32 Basic Public Speaking and Communication Skills

 by Ed Skurka  DTM   www.PublicSpeakingWorkout.com

Mastery Makes a Difference

Voice:

  1.  Speak with confidence.  Project a bold, powerful and confident voice.

  2.  Control your volume for the situation — audience, room size and ambient noise.

  3.  If using a microphone — arrive early check out the equipment and your sound.

  4.  Pitch — is the pitch of your voice too high or too low?  Squeaky or guttural?

  5.  Variety — vary your voice.  Don’t be monotone.  Speak with interest and passion.

  6.  Vitality — life, sparkle enthusiasm.

  7.  Rate — too fast or too slow?  Take a deep breath and relax.  Control nervousness.

  8.  Articulation — pronounce every letter of every word — clearly.  Don’t mumble.

Remember:

  9.  It is your responsibility as the speaker to give the audience a good performance.

10.  The audience is there to hear you speak.  Take command of your audience.

11.  Content — Remember WIFM  (what’s in it for me) for the audience.

12.  Dress appropriately for your audience.  Take pride in your appearance.

13.  Eye Contact — connect with your audience.

14.  Gestures — help to illustrate what you say.

15.  Movement — move with purpose or stay at the lectern with poise. 

16.  The lectern is a tool — not a crutch.  Don’t freeze up.  Don’t hide behind it.

17.  Think of your audience and your content — Not of yourself and your fears.

18.  Punctuation — The audience has to hear periods, question marks and

       commas in your voice just as if they were reading your presentation.

19.  Emotion — Let your audience hear – happy, sad, excitement, anger.

20.  Body language — project a confident manner.  Control nervousness.

       Take a deep breath and relax.  You can do it!  How you appear is important.

21.  Facial expression — reflect your emotions in your speech.

22.  Be honest with yourself and your audience.  Your audience will know.

23.  Ums and Ahs — these are crutch words control them.  Also:  OK, like,  

       you know, you know what I mean and certainly no vulgarities.

24.  Poise and pride.  Let it show in your performance.

25.  Keep things simple.  More than 3 points are seldom remembered.  Repetition helps.

26.  Be as natural as you can be in front of the audience.  Goal — to be yourself.

27.  Prepare and practice, practice, practice.  Know your material.  Do your homework,

28.  Notes — however you make notes, be familiar with them and your content.

29.  Time yourself repeatedly.  Be within your allocated time.

30.  Ask for helpful evaluation and accept help.

31.  Anyone can learn these skills.  You can learn to enjoy public speaking.  Have fun. 

32.  Knowledge and  Experience build Confidence.  Practice, coaching and evaluation

       are necessary to build these skills (just like academic, sport and business skills.)

           Public speaking skills are a very important tool in your career skills toolbox.

Support Public Speaking Advocate by attending this training, bringing it into your business or (*very important) provide it to your kids or students.

Contact: EdSkurka@PublicSpeakingWorkout.com    401-828-1625 Skype: Ed.PublicSpeakingAdvocate

Public speaking trainers needed worldwide.  Inquire about an interesting business opportunity

Ed Skurka  DTM

In his famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie stresses the power and benefits of, “stretching your comfort zone.”  Taking action on this wisdom is a challenge that many of us are uncomfortable doing.  We may not be happy with the status quo, but we fear taking action that we are unfamiliar with.  “I can’t,” is the number one instant road block to progress and improvement because this thinking stops the mind cold.  We shut out the possibility of trying because we might feel uncomfortable, we might fail, what will people think?  If we never change this attitude, how can we ever improve anything?

For most of us, the skillset of public speaking is one area of our lives where this “I ’can’t” attitude has paralyzed us for years.  Some of us carry this attitude from primary school when we first experienced that ‘fear of public speaking’ feeling.  You know, the infamous butterflies, the anxiety, the nervousness and the dread.  We have all felt it at some point and to some degree.  Too many of us have given into the fear. We never want to feel that way again.  We avoid any public speaking situations, from presentations and reports at work (or school) to giving a toast at a friend’s wedding or a eulogy at a loved one’s funeral.  We want to avoid the situation instead of confidently taking on the opportunity.

So many won’t develop this valuable life changing, career enhancing skillset simply because we say we can’t.  In fact, we can.  Anyone can.  Just like any other skill set, from academic skills, to artistic, sport or business skills, the skillset of public speaking can be learned and developed.  The fear can be changed to confidence.  It simply takes a change of attitude – and action.  We must stretch our comfort zones.

The change of attitude opens the mind to the possibility of, “I can”.  The action starts the process, just like we learn any other skill.  You can not learn to swim without getting wet.  All the books and videos in the world will not make you a good swimmer unless you get in the water and take action.  The skills must be practiced and practiced and practiced.  This applies to every skill we have ever developed.

Each time we take action (practice), we get better and better. We get more proficient.  The better we get, the more comfortable we get.  The more comfortable we get as a result of our experience, the more confident we get.  Think, isn’t this the way we have learned to do everything we feel confident at?  Are you comfortable deciphering sets of letters and punctuation marks?  That’s what reading is.  A first piano lesson presents the same scenario.  By the second lesson, after a lot of practice, one is comfortable playing the scales.  After a few lessons music actually sounds like it should. After a year of lessons we can say, with confidence that, “I can” play the piano.  Do you know how to shoot a foul shot in basketball?  Can you operate your computer?

Are you a confident public speaker?  No?  “I can’t”, you say. “I’m no good at it”, you say.  “I hate it”, you say.  “Why”, I ask?  You have learned the basic skills of swimming, piano playing, basketball or using your computer?   Each bit of knowledge you learned, every action you took to practice these skills, every bit of experience you got increased your confidence.  You stretched your comfort zone.  What once seem impossible (I can’t), is now a comfortable, confident skillset.

Gaining knowledge at any skill and taking action to get experience results in ‘stretching your comfort zone’.  The more you stretch your comfort zone, the more confident you get.  Skills that we one said, ‘I can’t” about are now second nature. The repetition has caused the skill to become ’muscle memory’.  Whether you jump in the water or you fall, you swim.  There is no doubt.  You don’t’ have to think what to do with your arms and legs, you just swim.

This same mastery of the skillset of public speaking can be learned and mastered.  But, like swimming, you have to get into the water and get wet.  Confident public speaking skills are only developed by speaking in front of an audience.  You must learn the basic skills.  And, you must practice them again and again and again, just like any other skill.  Trying it once, stumbling and never trying again will never lead to confidence.

Stretch your comfort zone by trying again and again.  Practice the skills in many venues and continually learn and take action to improve and get more experience. This model will lead to confidence.  But, one might ask,” where do you learn and practice public speaking skills”?  Good question.  You can practice swimming at any lake, pool or the ocean, but where to you practice you public speaking skills.

www.PublicSpeakingAdvocate training ( www.PublicspeakingWorkout.com) is a quick, powerful, easy, practical and cost effective way to learn the basic skills get experience and gain confidence in a very short time.  You will stretch your comfort zone, change your attitude and gain confidence beyond your imagination.  Thousands of others have already experienced this change.  You can too.  Change your life and enhance your career with confident public speaking skills.  You can also join a local Toastmasters club (www.toastmasters.org)

Take this training.  Contact Ed Skurka by email at Ed@PublicWorkout.com

 401-828-1625 or Skype:  Ed.PublicspeakingAdvocate

Bring this training to your company and provide it to your kids and students.

Public speaking trainers are needed worldwide.  Inquire about an amazing business opportunity.

Ed Skurka  DTM

For those of you who know me, I am sure that some are aghast at that statement.  Others are probably thinking that it is about time.  Yes, it is true.  I was behind bars in a men’s maximum security prison.  Fortunately for me and to the dismay of some who know me, I was there for only two hours as a volunteer.  But, I will be going back again for the next 11 Wednesday nights.

To milk this story for all the humor I can, I am one of the few people in the world who was in prison for public speaking.  Those few of us, may number in the hundreds or perhaps even thousands across America. Through Toastmasters, we bring public speaking training to prisoners in many facilities around the country.  I am proud of what we are doing and grateful to so many fellow Toastmasters who have mentored me with their years of experienced service to these prison programs.

For those of you not familiar with Toastmasters, you can’t blame that on me.  I try to be the world’s #1 cheerleader for the organization.  Toastmasters is an international non-profit educational organization dedicated to helping its members, both men and women, “learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking – vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding, and contribute to the betterment of mankind.”  In short, we are a public speaking and leadership training organization with 12,500 clubs in over 113 countries around the world.  We must be doing something right to have been around since 1924. There’s a TM club near you.  If you are interested in developing these skills, visit our website at www.Toastmasters.org

We function through local clubs.  The most common are community clubs, open to the public; corporate clubs, generally closed to employees only; and university clubs, usually for students and employees.  While there are actual clubs in some prisons, the program we (our team) are bringing to the our prison is called Speechcraft. In effect, it is an outreach program of Toastmasters.  It can be brought into schools community centers, senior living facilities and even into prisons.  The program sets up a facsimile Toastmaster club in a six or eight week format.  We were asked to do a twelve week program so the participants could get credit for ‘good time’. 

The Speechcrafters will  learn to run the meetings, give speeches, think on their feet, evaluate each other and time each other.  As the program progresses, they will find themselves supporting each other, encouraging each other, listening to each other and speaking kindly, respectfully and with courtesy to each other.  This outcome will grow as they develop their confident public speaking and leadership skills, in the spirit of Toastmasters, leading to increased self-esteem, pride and self- awareness from their participation.

This all may seem foreign and contrary to life behind bars, but it does happen.  My mentors have shared many stories from years of experience.  The benefit to the prison is measured in lower recidivism rates, more communicative, cooperative and civil inmates.  The participants gain the life changing and career enhancing skills of confident public speaking and leadership.  Hey, those are the same benefits that I gained from Toastmasters, skills that have changed my life and the lives of countless thousands of my fellow Toastmasters.  It’s a wonderful program that can change your life and enhance your career too.

My work  through PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com and PublicSpeakingWorkout.com  would never have been possible without my Toastmaster experience.  While Toastmasters, as an organization may not be able to endorse my work, many individual Toastmasters have taken my training and praise its benefits.  And me, I whole heartedly endorse Toastmasters.

Support Public Speaking Advocate by attending this training, bringing it into your business or (*very important) provide it to your kids or students.

Contact: EdSkurka@PublicSpeakingWorkout.com    401-828-1625 Skype: Ed.PublicSpeakingAdvocate

Public speaking trainers needed worldwide.  Inquire about an interesting business opportunity

Ed Skurka  DTM

You probably have many skills that you are good at.  We all do.  It might be cooking or baking, ballet or hockey.  It might be advanced mathematics, skate boarding or a business skill.  It doesn’t matter.  Think back to when you first wanted to develop that skill.  Were you fearful and nervous about it or did you tell yourself that you could do it.  That’s how most of us approach a new skill set when we are about to learn it and become proficient at it.

We probably got our first lesson from a teacher, a coach, a mentor or a boss.  We took action and practiced the skill. Then we got coached, taught or mentored on how to do the skill better. Then we practiced again and again and again.  At first we had to think about what we were doing, analyzing every little movement or action.  The second time, it was easier.  The third is easier still.  Eventually we performed the skill correctly, so many times that it became muscle memory.  You just do it and your muscles think for themselves.

Here is a good example.  Here is a basketball. Shoot a foul shot.  No thinking.  You just do it.  Oh, by the way have you ever said that shooting a basketball or playing basketball is your #1 Fear.  On the other hand, have you ever said that about public speaking or have you ever heard anyone else ever say it? 

Perhaps it was your child when they had to give book report in grade school or a fellow Ph.D. candidate preparing for a dissertation. Maybe it was an employee when they were given the assignment to make a presentation at the big conference or a relative having to give a toast or a eulogy.  It doesn’t matter.

That’s right.  It does not matter what the situation is, most of us hate public speaking.  Most of us have a fear of it.  It causes anxiety and stress.  From years of experience and having trained over 3,000 people in confident public speaking skills, I peg the figure at about 90% of any population that has some degree of fear of public speaking.

As Public Speaking Advocate, I have worked with many of this 90% and some of the 10% over many years.  I believe the percentage to be universal through all cultures.  That has been my experience.  The goal of my training, the mission of www.PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com is to help people overcome the fear.  And, by practice, repetition, coaching and continued learning, develop confidence in one’s public speaking skills just like all of the other skills one has learned. 

 Here is the crux of the matter – most of us never got any education or coaching at our public speaking skills.  Yet, we were expected to be good at it.  Do you see a disconnect here?  Filling that gap is the goal, mission, crusade and advocacy for Public speaking Advocate.  It is not only my goal.  It is my passion.  I thrive on helping people,both students and adults, move from fear to confidence.

I light up when someone says, “I feel stretched.  I feel more confident.  I like this feeling.  This is fun”  I have heard them all many, many times from both students and adults of all ages and careers and all levels of their careers, from entry level to the board room.  In my quick, easy, fun and highly effective workshops, attendees quickly develop the confidence to look at public speaking in a totally different way.  They develop a new attitude about it because they now think about it from a new perspective.  Now they believe that they can do this.  Their experiences in the workshop have given them a new feeling and a new understanding about the skillset and their command of it.

This rapid development frequently happens in many skillsets when one immerses him/herself in an intensive, learning by doing atmosphere.  We frequently refer to this type of training as a ‘bootcamp’ (i.e. military or sport), a seminar or a good workout.  Great coaching (teaching or mentoring) helps to speed up the learning to proficiency curve.  It enhances the effectiveness of the cycle.

This is exactly what I do in Public Speaking Advocate training.  It is the boot camp for public speaking.  It is a diagnostic test for one’s public speaking skills.  It is the sports camp for developing this skill. And most importantly it is a really good intensive skill building, confidence turbocharging presence enhancing knowledge expanding workout.  Public Speaking Advocate training in its half day and full day format is called, www.PublicSpeakingWorkout.com

Support Public Speaking Advocate by attending this training, bringing it into your business or (*very important) provide it to your kids or students.

Contact: Ed Skurka@publicSpeakingWorkout.com    Skype: Ed.PublicSpeakingAdvocate

Public speaking trainers needed worldwide.  Inquire about an interesting business opportunity

This blog at www.PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com is celebrating a full week of posts (drum roll, please). It started by asking the reader to do a gut check about his/her own attitude about public speaking.  Is it positive or negative?  Is it fearful or confident?  And yes, there are many shades of grey in between.

We moved on to making comparisons between the new experience, for me, of writing my first blog post and giving my first speech.  I found many similarities.  The universal lessons learned are:  fear must be faced and that action must be taken.  Without these, no new skills would be learned or developed.  Wouldn’t that be a boring and useless state of affairs?

Then, the path to confident public speaking was examined.  Just like any journey, it starts with a first step (taking action) and it has mile markers and guide posts along the way to mark our progress.  Courage, confidence, character and charisma are the four described.  This was followed by 12 Practical Life Saving Tips When you Have to Give a Speech.

Then the reader was challenged, a dare was made to examine one’s own public speaking skills and your attitude about public speaking.  Is competence in this skillset important to you in your life and career (for students and adults)?

Yesterday, the ‘what is’ of Public Speaking Advocate was addressed.  The philosophy, goal and mission were laid out to the world, defining Public Speaking Advocate.  The cause and crusade of PSA is to change attitudes and perspectives about the subject.  Training should be started in primary grades and continue through college.  Practical skill and confidence building training should be provided in all speaking opportunities.  Our education system should teach and train confidence at these skills – just like all other skills, academic, sport, artistic and business.  Opportunities for this kind of training in the work place will benefit employees and their companies also.

Today, the ‘who is’ of www.PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com is the topic.  I can’t, not think of the scene in the Wizard of Oz when the curtain was pulled back and the mighty wizard was discovered to be an ordinary man.  Despite his good intentions and grand scheme, he put his pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else.

I, Dear Reader, am the ‘wizard’ of Public Speaking Advocate.  My name is Ed Skurka and I am a recovering glossophobe (fear of public speaking).  It has been many years since I began my recovery by facing my fear and walking my path to confidence.  But, it was many more long and stressful years that I dealt with the fear, starting in elementary school, progressing into high school, college and haunting me well into my career.  So, I feel very well qualified to speak as an expert on the subject.

It is not that I am a great public speaker, though I am very good.  Nor do I claim to be the greatest teacher or coach, but I am very great.  I am an expert because of the practical experience of having had the fear, overcoming it and along the way, developing the skills, the confidence, the methods, the program and the passion to help others overcome their fear and develop practical and confident public speaking skills.  Wow that was a long sentence.  Are you still with me?

From my first speech at a Toastmasters club to mentoring many other members, to rising to be a recognized leader in my public speaking community, I followed a progressive path to confidence. (www.Toastmasters.org is an international public speaking and leadership training organization with over 12,000 clubs in over 100 countries around the world).  Becoming a confident public speaker changed my life.  I owe so much to Toastmasters for enabling that to happen.  Toastmasters is available to anyone.  Visit their website.

As my confidence developed, rather quickly, I started bringing my new knowledge, new experience and new confidence to people and organizations outside of Toastmasters.  Volunteer organizations, Boy and Girl Scout troops, 4-H clubs, Police Explorer posts, gradeschools and high schools were my first opportunities.  Then as my teaching/coaching style developed and my confidence continued to grow, I started to put on workshops.

At first I just invited my fellow Toastmasters for free.  Then I charged a very small fee which grew to cover costs and then to provide a profit.  Over a few years, thanks to much positive feedback from the attendees, I realized that I had created something good.  It was a workshop with great value not only to students, but to business people and professionals of all levels of all careers.

I realized that I had spent a few years of my life earning my wings.  Being in the trenches of leading the workshops, helping others grow from fear to confidence, developing techniques, methods and materials all led to my development into a great teacher and coach of these skills.  Positive encouraging feedback from a few, grew to a few hundred and then a few thousand.  Articles were written about my work, interviews were done; referrals were made to other people and companies interested in attending my workshops.

Starting late in my career (as a self-employed contractor) I developed a new career for which I had a great passion.  The professional recognition I received was a wonderful new experience for me. Testimonials told of the benefits people received from my training.  Stories of how it had changed lives, enhanced careers, built confidence to take on new challenges and to step up in leadership both inside and outside of the business world.  I was invited to speak and train in major corporations and universities. Teachers and youth group leaders praised my work with their students.  And, among my highest rewards were letters and testimonials from the students themselves.

Please Dear Reader, do not take these words as self-aggrandizement.  The strength of my long held fear of public speaking truly does keep me humble. It is with humility and pride that I tell this story of Public Speaking Advocate.  The training has developed by helping one individual at a time.  I am grateful to each one of them for giving me the opportunity to help.  And by helping others, I have grown in countless ways.  Public Speaking Advocate became an attitude, a philosophy and a training program worthy of sharing with the world for both students and adults.  It is a new way to look at and feel about public speaking and the importance of this skillset in our lives and careers, both academic and business.

Visit again for Part 2 of Who is Public Speaking Advocate?

Support Public Speaking Advocate by attending this training, bringing it into your business or (*very important) provide it to your kids or students.

Contact: Ed Skurka@publicSpeakingWorkout.com    Skype: Ed.PublicSpeakingAdvocate

Public speaking trainers needed worldwide.  Inquire about an interesting business opportunity

Advocate:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 v. to speak or write in favor of; to recommend or support publicly.   n. a person who speaks or writes in support of a cause or a crusade.

The word, advocate, is seen and heard frequently on the news, on the internet. in print and in conversation.  There are all kinds of advocates – from children’s advocates to advocates for the elderly.  From civil rights advocates to health advocates.  There is even the expression, “devil’s advocate.”  And, of course, lawyers are advocates for their clients.  Pardon the proximity of the two terms.

Public speaking advocate may be an unfamiliar term in our modern lexicon.  But by definition, the very mission and goal of www.PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com is to change that.  By speaking and writing about this cause, attention will be brought to the subject of public speaking.  The ‘buzz’ about the topic will increase.  Awareness of the issue will grow.  Thinking will be changed from fear and avoidance to understanding how vitally important this skillset is to our lives and careers.

Just what is the issue?  Bottom line – most of us get very little public speaking education or training in our academic or business careers and yet we are expected to be capable, competent and confident speakers.  A ridiculous example to explain this absurdity is:  What company would ever hire an engineer with math 101 skills.  It just would never happen.  Yet, both students and adults are expected to be good public speakers with little or no training in the skillset.

From academic skills to sport skills and from artistic skills to business skills, we are educated and trained, day by day, from childhood to adulthood.  Our culture and our world expect us to develop skills in many of these areas to prepare us for our futures. We have teachers, coaches, tutors and mentors in virtually all of these areas.  We are taught, we practice, we are tested and we perform.  Whether it is in the classroom, on the sport field or in the office, we constantly demonstrate our proficiency and are expected to continually improve our performance.

Over 3,000 people from all levels of all careers and many countries have taken Public Speaking Advocate training (aka) www.PublicspeakingWorkout.com. About 90% have had little or NO public speaking training.  Of those who are college graduates, less than 20% ever took public speaking 101.  Many, like yours truly, avoided it like the plague.  Please understand that this is not empirical scientific data, just ample anecdotal experience.  And, it seems that almost everyone has an anecdote (a fear of public speaking story).

Have you ever heard a fear of learning to read story, a fear of learning how to play basketball story or a fear of learning a new job story?  I haven’t.  In conversation on the subject of public speaking, most of us have either heard or used the expression, “the #1 Fear”.  It is the most commonly used statistic about the topic.  There has to be a reason for that.  Again, most of have had little or NO training but a lot of anxiety, nervousness and fear.

Do you see a theme developing here?  Can you sense what might be the cause to which Public SpeakingAdvocate.com is dedicated?  Let’s change attitudes and perspectives of public speaking form fear to confidence (see logo above).  Let’s provide at least basic skills training to students from the earliest grades so that they can avoid learning the fear and they can continually build confidence and grow to adults without the fear.

Similar opportunities for training should b available for employees of every company to improve their skills and their confidence in their skills so they can be better communicators and better leaders in their companies.  Provide both students and adults with practical skill building training that will allow them to grow by learning, practicing, getting coached and practicing more.  Provide a supportive environment to learn, practice and develop these skills in both school and the workplace.

PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com has a solution.  It is quick easy, practical and immediately effective.  It is also cost effective, a great bonding and team building experience and it’s even fun.  The training at all levels provides demonstrated results that can be used the next day in school or work.  Knowledge, skills, experience and confidence are turbocharged.  Attitude and perspective about public speaking are changed.  Lives are changed and careers are enhanced.

The consenus comment from thousands who have experienced the training is:

“I wish that I’d had some training like this in school, college or earlier on in my career.”

Visit again, Dear Reader, the advocating has just begun.  This concept and this training is destined to gain national and international attention in education and in the workplace.  www.PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com is out to change the world’s thinking, attitude and perspective about public speaking.

Suppport this cause.

Contact:  Ed Skurka  DTM   Ed@PublicSpeakingWorkout.com  Skype: Ed.PublicSpeakingAdvocate                                                                         Trainers are needed worldwide (inquire about a great public speaking training business opportunity)

Dare Yourself

Did you ever do something really dangerous or downright stupid just because one of your friends “dared” you to do it?  Most of us probably have scars or nightmares from some of those dares.  While those dares were probably not very beneficial to our lives and well being, here is another one that will be.  Dare yourself – or to use a more positive expression, “challenge yourself” to examine how good your public speaking skills are.

Be honest with yourself.  It is a matter of importance to you and your career (both academic and business).  How comfortable are you when you have to give a speech?

TIMEOUT! 

Let’s define ‘giving a speech.”  These words conjure up images of standing at a lectern or podium in front of a large audience.  And, that definition scares the bejeebers out of many of us and causes at least some degree of anxiety in about 90% of us.  We all have many opportunities to speak in public that are not really ‘formal’ speeches, but rather a chance to ‘talk’ in front of varying sized audiences.

Let’s expand our thinking on this image to include any opportunity to speak in front of any sized audience.  In our careers, this applies to 1 on 1 conversations like a sales presentation, a contract proposal, an interview or even telephone conversations.  Reports delivered at the daily meeting to a team of 2, 3 or 5 (you know the number) are also included.  Then, there are the really big presentations where the public speaking pressure is really on.

Outside the office, these same scenarios apply in any civic organization, at a town council meeting, the PTA, your place of worship or even running for a political office or the board of directors at your country club.  One lady took the PublicSpeaking Workour.com training because she had to stand up in court the next day and speak at her divorce hearing.  (She sent a testimonial email about how much more confident she felt after only 4 hours of training  - knowledge + experience).  The opportunities are endless.

For students, it may be as simple as responding to a teacher’s question, reciting a poem or giving a book report.  Don’t forget having to describe your project in the science fair.  Class and club officer candidates have to give campaign speeches.  Team captains have to give inspirational ‘rah-rah’ speeches.  Scouts may have to give training speeches.  The list goes on and on.

TIME IN!

The purpose of expanding our definition of public speaking – as each of us perceives it, is to change our thinking about the subject.  The goal of this blog at www.PublicSpeakingAdvocate.com and the training provided by www.PublicspeakingWorkout.com is to help both adults and students change their attitude and perspective of public speaking as we have traditionally thought of it.

Our old thinking is, for most of us, negative. It causes fear, anxiety and nervousness.  “Public speaking is the #1 Fear” is an old expression.  And even Jerry Seinfeld, the comedienne, used the old joke about ‘preferring to be in the casket than delivering a eulogy at a funeral.’   Why is our thinking so negative about standing in front of a group of people and talking?  This topic is food for thought in many more posts to this blog.  Suffice for now that the goal of this blog is to help both students and adults think and feel differently about public speaking.

Attitude and Perspective

Attitude and perspective can be changed by knowledge, understanding and action.  These lead to increased confidence, which in turn, dispels fear, anxiety and nervousness.  This applies to public speaking as well as to any other skill in our lives.

How nervous do we get before a big math test or the first day on a new job?  How nervous is a benchwarmer playing in his/her first championship basketball game or the amateur ballroom dancer in a first competition?  The more we learn a skill and the more we practice it, the better we get.  The action of repetition through practice, practice and practice builds confidence.  And what sets public speaking apart is the fact that no one describes these other skillsets as being their #1 Fear. 

This model applies to learning and becoming proficient at any skill.  We expect and accept it for all skills – from academic to business and from artistic to sport skills.  Public speaking skills seem to be the one skillset where our culture and our education system seem to make an exception.  Somehow we are expected to develop this skill and become good comfident public speakers by magic, without any teaching, coaching and practice anywhere in our academic or business careers.  Rethink this old attitude.  Learning and training in public speaking skills should be continuous from grades K-16.  With this model, students will learn confidence instead of fear and grow to adults without the fear.

Please visit again, Dear Reader.  The ‘soapbox’, the advocacy of this blog is to change this paradigm.  Public speaking skills can easily be learned and improved.  Fear can be overcome and confidence can be gained.  It just takes the same knowledge and action process as all of our other skills.

12 Practical Life Saving Tips When you have to give a speech 

By Ed Skurka  DTM          

Have you ever had to give a speech?  Maybe it was a report you had to give at a meeting at work, the town council, the PTA or at church.  And if you are a student, from grade school to high school to a Ph.D. candidate, you have had to give a speech or present some kind of report, from a science project to running for a class office and from a team rally speech to your dissertation.  How do you feel when you realize that you have to do it?  You have to give a speech.

Do you call on your vast experience, knowledge and training that you have been learning and practicing since you were in first grade.  What’s that, you say?  — You have never had any public speaking training, you don’t know where to start and your stomach is in knots (those pesky butterflies).  Is your stress level rising?  Getting anxious?  Heart rate rising?  Breathing heavier?  What are you going to do?

Relax.  Take a deep breath and keep reading.  As stressful as your situation may seem, you can proceed with your project in a logical organized manner.  You will survive.  The sun will come up tomorrow.  And, your dog will still love you.  The following 12 Practical Life Saving Tips When You Have to Give a Speech will guide, support and encourage you to get started in the right direction with a basic easy to follow map.

Visit www.PublicspeakingAdvoceat.com tomorrow for even more help and great information.

  1.  Find the courage within yourself to face the facts — you have to do it.

  2.  Even if you are scared and feel nervous you will survive.  Develop a positive ‘I can do it’ attitude.

  3.  Make it a project.  Make a plan.  Do your homework.

  4.  Pick your topic.  If you get to choose, pick one that you have interest in.  The more passion you have for the subject, the easier the speech project will be.  If you are assigned a topic you are not interested in, make the most of it.  Do extra research and work extra hard at doing your best to fulfill your assignment.  Welcome to the real world.  This may be a frequent occurrence in business.

  5.  Write your speech.  Every speech of any length should have an opening, a body and a close.  Start with a theme.  Build an outline.  Write, rewrite, edit and revise.

  6.  OPENING – Make a statement, ask a question, cite a statistic.  Say something to gain the attention of the audience.  Build it up with some information or an appropriate story.  Set the scene, lead the audience to the body.  From your first word, speak with a bold, powerful, confident voice.

  7.  BODY – Create the information you want to communicate to the audience.  Remember WIFM for the audience (What’s In it For Me).  What is the purpose of your speech?  Are you informing, persuading, demonstrating or entertaining?  Tell stories.  Personal stories connect with the audience.  Use quotes, analogies, memories, projections, etc.  Give examples or use a prop. There are many techniques.  Make sure they are appropriate and that they illustrate your message.

  8.  CLOSE – Whether you sum up, review or ask questions, this is where you tie things together.  What do you leave the audience with? — A call to action, a recap, a motivational quote an inspirational tip — a humorous example?

  9.  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE   Don’t sit at a desk reading it over and over.  Do stand and up and walk around to practice.  It is closer to the real thing. Practice your gestures, eye contact, voice variation and movement.  Time yourself frequently and observe time allotted.

10.  Practice as many of the basic public speaking skills as possible.   It is your responsibility to be a good speaker and to put on a good show for the audience.  Strive to do your best.  Take pride in your presentation, your skills and yourself.

11.  Take a deep breath and relax when you get in front of the audience.  Use 1-2 seconds to establish yourself as the speaker and center of attention.  Let the audience focus on you.  They are your audience.  They are there there to hear you speak.  Speak with confidence.  Project confidence.   Be confident.

   12.  Discover the quick, easy and fun way to learn, practice and develop‘almost instant’ confidence in your public speaking and communication skills.

Visit:  www.PublicSpeakingWorkout.com 

Ed@PublicSpeakingWorkout.com  Skype:  Ed.PublicSpeakingAdvocate

Training is available in versions for students and adults

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The Million dollar tool in your Career Skills toolbox.