101 Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers: Controlling Fear, Commanding Attention
Ron L. Krannich
Controlling fear. Commanding attention
…covers every aspect of public speaking, and should go a long way in reassuring novices they are adequately prepared. — Today’s Librarian
http://bit.ly/P5lARb
If you are moving to build your public speaking confidence, the first thing to do is to plan what you will do over the coming weeks and months. Set yourself some goals and create a list of things to do to get to those goals – “an action plan.”
One way to break down the major goal into smaller, more achievable ones is to try out your strategies in safer environments, before you actually face an audience. For example, take note of how you conduct a conversation – with strangers in particular, maybe a shop keeper, bus conductor, or a person to whom you are introduced at a party or function. The communication and confidence strategies you find yourself using naturally can be used in your public speaking as well. And if you want to improve the communication skills and the confidence, try practicing some of the strategies you intend to use in public speaking, in those conversations. Two especially important skills to practice here are eye contact and a confident approach.
You can also use the same process when you have to leave a telephone message. It is an excellent way of speaking with a purpose, where you may be nervous of making a bad impression. You need to prepare what to say, and you need to present it in an audible, pleasant manner – just as you would for a speech or presentation. Again, here is a chance to develop things you can use again and again so that they come naturally every time.
You can also practise by creating voice mail messages for yourself or your workplace. Here again, the challenge is to convey a certain image – and confidence will be part of it. You can work through preparing the message, practising it and presenting it. This will develop confidence that you can use in presenting a speech.
Finally, find audiences on whom you can practise – the family pet first (!), then your human family or colleagues who are prepared to help. The best practice you will get is if you join a public speaking organisation. Most are excellent, but I recommend POWERtalk because that is the organisation I belong to – but at any club you will have a supportive audience, positive feedback and training to extend what you are learning from me.
Please don’t forget that everyone has setbacks and these are part of your journey to success. And remember, too, that nerves are good – channel them into producing a great presentation.
Author: Bronwyn Ritchie If you want to include this article in your publication, please do, but please include the following information with it:
Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, writer, award-winning speaker and trainer. She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk, a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years’ experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. In just 6 months time, you could be well on the way to being admired, rehired as a speaker, confident and sucessful, with the 30 speaking tips. Click here for 30 speaking tips for FREE. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com
Mental preparation is a vital part of the process of overcoming the fear of public speaking. It is one of four processes successful speakers use to make sure they lose their fear and use their nerves for success.
The first step is to acknowledge that the fear is normal.
1. A huge range of successful people like Helen Hayes, Johnny Carson, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, Lisa Minnelli and Sydney Poitier are known to have suffered from nerves.
2. And there was the published survey that identified public speaking as Americans’ number one fear. This reinforces the fact that you are not in a minority, you are not a freak or a failure, but part of a huge group who all feel the same – normal!
3. Seinfeld quipped that if people fear public speaking more than death, then therefore they would rather be in the coffin than making the eulogy. It is so common that Seinfeld jokes about it! It is a natural, normal response – the body’s way of coping with a challenge.
It may be that you have reasons in your past or from within your family that build the fear, and send your body into the fight/flight response. It may be that, like me, you need to run adrenalin to stay alert and focused. It may be that you are not confident socially and need to build confidence to speak.
Whatever the cause, this is a normal response to that cause and accepting that this is just a normal response, and not your own personal, horrible secret, means that you can acknowledge it, and start to treat it, overcome it
This process of looking at your fear/nerves and identifying their source/s is a major step towards overcoming them. Often people don’t articulate what it is they fear, or where the fear comes from. If you can do that, then you have something concrete you can tackle, and a way to move forward. Find the root of the fear or nerves, tease it out so that you understand it and then use logic to deal with it.
The third mental technique is to accept that, for whatever reason, you are running adrenalin, so you might as well use it. Make it work for you. Channel it to create excitement and enthusiasm. These give power to your speech and you can speak with rapid-fire enthusiasm, or hold attention with power pause.
The excitement and enthusiasm will also work with other strategies to build a strong confidence.
You can use the enthusiasm to reinforce positive self-talk. Whether you call them mantras or call them affirmations, choose positive statements beforehand, to say to yourself to keep yourself positive. Or you can create them at the time. They too, will reinforce your confidence.
Combine these with a fifth technique – visualization. Very early in the preparation for your speech or presentation, visualize yourself leaving your seat, walking to the stage/podium, greeting the audience – all with calm confidence and enthusiasm. Watch it and experience how it feels. Then, as you progress, visualise, too, and feel, all of the aspects of your presentation – the sections of the speech, any prepared movements, and any visuals. See every one of these occurring successfully and see your confidence permeating every one. This may sound very impractical, but it works for me, and did, long before I really knew I was doing it. I just see it as part of my preparation – then, once prepared, it’s something I don’t have to think about at the time.
And,of course, if you do prepare well, in as much detail as possible, and use visualization as part of the process, then that in itself will give you confidence. Being able to reassure yourself that you are prepared is a major confidence builder, and you can use it as one of your reassuring, positive statements. “I am prepared. I have every aspect covered. I have nothing to worry about.”
You will have accepted the nerves as normal. You will have found their cause/s and used that as a foundation to build strategies for success. You will have mentally prepared for each part of your presentation. You will have learned to channel the nerves into power for your presentation. The processes of mental preparation will be a powerful part of your success in overcoming the fear of public speaking
© Bronwyn Ritchie If you want to include this article in your publication, please do, but please include the following information with it:
Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, writer, award-winning speaker and trainer. She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk, a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years’ experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. In just 6 months time, you could be well on the way to being admired, rehired as a speaker, confident and sucessful, with the 30 speaking tips. Click here for 30 speaking tips for FREE. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com
That terrible moment when someone loses complete track of what they are saying – there is a blank, their face drops, and then becomes more and more frantic. This is painful not only for the speaker but for the audience.
Develop a strategy now so that if, despite your best preparations, a blank happens, you have something to say. You could remark, “Oops I’ve lost it” and maybe you can add some appropriate humour (“Must have left the speech in front of the mirror!”) and then add something like “Now where was I?”
Look at your notes if necessary – “We were talking about …”
If it’s really bad, ask the audience.
Whatever strategy you use along these lines, you keep the audience, and yourself, moving on, returning to target and none of you is embarrassed. So if you fear the blank moment, be prepared with a strategy that will allow you to deal smoothly with the situation.
One of the most powerful sources of confidence in public speaking is knowing that you are prepared. During the nervous stages, you can continually reassure yourself that you are prepared and can visualise all the aspects of the successful presentation that you have prepared. As far as I am concerned, this will provide the major part of your confidence.
Probably one of the greatest sources of nerves is the fear of having a mental blank. Sometimes they happen but being prepared will prevent most of them.
Each person has their own way of keeping track of what they have to say – of remembering it. Some people memorise the whole presentation. Some people read the whole speech. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages. But most people create a compromise and, if possible, use notes.
Two very important parts of your speech are the opening and the closing. If you memorise those you can be sure you will use the words you chose for the greatest impact, and you can concentrate on delivery and especially on eye contact. You can choose to read them, but you will need to find other ways of giving them power. You probably should also memorise the punch lines of your jokes, and any words you are quoting verbatim.
If you use notes, make them large enough to read at a glance. Find a way to keep them in order and number the pages in case they do get mixed up. Make symbols or punctuation marks for ways you want to present e.g. pauses, facial expressions. And before you present, choose the sections you can comfortably cull if you find you have less time than expected.
Rehearsal is vitally important. You will develop your own system, but here is an example of a schedule.
Despite what you may have written, say the speech in a style that is as close to conversation as your event or function will allow. Written and spoken language are entirely different.
Say the speech straight through, full of mistakes and corrections. This allows you to find the areas that need work.
Record the speech, or say it to a mirror or use a substitute audience (the family pet will do if there’s no one else suitable!) This gives you a feel for creating communication and impact.
Have a dress rehearsal. Wear the clothes you will wear so you know what works best and how to cope with the outfit. Practice with any visuals you intend to use.
Make very sure you can keep your speech or presentation to an acceptable time.
Final preparation countdown for the event itself:
– Confirm the time and date
– Create and check any handouts
– Make a packing list and check it at the last minute. e.g. handouts, — white board markers, handkerchief (yes, Mum!)
– Arrive early so that you can make sure you are prepared and can then go through your Preparation Routine
– Contact the liaison person to confirm details
– Unpack. Make sure you have water handy and that any equipment is set up and that it works as you expect it to, or become familiar with the equipment provided.
I can only reiterate that one of the best antidotes to the fear of public speaking is the reassurance that you are prepared.
© Bronwyn Ritchie If you want to include this article in your publication, please do, but please include the following information with it:
Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, writer, award-winning speaker and trainer. She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk, a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years’ experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. In just 6 months time, you could be well on the way to being admired, rehired as a speaker, confident and sucessful, with the 30 speaking tips. Click here for 30 speaking tips for FREE. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com
Your mouth is dry, heart palpitating, and knees knocking. You go into panic, facing a dreaded public speaking assignment.
It doesn’t have to be so.
These five tips will give you some strategies to overcome those symptoms and have the butterflies flying in formation.
1. Deep breathing will pull in oxygen. Adrenalin, secreted to help you deal with the fear brought on by little doubts, causes breaths to become shallow, or causes you to hold your breath. Deep breathing will help your brain work to capacity, and forcing the slower pace will quell the panic.
2. Bluff. Stand tall, with shoulders back and chest out. Smile. Even though you don’t feel happy or confident, do it anyway. You will look confident and your body will fool your brain into thinking it is confident. This really works!!
Bluff – body and smile
3. Keep you mouth and throat hydrated. Plan to keep a drink on hand while you are speaking., though this sounds impossible. Visualising how you will use it if you need it, and calling up the audacity to do such a thing will carry across to your attitude as you take your place to speak, placing your glass just where you need it to be.
4. Adrenalin sends the blood rushing to the fight/flight centres of your brain at the base of the skull. Place your hand on your forehead and press gently on the bony points. This will bring the blood to the parts of the brain that need it to present your speech best.
5. Know you are prepared. Obviously this depends on actually being prepared, so take every opportunity in the days leading up to the speech to prepare your material. Be familiar with the structure of the presentation, and the ideas to use. Memorise the most important parts, and the parts you are frightened of forgetting. I would memorise the opening of the speech and in the moments before presenting it, would reassure myself that I knew that part, and that would lead on to the rest. It worked!!
For my eBook on Overcoming public speaking nerves, visit http://bit.ly/NEKghl
Stretch to relax. Rise on your toes and reach for the ceiling, with your head back. Tighten your muscles from legs up through abdomen, and then release. Relax the neck and shoulder muscles, letting head loll on neck in different directions.
Breathe to relax. Stand erect, but relaxed and balanced. Inhale while silently counting to five. Hold the breath for five counts, then exhale for five – all breathing is through the mouth. Your diaphragm should move, but your chest should not expand. You can gradually increase the number of counts for each breath to 10.
Relax your Jaw. Let your head loll forward. As you raise it, keep your jaw relaxed. Let it hang open, and smile to yourself at how silly it feels.
Relax your throat. Yawn …. This is how your throat needs to be to speak well – open, and relaxed.
Keep relaxing the muscles throughout your body, your jaw, neck and throat until you walk to the presentation area. Then smile! and begin.
© Bronwyn Ritchie If you want to include this article in your publication, please do, but please include the following information with it:
Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, writer, award-winning speaker and trainer. She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk, a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years’ experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. In just 6 months time, you could be well on the way to being admired, rehired as a speaker, with the 30 speaking tips. Click here for 30 speaking tips for FREE. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com
The virtue of all achievement is victory over oneself. Those who know this can never know defeat.
A. J. Cronin
(Overcome your fear of public speaking, and WIN!!)
The first piece of public speaking that I can remember doing was in about the second year of school. Every year of school, we learned several pieces of poetry by rote, wrote them in our best handwriting in our poetry books and recited them together each morning. I loved that poetry – loved the writing, the sound of the words and the way they fitted together in a new form of speaking. But in the second year of school, it was decided that each person in the class would recite the poem to the whole group. We were instructed to stand out the front, in the middle, with our hands clasped together with the finger tips of each hand nestled against the fingers of the other – “cupped” I think, is the word for it.
I don’t remember being nervous, but remember standing there. I don’t remember what the teacher may have said was good about my presentation, but in perverse and fairly normal human style, I have never forgotten being told that I had swayed while I spoke.
And that was the beginning of years of fear of public speaking. Obviously perfection was expected here and obviously, too, my body could not be trusted to be perfect without my strict supervision. By Year seven, the public speaking exercises had graduated to coming to the door of the classroom, knocking and asking “Are you Nelly Reddy?” That was too much! I would discover a sudden need to go to the bathroom –and stay there. It got to the stage where the teacher asked my mother if I was having some sort of health issue!
My love of language and an ability to use it reasonably well meant I built a successful career in public speaking at high school, but always at the expense of suffering horribly from nerves. There was still the expectation of a performance, and the degree of perfection against a set of criteria was always forefront in every experience.
I have worked hard over the intervening years to overcome the fear, because despite it all, I still love public speaking. And one of the best feelings these days is the feeling of being able to stand confidently on a stage and have a conversation with the audience. Another best feeling is knowing that that is the common trend in public speaking today as well. I watch “Show and Tell” in primary school and watch as the teachers make each child feel comfortable, supported, encouraged and never judged. I read about public speaking and see the growing number of people discussing this need to be perfect and what a burden it is, and how unnecessary.
The concept I love most is the idea of the performance/perfectionism as placing a wall between yourself as a speaker and your audience. Perhaps it should be refereed to as a screen, in the way that a screen holds a movie or video separate from its audience.
And of course the antidote is to break down the wall, take yourself out of the screen and see yourself as having a conversation with your audience. You can be so much more authentic as you be yourself in conversation rather than a performing persona. You can be so much more engaging as you interact, in conversation, with your audience. And as a speaking consultant I can now encourage my clients to be themselves – their best selves, mind you, but still their authentic selves.
© Bronwyn Ritchie If you want to include this article in your publication. please do. but please include the following information with it:
Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, writer, award-winning speaker and trainer. She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk, a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years’ experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. In just 6 months time, you could be well on the way to admired, rehired as a speaker, with the 30 speaking tips. Click here for 30 speaking tips for FREE. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com
Once you can identify the causes that are underlying your public speaking nerves and fear, you can choose the strategies you need to build your confidence, use the fear and present successfully.
Most people suffer from some fear of public speaking. The survey that identified it as America’s number one fear was accurate then and remains so today. But the causes of that fear can differ from person to person.
One of the most important steps towards overcoming the fear of public speaking is to identify the things in your life that have created the fear and then choose the strategies that relate to those causes and that will conquer the fear and allow you to harness it to enhance your presentations and speeches, not destroy them.
So let’s list some of the factors that underlie the fear of public speaking and see which ones apply to you.
The first on the list is the fact that fear of public speaking can run in families. I’m not sure if there is a genetic cause for this but I do know that if you have seen your parents or a family member speaking or performing confidently in public, then you will most likely see it as something you can do too. But if you see fear and aversion to public speaking then you will probably adopt that as part of your culture as well.
The second factor lies in the way your brain functions. It may be that your brain is not functioning in a way that builds confidence. It is possible that the neurotransmitters that allow your brain to transfer information are not operating as they should
Previous personal experience can affect our confidence in any situation. Teasing of any sort can destroy confidence and if it was associated with public speaking then any chance of future confidence in public speaking will be shattered. Thoughtlessly expressed criticism can do the same. A teacher, peer or parent can destroy confidence with unthinking negative comments.
Beliefs. Many people’s fear of public speaking is founded in the belief that they are responsible for always creating a positive impression … and its corollary that if they do not create this wonderful impression then they have created a disaster. Your family, your peers and your associates, not to mention the media, can all contribute to this expectation of any situation. So if you feel an unreal demand on you in terms of the need to create a great impression then anything you do in public will be fraught with anxiety.
Because people fear public speaking they then set up systems to avoid it. Any opportunity is met with avoidance, rather than either a positive expectation, or a confident attempt that could be the basis of development. And then that avoidance becomes a habit – it self-perpetuates.
So … did any of those scenarios strike a chord with you and your experiences? Did you recognise any of them acting in your life? It may even be that more than one of these factors is present in creating your fear of public speaking. Rest assured, though, that for each, there are strategies that can be used to overcome it. Use them in conjunction with some other processes and you have a strong, guaranteed basis for developing confidence and skill in public speaking.
(c) Bronwyn Ritchie
If you want to include this article in your publication. please do. but please include the following information with it:
Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, writer, award-winning speaker and trainer.
She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk International, a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. In 30 weeks time, you could be 3 times the speaker you are now. Click here for Bronwyn’s FREE 30 speaking tips. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com