“No task is so humble that it does not offer an outlet for individuality.”
-William Feather
And there is no doubt that that applies just so well to public speaking. it is our chance to put our own individual stamp on the presentation – whether it be a short toast or a keynote to a roomfull of people. I see public speaking as a fantastic creative outlet. And, of course, a chance to build your image. Thanks, William Feather
You already have everything you need to be an effective, charismatic speaker. You do. You don’t need to adopt certain tricks or mannerisms. Nor do you need to speak with an artificially amped-up enthusiasm or energized voice. You do not need to move in this way or that. Or use props or PowerPoint. All of these suggestions, though well-meaning, keep us struck in the illusion that we need to be other than who we are right now, in this moment, in order to speak well in public.
Being able to communicate effectively through words has been a much-coveted secret for centuries. Take the blarney stone in Ireland, for example. The blarney stone is part of the Blarney castle in Ireland and it is tradition that those who kiss this stone are given the gift of the gab. If you want to have the gift of the gab but kissing the blarney stone is out of the question, maybe you could benefit from the 10 basics of communication and public speaking.
Alliteration is a particularly powerful presentation tool
Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people from coughing.
–Sir Ralph Richardson
By: Stephen D. Boyd
Delivering an effective presentation to 20 or to 200 people is difficult. Because listeners have better access to information since the internet became commonplace, audiences expect more content from speakers today. In addition, because of the entertainment slant of most media today, audiences want a presentation delivered with animation, humor, and pizzazz.
If you would rather spend your time preparing your content than reading a book on public speaking, this is an article especially for you! From my experiences in delivering over l500 speeches during the past 20 years, here is a quick guide to giving an effective and interesting presentation your very first time.
Just in case you are sitting at your computer with nothing to do –
nothing at all …
http://www.widro.com/throwpaper.html
More items like this, and others that you can use in your speeches and poweroints, at the Pivotal Just for Fun pages
The FAQ Book On Public Speaking
The authors, Eric Feng along with his colleagues Irene Ang and Kelvin Lim, has aimed to answer all of your most burning and nagging questions on public speaking. Straight to the point with no fluff…just stuff that works!
You can download a complimentary chapter of the book right now. Be relieved that your days of being fearful about speaking are coming to an end…
And when the book is launched look for the great bonuses you will receive when you buy your own copy.
There are so many ways a room and its set-up can affect your presentation. It is so important to make sure it works for you – your position, the audience’s position, the equipment, the sound, the heating …
Graham Jones used this gret example in his tip : Check the room layout for presentations
I was at a meeting the other day when a woman was invited to speak. She stayed where she was in the room to deliver her five minute talk. However, this meant that some people in the room couldn’t see her; others couldn’t hear her. As a result, about half her audience had five minutes of their time wasted. She also wasted much of her time because she didn’t get her message across to half the room.
Where you sit, where you look and how the audience feels is dependent upon room layout. You need to seriously consider all the options before you talk. Get the room layout right and your presentation will be much better. What this means is you should never accept the room as it is – unless it is perfect for you and your audience. Almost every room needs changing in some way so that the audience gains the best from you.
“Are you still doing speeches in the stone age?” This was the question a participant asked of a presenter at a recent conference I attended. The presenter had lugged along a box of transparency slides to show during his half-day seminar, and I admit, I was a little doubtful at first about the lack of modern technology. The presentation went well, overall, but could have clearly been enhanced by a good Microsoft PowerPoint, Lotus Freelance, or Aldus Persuasion program. Additionally, it would have been much easier to present for the speaker, and definitely lighter to carry on the airplane.
Later in the month, however, I got a different perspective when I spoke a participant in one of my seminars after the rest of the class had gone. She told me that when she first walked into the room, she was very disheartened to see a computer-generated image being shown on the screen. She confided that although she had enjoyed the presentation entirely, and that I had overcome her initial apprehension, her first reaction was:”Oh no! Not another PowerPoint Presentation”
This reaction is not unique, I’ve found. When talking to people in my seminars and social settings, the message I get is clear; People are tired of worn-out power point presentations! Does this mean we should jettison the technology and go back to the “stone age”, as one person put it, in giving our presentations? No more than we should ban television because of the likes of Jerry Springer and Temptation Island. The medium itself is not to blame, it is how that medium is used that falls short.
