Public Speaking - Is this your Fear?

Hi Friends

Speaking in public takes many forms. You could be on a TV or radio chatshow, running a webinar online or seminar offline, it might be a speech at a wedding, work event like a presentation or when a colleague retires, it could be just in a

group at the pub where you want to make an announcement. making videos for an online course is another situation which isn't actually speaking in public but does feel like that when you start.  We have probably all had to make a public speech at sometime or another, usually with some time to prepare but occasionally on the spur of the moment. 

Public speaking is an art that you have to learn. An art that is vital in some jobs. An essential as an entrepreneur.  Public speaking can take you to the heights you need to be successful.  But you need to work on this skill. And you must bear in mind that your first time will be a real learning experience, and you will think you were terrible. BUT . . if you ask anyone you trust that was in the audience then you might be pleasantly surprised. They won't have picked up on your nervousness. They won’t have noticed the mistakes or that big chunk you missed out completely because they didn’t know. But listen to what they say and if you think they have valid criticism then try to correct what you did. 

And you’ll learn yourself from the speech. Maybe you couldn’t read what you wrote. Perhaps you didn’t talk up or show enough emotion. So you weren’t prepared for the questions at the end. So let’s look at some good practices.

Research

When I first started running an online TV channel I commissioned an experienced presenter to run a couple of interviews for me. I met her at the railway station and we went for a coffee to talk about the day’s schedule. Then we went to the first interview that we did in a quiet hotel lounge. She sat down with the interviewee who was a local song-writer singer and just spoke with him for a few minutes to put him at ease.

Then she started. It was a positive interview about his career and forthcoming show. As she asked questions it became apparent that she had found out so much about the guy. And she was able to lead him through a really informative 20 minutes.

The same thing happened with the second interview which was with the local Top Cop. She knew about his career and a family outline, so she was able to talk about him as a family man, making it more intimate.

Research is so important and so easy today. Google anyone

who is anyone, and lots of people who aren’t!  Companies, places corporations are all here. And you will come up with enough background to strengthen your speech. You won’t need to use everything but it is useful to know and substantiates your speech. If you have a question and answer session after it will give you rock steady answers. So research.

Tell Them

Remember the old adage. Tell them what you are going to tell them! Tell them! Tell them what you’ve told them!

So at the beginning introduce yourself and tell them what you are going to cover. This sets the tone and is like the forward and table of contents.

Then tell them by giving your speech.

Then conclude by giving a brief overview of what you have covered. This sequence will help them understand, know where you are throughout the talk, and keep you on topic.

Rehearse

I cannot tell you how important this is. You aren’t rehearsing to be word perfect because you will sound wrong. You are rehearsing to feel comfortable, to get the order and words right and to look good. You’ll probably use notes with bullet points to keep you on track. Look at great speakers and see how passionate they are, how the words can spill out or be controlled. It’s because they have rehearsed. Can you imagine an actor learning the script but not attending rehearsals. Or worse thinking they can carry the script during the performance.

Suit the length to the subject content

A speech doesn’t have to be short to be interesting. On YouTube most people get distracted after a couple of minutes because there are distractions, just keep surfing!! But being in an audience listening to an interesting speech is different. There are no distractions.

Don’t overstay your welcome. Make sure the content is relevant and not to fill a time slot. It’s like writing a sales letter. A very long sales letter will be more successful than a short one if every word is important. A long speech will hold the audience if every phrase means something to them.

Voice Inflections and Body Language

Write your speech out and speak it. You will find that some doesn’t sound right, it doesn’t have rhythm. Writing and speaking are different, use different phrases and language. Speaking is generally less formal.

 

Try to alter the pace and volume of your words. You can slow down and almost whisper or shout to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Often when you do lower your voice the audience leans forward and breath quieter. This can have a real impact. Don’t hurry your words. The listeners often don’t know you so they aren’t used to your voice, and when

people are taking in information they need more time.

Likewise do pause. You will be amazed the effect you have on people when you pause for a few seconds. As an aside try this is conversation, particularly when you ask a question. Wait for the answer and don’t rush in. It always works that you get more than you expected. So pause. It gives the audience time to think, makes them expectant and keeps them interested.

Use Eye Contact

You have your notes but just try not to look at them continuously. Look at the audience. I’d suggest that you don’t let your eyes wonder across the whole audience. 

Concentrate on one or two people, then when you move to the next topic or thought, then concentrate on someone else in another part of the audience. And smile.

You may have a white-board or screen presentation, don’t turn your back. You may have to sometimes but avoid where you can. IF you have a presentation use bullet points, don’t have every word on screen and just read. Likewise keep is simple, no fancy PowerPoint animations because it will distract. If you need this then your speech lacks interest.

Be Humorous

A joke right at the beginning is a great ice-breaker and will build up empathy. Not political, religious or sexual. A joke against yourself is a winner.

You can add in a couple more jokes along the way to keep everyone focussed but don’t spoil your speech by making it a funny throughout, unless it’s intentional and each joke works with your audience.

Being too intense throughout is as bad as too many jokes. Keep the tone light and in tune. Don’t talk down because you are the expert. Remember the definition of an expert. The “Ex” is a deadbeat has been. Whilst the “Spert” is a drip under pressure. Think about that.

Your Learning Experience

Mistakes are good. If nobody else realises you’ve gone wrong, as is normally the case, then you can be pleased. Just learn from your flaws and try to correct them. The only one who doesn’t make mistakes is up there somewhere looking down.

More importantly is list out all the things you did right and build on that. And every time you manage to put a mistake right then add this to your list. Of course it’s important to correct these problems. But the right things will give you a firm base to work from. Like a building, firm foundations keep the house standing, even when there are floods or hurricanes. So work on these points and follow them each time.

Oh. And practise a few situations you may run into. The more you practice in front of a mirror, or friends if anyone is willing, then the better you will become. 

Good luck with any public speaking

 

Courses Old and New

Hi Folks

Online courses seem the rage right now with almost everybody producing one. Some exceptionally good but many really aweful. But online courses, as opposed to attending night school are certainly not new. There have always been postal courses, the most popular being on writing, languages and body building. 

This is the last DVD copy of my first course I created back in 2006. Just to show that the new wave of online courses isn't new, except that we often couldn't download courses because of network speeds and other issues so in many cases we sent out DVDs.  And here are 3 covers. I produced a range of 6 or 7 courses mainly based on basic Powerpoint with a speak over. This was the easiest as video was not as easy as it is today.
 
My courses included The Evacuation Chair Trainer which was very niche but popular with health and safety officers in large organisations. I used to do on-site training across the UK but it was expensive as travelling time was always high.

Other courses included The Marketing Professional. Running an Exhibition Masterclass, High Flier Sales Masterclass and The Health & Safety Adviser aimed at small to medium businesses.

I ran  quickly through these courses and was surprised how relevant they were for today. Unfortunately the sound quality is really poor as we didn't have the benefit of the current range of good mics at accessible prices. The visual quality is poor too. It would have been impossible to imagine the vast improvements in video quality back then, Today we are really fortunate that anyone can make great video at little cost.

Just using a smartphone you can produce high definition video, plug  a lapel mic into another smartphone for quality sound and use a third smartphone with torch app to get some light on the subject, or use natural light through a window and you can produce a course. Many people have home studios now with low cost lighting, quality mic and webcam such as the Logica 920c and they are in business.

The major issues in producing a course today are taking positive enthusiastic action in creating the course right up to getting it online and being fearless in working in front of the camera. You can read every book on making course, watch every video, listen to every podcast, but if you aren't prepared to take action you just wont get anywhere. The third issue is the fear of failure. Remember, its better to do something now than keep trying for perfection because life isn't long enough.

Get the strength, be creative and make some money. The world is full of people waiting to learn what you know. The  saying was "we all have a book inside us". Now I think we all have a course. But because of technology its much easier to produce a course than a novel.

good luck.

Tips to influence people

Hi Folk

I've often heard people say "They are a born salesman. They could sell ice to an Eskimo" Usually implying that sales skills are mainly the ability to talk. Nothing could be father from the truth. . Yes there are some attributes that will help a sales-person succeed but I firmly believe that sales-people are made.

Would you go for treatment by a born doctor, particularly if they were untrained and wielding a scalpel. Would you take your car to a born mechanic who hadn't been through an apprenticeship to become capable. No you wouldn't. And sales-people are the same. They need good training in all aspects of the job. Selling is about bringing produces or services together with someone who wants, needs or desires that product and can afford it. People are reticent about making decisions and so the sales-person job is to help them come to that decision.

This course is created to go through the closing aspect of selling. The part where you do need to nudge the buyer. A bit like a sheepdog driving his flock into a pen, maybe across rough terrain and open country.
The art of closing is a great skill in life too. It will help you influence people to your way of thinking at home, with friends, in the community and at work. Closing is an art that is associated with selling but in fact one that we can use successfully every day.

This course covers many different ways to influence others, some you will know and others may be new. You may want to try some and see how successful you are. Remember, closing is an art, And any art needs practice, whether painting, writing or even talking..Conversation is a real art and by dropping some closing techniques in, they will become natural and part of talking. 

My favourite social or family close is the alternative. It's described in the course as a selling tool. Let me tell you how to use it at home. 

Lets say you want to go to see a movie. Most people would say "Lets go out tonight. Do you want to see  (name of movie)? and often the reply is "I've had a bad day today. Lets stay in" or "I don't want to see that film. Lets go for a meal or get a takeaway"

And you are shot in the foot - figuratively of course. You didn't figure that out did you.

If you had firstly talked about the film in broad terms and used expressions like "So and so is in it. I know you like him" "We haven't been to see a movie for ages" and so on.

Then say "Honey how about going out tonight. That movie we talked about looks really good. Shall we go at 7 or would the later show be better?" Suddenly the emphasis is on which performance, not whether to go or not. And that's an easier choice to make. This is so simple but it works well. Not every time but most times. Why don't you try this next time you want to go out. Remember it doesn't have to be the movies, might be a meal or other entertainment. There are about 20 different ways to close in this course so you have plenty of choice. You just need to transform them from a business situation to a home or social occasion.

Kids are easier to persuade with this type of psychology too.

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If you feel that you have a course in your head and want any help in writing and producing it do leave a comment. I'd love to see you succeed. Whether about a hobby or interest, a skill such as make-up, cooking or motor mechanics this is your opportunity.

regards