I have updated the Public Speaking pages of Pivotal Points
I added a Success Tip and 2 new articles …
My Best Presentation Tricks and
Why (Teleclass) Audiences Won’t Speak: And How To Get Them To Respond
Pivotal Public Speaking ezine
You can also visit the Pivotal Public Speaking blog for more tips, articles and links.
Three essential body language tips
For anyone who has done some training with me, you’ll know that I don’t focus on body language when presenting. People can get obsessed by trying to look convincing or slick, and neglect the content of their presentation. They perform all the textbook hand gestures, and what comes out of their mouths doesn’t match up. A bit like watching 100 chavs pour out of a limo. It just doesn’t seem right.
Sometimes however I do give advice on body language for presenting – especially when it detracts from the message. Here are the 3 biggest body language presentation pitfalls, and what you can do to avoid them:
Using both sides of the brain for Public Speaking success
Men can think faster than women, transmitting nerve impulses more rapidly – according to a controversial study recently reported in The Sunday Times. It measured nerve conduction velocity (NCV), the speed at which messages pass through brain cells and found males had four times faster NCV’s than females. (Mind, the researchers are all male…)
Whatever your gender, do you have trouble thinking fast when put on the spot, Bronwyn? Whether during question time after a presentation, in the board-room or at team meetings, a tough question fired out of left-field can send anyone into panic.
We are more effective presenters if we can balance our logic and analysis (left brain hemisphere) with colourful imagery and expression (right brain).
Confidence trick: Accessing both brain hemispheres enables us to present with security – assuming we’ve prepared and know our topic!
The power of the whole brain Educational Kinesiology and Brain-Gym programs develop brain-body wholeness with simple movements like cross-crawl, i.e. crossing over the mid-line between brain hemispheres, as we do when walking. Originally conceived to correct learning disabilities, Brain-Gym’s whole-brain learning is used by people from many fields (professionals, students, athletes, dancers, musicians, artists) to draw out their hidden potential and to make it readily available. http://www.braingym.org/
Some over-diligent people, by trying too hard, “switch off” the brain-integration mechanisms necessary for complete learning. Thus, information which is received by the back brain as an “impress” is inaccessible to the front brain as an “express.” This inability to express what is learned or to stay “centred” locks us into a failure syndrome, resulting in irrational fear, flight-or-fight reactions and frozen emotions.
Even a simple action like the steepling of fingertips balances and connects the two brain hemispheres. And it’s a poised look for a presenter about to take the spot-light.
Before presenting, if you feel an urge to pace, don’t resist it! Walking sends blood circulating to your brain, helps you handle curly questions with clarity.
(Precis from “Don’t Freak Out- Speak Out; Public speaking with confidence”, available as hard-copy, e-book and audio CD from http://ruthbonetti.com/books.php3
I have updated the Self improvement pages at Pivotal Points.
New articles:
Business :Plan today for your most prosperous tomorrow! A 4-step blue print for success.
Motivation: Bringing Yourself Out of a Slump
email: The Secrets To E-Mail Nirvana
Computer corner:
20 Things They Don’t Want You to Know
Workplace success: Success Secrets for Telephone Interviews
Marketing: “Keep Your Marketing Simple and More Effective With This 6-Step Model”
Improve Your Website’s Reputation
marketing, career, email, motivation, business, self improvement, success
If you want to get a message across, people need to be able to hear it, to be able to hear each word. That means articulating every word very clearly. So pay particular attention to beginnings and especially endings. Then there can be no confusion between similar words such as taken and taking, or pass and past.
More on public speaking
Pivotal Public Speaking blog
Public speaking web pages
Subscribe to the Pivotal Public Speaking ezine for free fortnightly tips and articles. Read the latest edition
Tags: public speaking, impromptu speech, speech
Speech Making Success Tip:
Eye contact is a wonderful tool to convey sincerity. It is also useful to help you to stay aware of how the audience is reacting to you. Stay aware and adapt by changing your presentation style and content to keep their attention and interest.
This is an excerpt from the Pivotal Public Speaking ezine which goes out today. You can view it here or subscribe to receive tips, articles, links and resources. Subscribe to Pivotal Public Speaking by clicking here.
I have just updated the Communication web pages at Pivotal Points.
The new Success Tips are in Public Speaking and Communication.
The new articles are Practicing Servant-Leadership and What You Can Accomplish in 6 Minutes.
You can also visit the Communication Blog for more ideas on reading, writing, conversation and more …
Public Speaking: No Brainstoppers!
From the Great Public Speaking blog
I made this term up so don’t try to find it anywhere else. A “brainstopper” is something you say or do that causes the mind of an audience member to stop to think. This can be a good thing, but most of the time when I catch a coaching student delivering a brainstopper, it is a bad thing.
Here is an example of a good brainstopper. You might say, “Take a moment and think about the first toy you had as a child.”
A command like this would take the audience member’s mind from where it is now to a time long ago. For most of the audience this will be a pleasant experience. For some it may be unpleasant. Either way you still are directing the show. You might do this to make some kind of point about how simple things used to please us, or something like that.
Here is an example of a bad brainstopper. You might say, “That man’s elocution is impeccable.” For all of us highly educated and brilliant folks the word “elocution” obviously means fine form in speaking or reading.
If this word was used in a less educated arena, the instant it came out of your mouth, the brains of the audience members would be racing to figure out what the word “elocution” means. Thus, their brains have stopped because you used a word that was not easily understood. The audience member will not hear your next few sentences because they are still trying to figure out the word “elocution.” Do this several times and they will tune out altogether … unless of course you are Deepak Chopra who gets high praise for being totally unintelligible hahahahaha
Another way to stop someone’s brain is to distract them by your actions. You might display an odd prop before explaining what it is. This would make an audience member stop listening while their minds tried to figure out what the prop is. If you were talking during this time, they wouldn’t hear a word you said.
Look at your word choice and actions carefully before you exhibit them on stage. It is hard enough to keep attention in today’s short attention span environments. Don’t make it worse by using bad brainstoppers.
“The very best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance.”
– Ruth Gordon
More on public speaking
Pivotal Public Speaking blog
Public speaking web pages
Subscribe to the Pivotal Public Speaking ezine for free fortnightly tips and articles. Read the latest edition
Tags: public speaking, impromptu speech, speech
Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking with Mental Preparation Strategies
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. Read the article