Everything in the Delivery of our presentation must be in sync, else the audience will believe what they “See.”
While we can consciously use our NonVerbal Communication Skills to emphasize parts of our presentation, it’s important to remember that we exhibit involuntary NonVerbal Communication, also. Read More→
